What It’s Been Leading To: Why Countdown To Final Crisis – Volume 3 Succeeds. . .

The Good: Plot progresses exceptionally well, Actual character development on the important fronts
The Bad: Some of the artwork, Still has some ridiculous tangents.
The Basics: Blasting toward the conclusion of the countdown crossover event, Countdown To Final Crisis – Volume Three starts to end some of the plot threads and, in the process, it starts to actually present interesting characters doing compelling things.


As one who was not a fan of Final Crisis (reviewed here!) , it might seem strange that I am bothering with the massive saga that connects Final Crisis to its vastly superior predecessor, Infinite Crisis. Thus, I found myself trudging through Countdown To Final Crisis – Volume Two (reviewed here!) and not at all excited about Volume Three. But, for a change, life tossed me a pleasant curveball; Countdown To Final Crisis – Volume Three was actually pretty incredible.

Volume Three of Countdown To Final Crisis is the book where writer Paul Dini and his team begin to actually prune several of the plot branches they created in order to lead into the final volume. But more than feeling like the exceptional number of problematic plot threads were simply being trimmed out of existence, Countdown To Final Crisis – Volume Three has a feeling of momentum and an organic plot and character progression.

In Countdown To Final Crisis – Volume Three, the secondary characters in the DC Universe are focused on, with a significant progression of story moved mostly by the search for Ray Palmer and the abrupt and powerful entrance into the narrative of Superman Prime. Outside a brief appearance from another universe’s version of Batman, Volume Three is all about the secondary characters.

Just as in the first two volumes, Countdown To Final Crisis – Volume Three has multiple threads, none of which are fully developed, but some of which actually have a feeling of resolution to them.

The bulk of Countdown To Final Crisis – Volume Three is in four main plotlines. Mary Marvel has teamed up with Eclipso, the evil version of Jean Lorring who has been possessed by an evil gem. After Eclipso turns Mary Marvel over to Darkseid, Mary Marvel turns her life around. Fighting against Eclipso’s attempt to steal even more power, Mary Marvel makes a profound choice that has the potential to forever change her.

Mary Marvel’s choice is a truly heroic one and while on a plot front, there seems little point to her story other than to end up on Themyscira where Holly Robinson and Harley have ended up, but the journey there finally turns the good girl gone bad back onto a more positive direction. Mary Marvel was briefly turned into a wicked sex symbol, but in Volume 3 she turns it around in a compelling way.

Jimmy Olsen’s story actually develops as well. On Apokalips, Jimmy Olsen finds himself the brunt of the wrath of various paradamons and cruel overlords. Fighting against the forces of evil on the evil New Gods’ planet, Olsen hunts for Forager and, in finding her, he begins to learn the clues about what is happening to him! Almost resolved in Countdown To Final Crisis – Volume Three, the Pied Piper and The Trickster run for their lives from Deathstroke. There is a fatality and the last one standing is left almost crazy and alone in the Mexican desert.

The other major enduring plotline in Countdown To Final Crisis – Volume Three focuses on Donna Troy and Jason Todd searching with Bob the Monitor for Ray Palmer. In Volume Three, they actually succeed in finding Ray Palmer and where he is hiding out overlaps with the compelling plot that is added to the storyline. Ray Palmer actually explains how he is supposed to be the key to the coming Crisis and why and the answers are all good.

That storyline intersects with the reappearance of Superman Prime. Cutting through the Multiverse killing Lex Luthors in search of his origin, perfect, universe, Superman Prime is a pretty badass villain. He also comes to introduce some of the book’s useless plotlines, most notably a diverging story with Mr. Mxyztplk being tortured by Superman Prime while an alternate version of Zatanna watches on. But between Ray Palmer and Superman Prime, all-out war breaks out in one of the universes in the Multiverse and that makes for an incredible ending that makes the reader want to come right back.

Countdown To Final Crisis – Volume Three has mostly good artwork. The characters look good and – outside the fact that several are b or c string characters seen in these pages out of costume/make-up – are generally recognizable. Ralph Dibney, notably, looks like anyone but Ralph Dibney or the Elongated Man. There are panels late in the book that have a poor sense of movement and some that are simplified, but otherwise, Volume Three looks good.

In the final analysis, Countdown To Final Crisis – Volume Three stands alone better than the earlier two volumes and encourages the reader to keep reading . . . and read on. This might be the peak of the storyline; it certainly feels like a worthwhile ascension, even if it is not an ending. This makes the minor characters extraordinary and paves the way for a powerful finale . . . if only the fourth volume can get there.

For other major DC Universe crossover events, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Crisis On Infinite Earths
Idenity Crisis
The OMAC Project
Infinite Crisis
52 – Volume 1
Blackest Night: Green Lantern
Brightest Day, Volume 1
Flashpoint

7/10

For other book reviews, check out my Graphic Novel Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Utterly Bored By The Execution, Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity Flops!

The Good: Decent concept
The Bad: Predictable, Terrible artwork, Lackluster character development/establishment
The Basics: Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity is a dull, poorly illustrated graphic novel not worth the time and attention of fans of Wonder Woman, Batman, or Superman.


I have a bone to pick with Brad Meltzer. Meltzer is the author of the wonderful graphic novel Identity Crisis (reviewed here!) and a guy who clearly understands both what character is and how to write an engaging character-driven story. Meltzer is also a world-class liar. I write this with full authority, having never met the man, because his forward to Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity is such a load of bullshit propaganda that he seriously lost credibility with me just for having written it. On the other hand, maybe Brad Meltzer’s foreword in Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity is just another example of what a wonderful fiction writer he is. Regardless, it was reading his foreword that convinced me to read Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity and now that I have wasted my time on that, I’m blaming him for his part in this literary travesty.

Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity is, arguably, the worst written, worst-illustrated DC graphic novel I have yet come across. From the choppy writing of Matt Wagner to the art that looks more like, well, mine (and I am very much not a visual artist!), Matt Wagner created a mess under the guise of what was supposed to be the original team-up story between the three icons of the DC Universe: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

When a new group of villains, known simply as the Purge, begins to attack Metropolis and Gotham City, Batman and Superman get involved. Batman quickly recognizes the force as one trained by Ra’s al Ghul, though he will not tell Superman how exactly he knows that. When Ra’s al Ghul unearths Bizzaro and uses Bizzaro to bring him a Soviet sub filled with nuclear missiles, one is detonated off Themyscira. After conflicts with a mysterious Amazon, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman meet and determine they share a common enemy in Ra’s al Ghul.

As Ra’s al Ghul moves to set off four nuclear missiles and reduce civilization to cinders, Superman and Batman hunt for Bizzaro and Wonder Woman investigates the Amazon angle. Their journey to stop Ra’s al Ghul takes the trio from Gotham to Metropolis, deep under the ground, and to Paradise Island where they join the Amazons to stop an all-out assault by Bizzaro, Ra’s al Ghul and the Purge.

Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity is not, in fact, the first meeting of Batman and Superman; it is very clear that they have known one another for quite some time before the events in Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity. Moreover, both heroes seem to be aware of Wonder Woman (including her having that name already), so the real purpose of Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity is a bit murkier than the stated one.

