Obscure Comics: Batman: Shadow of Sin Tzu #1 – 52 or #1 – 260
Started in October 2003 as well, Batman: Shadow of Sin Tzu was a 52-week comic book, done in five installments, one new part released each weekday on KOL, AOL's kid friend portal. This comic book, though could be considered not a comic book, and more of an attempt to do a Batman serialized "newspaper strip," something not seen since the early 1990's when during the craze for the Batman movie by Tim Burton, a daily newspaper comic strip was produced ending in 1991. Each weekday strip for Batman: Shadow of Sin Tzu is done like a large "Sunday Strip" edition, with varying panel layouts, and each weekday entry could be taken as half of a comic book page. When released on AOL, the series was labeled as comic strips, with 260 done, but when later collected on the DC Comics website (now gone from there and redirecting elsewhere), it was promoted as 52, five-page, issues.
The comic has a few distinctions, as it was the first online comic DC developed, and was written by Mark Schultz (best known as the creator of Xenozoic Tales, of which the cartoon Cadillacs and Dinosaurs were based on, as well as the current writer for the daily comic strip Prince Valiant since 2004) and drawn by the versatile Rick Burchett (extensive artist for comic material on many Batman the Animated Series comic books, as well as Detective Comics with Greg Rucka, current artist on the Funky Winkerbean daily comic strip, and in a weird connection, recommended to a young Jim Lee he needed to show his portfolio and do comics professionally). Considering the close history, the two creators now share doing comic strips, the format of Batman: Shadow of Sin Tzu is not surprising.
Batman: Shadow of Sin Tzu, however, does not fit into the Batman Animated Series universe canon and instead utilizes a loose continuity with the Batman comics of the time, with Cassandra Cain as Batgirl, having Catwoman in her Darwyn Cooke costume, and mentioning the Birds of Prey. The comic adapts the plot-line of the game very loosely and introduces Sin Tzu into the Post Crisis universe.
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- Strip 01
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- Strip 15
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- Strip 28
In the story, Gotham's criminals are unleashed on the city by Sin Tzu who has put them all under his influence and control. Batman discovers this while fighting Two-Face, the Joker, and Mr. Freeze and gain details on the plot from Catwoman.
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- Strip 35
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- Strip 41
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- Strip 76
Later fighting and subduing Bane, Batman realizes he is being fed breadcrumbs down a path to a clear trap. Taking his own path into Sin Tzu's clutches, Batman befriends Sin Tzu's lieutenant and finally confronts the Joker and then Sin Tzu on Sin Tzu's home turf.
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- Strip 129
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- Strip 206
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- Strip 212
Believing they are brothers, Sin Tzu reveals why he was using the Gotham City villains and believing Batman to be a pure agent of order like himself tries to recruit him. Batman refuses, and in their ensuing battle, supernatural forces Sin Tzu has kept controlled end up loose, consuming the villain.
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- Strip 215
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- Strip 250
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- Strip 260
This co-venture between DC and AOL is obscure but a solid read done by two very talented creators. The series has never been physically collected and has sadly disappeared from DC's own website for easy consumption. However, if one hunts enough online, the series can be found and is well worth seeking out.
The press release AOL and DC issued for the series follows below:
The Dark Knight Detective, the citizens of Gotham City and AOL members have a new nemesis — Sin Tzu — who made his cyberspace debut in the original online Batman comic strip created for America Online by DC Comics. Through a special agreement between AOL and DC Comics, Batman: Shadow of Sin Tzu will appear online exclusively on AOL five days a week. This new Batman ongoing storyline was developed especially for the online environment and for KOL, AOL's experience for kids.
In the daily strip written by Mark Schultz and with art by Rick Burchett, two of comics' finest talents, Gotham's most notorious villains have banded together under mysterious circumstances. Batman must discover who is behind this diabolical conspiracy before an all-out war descends on the city. Could it be Two-face, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, the Joker, or perhaps Sin Tzu – the latest criminal mastermind and shadowy eastern mystic created by comic book superstar Jim Lee and Flint Dille? As the mystery unfolds, kids can go online each weekday and get a new episode in this exciting year-long serial.
"Kids love comics and Batman is one of the coolest, most beloved superheroes of all time," said Malcolm Bird, Senior Vice President and General Manager Kids and Teens, America Online. "We are thrilled to give kids online access to this original online comic series that they can follow online all year. This offering from DC Comics is a great example of AOL's commitment to offering kids cool original programming they can't get anywhere else."
"'Batman: Shadow of Sin Tzu' is the first-ever strip exclusively developed by DC for the online environment, and we are thrilled to give AOL members access to this special online edition of such an exciting comic," said Richard Bruning, Senior VP & Creative Director at DC Comics. "By bringing this world-class superhero to the Internet, we are literally bridging the generational gap between parents who grew up reading Batman stories in comic books and watching him on television and their kids who will now be able to check out Batman's daily adventures online."
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