Batman Earth One

I've read a lot of Batman origin stories over the years.  Some much better than others.  This is one of the best.

I like that they're not afraid to make him fail.  It's what really worked for Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and this carries that on.  He's not really equipped to fight crime.  All he wants is vengeance he really needs that first failure to point him in the direction that his life will take.

Alfred as a former marine and family friend rather than the long time butler was the hardest change to swallow.  Though I did like that he admitted he knew nothing about raising a child.  He has done a rather poor job with Bruce.

The art is amazing.  There were pages that I just stopped and stared at to pull in all the details.  Seeing his eyes does make a difference.

The Penguin was actually an effective villain.  Something that a lot of writers struggle to do.  I've seen it in the new 52 now as well.  They've finally figured out what to do with this character.

Batman: Under the Red Hood

I've been reading a lot of comics lately.  One of them has been Red Hood and the Outlaws and I realised I really didn't know much about Jason Todd.  I knew he'd died, but the details about him coming back to life and taking up the mantle of the Red Hood were not in my lexicon.

I really liked this story.  There were so many elements that I've really enjoyed in the Batman mythos that are all present here.  Plus, it's always nice to see Nightwing.  I lost the story a bit in the second act because I didn't recognise some of the players.  But a good story.

I'd also seen the Batman: Under the Red Hood movie recently.  The first act was pretty much lifted whole for that script.  A few minor changes to make it more accessible to someone who didn't follow all of DC comics.

Red Hood: The Lost Days

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.  I've never been a big Jason fan.  I've always felt he was just a place holder for Dick.  I remember his original origin story and it was just a complete retelling of Dick's and I remember his second origin story.  Stealing the wheels off the Batmobile was certainly points for style, but I didn't like how Batman took in a kid who was even less well trained than Dick and expected him to succeed.  He even still had a living parent but Bruce adopted him anyway.  I felt bad for Dick a lot through the Jason years.  However, when it came down to vote, I would've voted for Jason to live if I'd been an American.  I like Batman with Robin, it keeps him even.

And that's where the Red Hood enters.  I felt that Judd Winick did a really good job of getting Jason's confused emotions across to the reader.  Sure, he's murdering people, but I almost felt he was killing the right people.  The people that really did deserve to die.

Talia was an interesting choice for this tale.  Mostly she's seen as the daughter of Ra's al Ghul and that's it.  Here, she goes against her father's wishes and does something that she truly believes will bring Batman back to her.  Once she realises just how broken Jason is, her role changes, she's trying to contain him while he fixes himself.  I get the feeling that she expected that this wanting to kill Batman thing was just a phase.  She knows his love for Bruce, probably more so than Jason does.

Batman: Hush

I think that Jeph Loeb may be one of the best Batman writers around right now.  Hush is an incredible look inside Batman's mind.  Loeb is able to set just the right pace for Batman.  I'm familiar with him as a writer of early Batman stories but here he takes on an established Batman.  One that has a group of people around him in his fight.  Each of them is depicted in a way that just feels right to me.  From his battle with Superman (where he comes to the essence of why these two are so different) to his conversation with Nightwing (with whom he opens up the most).

Batman War Games Act Three: End Game

It's nice to see Batman lose once in a while. Not because I want him to but because I like seeing what he comes up with on the fly.

All in all, I enjoyed the whole War Games story. It was well scripted and flowed through the different titles. There was a beginning, a middle and an end that were internally consistent (which doesn't always happen). The only question I have coming out of this is how the heck did Stephanie not die?

Batman War Games Act Two: Tides

One of the things I really enjoy about the Bat titles is that they all work independently of each other. Not so much so that the character couldn't be doing everything at the same time (the feeling I get is that they take place within weeks of one another) but they're also close enough that when DC decides to do the big crossover event the story can spin out naturally.

I sort of knew that Tim Drake had stopped being Robin for a while because of his father and this Act deals with him putting the costume back on. I felt that it read really well, both why Tim made the decision and how it was received by his dad. That really impressed me. That they would take time from the superhero story to tell a human story.

Batman War Games Act One: Outbreak

Batman works best when he's one man against the mob (or the Mafia really) so I wasn't sure I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this one. I've been trying to catch up one some Batman reading since I've started collecting again and knew this one was in an interesting spot for one of my favourite characters.

I was impressed by this one. The story grows and explodes into something Batman thinks he can handle on his own to something that he has to call his whole team in on. I couldn't wait to see where it was headed.

Red Robin: Collision

Part of the reason that I picked up Red Robin was that I had also enjoyed the new Batgirl. In Collision Tim returns home to Gotham and meets some of those he left behind. Having teamed with Ra's al Ghul, it's not always pleasant.

I don't know if I enjoy Red Robin enough to start collecting the monthly titles, but I will continue to look for the graphic novels.

Red Robin: The Grail

I was hesitant in picking up Red Robin because, although I enjoyed Tim's character when he was first Robin, it seemed like a failed concept. Tim became Red Robin because Dick's Batman wanted Damian as his Robin? And Tim was the only one convinced that Bruce was still alive? I was hoping Tim was wrong. I like that Dick has become Batman. However, some of the events of Batman's return got me curious enough to pick up The Grail and I'm glad I did.

Tim's grown as a character since I last read him. He's almost an adult and he's got Bruce's drive, I think Dick was right, he wouldn't have been a good Robin for him. He's too much his own person to be a sidekick anymore.