Actually, I’m at a loss as to what the point of Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity actually is. The conflict is set up pretty generically with a villain for each of the protagonists. With Ra’s al Ghul, Bizzaro, and a mysterious Amazon (I’ll not ruin the faux-surprise of her identity) all in play, it seemed like a pretty natural set up for a crossover with Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. One of the very few surprises of Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity is that the heroes to not simply square off with their traditional adversaries. As a result, Batman becomes obsessed with defeating the Amazon (he also takes on Bizzaro pretty intensely), Wonder Woman and Bizarro have quite the conflict and Ra’s al Ghul manages to exploit some of Superman’s moralistic weaknesses.

Beyond that, there is astonishingly little to Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity. Superman simply accepts Bruce and his harsh methods (because he is already used to it, he says – and because he sees the heroism in Batman’s one-man crusade against crime) and neither of them treats Wonder Woman especially well. In fact, Diana is offended by how Batman uses her lasso of truth, but there is really no reaction or dialogue about it other than the stated sense of offense. Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity is not a bold character study. Instead, it is a pretty tired adventure to save the world like these heroes have done numerous times.

What gets me most about Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity is how very sloppy it is. While the artwork is terrible and largely simplified (much of the book looks like a nicely-colored comuic strip as opposed to a rich comic book or graphic novel with well-developed or rendered characters and settings. But the sloppiness is more than just an artistic problem. First, the writing is frequently choppy and changes narrators abruptly and in unclear ways. Second, thoughts pop up that are not shown, they are simply told. Like Batman and the Invisible Plane: we are told he wants one, but not shown it, he doesn’t say it, etc. Moreover, the Wonder Woman presented in Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity makes the Invisible Jet baffling as she appears to be able to fly on her own.

The other troublingly sloppy aspect of Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity is how characters appear out of nowhere for no real reason. Robin appears in one frame abruptly next to the Batmobile before scampering off out of the Batcave. Aquaman is given an utterly gratuitous cameo near the end of the book and the ultimate feeling one is left with is that Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity needed filler; it was not significant enough on its own.

And it is not. Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity is a dull story where the villains and heroes seem thrown together with little sensibility for coherent motives and the book reads as a thoroughly average superhero story of saving the world. But even its peaks in average territory is brought down by the artwork which is enough to make one shudder and almost swear off the medium forever!

For other works that feature Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman together, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Kingdom Come
Justice
Superman/Batman: Supergirl

1/10

For other graphic novel reviews, be sure to check out my Graphic Novel Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Outside The Artwork, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies Is A Remarkably Satisfying Graphic Novel.

The Good: Engaging story, Interesting narrative technique, Good characters
The Bad: Stunningly simple resolution, Much of the artwork, Unclear of the audience
The Basics: Superman/Batman: Public Enemies starts the team-up series off awkwardly as Batman and Superman must combat the forces of President Lex Luthor.


Lately, I’ve been getting my graphic novels out of order from the library. As a result, I actually read the second volume in the Superman/Batman series, Superman/Batman: Supergirl (reviewed here!) before reading Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, which is volume 1. It is a testament to Volume 2 that I was intrigued enough by the elements alluded to in the second volume that I felt the desire to go back and check out Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. Prior to reading the second book, I had absolutely no interest in the Superman/Batman crossover book.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies tells the story of the end of the presidency of Lex Luthor and it foreshadows some much better stories to come, ironically, not with Superman or Batman. In fact, one of the real thrills for me was how Captain Atom was used in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and it sets him up for his work in one of my favorites, Justice League: Generation Lost (Volume 1 is reviewed here!). Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is, at its worst, an ambitious start to the team-up stories and while my recommendation is a little weaker than for many other graphic novels, that is mostly the result of the artwork.

When an asteroid composed of Kryptonite enters Earth’s field of detection, President Lex Luthor declares a state of emergency. Despite clues that point to Metallo being the man who murdered Thomas Wayne, Batman sticks by Superman’s side as Luthor declares that Superman is a menace and that the asteroid is headed to Earth because of Superman’s presence there. In an attempt to thwart Luthor and expose him for the corrupt individual he is, Superman and Batman attempt to storm the White House. Unfortunately, they are stopped by a small force of super villains like Solomon Grundy, Mongul, and the Silver Banshee. When Batman realizes they are not acting like they usually do, the pair discovers the real threat.

After stopping the final villain, the heroes are attacked by other heroes. Starting with Captain Marvel and Hawkman, Luthor uses superheroes who are loyal to him to lay a trap for Superman and Batman. Ensnaring other heroes, like Steel and Nightwing, Luthor finally reveals the depths of his machinations and with the world hanging in the balance, Superman and Batman must end his presidency once and for all.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is a sufficiently big story to warrant the team-up and the narrative technique throughout the book has Superman and Batman sharing their inner thoughts in a way that is compelling and sometimes humorous. Sometimes, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies reads like a therapy session between two of the biggest heroes in the DC Universe and that is, at the least, entertaining.

When Superman/Batman: Public Enemies truly devotes itself to focusing on the supplemental characters, the graphic novel works as well. When Lex Luthor explains his thoughts, plan and motive it actually makes a reasonable amount of sense. And the inner monolog of Captain Atom makes him seem astonishingly human, which is tough for the character to pull off.

Unfortunately, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is not without its faults. First, it doesn’t seem to know what audience it is going for. The solution to the problem is somewhat ridiculous and any adult will ask “when did a 13 year-old find time to build this thing?!” And asides about Starfire and Power Girl’s breasts seem out of place in a book that tries to take a mature view of civic duty from Superman’s perspective.

Moreover, the huge superhero team-up in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies feels oddly gratuitous. The strange collection of virtually every major hero like Steel and Hawkman feels like the whole point of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is to shove almost everyone possible into the book.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies also suffers from frequently poor artwork. The characters too-fequently look like animated characters as opposed to fully detailed individuals. Power Girl, for example, who is most often characterized as angry in her appearance looks downright wholesome and doe-eyed in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is an ambitious start and ultimately, more than any of the other issues with it, I found myself wishing it had been drawn to be taken seriously.

For other works where Lex Luthor is a significant character, be sure to check out my reviews of:
The Black Ring, Part 1
Luthor
Justice League: The Injustice League
Justice

6.5/10

For other graphic novel reviews, be sure to check out my Graphic Novel Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The World Of Flashpoint Featuring Batman Is 3/4 Wonderful Comic Book Storytelling!

The Good: The Batman story is pretty awesome, The Deadman and Deathstroke stories are entertaining and well-paced
The Bad: Mediocre artwork, Secret Seven story is an unreadable dud.
The Basics: The World Of Flashpoint Featuring Batman is three interesting stories with enough to establish the peripheral characters and world in Flashpoint without making one worry too much about how the final section is just crap.


For those who do not follow my graphic novel reviews regularly, I make no secret about not being a fan of Batman comics. What little I have read of them, they tend to be repetitive and that bothers me much much more than the violence and lack of character growth. So, as my Flash year nears its end and I find myself taking on the Flashpoint Saga, it will not surprise anyone that I was not hugely excited about reading The World Of Flashpoint Featuring Batman.

