80-Page Thursdays: Batman 80-Page Giant #2!

I still find the occasional 80-pager, but today's was a bit of a disappointment: from 1999, Batman 80-Page Giant #2, featuring stories from Scott Beatty, D.G. Chichester, Jim Alexander, and more; with art by Karl Waller, Sal Buscema, Jim Balent, and more.

The theme this issue is "luck," like we don't see heroes luck out enough in regular stories. In the opening story, Batman is forced to play a game of "Gotham Roulette" by Two-Face; and only survives because Two-Face was using a Belgium knock-off of a Smith&Wesson .44 that backfires on him. Batman plays it off like he knew that would happen, but this story pretty much sets the tone for the rest. Huntress faces a trap of the Riddler's, and although she tries to reason out his puzzle, her guess may have been wrong...next, the Ventriloquist and Scarface, with Killer Croc and the Mad Hatter, try to change their luck with a little breakout from Arkham and a trip to the Penguin's casino.

In a story set before Tim Drake became Robin, Nightwing worries Drake isn't being careful enough, and tails him to a strange destination. Then, "In Clover," Batman faces Poison Ivy and her dog roses "...made with real dogs" and gets an unexpected assist. In "Lucky's Seven" Catwoman tells of a cat she knew that actually was Lucky, and that story probably has the best of this issue. Finally, in "A Run of Bad Luck," Deadshot takes a potshot at Batman, on Two-Face's dime. When Batman confronts Two-Face, he's a little out of it since he's thrown his coin on the good side a hundred and thirty-eight times in a row...

This issue is a miss, but I'm still keeping an eye open for other 80-pagers, so here's hoping.