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| 1401206123
| 9781401206123
| 1401206123
| 3.90
| 11,614
| Jan 01, 2005
| Feb 01, 2005
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really liked it
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Ex Machina, Vol 1: A Superhero Who Goes Into Politics - A bit like Watchmen + House of Cards This is an interesting concept - a superhero with the abil Ex Machina, Vol 1: A Superhero Who Goes Into Politics - A bit like Watchmen + House of Cards This is an interesting concept - a superhero with the ability to control machines who decides to go into politics as the mayor of NYC. The artwork is excellent, very crisp and realistic and gritty, so well suited to this story of down and dirty politics and a superhero who thinks he can make more of a difference via government than by saving civilians from crime and emergencies. It's definitely something different and the writing is intelligent, as you'd expect from Brian K. Vaugan, so well worth continuing to the next volumes via Comixology Unlimited. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Apr 10, 2019
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Apr 24, 2019
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Apr 04, 2016
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| 1401223176
| 9781401223175
| 4.27
| 51,074
| Nov 25, 2005
| Aug 18, 2009
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liked it
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Batman: Hush: Amazing artwork but formulaic storyline Originally published at Fantasy Literature Batman: Hush (2002-2003) is a story arc that appeared o Batman: Hush: Amazing artwork but formulaic storyline Originally published at Fantasy Literature Batman: Hush (2002-2003) is a story arc that appeared originally as Batman #608-619. I first saw it as a bound collection at Barnes & Noble when my daughter was shopping for Christmas presents. I knew nothing about internal chronology, but I picked it up and was just stunned by the glossy, dynamic, sensual and powerful artwork of Jim Lee. This guy is really something else, I can understand why he is so popular. Before reading Batman: Hush I did my homework and read some core Batman titles beforehand: Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One (1987) and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) which cover his early and later years, Alan Moore’s Batman: The Killing Joke (1988), which explores the weird relationship of Batman and the Joker, and Jeph Loeb’s Batman: The Long Halloween (1996-1997), which is a crime noir detective story with lots of style. These titles will give you an excellent introduction to the Batman, his allies and enemies, and the dark and brooding city of Gotham itself. I’m glad I read those comics first, because Batman: Hush basically takes ALL of Batman’s friends and foes and throws them at the reader, one after the other, in a fairly formulaic but entertaining mystery about an ultra-secretive super-villain who is manipulating both friends and enemies to hurt and humiliate Batman. [image] I know that comics generally are published as individual issues first, then collected in volumes and published together as a graphic novel if the story-arc is continuous. This book would count, but it’s easy to see how each issue is designed to introduce a familiar Batman adversary and reach some resolution by the end of the issue. That makes perfect sense if you read them one-by-one, but all together the pattern becomes somewhat repetitive. Even though The Long Halloween had a similar structure, I felt it had more emotional depth than this story, though the writer is the same. That’s not to say that Batman: Hush lacks depth. There are plenty of interesting interactions between Batman and both friends and enemies. Most interesting is the romantic play with the sultry and seductive Catwoman. These two make quite the sexy couple: Batman is built like Arnold Schwartenegger in his prime, and Catwoman is like a Sports Illustrated super-athlete model. They both put mere mortals to shame, and with the Batman’s billowing cape and Catwoman’s body-tight catsuit, they would excite even the most jaded comic-book reader. The credit here goes to Jim Lee, who got famous drawing for X-MEN and helped found Image Comics. He understands that if you want to draw superheroes, you may as well go all out and make them incredible physical specimens. Why hold back? It’s fantasy anyway. So every female in the story is voluptuous (in every frame, every flying kick, even just straddling a motorbike), and he is clearly a fan of the idealized female form. At least he does the same for the male characters, who all have abs of steel and muscles on top of muscles. [image] Oh, did I mention that Jim Lee knows how to draw motion and personal combat like I’ve never seen before? There are tons of fight scenes with just about every Batman villain, and they all have some amazing details that put them above your average combat sequence. In two ways in particular, he somehow blurs the picture at the edges to indicate high speed, and he draws multiple frames of a character leaping through space in the same panel, so you see the progression of their motion. It is very cool, and very difficult to pull off well, and he does both. It reminds me of the stop-start super slow-motion fight scenes of Zack Snyder in 300 or Watchmen. This is probably copied by a ton of other artists, but I wonder if he pioneered this technique. In the end, I thought that the supervillain (nicknamed “Hush”) was too diabolically brilliant to manipulate so many villains and heroes so effortlessly, so the plausibility (even within the genre) was quite stretched for me, but I don’t really think that was the main thrust of this comic. Jim Lee basically steals the show, and Jeph Loeb is there to concoct a way for Batman to encounter all his friends, love interests and foes in one story-arc, which he achieved. So it’s a very enjoyable ride, even if it lacks the emotional punch of the core Batman stories I mentioned above. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 27, 2016