So, I was pleasantly surprised!

The World Of Flashpoint Featuring Batman, like most of the World Of Flashpoint books, features four stories that are set in the alternate reality that is Flashpoint (reviewed here!). These tend to focus on Batman and those peripherally related to Batman and, as such, is one of the darker anthologies in the Flashpoint Saga.

Opening with “Batman: Knight Of Vengeance,” The World Of Flashpoint Featuring Batman explores Gotham City. Ruled by business magnate Thomas Wayne, Gotham City is filled with casinos, so Wayne can control the funding of the mob. At night, Thomas Wayne takes up the mantle of the Batman, as his son, Bruce, was once killed in a random act of violence. When Harvey Dent’s children are captured by the Joker, Wayne and Jim Gordon follow the clues to find the new lair of the Joker, a mission that pits Thomas Wayne against one of his greatest, and most personal, adversaries.

“Batman: Knight Of Vengeance” is a clever twist on the familiar Batman character and villain. Much like the classic The Killing Joke (reviewed here!), this chapter of The World Of Flashpoint Featuring Batman fleshes out the Joker in an intriguing way that is super creepy. This chapter had a huge significant reversal in the identity of the character that made me, a complete non-fan of this character and story, engaged and excited for the rest of the book.

The second section of the book is “Deadman And The Flying Graysons.” Coming off the Brightest Day Saga, Boston Brand (Deadman) was one of my favorite characters in the DC Universe, so I was biased toward this story as I began reading it. The carnival is traveling through Europe, featuring the Daredevil Boston Brand as its high flying solo trapeze artist, opposite the troupe the Flying Graysons. With the Atlantean/Amazon war spreading through Europe, the troupe heads toward Poland. En route, Dr. Fate gives Boston a vision of his future as an Amazon begins hunting for Dr. Fate’s helmet. The Amazons attack the circus, killing Dick Grayson’s mother and scattering the allies. When Dr. Fate is slain, Vertigo (from the Resistance) arrives to take the helm, Boston Brand, and Dick Grayson to safety. With their search for the helm turning desperate, the Amazon’s set the country ablaze!

The “Deadman” section of The World Of Flashpoint Featuring Batman is an absolute bloodbath. However, given that many of the characters killed off are secondary characters like Ragdoll and Dick Grayson’s mother, it is hard to get overly invested in the trauma and war story. Come to think of it, given that this is an obscure corner of a very temporary world, this chapter is diverting and entertaining, but very hard to get excited about. It is a novelty chapter, though, to be fair, the artwork in it makes it feel top-notch.

I had absolutely no interestin the “Deathstroke And The Curse Of The Ravager” chapter, despite finally knowing who Deathstroke is from reading Teen Titans graphic novels earlier this year. Deathstroke, in his chapter, is a literal pirate. Out on the high seas, he encounters Warlord (recovering a woman in suspended animation in the process) and then Aquaman and his brother. The entire time, Deathstroke is searching for his captured daughter, Rose. Rose is being traded around metahuman ships and as Deathstroke assembles a team to recover her, he must put down a mutiny, learn who his new “cargo” is and fight off a deathblow to survive long enough to save his daughter.

The Deathstroke chapter is engaging, though it is a very limited story that has some obvious elements. In addition to Deathstroke being characteristically obsessed with his daughter, it has such banal elements as Aquaman declaring himself mad with grief, which sounds more like a writer’s note on the character than an actual plausible line. The artwork in this section is decent and has a good sense of movement. For those who like pirate stories, this satisfies.

The Secret Seven section of The World Of Flashpoint Featuring Batman is utterly unbearable, though. Filled with magic-users, like Zatanna, it seems to serve only to explain how and why Enchantress switches sides in Flashpoint. I didn’t care there and this story did not make me care here.

Ultimately, The World Of Flashpoint Featuring Batman is one of the better compilations, with three of the four stories being engaging, clever, and interesting and the final one being nothing more than deadweight.

For other Flashpoint-related books, be sure to check out my reviews of:
The Flash: The Dastardly Death Of The Rogues
The Road To Flashpoint
The World Of Flashpoint Featuring Green Lantern
The World Of Flashpoint Featuring Superman

6/10

For other graphic novel reviews, be sure to check out my Graphic Novel Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Boredom And A Growing Appreciation For Supergirl Leads Me To Superman/Batman: Supergirl, Where I Discover A Worthwhile Graphic Novel!

The Good: Engaging story development, Decent character work, The artwork
The Bad: The artwork makes some of the character elements very hard to swallow.
The Basics: The return of Kara Zor-El to the DC Universe nets a solidly entertaining book with Superman/Batman: Supergirl!


I have, for the most part, pointedly avoided the Supergirl franchise. Truth be told, I am not a fan of Superman and Supergirl seems less about empowering women and much more about providing a masturbatory fantasy for men. Given that Supergirl is a teenager, that’s just wrong. But, boredom at work during my breaks and my library being slow to get in new books for my Flash Year has led me to occasionally pick up a Supergirl book. The latest one I have found myself reading is Superman/Batman: Supergirl.

Before I say how good it is, I want to strenuously disagree with author Jeph Loeb, who wrote Superman/Batman: Supergirl. In his foreword for Superman/Batman: Supergirl (ever wonder who reads those things? Well, it’s me!), he is describing the work of his good friend Michael Turner, who did the artwork for Superman/Batman: Supergirl. Loeb comments, “What made them [Michael Turner’s women] sexy wasn’t the typical pinup shot of adolescent male fantasies” in his foreword. I could not disagree more. Having only (to my easy recollection) read Michael Turner’s Fathom (reviewed here!) by the artist before now, I can easily and authoritatively say that all Turner does with his women is make pinups! His Supergirl is no exception and if the book had page numbers, I’d easily cite a dozen (but, sufficed to say the artwork of Kara Zor-El walking beside Clark Kent in Metropolis features jeans so low, thong straps so high and breasts so unrealistically curvaceous that all it is is an adolescent male fantasy! In fact, given that Superman/Batman: Supergirl came to me via my local library system where it was mischaracterized as “Young Adult,” I’m shocked none of the pages arrived stuck together! If that’s gross, my apologies, but that’s the artwork of Michael Turner without and within Superman/Batman: Supergirl and when the subject is a minor, even a fictional one, it’s enough to make an adult queasy).

Opening following the events of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Bruce Wayne is exploring Gotham Harbor for remnants of a meteorite from Krypton. At the bottom of the Harbor, Batman discovers a ship and when a girl attempts to steal his Batboat, he uses Kryptonite to stop her. Kal-El (Superman) arrives when she awakens and is convinced that she is Kara Zor-El, his cousin, though her own memories are somewhat limited. While Bruce works to verify she is who and what she claims to be, Kal-El drops his guard and lets Kara into his life entirely.

Seeing no other way of keeping the world safe, Batman and Wonder Woman stage an abduction to take Kara to Themyscira. There, the Amazons train Kara until Darkseid’s forces attack the island. In the attack, Harbinger is killed and Kara Zor-El is abducted. With Superman furious, the trio is joined by Barda and they make a trip to Apokolips to get her back and thwart Darkseid.

