Posts Tagged ‘batman’

A Death In the Family

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

But the real murderers are the BATMAN readers.
– Newsweek

A Death In the Family

A Death In the Family

One phone number became the difference between life and death for the new Robin, Jason Todd, in A Death In the Family when it debuted in 1988.

Jason decides to search for his birth mother when Batman tells him he needs to take a break from being Robin. When Jason runs away, Batman has to make a choice between preventing the Joker from wreaking havoc and chasing down his adopted son.

Ultimately, Batman’s need for justice and his obsession with taking down Joker, as well as Jason’s stubborn disobedience, costs the Dark Knight his sidekick. Even though I knew Robin was going to die — I mean, have you seen the cover? — it still hit me hard to see Batman endure such pain. Regardless, I think I would have voted for the Joker to kill Robin if I had been old enough at the time to dial a phone number.

Usually, I have a tough time picking sides between Batman and Joker, because I love them both and love the dynamics of their relationship. They’re a more complicated Tom and Jerry; they are always waging war, neither of them ever win, and I think that, secretly, they both enjoy the game they play. It gives them both the opportunity to play at being the hero (Batman) and the villain (Joker) that they could otherwise never be. In “Death,” I wanted Batman to kill Joker, or at least beat the face paint off of him.

What I liked most about “Death” — aside from the storyline: Jason searching for his biological mother, Batman versus Joker — was that most of the story was set internationally in the Middle East. The writers clearly had a strong sense of the crime culture, political situations, and social situations in the countries that the main characters interacted in.

This particular story arch is a catalyst for the bitter Batman we know in the present and in the future as the retired Caped Crusader who passes on his legacy to the young Terry McGinnis.

The more Batman stories I soak up, the more I love this franchise.

What’s your favorite Batman story arch?

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Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

You’d have thought Batman R.I.P. would have been about the death of Batman, but no, Caped Crusader opens up at the Dark Knight’s funeral.

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?

Do WHAT now?

Yeah, that was my reaction.

All of Batman’s friends and enemies — including Joker and Harley, yay! — show up to pay their respects. Things start to get a little questionable, though, when his funeral attendees begin telling stories about his life and death that even the most novice of Batman fans — hi! — can tell is a bunch of BS.

So what’s going on?

Well, of course I’m not going to tell you, but if you’ve read The Dark Tower, you’ll be interested in the ending.

I liked the art and storyline, and liked the sort of tribute it paid to previous Batman stories. This deluxe version even includes a few old school Batman comics after the book is over. I liked R.I.P. even more, though, but I’m not sure if it’s because Mr. Wayne’s character design was super hot or what. I did, however, like that Caped Crusader showed a lot more of Batman’s and Bruce’s history, and incorporated the death of his parents as well. Obviously this is a big part of who Bruce/Batman is, but I still liked it.

I give both of these graphic novels five freaking stars!

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Batman R.I.P.

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Because of this book, I have the biggest crush ever on Bruce Wayne.

Batman R.I.P.

Batman R.I.P.

Mike lent me Batman R.I.P. and Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? a couple of weeks ago. Because I was still reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac — and still am — and was too busy to even really spend a lot of time reading that, the books just sat waiting on my nightstand/filing cabinet.

Lucky for them, I got sick and stayed sick from Monday afternoon through Tuesday night, so I had plenty of time to read both Batman books between cat naps Tuesday.

I became fully immersed in R.I.P. right away. The art is gorgeous, and the Alex Ross covers make it even more worthwhile. (And let’s not forget the Bruce Wayne eye candy. I’ve never before thought that Batman was hot, but his character design in this book is delicious!) Aside from the beautiful art, the storyline is brilliant. I loved the final showdown at Arkham. There really isn’t anything I didn’t love about this book.

I really liked that it incorporated a lot of Bruce Wayne’s and Batman’s history, as well as a few characters I wasn’t too familiar with but quickly learned a lot about and came to love (read: Nightwing). After reading this book, I really want to learn more about Damian. Honestly, I’m not super familiar with Batman, though I’ve recently been getting really into the story. So I am not exactly sure if Damian is just a little side story thrown into this book or if there is a “universal” story arc including him and his mother.

(Please don’t hurt me!)

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Even though I liked Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, I liked R.I.P. much better.

Any suggestions for what Batman books I should read next?

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