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Mar 07, 2016
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Feb 27, 2016
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| 1401244017
| 9781401244019
| 1401244017
| 4.16
| 33,535
| Oct 01, 2000
| Feb 18, 2014
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really liked it
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Batman: Dark Victory: An excellent follow-up to Long Halloween Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Batman: Dark Victory (2000) takes place immediat Batman: Dark Victory: An excellent follow-up to Long Halloween Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Batman: Dark Victory (2000) takes place immediately after Batman: The Long Halloween (1997). In the aftermath of the Holiday Killer, Gotham’s Falcone and Maroni crime families are in chaos. Dark Victory is steeped in the same dark crime noir atmosphere as Long Halloween , so if you liked the first title you will like this one too. It’s all about mysterious killings, Mafia wars, the rise of the arch-villians, and the legacy of the past that weighs heavily on Batman and his friends and enemies. Everyone is struggling with a difficult past, and circumstances never allow them reprieve, so the story has the weight of inevitable tragedy. It’s not surprising that Christopher Nolan and David Goyer took direct inspiration from these two books when they created the moody and grim THE DARK KNIGHT film trilogy. [image] Since the events of Long Halloween , Alberto Falcone is interred in Arkham Asylum, Sofia Falcone Gigante is confined to a wheelchair with a metal head brace, and Maroni’s sons Umberto and Pino have tried to take up the reins, but freaks like The Joker, The Riddler, Poison Ivy, and Two-Face have risen in power. The balance has shifted in their favor, but the Mafia will not cede control of the city so easily. Batman and Jim Gordon are still shaken by the transformation of DA Harvey Dent into the mercurial villain Two Face, and mourn the fact that they could not prevent it. Selina Kyle continues to show interest in the taciturn Bruce Wayne, but he is generally unresponsive. A new DA named Janice Porter comes in to replace Harvey Dent, and her first initiative is to reopen the case of Alberto Falcone, claiming he is not responsible for all the Holiday murders. Into this brave new world a new killer emerges: The Hangman. He targets cops and former cops, both upstanding or corrupt. They are left hanging in public with cryptic hangman clues pinned to their clothes. Clues point to a connection with Harvey Dent, so Batman and Jim Gordon go hunting for him. [image] Dark Victory is a very dense and tangled narrative. It takes us on a tour of the sewers of Gotham, the courtroom, Wayne Manor, battles between the Freaks and mafia in the streets, and the ever-changing relationship of Batman and Catwoman. I really like the fact that the story is heavily character-driven, not just a series of fights. It also aspires to the classic crime noir theme of criminals unable to escape their own dark pasts, such as Mario Falcone who wants to erase the bad name of his father and make the Falcone empire legitimate. Even Alberto, who was jailed for the Holiday murders, seems to want to make a break with the past. But Sofia Falcone is determined to revive the Falcone criminal empire, so the siblings find themselves at odds. Meanwhile, despite dozens of clues and leads, Batman and Jim Gordon find themselves getting no closer to solving the Hangman murders. Though each clues clearly points to Harvey Dent, they suspect this is designed to take them off the scent of the real killer. Harvey Dent himself is the ultimate example of a man torn between conflicting imperatives, struggling between upholding the law to jail criminals, and giving in to his darker vengeful side willing to kill crooks. His two-faced appearance is an apt metaphor for this struggle. [image] Dark Victory also includes the original story of Dick Grayson, the first Robin. He is the young son of trapeze artists, and when his parents high-wire act is sabotaged, he becomes an orphan just like Bruce Wayne. As a result, Bruce takes pity on him and lets him stay at Wayne Manor. The young boy is upset and confused, as Bruce is distant and unattentive, but when Dick encounters Batman, he vows to find his parents’ killers. True to its crime noir roots, Dark Victory does not reveal the mystery of the Hangman killings until many red herring have been thrown the reader’s way, and even when you think you’re onto the real killer, it’s more complicated than that. We share the struggle of Batman, Jim Gordon, even the villains themselves. So when the final reveal comes, it’s quite a surprise. In my opinion, Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale have produced a classic tale of crime and its legacy on all those involved, one that rivals any mafia film. It’s up to you to give it a try for yourself. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 20, 2016
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Feb 29, 2016
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Feb 20, 2016
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Paperback
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| 1563894696
| 9781563894695
| 1563894696
| 4.33
| 102,349
| Nov 30, 1997
| Nov 01, 1999
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really liked it