Superman/Batman: Supergirl may be one of the most character-filled books featuring Superman that I have ever read. His role in Superman/Batman: Supergirl is a decent one and in this book, he is deeply interested in creating a family. Kara Zor-El represents that for him and as a result, her abduction stings in a way that allows him to credibly evoke Jason Todd to Batman and Donna Troy to Wonder Woman. In Superman/Batman: Supergirl, he is not simply the highly moralistic “Boy Scout” type character. Instead, he has enough depth to be hurt and compelling for his anguish.

Bruce Wayne, despite appearing for the vital plot points, is very much a secondary character in Superman/Batman: Supergirl. The book uses his suspicion to set him apart from Clark exceptionally well, though thathas been done in other books frequently as well. Here, Bruce trusts in Wonder Woman and I like that aspect of the story because it justifies Diana’s latent love for Bruce revealed in Blackest Night. So, Bruce is along for the ride.

As for Supergirl in Superman/Batman: Supergirl? Well, she’s a pinup. She functions as a pawn, a source of conflict between Kal-El and Bruce and a tool for Darkseid. But beyond that, Supergirl is less an entity of her own in Superman/Batman: Supergirl and more a way to express Kal-El’s deep desire to have a family beyond just Lois. In the process, Kal-El illustrates his dark side, like tossing Wonder Woman like a rag doll in order to be able to fight Darkseid. Supergirl has no real character, no habits, ambitions or likes of her own in Superman/Batman: Supergirl. Instead, she is introduced and much of her important character development – the training on Themyscira, her friendship with Harbinger, etc. – happens “off camera.”

Outside the artwork in Superman/Batman: Supergirl being a radical departure from the styles of most DC Universe books (but entirely in the style of Michael Turner), it is good. However, things like Kara asking Superman what he thinks of her outfit and not getting a “well, it’s pretty damn short for a minor” seems odd.

In the end, though, Superman/Batman: Supergirl is a pretty compelling resurrection story that is enjoyable and well-assembled (though it does ask for some significant suspension of disbelief near the end). That makes Superman/Batman: Supergirl very easy to recommend.

For other graphic novels featuring Supergirl, check out my reviews of:
Crisis On Infinite Earths
Supergirl: Death And The Family
The Brave And The Bold, Volume 1: The Lords Of Luck

7/10

For other graphic novel reviews, be sure to check out my Graphic Novel Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Darkness Gets Deeper In Batman: The Killing Joke

The Good: Great artwork, Good story, Disturbingly graphic
The Bad: Ultimately adds up to very little.
The Basics: Batman: The Killing Joke might well be one of the few Batman graphic novels I enjoyed, offering a backstory to the Joker and desperately wounding one of the heroines of the DC Universe.


Recently, I began reading graphic novels in the Birds Of Prey series (Perfect Pitch is reviewed here!) and while I have been a little more neutral to them than some of the other comic book series’ that I have picked up, I suppose I found myself intrigued. I was intrigued enough by Barbara Gordon – the Oracle – to want to check out what was essentially the Oracle’s origin story. I knew that the Joker was responsible for getting Barbara confined to a wheelchair and that it happened in Batman: The Killing Joke, so I figured I would pick that book up. Now available in a deluxe hardcover version, Batman: The Killing Joke is an appropriately dark book with surprisingly little in the way of mystery. In fact, Batman: The Killing Joke might well be the most straightforward Batman book I have read.

Batman: The Killing Joke is essentially a double-long one-shot story that once again pits the Joker against Batman. What makes Batman: The Killing Joke different is that it actually provides an origin story for the Joker and it has lasting consequences, at least for Barbara Gordon.

Batman arrives at Arkham Asylum to interview the Joker. He wants to reach out and try to appeal to the Joker’s humanity before either of them ends up killing the other. He is, therefore, surprised and disturbed to discover that the man he is sitting across from is not the Joker and that once more the Joker is free. The Joker, for his part, spends the same time buying an amusement park. After killing the park’s owner, the Joker prepares his most elaborate plot yet.

Arriving at the home of Police Commissioner Jim Gordon, the Joker shoots Barbara Gordon, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down, naked and helpless. Capturing Jim Gordon, the Joker takes him to his amusement park where he torments the old man with images of his wounded daughter. Batman swoops in to rescue Gordon and thwart the Joker once again.

Batman: The Killing Joke is intentionally dark, disturbing and creepy. But I found it to be something quite a bit less extraordinary than Alan Moore’s other important graphic novel from around the same time, Watchmen (reviewed here!). While still arguably quite a bit better than his Lost Girls, Batman: The Killing Joke is in many ways a troublingly simple graphic novel. Indeed, the seminal event that I picked the book up for happens very early in the tome and is not truly reflected upon within its pages. In fact, the Joker makes no mention of shooting Barbara as anything other than a random occurrence. If the Joker knew she was Batgirl, it is not made clear in this story.

Instead, much of Batman: The Killing Joke focuses on the Joker trying to drive Jim Gordon insane while flashing back to the origin story of the Joker. The origin story is interesting and creates an almost sympathetic character before the accident which created the Joker. Moore is good at making readers care about unlikely characters and in that way, Batman: The Killing Joke is another success of his. The reader feels bad for the proto-Joker even as his current incarnation has Jim Gordon stripped naked and tortured. It’s brutal, but Moore effectively contrasts the current Joker with his surprisingly mundane origins.

What is also worthwhile in the book is how Batman is characterized, however briefly. In Batman: The Killing Joke, Bruce Wayne tries to come to a truce with the Joker. He wants to stop the bloodshed and he offers the Joker a chance at rehabilitation and redemption. This is a far cry from the Batman I have read in so many other books where he is characterized as cold, emotionally reserved and so efficient as to be almost inhuman. In Batman: The Killing Joke, he is highly-principled and deeply human. In fact, here he is heroic.

The artwork in Batman: The Killing Joke is largely excellent as well. While there are a few sequences – most notably what appears to be a protracted sequence of Jim Gordon’s carnival ride leaving the house of horrors it was stuck in – that are less clear, the artwork is distinctive, well-rendered and intriguing. None of the panels are glossed over with simplified artwork and the colors are vibrant, clear and rich with depth and shading on par with contemporary comic books.

In the end, I got exactly what I hoped to in reading Batman: The Killing Joke; I witnessed for myself just how Barbara Gordon was paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair for over twenty years. But I did not get much more out of it than that. The origin story of the Joker was intriguing, but Batman: The Killing Joke does not, ultimately, humanize him; it merely reminds us of what a monster a normal person may become.

For other Batman books, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Batman: R.I.P.
Knightfall: Volume 1 – Broken Bat
Knightfall: Volume 2 – Who Rules The Night
Knightfall: Volume 3 – Knightsend
Batman/Daredevil: King Of New York

6.5/10

For other book reviews, please visit my Book Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the book reviews I have written.

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Wonder Woman: Paradise Lost An Inconsistent Anthology.