The Dark Knight Returns

When I read Watchmen I said there were certain graphic novels that really changed the way the comics industry looked at itself. Watchmen was one Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns is the other. This looks at some of the themes that Moore played with in Watchmen, like what if the world no longer needed superheroes and what would these superheroes do if they weren't needed but does it much better than Moore did. I didn't like Watchmen because I didn't like the heroes. Miller does a much better job of reminding his readers that we do like Batman, and even Commissioner Gordon whose story sort of parallels that of the superhero.

I had a couple of problems: Batman quitting and Robin.

I just can't imagine Batman quitting if he felt his city still needed him. If there was a government mandate, he'd ignore it. I didn't get the impression that he'd been forced into retirement, but that the other heroes had convinced him to retire after political events. His retirement only serves to make his return more memorable. When his city needs him he's there; older, slower and a little on the worse for wear side but he's there and he's still the best they've got.

Batman without Robin is always a little bit off for me. I really think he needs the sidekick to keep him human and to keep him from spiraling into obsession, however, I don't think Robin served in this story. I would have preferred maybe a return of the original over the creation of a new. The problem is with the creation. Dick had a great beginning. He had the whole parents killed connection with Bruce and he had the skills because he was a circus acrobat. When he left and they gave us the Jason Robin it was a disappointment. In the original origin he was a copy of Dick. That doesn't work. Then he was a street kid who tried to steel the Batmobile's wheels. Batman admired his moxy, pitied his circumstances and made him Robin. Remember how that turned out? Finally, there's the Tim Robin. He's original. He's more of a detective; tracking down Batman by figuring out that Nightwing was Robin and was Dick Grayson. He got that Batman needed a Robin to keep him level. That brings me to the new Robin. Carrie is more of a Jason Robin. She thinks it's cool that Batman has returned and gets a Robin costume on a whim. She reminds me of a Jason Robin. It just didn't work for me.

I did like how Miller introduced Superman. First with the American flag resolving into the Superman symbol on his chest and then from his POV from on high. The relationship between him and Batman was great. They've been friends for a long time, but their ideals do not mesh. A showdown between the two of them was inevitable.

Relationships actually play into The Dark Knight Returns more than I thought they would. The Bruce/Gordon relationship, where it's obvious that Bruce revealed himself as Batman somewhere in their history together. And Alfred. Alfred had some great moments in this book. They revolved around his relationship with Bruce, Batman and even the whole Wayne family. I thought he was written really well.

This one gets a 5 from me.

Batman: Dark Victory

I have a confession to make. While I love Batman, I may just like Robin more. I blame Superfriends. Or maybe the 1960s Batman that I happily watched in reruns on Sunday mornings. In Superfriends, raised himself above the level of "sidekick" and became a full-fledged member of the team. In Batman, (watch it and tell me I'm wrong) whenever there was a riddle to solve, Robin would solve it. Sure, Batman always replied, "Precisely, chum!" but I got the feeling he was covering.

Anyway, so when I saw the cover of Dark Victory I was pleased to see it would include the origin of Robin. It's a bit more than that though. It's the story of Batman pulling away and then being pulled back. It's the story of the freaks of Gotham getting rid of the mobsters (something that Batman, Gordon and Dent had been unable to do) and it's the story of Two-Face. In a lot of ways it's the direct sequel to The Long Halloween.

Oh, and Robin is the one to solve the puzzle. I'm giving it a 5.

Batman: The Long Halloween

Batman and mobsters. There's something that goes together very well. Batman has a great Rogues' Gallery but he also has a great street level presence. In The Long Halloween Loeb and Sale let Batman be the detective that he is. The detective that often gets lost in the big picture of capes and heroics.

The freaks are still there. The Long Halloween is as much about mobsters and detecting as it is about Batman losing Harvey Dent and gaining Two-Face. The story is the thing that makes it work though. Dent, Batman and James Gordon have a relationship that starts as business and turns to friendship. The creation of Two-Face changes that relationship.

Again, the art is awesome. Sale's Catwoman / Selena Kyle is very sensuous. I'm not sure why Batman didn't realise that they were one in the same but I don't think he likes to think ill of his friends. Probably because he has so few. I think it's what led him to being wrong.

I enjoyed this book immensely. It's getting a 5.

Haunted Knight

Batman is one of my favourite heroes. He's just out there with his wits and his training and his obsession with righting wrongs. In Haunted Knight Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale tell three stories of Halloween early in Batman's career.

The first is "Fears" and, appropriate for Halloween, the Scarecrow takes centre stage. It's more about what Batman gets out of being Batman though. What he has to give up and why it makes him very much like his father.

The second story is "Madness" and was my favourite of the trilogy. Loeb's Mad Hatter is truly mad and putting Gordon's niece Babs in danger really made it feel personal. Where "Fears" was about the loss of Thomas Wayne, "Madness" becomes about the loss of Martha Wayne. The final panel of the story has made it into my favourite moments of Batman. It shows him as the child that lost his parents and how that's hurt him as deeply as it has. The window with the single figure reading was very evocative.

Finally was "Ghosts" where Loeb tries to tell a Dickens' Christmas Story but with Bat-villains on Halloween. I didn't really like it. It was OK but still, after the first two it was a bit of a let down. Batman choosing to stay home for the evening to hand out candy to the children just seemed a bit forced. Plus, Wayne Manor is way the hell out in the middle of nowhere. There's not one kid who would be showing up on that doorstep.

I'd really like to praise Tim Sale's art. Batman is huge. Batman is a very real presence in these stories and it had to do with where Sale's chooses to put him in the scenes. He also remembers that Batman is a man and will do things like give him the 5 o'clock stubble to represent that he's been up all night and perhaps isn't as fresh as he was when he started.

This one gets a 4.