Winternet

I’ve been reading a lot of Batman comics lately. Here’s what I’ve read:

The Killing Joke

Alan Moore never ceases to amaze me. The back story on the Joker and the main narrative of trying to crack Jim Gordon worked together really well. And his writing is just so much smarter and more literate than anyone else that I’ve read in superhero comics (Neal Gaiman included). The scene between the Joker and his wife is so pitch-perfect, that it gives the rest of the story a lot of its weight. And the fact that the Joker’s song not only rhymed, but parsed right for a musical number, was a nice touch that I frankly didn’t expect from a comic. The artwork on the Joker and Batman is incredible, too. I wish there were more of these.

Dark Night Returns

I had to go back and reread to remember how sophisticated this story is. This is on everyone’s list, but it’s there for a reason. Frank Miller brings out everything that’s interesting about Batman. Which is that he’s a hair’s breadth away from being a villain and, more importantly, that he’s not super. He’s tired and broken and human. I like the artwork on this Batman best. Also, Superman is a dick.

Knightfall

Just a really cool comic. It’s sort of a kitchen sink story: all the supervillains are broken out of Arkham and an old, tired Batman has to put them all back and fails. Some of the artwork is just sloppy, though. There’s a panel, at least in my book, where they just forgot to ink part of Bane. And another where Batman’s head is coming out of his left shoulder. The story’s cool enough to make up for it though. I haven’t finished the other two books yet, but it’s only gotten better so far.

Batman: Year One

This one was only okay. It was just short on narrative. Not enough happened over the pages, at least not enough to keep me interested. The premise is Bruce Wayne’s first year as Batman, but the close calls didn’t have enough tension to really draw me in. It was my favorite take on Commissioner Gordon, though.