The Good: Amazing first story, Consistently good artwork
The Bad: Unfortunately average second story
The Basics: Clever, well illustrated and surprisingly smart - not at all juvenile fiction - Paradise Lost is a compelling Wonder Woman story!


As I make my way through works pertaining to Wonder Woman as part of my "Wonder Woman Year," there are a few things I am beginning to understand already. First, Wonder Woman has a very different story depending upon when she was written. Second, there are multiple "Wonder Women," who have taken up the mantle at different times (much like Robin in the Batman section of the DC universe). And third, there are a number of recurring characters in the "Wonder Woman" mythos who are vital to know (already, I find myself liking Artemis!). While my first experience with a Wonder Woman trade paperback anthology, Love And Murder (click here for that review) left me mystified, my second foray into the printed Wonder Woman was much less baffling. And, for a change, I was real glad I had read Batman: Knightfall (volume one review is available by clicking here!) because Wonder Woman: Paradise Lost is actually a crossover with Batman and knowing the villains from Gotham City in advance made the volume very easy to read and enjoy.

In my continuing exploration of graphic novels as a genre - though most of them are just trade paperback anthologies, collecting previously published comic books in nicer volumes - I've yet to come across any that have so impressed me that I think it is a vital work of actual literature. Even Watchmen was irksome for the way it flowed in parts where the main narrative was interspersed with the "Tales Of The Black Freighter" comic book. So, you might imagine my surprise when I started reading Paradise Lost and soon found it to be engaging, clever and smart enough with a genuine sense of dialogue and character conflicts to actually be literature. Unfortunately for this volume, the first narrative, "Gods Of Gotham" is only four issues (ninety-four pages) long. Paradise Lost, the anthology, includes the four-part "Gods Of Gotham" story, alongside a mini-comic "Who Is Troia?" and the two-part "Paradise Island - Lost?" story. It is then concluded with a standalone which is an interview with Lois Lane.

Rather nicely, the volume opens with an explanation of each of the main characters from the two main sections, complete with drawings. This makes Paradise Lost very easy for those who are not into Wonder Woman or DC Comics (which traditionally, on the latter, I have not been) to understand who the principles are and what is going on with their backstories as the stories progress. This tool is a great gift to readers and one has to be grateful to writer Phil Jimenez for that.

"Gods Of Gotham" finds Gotham City besieged by the Joker, Poison Ivy and the Scarecrow . . . only they are not themselves. All three supervillains have willingly loaned their bodies to the children of Ares, God of War and are now possessed by Deimos (God of Terror), Eris (Goddess of Discord), and Phobos (God of Fear), respectively. Led by a cultist, Maxie Zeus, an abandoned church in Gotham City becomes the portal to an interdimensional realm where the gods prepare for the coming of Ares. Set to thwart them are Wonder Woman, Batman, and sidekicks Nightwing, Huntress, Artemis, Troia, Wonder Girl, and Robin. But when Wonder Woman is almost immediately incapacitated by the possessed Joker, she must stave off the effects of a God's poison to stop Ares from obliterating the world, starting with Gotham City.

"Gods Of Gotham" is remarkably clever, smartly-written story that actually features characters who use brains over brawn. There are a number of obvious superhero conceits: Wonder Woman and Batman work to set the villains against one another (it doesn't work) and they work to appeal to the hosts' personalities to fight the spirits of the gods using their bodies (generally, this does not work either). But what surprised me was how educated the writers seem to be about Greek Mythology and how well they incorporate that into the Wonder Woman and Batman story!

The real shock was how smart the story was in terms of character explorations. Batman is an atheist and Wonder Woman is not only a woman of faith, but a direct product of her gods. Having the two of them work together on a problem which is fundamentally outside Batman's realm of belief makes for a good story, especially given that Batman's views do not weaken as the story goes along. The debate that rages between Artemis and the Huntress is also astonishingly smart as a debate over two very different religions. What's more, this does not slow down the narrative as the heroines work to reach their respective partners.

"Who Is Troia?" features Donna Troy, Princess Diana's sister, returning to Themyscira and being honored as Hippolyta's other daughter. She is given the status of Princess and this is basically a dossier on Troia's backstory for readers to catch up before the "Paradise Island - Lost?" storyline.

With Hippolyta out in Patriarch's World working with the Justice League Of America as Wonder Woman, Diana and Donna return to Themyscira. There, they are at Doom's Doorway, they fall victim to a bombing and all of Paradise Island is thrown into chaos as to who might be responsible. While Artemis takes up the cause of the Amazons Of Bana-Mighdall, Diana champions the Amazons of Themyscira. While Donna looks for a solution that meets the needs of both of the island's populations, the leaders fall under the influence of the sorceress, Magala. Before any of the leaders can stop them, the Themyscirans and Bana-Mighdall Amazons are at war!

This story is problematic because it is both too simple and too complex. The simple aspect is what drags the story down; there is a villain who is revealed very early on and the conflicts are explained at great depth more than they are resolved. As a result, this is a storyline where there's a lot of talk and not a lot of action. But beyond that, the resolution comes entirely from a story the reader is not necessarily privy to, as it is essentially Hippolyta's backstory which the conflict and resolution come from. This comes out as more of a Hippolyta story than a Diana (Wonder Woman) story. The complexity of the story is dragged down by how brief the story is. "Paradise Island - Lost?" is essentially a setup but it mirrors the Palastine/Israel conflict in the Middle East and the way it is so quickly resolved in this comic book is unfortunately simple.

The "Paradise Island - Lost?" storyline is a lot of exposition and very light on character and might have worked better if vital peripheral characters were given more time on the page and developed better so the reader actually cares about them. And while Wonder Woman's underlying jealousy over her mother assuming the Wonder Woman mantle in the Justice League comes into play, most of the character growth actually is Hippolyta's and this story is a setup for future Paradise Island stories. It's not a bad story, but it is predictable and it has a very "comic book" sense to the story that is being told.

The final story in Paradise Lost is "She's A Wonder!" That story has Lois Lane following Diana through her day as she teleports from the Trevor household to France for an inspirational lecture and then to the moon to work on a cure for diabetes. Lane accompanies Diana to New York City for a morning television program, then to D.C. where Diana appeals to President Luthor (yes, that's Lex Luthor, so I guess the DC universe has a real sense of ironic politics . . . which mirrors reality) for aid on a peacekeeping mission. After a bad patch at the U.N., Diana and Lane go to Atlanta, Indonesia, and Rwanda where Diana tries to aid the underprivileged before teleporting back to a pool hall. It's a day in the life of Diana Troy!

This final story is a very basic story which seems to be filling the gap between the "Paradise Island - Lost?" story and whatever comes next. It is utterly unremarkable, but like "Who Is Troia?" it creates a very decent character sketch and readers who are just getting into Wonder Woman at this phase of her development will find it invaluable.

The artwork in Paradise Lost is consistently wonderful. Outside wondering about how the physics of Fury's breasts are working (it's either one heck of a costume or it is being held up by the imagination of teenage boys everywhere) and one or two panels in the "Paradise Island - Lost?" storyline where Diana and Donna are too-similarly drawn, the artwork is clear. In the whole "Gods Of Gotham" story, the interdimensional setting is appropriately creepy and well-rendered with extreme angles being featured for the reader to be pleasantly confounded by.

