A weekend leisure reading review…because sometimes Pastors also need a break from heavy theological reading!
Paul Dini. Batman: Private Casebook. New York, NY: DC Comics, December 23rd 2008. 160 pp.
4 out of 5
Purchase: Amazon
This is another comic book on Batman. This particular title is a collection of seven short stories or mini-chapters of short stories. The writer Paul Dini was the producer and screen writer for Batman: The Animated Series and if you enjoyed those cartoons in the 90s you will also enjoy the same feel of short episodes in this book, though the illustrators did vary from story to story. Overall it was a fun read.
Various super-villains are featured in this volume such as Ra’s al Ghul, the Mad Hatter and the Wonderland gang, Scarface and the Ventriloquist and Catwoman. There’s also a feature of the character Zatanna who helps Batman; I actually think she’s a neat character who support Batman. However like other characters who help Batman, Batman still manage to somehow manage to be somewhat distance from them, including Zatanna. The work also feature lesser known villains such as the Dumson and Deever twins. Also in this book we also see Riddler no longer pursuing crime and is on the side of justice by trying to solve crimes. In this instance it is to solve a murder and Batman and the Riddler are on a race to figure it out before the other one finds out first. I thought there’s a pretty interesting capture of the internet and group chatrooms in trying to anonymously and collectively brainstorm with the limited clues known. That was interesting and was a rather updated Batman story! Of the stories in this work I enjoyed “The Suit of Sorrows” that was about Batman having a suite made of a specific material that might possibly be supernatural. Batman is on the journey to find out information about the history of the cloth but encounters twists and turn and villains. It does remind us that we have a dark side; what the Bible calls our sin nature. The stories “Opening Night” and “Curtains” are both one story arc and was a bit strange for me concerning Scarface and a new Ventriloquist. Overall though the book was a fun read. I give this a four out of five.
The Domain for Truth 
This makes me wonder if the creators of the Gotham series had knowledge of this idea of the riddler. In the series he started out working in the GPD crime lab.
Wow I wonder if the author has anything to do with the show given the author wrote the script for many Batman animated series; do you know who wrote the Script for the particular Gotham episode?
After doing a fast and frantic googlin’, the developer of Gotham was Bruno Heller. Doesn’t seem to have anyone involved with the animated series, but I suppose it could have influenced by them.
Paul Dini also wrote an autobiographical graphic novel about himself that touches on Batman as well which you should check out.
I enjoyed the review. Even back in the Silver Age-era with its pollyannaish characterizations and plotlines, Batman stood out as a “tortured soul.”
Any chance you review Silver Age-era batman after you are done with LSH?
That’s a good idea! I’d like to do that. I looked up Batman 1966, 1967, and 1968 on Amazon to see if I could recognize any of the covers and I did spot a few that got the old neurons firing. In fact, I saw that one of my old Batmans from 1966 is selling for $380, the first appearance of Poison Ivy.
For me, Batman will always be the humorous TV show from the 1960s. The darker versions of his story don’t suit me. To each his own entertainment. J.
Sounds like a fun read
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