After Arkham Knight, I realised that I wasn't really ready to leave that fictional universe so decided to take a look at the comics. Here are some of the things I read and some thoughts on them:
New 52 Batman (current run): the three arcs that I read (City/Night of Owls, Death of the Family and Zero Year) were all hugely entertaining, with the Owl stuff being the absolute highlight. New, terrifying villains that are well incorporated into the history of Gotham, spectacular art, and some actual detective work are all things that make the opening arc a huge success. Death of the Family has probably my favourite visual design of the Joker, which is sickening in the best possible way. Having said that DotF does run out of steam a little bit towards the end, I wasn't too fond of the conclusion. Zero Year was fun, but I felt like it was a little bit too lighthearted - sure, it was violent and some pretty grim things happen in it but there is a sort of exuberant energy running through the whole thing that doesn't give me the same bleak feeling that I love from some of the other entries on this list. In fact, I could say that about all of Snyder's Batman - there is a little bit too much comic relief here, with some of the quips and wisecracks being not what I would expect out of a Batman story. Having said that, I enjoyed these stories a lot, and the art is probably my favourite out of all the stuff on this list.
The Killing Joke: this is probably my favourite Batman story overall, and it absolutely has the best writing I've read out of all of these stories. There is a kind of subtlety and depth to the characters, and Joker in particular, that is just spectacular. For instance, where
- this is all amazing stuff. Also, I don't know how the comic writers and artists coordinate with each other, but even visually the way this thing is told is really interesting - like how there are points where the panels between the present and the flashback would mirror each other, or where
. Absolutely loved it, this is the pinnacle for me.
The Dark Knight Returns: some wonderful stuff here. I sometimes felt uncomfortable reading this knowing that Frank Miller's political views meant that he sided with his interpretation of the Batman character, but if we take the book at face value it becomes a fascinating critique of the concept of a vigilante. The Batman here is both reprehensible and likeable, a morally grey character - this makes his actions all the more interesting. I loved the
It's not perfect, though - Robin was really undeveloped in my opinion, and I wasn't sold on the fact that Batman would recruit her just like that after she saved his life. He seemed to jaded and cynical to partner with anyone. Also, at times it felt like Miller was leaning a little too hard into his own right wing views, which made the book lose its sense of grey morality. Still, very interesting stuff.
Year One: this seems like the complete opposite of the above book, even though it is by the same author. It's really sincere, and is more about mob corruption than supervillains, and just in general a far more grounded take on the mythology. It was enjoyable, but I wouldn't say its my favourite.
Joker by Azzarello: I didn't enjoy this one that much - in my opinion it didn't really have anything new to say about the Joker, despite the name. The art, on the other hand, is absolutely sensational, and I love the realistic versions of all the characters - Killer Croc is just a big dude with a skin condition, The Riddler is a man with a limp, which is why he has to use a crutch, the top of which is shaped like a question mark.
Batman: The Cult: this was a lot of fun, and fit in well with the dark, bleak tone that I had come to expect from this world. Lots of horror elements, trippy art, and lots of plot elements that seem to have inspired The Dark Knight Rises. Very enjoyable.
The Long Halloween: I'm conflicted about this one. As I was reading it, I thought it was fantastic. The twists and turns of this story were incredibly shocking, I genuinely didn't see a lot of it coming. But as soon as I closed the book, and took some time to think about what I just read, I realised that some of it didn't really make sense. In fact, most of the plot twists didn't make sense. It was shock value for its own sake, with some seriously death-defying leaps of logic. For example, ENDING SPOILERS
No real desire to read Dark Victory or Hush if they are at all similar to this.
Any more recommendations based on what I liked/disliked about each of those? Overall, great experience reading these, might branch out to other superheroes now.
New 52 Batman (current run): the three arcs that I read (City/Night of Owls, Death of the Family and Zero Year) were all hugely entertaining, with the Owl stuff being the absolute highlight. New, terrifying villains that are well incorporated into the history of Gotham, spectacular art, and some actual detective work are all things that make the opening arc a huge success. Death of the Family has probably my favourite visual design of the Joker, which is sickening in the best possible way. Having said that DotF does run out of steam a little bit towards the end, I wasn't too fond of the conclusion. Zero Year was fun, but I felt like it was a little bit too lighthearted - sure, it was violent and some pretty grim things happen in it but there is a sort of exuberant energy running through the whole thing that doesn't give me the same bleak feeling that I love from some of the other entries on this list. In fact, I could say that about all of Snyder's Batman - there is a little bit too much comic relief here, with some of the quips and wisecracks being not what I would expect out of a Batman story. Having said that, I enjoyed these stories a lot, and the art is probably my favourite out of all the stuff on this list.
The Killing Joke: this is probably my favourite Batman story overall, and it absolutely has the best writing I've read out of all of these stories. There is a kind of subtlety and depth to the characters, and Joker in particular, that is just spectacular. For instance, where
Joker suggests that the backstory that we have been reading about him may not be the truth - all that matters is the general tragic subtext, or the ambiguous ending
Gordon is on the ghost train and the colour of the doors that he is passing match the colour scheme of the Batman scenes that are happening at the same time
The Dark Knight Returns: some wonderful stuff here. I sometimes felt uncomfortable reading this knowing that Frank Miller's political views meant that he sided with his interpretation of the Batman character, but if we take the book at face value it becomes a fascinating critique of the concept of a vigilante. The Batman here is both reprehensible and likeable, a morally grey character - this makes his actions all the more interesting. I loved the
teenagers in gangs in particular, who would kill for any cause - whether it is the mutants or the sons of batman.
Year One: this seems like the complete opposite of the above book, even though it is by the same author. It's really sincere, and is more about mob corruption than supervillains, and just in general a far more grounded take on the mythology. It was enjoyable, but I wouldn't say its my favourite.
Joker by Azzarello: I didn't enjoy this one that much - in my opinion it didn't really have anything new to say about the Joker, despite the name. The art, on the other hand, is absolutely sensational, and I love the realistic versions of all the characters - Killer Croc is just a big dude with a skin condition, The Riddler is a man with a limp, which is why he has to use a crutch, the top of which is shaped like a question mark.
Batman: The Cult: this was a lot of fun, and fit in well with the dark, bleak tone that I had come to expect from this world. Lots of horror elements, trippy art, and lots of plot elements that seem to have inspired The Dark Knight Rises. Very enjoyable.
The Long Halloween: I'm conflicted about this one. As I was reading it, I thought it was fantastic. The twists and turns of this story were incredibly shocking, I genuinely didn't see a lot of it coming. But as soon as I closed the book, and took some time to think about what I just read, I realised that some of it didn't really make sense. In fact, most of the plot twists didn't make sense. It was shock value for its own sake, with some seriously death-defying leaps of logic. For example, ENDING SPOILERS
how did Alberto manage to fake his own death? The coroner knew about this, but how did that help in any way? Did he have a fake body that he replaced his own with? How did Dent's wife suddenly manage to become an expert assassin and avoid detection by the police? Is her motivation to help her husband by slaying mobsters really believable? Her character throughout the whole books certainly doesn't suggest this.
Any more recommendations based on what I liked/disliked about each of those? Overall, great experience reading these, might branch out to other superheroes now.
