Batman and the Monster Men is developed from an early Hugo Strange story from Batman #1. In Wagner's version, this is Batman's first encounter with Strange. The story depicts a young, optimistic Batman shortly after the events of Batman: Year One. Julie Madison, historically Bruce Wayne's love interest in early comics, is reintroduced in this series. Madison had not been seen as a regular supporting cast member since 1941, in Detective Comics #49. Batman and the Monster Men also gives a retroactive role to Sal Maroni, a character closely tied to the character Two-Face, as a crime-boss funding Hugo Strange's experiments on Arkham Asylum patients. This story is intended to depict the first time Hugo Strange is involved in creating violent giants out of human patients.