Paradise Lost, unlike many current trade paperback anthologies, seems to have reprinted the original comics with a very true sense of what they were. As a result, the pages are more of a newspaper stock than nice, glossy pages. The colors are, therefore, a little less vibrant than most current anthologies. Even so, there is a wonderful sense of shading and coloring and some of the panels in the "Gods Of Gotham" story are downright beautiful. There is also a cover gallery at the end of the book, so those who want the full comic book experience (less the advertisements throughout) will find Paradise Lost to be a wonderfully complete anthology.

Unfortunately, though, the greatness of the clever and heroic "Gods Of Gotham" story is brought down by the more mediocre stories which follow it and the anthology suffers as a result. Anyone who likes a compelling heroic story with larger-than-life conflict will enjoy the "Gods Of Gotham" story and want to pick Paradise Lost up for that, if nothing else.

For other Wonder Woman volumes, please check out my reviews of:
Wonder Woman: Lifelines
Wonder Woman: Amazonia
Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia

6.5/10

For other book and graphic novel reviews, please be sure to check out my index page by clicking here!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.


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I'm Glad I Read The Simple-Concept Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia, But I Wouldn't Buy It!

The Good: Great artwork, Decent story
The Bad: Very simple, Very short
The Basics: A very simple novella, Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia pits Wonder Woman against Batman when Diana is honor-bound to care for a criminal who supplicates herself to her!


Sometimes, the cover to a book almost completely tells the reader the whole story of what is inside. The boot of Wonder Woman pressing Batman's cowled head down on the cover of Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia tells almost the complete story contained in this ninety-paged graphic "novel."

After eluding the Batman after killing a man in Gotham City, Danielle Wellys arrives in New York City where she approaches Diana at the Themysciran embassy. Danielle performs an ancient Greek ritual, the Hiketeia, which puts her in supplication to Diana and Diana accepts her fealty. The Erinyes (Furies) arrive to enforce the Hiketeia and insure that the supplicated lives up to her half of the arrangement. After a few days of working for Diana, Danielle confesses to her what she did and why. But no sooner has Diana made peace with this than Batman arrives to take Danielle into custody and Wonder Woman must fight him, lest the Erinyes take her life for failing to honor the Hiketeia.

The Hiketeia is fully detailed in the opening pages of Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia, with all of the codicils and conditions, including a graphic rendering of what the Erinyes do to those who break their word in this ritual. As a result, the reader knows exactly what will happen if Wonder Woman fails to keep her word and protect Danielle. However, it is also unsurprising how the ultimate resolution will come, as that is described in the full briefing on what a Hiketeia is in the opening.

The Hiketeia suffers from "simple problem, simple solution" syndrome and the book has no character development. From the opening pages, the reader knows that Diana is honor bound to protect Danielle and she will carry out her duty as Wonder Woman in an unflinching manner. Similarly, the reader knows that Batman will seek Danielle and will do anything he can in order to return her to Gotham City and the law. Neither character grows or evolves and Danielle doesn't either, she just explains herself.

The explanation, is actually remarkably well-placed when one considers the amount of visual information the reader gets before she actually makes her backstory explicit. Penciled by J.G. Jones and inked and colored by Wade von Grawbadger and Dave Stewart, The Hiketeia is a beautiful book of comic art. The colors are vibrant and the pages are magazine quality with glossy pages. The sequences have a wonderful sense of movement to them and while Diana spends most of the book in a tank top and jeans, she still looks like a Greek goddess. The Erinyes are appropriately frightening and in the backstory, there is enough graphic quality to suggest that this is intended for more mature readers.

That said, that same demographic is unlikely to want the book for more than two reads. After my second reading, where I picked up all of the visual details and clues the story gave in advance, I found there was no reason for reading it again.

For other Wonder Woman graphic novels, please check out my reviews of:
Wonder Woman: Lifelines
Wonder Woman: Amazonia
Wonder Woman: Ends Of The Earth

5/10

For other graphic novel reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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If You're Going To Kill A Superhero, Do It! Otherwise, Don't Waste Our Time: Batman R.I.P.

The Good: It seemed like there was a casualty, Artwork
The Bad: Fractured visual storytelling, Distractions, Lack of character, Obvious plot/reversals, Expensive
The Basics: A disappointing anthology, the Batman R.I.P. story leads to the death of Batman. . . or not. Problematic in story and art, this teases the audience, but does not deliver.


When I started out on my exploration of graphic novels and trade paperback anthologies, I was not a reader of comic books. Believe it or not - considering that of late my reviews of books have almost entirely been limited to trade paperback anthologies (graphic novels) - I have little interest in the genre, save that so many movies of late have been made based on works in this medium. Still, as I peruse the latest titles in the graphic novel section of Barnes & Noble for the latest movie tie-in, I occasionally find one that surprises me enough to sit and read. Last year, I found myself at a Barnes & Noble in Rochester as part of a disastrous reading/signing of small press authors (basically, friends of the authors came, bought from their respective author and left, no foot traffic) with plenty of time to sit and read. So, I picked up one of those graphic novels that actually intrigued me. It was Batman R.I.P.

Batman R.I.P. was billed as the storyline that would kill off Batman and while The Death Of Superman back when I was in high school got all sort of mainstream attention, Batman R.I.P. did not. Still, of all of the superheroes, Batman intrigues me most because he's just an ordinary rich guy with his own demons and a vengeance. Batman has no superpowers, just wealth, will and intelligence. He lives by hit wits and inventions alone and that is pretty compelling. So, the idea of killing him off made me intrigued; which villain finally buries him? How does he go out? I was legitimately curious and when my signing went poorly, I was actually happy to salvage it by reading this. Unfortunately, it was not the story I - or others might hope and if you want to read a review that does not explore the most critical problem of the book, now is where you absolutely must stop reading this.

I'm not big on spoilers and I shall maintain all of the most important surprises of Batman R.I.P. Still, it is impossible to adequately criticize this work without acknowledging its basic fault. Whatever the word for "cocktease" is when referring to literature, this is it. Batman R.I.P. fails to do what the back and title promise. The reason this was not a huge mainstream draw was that once again the writers, in this case author Grant Morrison and his art team, fail to deliver on the promise of a story that will bury Bruce Wayne and the Batman. The insult to the injury here is that for the nine-comic anthology, one must pay extra. This edition is a hardcover collection that beautifully collects the nine-chapters of Batman R.I.P. and allows the reader/collector to display it all in one place. But it's all mystery, murk and when it comes time for the big bang, the book fizzles.

Suddenly obsessed with the Black Glove, Batman begins investigating the mysterious new crime syndicate that has popped up in Gotham City. As Batman becomes convinced that the key to saving Gotham City forever rests in uncovering who is involved in the Black Glove and what their agenda is, Bruce Wayne finds himself more and more in love with Jezebel Jet. Eager to keep her safe, Batman tries to encourage Jezebel to abandon him until he can figure out how to thwart the Black Glove. As Batman cleans up Gotham from new, lamer criminals operating in a power vacuum (all of the main big bads are locked up in Arkham Asylum at this point), he becomes intrigued with the lack of clues connected to the Black Glove.

