Review of Two Batman Comics Read in September 2020

A weekend leisure reading review…because sometimes Pastors also need a break from heavy theological reading!  Finally a Batman review for some of you fans!

I’m going to review volume 11 first before volume 10 since volume 11 is way better than volume 10.

(EDITED: If you want to read some old school Batman fun check out our recent review “Review: Batman: Year Two 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition.”

Tom King.  Batman, Volume 11: The Fall and the Fallen. Burbank, CA: DC Comics, January 14th 2020. 144 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

Here’s some more Batman adventures!  As I mentioned in my review of volume 10 the last volume felt like a dreamy filler but here in this volume it picks up from volume 8 after Batman was knocked out in a plot by Bane.  This volume collects Batman issues number 70-74 and Secret Files #2.

The main story in this volume is the story arc “The Fall and the Fallen.”  Batman after being drugged and caught in a machine he breaks out and fights a whole host of villains to escape from Hush, Croc, the Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze and Riddler, etc.  That was pretty cool even as it’s pretty quick.  After escaping here in this book Batman calls his fellow caped heroes including Nighwing, Catwoman and Robin together to go on a path to resist Bane.  But his team are also not sure if Batman is ok.  The rest of the book we do see Batman being unhinged while at the same time we also see Batman discover the wide conspiracy of Bane that is so deep it goes back to the very first issue of Batman’s Rebirth’s reboot.  We also see Batman’s father Thomas appear in this story as alive in a costume similar to Batman but Thomas Wayne is a lot darker than his son Brue.  Thomas is actually from an alternative world in which Bruce’s parents weren’t killed.  We see Thomas dragging an unconscious Batman through the desert and fighting desert assassin and when Batman wakes up he’s trying to figure out what’s going on with the desert trip and the mysterious coffin that the horse is dragging.  It turns out that Thomas is trying to do something not very wise and dangerous that can affect the very identity of Batman and his motivation and Batman has to fight his father.  As the two fights the conversation recounts Bruce’s childhood and an exploration of how his childhood has affect Batman today.  Well done!

The Secret Files #2 in this volume is a collection of short stories by various writers and illustrators with the first being Joker having a captured Batman and trying to figure out to unmask Batman but it’s harder than he thinks.  The second short story title “He Helps Us” with Batman freeing people held hostage in a cult lead by a villain name Psycho-Pirate.  There’s another short story about the Riddler which a psychologist is trying to understand the Riddler’s thinking of his relationship in fighting Batman.

Overall I enjoyed this better than the last volume since it makes more sense as a narrative and also there’s action.

 

Batman, Volume 10: Knightmares

Tom King.  Batman, Volume 10: Knightmares. Burbank, CA: DC Comics, October 8th 2019. 152 pp.

2 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

Want to read Batman after volume 9’s “The Tyrant Wing?”  This volume picks up after the last page of the previous volume and collects Batman comic issue 61 through 63 and also issues 66-69.  It has a nice accompanying cover for this trade paperback that I enjoyed.

In talking about the stories in this volume I share some words of criticism.  Like in volume 9 I mentioned how suddenly about half through the book and we are told “To be continued” and the last half of the book is collection of short stories.  Something similar takes place in this book and only about halfway through do you realize why it’s the way it is.  Those who don’t want any spoilers should skip the next sentence and read the next paragraph: This whole volume is largely adventures of Batman in his dream state, a parade of nightmares and disjointed events and action if you will.

The small short stories someone mimicking Bruce Wayne’s childhood but instead of fighting crime the child is out to commit crime and violence.  There’s also the stories of Batman with his mindset with his marriage to Catwomen which happened a few volumes back.  Those are fascinating but sometimes they feel like fillers.  The exception I would say is the story called “Cat” which is Nightmares part 4.  Here the artist Jorge Fornes with his dark colors and noir like mood with the writer Tom King’s narration really was high quality graphic novel exploration of the character Batman from the perspective of someone asking and almost interrogating Catwoman concerning why Batman continues on his crime fighting crusade.  Longtime fans of Batman will notice the illustrative reference to past Batman comic stories specifically with the 80s version of Bruce Wayne trying to go fight crime for the first time before he took on the Batman persona; this certain early episode of a rookie Bruce Wayne is also the first encounter Catwoman has with hero Bruce Wayne.  The panels for this story is also amazing with many similar panels but each one is Batman fighting a different villain with the short burst of Catwoman’s narration about Batman’s mindset; you get the sense that Batman has gone through a lot in his crusade and the visual and storytelling joined together powerfully to tell a story that is compelling but it also ends with Catwoman stop answering the last question which is appropriate stylistically since there is a sense of mystique still with our Caped Crusader.

I keep on going back and forth with giving this book either a two or a three.  I really did not like the story of Catwoman’s bachelorette party, wasn’t appropriate and didn’t need to be there and DC Comics was trying too hard to do who knows what.  I imagine most readers are guys that want to see adventures and action and this volume didn’t really deliver.  If DC continue this with their Batman franchise I wonder whether this will hurt them in the long run.