Batman comics

[Warcry]

I've read Dark Victory now. It's, um...well, I think it works far better as a comic than Long Halloween did, honestly. The story and especially the resolution makes a whole lot more sense, probably because there are fewer distractions along the way. In particular, focusing on Two-Face and keeping the other rogues in the background supporting him works a lot better than TLH's approach of "cram in as many baddies as we can, even if they're a completely pointless tangent".

Taking the two together, though, it doesn't paint a very good picture of Batman as a character. Two years in a row he was vexed by exactly the same kind of serial killer, and both times it took him a year to have even a vague idea of who he was looking for. And honestly, if not for Dick and Catwoman (who, it has to be said, is probably the best-written character in the book) I don't think he would have figured this out out at all.

Oh, and I totally agree with Cyberstrike about Batman being a "pompous, arrogant jackass". With some writers he's an awesome pompous, arrogant jackass, though.

[Halfshell]

I've recently read The Court of Owls (vol 1 of Scott Snyder's New 52 run) and that's really rather good indeed.

Also worth tracking down Neil Gaiman's "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader" as that's quite nice.

I probably should read more Batman, but most of the "you should read this!" stories are written by Jeph Loeb, and that's just not happening.

[LKW]

Honestly... Jeph Loeb before his son died - Hush, for example - is usually better than after....

Though, his (Red) Hulk was better in the final half-dozen issues or so...

Also - Halfshell lives!!! Hello there, sir !:cheers:

[Warcry]

I've read Hush now, which brings my total up to three of Loeb's big "must read" Batman books, and I've come to the conclusion that all three are basically the same story. A mystery villain shows up, acts with impunity for around a year, somehow suborns/manipulates Batman's existing (and far more interesting) rogues into doing his dirty work and eventually turns out to be someone who was believed to be dead/crippled/whatnot. Batman himself is hugely ineffectual, never even coming close to unraveling the villains' plot until it's literally thrown in his face, and generally acting more like a brooding thug than the world's greatest detective. The story is interesting the first time I read it, but after seeing it recycled three times over it starts to wear a bit.

That comes off a bit harsher than it needs to be, and Hush certainly isn't bad, but it was also exactly what I was expecting from the writer the moment I picked it up. My favourite part of the book was probably Catwoman, who is easily Loeb's best character across all of his stuff that I've read.

Next up on my to-read list is Knightfall, which will hopefully be a bit less formulaic than Loeb's stuff.

[Skyquake87]

Hush is what I would call a good 'entry level' story. It basically gives you a good grasp of Batman's world, whom his friends and enemies are and how things work in his life. Probably wouldn't be as good if Jim Lee hadn't drawn it.

I've re-read Batman : Black Mirror and I think I can honestly say its probably the best Batman story I've read. I like Dick Grayson as Batman, he brings a more warm approach to Batman and isn't as stoic and miserable as Bruce frequently is. With Bruce, these days he is just Batman and there's nothing left of the man he once was. Dick retains his own personality and identity in addition to the Batman persona, and I like that. The opening three part story in this collection is a little light (but still pretty horrible), but leads into a really great pyschological crime thingy featuring Jim Gordon's son (whom I'm not familar with). Snyder has a great grasp of the things that make people tick and their behaviours and has a great handle on what its like for someone when their behaviour is abnormal by societies standards. I found it oddly chilling all the way through as well. Great stuff. Art is by Jock, whom has a nice scratchy style and another guy whose name I can't remember but has a nice, clear style which i really like.