But then, Jezebel is invited to the Black Glove's Danse Macabre where the leader of the Black Glove promises a true and final duel between good and evil, including the destruction of Batman. As the pair plans to spring the trap the Black Glove has set for them, Jezebel inadvertently sets Batman off by reading a trigger phrase implanted into Bruce Wayne decades prior by Doctor Hurt. Psychologically fractured, Batman flees as the Batman Of Zur-en-arrh while Jezebel is captured, the Batcave is burned down and all of Batman's allies put in jeopardy.

First, Batman R.I.P. is clearly intended to be a volume for the fans of the Batman series and saga and it is written with a strong sense that readers know the complete backstory of Batman. As a result, Jezebel Jet appears early in the book as if she has always been a part of the series. Similarly, the Thogal incident is referred to casually (no clue what that is, sorry!), Batman's illegitimate son Damian is referenced (with many questions as to who he is and what is relationship to Robin truly is), and the well-known backstory of Batman's origin (the death of his parents, etc.) is mentioned without being spelled out explicitly. While this might be great for fans of the franchise who have kept up with the comics that immediately precede this storyline, those looking to this book for anything remotely like a satisfying reading experience will be completely lost.

As well, the main narrative is annoyingly fractured in two ways. First, Batman suffers a psychological break that becomes an annoyingly presented story that is nothing short of trippy and second, the supporting characters - Robin, Nightwing, Gordon and Alfred - have long sections where their stories diverge from the Batman plot. The first problem is a serious issue that presents a narrative problem on an order unseen since the parallel storylines in opposite panels of Watchmen (click here for my review of that!). Just as the mix of Watchmen and "Tales Of The Black Freighter" is annoying in that the narrative of both stories is disrupted by the way the stories are told, in Batman R.I.P. when Batman has his psychological break, the story becomes almost unintelligible. There are parts of this which work; Wayne wandering around with the homeless man Honor Jackson and the Batman Of Zur-en-arrh accompanied by an obvious figment of his imagination who wisecracks and warns him of dangers, but the bulk of it is linked through bridges that make no sense. Has Bruce Wayne been captured by Doctor Hurt, doped up and set loose in Gotham City? Where does the Batman Of Zur-en-arrh get his costume? If just a crazed Bruce Wayne enters Arkham - is he already there in a straightjacket?! - doesn't pretty much everyone know who he is now?

Before we go into the other problem, the question of Bruce Wayne already being in Arkham is the lone problem with the artwork in Batman R.I.P. Doctor Hurt and Bruce Wayne bear a striking resemblance to one another and this is a problem for figuring out what is going on. This is the death knell of a book that is trading on reality-bending situations and the story becomes visually confusing and convoluted in the middle of the book because of this.

As for the second problem, there is no problem with exploring how the Black Glove tries to take out Batman's allies. The problem is that characters seem to be defeated and then turn up later with no explanation. Similarly, the amount of time spent on the other characters distracts from what Batman is going through and where the Batman of Zur-en-arrh is at any given time.

For the most part, Tony S. Daniel does an amazing job with the artwork. Some of the early panels of Wayne and Jezebel are beautifully drawn and are actually sensual. As the book goes on, though, there are moments when the sense of movement is off. There is a car chase in the beginning where dialogue indicates potential actions which are then not shown. As a result, the use of the medium is not as good as it ought to be. If a book's strength is in describing events so the imagination may create them, a comic book is supposed to illustrate the bridges between the dialogue so the common experience is shared. That does not happen enough in Batman R.I.P.

In its hardcover form, the story ends with an art gallery and it is fair, though a pretty common bonus feature for hardcover books like this. Still, it is not enough to justify the expense of buying this book with all its predictable twists and turns (the true villains are unsurprising) and the eventual resolution to the book is anything but satisfying. Or sensible.

For other Batman anthologies, please check out my reviews of:
Knightfall Volume One: Broken Bat
Knightfall Volume Two: Who Rules The Night
Knightfall Volume Three: Kightsend

3/10

For other graphic novel reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Repetitive Batman Outing Finishes The Fall With Simplicity Over Violence: Knightfall: Knightsend

The Good: Wraps up the story nicely, sort of.
The Bad: Very simplistic ending, Missing a huge chunk of storyline, Overly simple, Lame villains, No Character!
The Basics: Wrapping up the essential conflict of having two Batmans running around Gotham City, Knightsend resolves the story, but does not satisfy.


The only comic book I bought, for a long time, as an adult was the three graphic novels comprising the Knightfall saga, a Batman comic endeavor. My reasons were explained in my reviews for Knightfall: Part One - Broken Bat (click here for that review!) and Knightfall: Part Two - Who Rules The Night (click here for that review!) and I am glad to be done with the series with Knightfall: Part Three - Knightsend. The problem here is that it is not the end of the series. In the prologue to this volume, the graphic novel declares that a portion of the story, detailing Bruce Wayne's recovery and the new Batman's (Jean-Paul) descent into madness, is missing from the anthologies. I picked up Knightfall because I was intrigued by the idea that all of Batman's enemies were released from Arkham Asylum and Batman became so exhausted retrieving some of them that he was thwarted by Bane and had to be replaced. The idea of having to round up his many nemesi was a cool idea to me. The first volume delivered on that, the second dealt with two more villains being apprehended and this volume, missing the important step as it is is completely devoid of the other enemies of Batman.

Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City miraculously healed, but afraid of literally taking a leap to return to his duty as the Dark Knight. He encounters a fearsome warrior named Lady Shiva who kills a master of martial arts while wearing the Mask of Tengu. She then gives Wayne the mask and lets him fall prey to the apprentices of the master she just killed, hoping she can get him to kill one of them and betray himself. While Wayne defeats these apprentices using non-lethal methods and walks out to the abyss he intends to jump into without doing so, Batman - now seriously armored - goes completely insane and goes on a bit of a killing spree in search of the guy who apparently killed his father. Haunted by the Ghost of Saint Dumas, Batman is hunting a man who is likely already dead and burning through most of Gotham City to do it.

The truly disappointing thing here is not only that a potion of the story is missing (why wasn't this Part Four with Part Three being Knightquest?!), but rather that so much of the missing part of the story seems vastly more interesting than what is presented here. While Batman worked to regain control of the streets of Gotham City in the first chapter of Knightfall, the reader was engaged. Here, Wayne goes through repetitive physical conflicts, fights adversaries who seem obvious and simply physical obstacles, then he stands atop a giant building refusing to leap off. We get it, it gets old quickly. Sadly, it keeps repeating.

Moreover, the character of Jean-Paul Valley, the new Batman is simply dull and a one-trick pony. Any potential Wayne saw in him is gone now and he's a mindless psychopath, as bad as any villain in the Batman pantheon. Indeed, much of the book revolves not around Batman and his insanely burning through gun runners to try to find his father's assassin, but with Robin and Nightwing following him and witlessly trying to determine if he truly is insane.

Indeed, the only truly enjoyable elements in Knightsend are the climactic moments when Wayne, Catwoman, Robin and Nightwing confront the impostor Batman atop a bridge and the end of the book. I don't mean "the end" as in "that it ended," but rather in the resolution. I find the resolution to be ridiculously simple, but as a fan of Star Trek (yes, I know there is a difference between Trek and Batman) I appreciate the philosophical ending to Knightsend.

In short, like all his villains that he must defeat, Bruce Wayne as the returning Batman eventually uses his brains, not his brawn to overcome Valley's Batman. Wayne realizes Valley has gone completely delusional and his solution is to break him by stripping him of his armor (literally and figuratively). It's a smart and intriguing resolution that relies on brains.

But more than the prior two outings, Knightfall reads like a comic book. The characters barely move the story, much of it being very plot centered and reading it becomes a waiting for the end. We thumb through the pages desperately hoping for decent dialogue (most of the conversations in this trade paperback are between Robin and Nightwing and some reference events in the missing chapter) and end up disappointed. We end up waiting for the ultimate resolution and when it comes, we set aside this volume with the full understanding that we will never pick it back up again.

Even if I reread Knightfall Parts I and II, I will not pick Knightsend up again.

The artwork is nothing to write home about with much of it being sloppy and underdeveloped until the final chapters when the two Batmen are going at it. In short, even the spectacle aspect fails. Lacking a solid, interesting plot, genuine character development and reasonable dialogue and failing to be visually interesting, Knightsend falls flat.

But more than that, key Batman villains are still on the loose at the end of Knightsend, most notably the Joker. Given that this was one of the engaging concepts of Knightfall for me, that one of the greatest villains is still at large is just shoddy to me.

That's the curse of Knightsend, though, it wraps things up and restores a status quo to the Batman universe. Sadly, that's all it does.

For other DC graphic novels, please check out my reviews of:
Absolute Justice
Wonder Woman: Challenge Of The Gods
Green Lantern: Agent Orange

3/10

For other book reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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With Batman Broken, Another Must Take His Place. Naturally, It's A Psychopath: Knightfall Volume 2.

The Good: Excellent continuation of the previous stories, Tone, Characters
The Bad: Very basic plot, Issues with the story's timeline, "Middle Act" quality, Peripheral characters
The Basics: In a disappointing follow-up to Broken Bat, a new Batman emerges to fight Gotham's new crimelord while Bruce Wayne wheels away.


In my review of Knightfall - Part One: Broken Bat (click here for that!), I explored the cultural prejudice against comic books (and by extension graphic novel anthologies of their extensive stories). I will, therefore, not repeat myself and have this review follow with the unstated premise that reading Knightfall - Part Two: Who Rules The Night is an acknowledgment that while the prejudice exists, it is somewhat silly, but at the same time nothing takes the place of genuine literature and this is not it.

Following the release of all of Gotham City's greatest villains and Batman's draining attempt to return them to Arkham Asylum, the villain responsible for the breakout, Bane, destroys Batman by breaking his back. Confined to a wheelchair, Bruce Wayne turns to Dr. Shondra Kinsolving for medical help and potential romance. Wayne turns the crimefighting over to Robin and Jean-Paul Valley (previously known as Azrael, before the first Knightfall began).

Valley assumes the cape and outfit of Batman and begins to set order back to the streets of Gotham. This new Batman takes out the Scarecrow, albeit violently, and begins a hunt for Bane. (The villainous Ventriloquist, featured prominently in the first book, appears to take himself out and in a flashback sequence we learn that Batman dealt with Two-Face shortly before being crippled by Bane.) Leaving Robin behind, the new Batman fights Bane to a draw, returns to the Batcave under the influence of a subconscious programming from the mysterious Order of Saint Dumas to design a new suit for Batman.

Who Rules The Night is essentially a middle act that is necessary in order to make the near-death of Batman realistic and consequential. Bruce Wayne is last seen flying off in a jet, still bound to his wheelchair. He is very much broken and damaged, with no immediate prospects for getting better. Bane consolidates his hold on Gotham City and this graphic novel explores how he begins to take control of all of the corrupt institutions.

The main thrust is very much the function of a middle act; Jean-Paul Valley taking up the mantle of the bat to become the new Batman. While it does not take much convincing from Bruce Wayne and Robin for him to agree to become the new Dark Knight, what is far more problematic is that he is more "dark" than "knight." He has no apparent code of ethics he is following and his level of force immediately begins to upset Robin.

This creates a very real character conflict between the two primary characters in Who Rules The Night. Robin - and his non-superhero persona Tim Drake - pleads with Azrael to fight for good and fight by a code that does not perpetuate the darkness that evil lives within. Jean-Paul's view is that the evils are bigger and badder than Batman had to face and as a result, he must be even more extreme than they are. One might not think it possible in a comic book, but this results in a very real level of tension that permeates the dialogue and body language of the characters in these pages.

Who Rules The Night is FAR less cohesive than Broken Bat. The tale begins to splinter, with a sidestory of how Batman and Robin defeated Two-Face before Bane took out Batman, the wandering threads of Bane's power consolidation, Wayne's beginning the road to recovery and the change of power, which culminates in the Scarecrow sidestory with the appearance of another superhero called the Anarchist. It's only after Scarecrow is taken out that the story becomes devoted to its new purpose; finding and eliminating Bane. That's when the story is at its best.

The problem is, on the way, as the story wanders, so does the animation. In the flashback episode dealing with the reappropriation of Two-Face, the comic panels are terrible. The artwork is sloppy and that distracts from the quality of the story dramatically. Conversely, during the Scarecrow series and the culmination of events leading to the face-off between Bane and the new Batman, the animation is wonderful. The pencillers there create clear, vivid pictures that do what a book like this ought to do; it conveys the physical sense of what is happening without having to use words to describe it.

The strength of any graphic novel comes in the balance between the dialogue and the physical action. Who Rules The Night is unbalanced here, as well. The book has extensive dialogue between characters, with a lot coming in villains providing backstory in the beginning. After the Scarecrow episode, the book thins out considerably, with most of the dialogue being Robin's repeated arguments to Jean-Paul Valley over the ethics of combating violence with violence. The book degenerates into a slugfest, which makes some sense, but the overall effect is this is a very unbalanced work.

The things that attracted me to the Knightfall saga was the concept of Batman being broken, but even more the quest to reincarcerate the villains in the Batman world. This book deals with that very little as only three villains (only two of which I had even heard of before this series) are dealt with outside Bane. In fact, one of the first things to occur in Who Rules The Night is the Joker simply walks away.

While this might be a necessary chapter in the overall story, the inconsistency of the artwork and the subplots being explore make it difficult for a casual reader of the series - or, indeed, someone who only picked up this series - to enjoy. Will I still see how the saga ends? Yes. But had I not already bought it, I might have just been content with the first part and left the Batman in Bane's hands.

For other graphic novels, please check out my reviews of:
Wonder Woman: Gods And Mortals
Kingdom Come
Green Lantern: Agent Orange

5/10

For other graphic novel reviews, please visit my index page!

© 2010, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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