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Batman: The Long Halloween: A brilliant crime noir mystery Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Batman: The Long Halloween takes place soon after Fra Batman: The Long Halloween: A brilliant crime noir mystery Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Batman: The Long Halloween takes place soon after Frank Miller's Batman: Year One (1987) in chronology. Batman is still in his early days of crime-fighting, while Captain Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent are trying to combat corruption in the police force and courts. This book is a lengthy and gripping noir story that goes back to Batman’s roots as a detective, as he and Jim and Harvey all try to solve the mystery of the Holiday Killer, who has been striking both the Falcone and Maroni crime families on major holidays, always with the same MO: a .22 caliber pistol with the serial number filed off, a baby bottle nipple to muffle the gunshot, and a little symbol to represent each holiday (pumpkin for Halloween, snow crystal globe for Christmas, heart-shaped chocolate box for Valentine’s). This sets the two criminal organizations into an uproar, with both suspecting each other. It’s actually refreshing to see the mobsters on the defensive for a change, though of course Batman, Jim, and Harvey pledge to stop this vigilante crime wave. We get an in-depth look at the Carmine “The Roman” Falcone family: the don himself, nephew Johnny Viti, son Alberto, sister Carla, etc, along with Maroni and his henchmen. [image] As the gang war heats up between them, some of Batman’s supervillians begin to surface, such as the Joker, Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, the Scarecrow, the Riddler, and Catwoman. The complexity of the multiple storylines, alliances, mobsters, supervillains, and crime-fighters is something to behold. For anyone who thinks comics are just for kids, read this one. It is deliciously noir detective procedural, and in some ways it really didn’t need to involve any of Batman’s traditional foes. In tone it felt more like a crime thriller, and while there is plenty of action, it’s the tangled web of suspicions that drives the story. And of course, what noir detective story comic could be achieved without the right artwork. Tim Sale’s art is very stylized and melancholy, but also sharp and distinct. He excels at character’s expressions and at depicting a world of shadows: Gotham is a city perpetually in shadow, and the dark thoughts of the characters are finely articulated by Sale’s precise work. Most prominently, we see the very subtle but sinister transformation of the upright Harvey Dent into Two-Face. We get a taste for his internal struggle to balance seeking justice without crossing the line. [image] And no Batman story can ever be complete without his love/hate relationship with the sultry and mercurial Catwoman. As always, her loyalties are ever-shifting, but there are always sparks between the two. I prefer this side of Batman, since I’m much more interested in a complex murder mystery than a series of slug-fests with monsters and supervillains. There is a follow-up by the Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale team called Dark Victory that is up next, and then a more recent one by Jeph Loeb/Jim Lee called Batman: Hush. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 06, 2016
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Feb 20, 2016
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Feb 06, 2016
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Paperback
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| 0785126694
| 9780785126690
| 0785126694
| 4.43
| 1,821
| Feb 1983
| Mar 21, 2007
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None
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Notes are private!
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0
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not set
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not set
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Jul 08, 2013
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Hardcover
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| 1401207529
| 9781401207526
| 1401207529
| 4.24
| 256,371
| 1988
| Jan 10, 2007
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it was amazing
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Batman: Year One: Batman and Jim Gordon's early days in a detective noir thriller Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dar Batman: Year One: Batman and Jim Gordon's early days in a detective noir thriller Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) completely reinvented Batman as angry and bitter older man coming out of retirement to stem a rising tide of crime in Gotham City alongside Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. This was a dark vision of a complex and troubled soul driven to fight crime to avenge his parent’s senseless death, and it resonated with a new generation of readers and gained comics greater credibility among mainstream readers. Just one year later Miller produced a four-part story arc called Batman: Year One (1987). Though not as iconic as The Dark Knight Returns, this story of Batman and Jim Gordon’s early days is regarded by many as one of the best Batman stories ever told. Origin stories are very popular in the comics world, and this is one is a finely-nuanced character study of two complex individuals. We all know that Batman’s parents were gunned down by a mugger outside a movie theater when he was a small boy. This traumatic event, along with an underground cave filled with bats and his lonely upbringing in his parents’ palatial and brooding Wayne Manor, led him to become the caped crusader who hunts down criminals in the dead of night. But what did Bruce Wayne do for the 18 years after being orphaned? Would you believe he lived in Europe, learning every form of fighting batman year one 1imaginable, in order to someday avenge his parents’ murders? And that his first fumbling attempts to fight criminals would almost get him killed, again and again, before he settled on a costume to hide his identity and strike fear into his enemies’ hearts. In his early days, Batman gets beat up, stabbed, etc. in the process of trying to help others who don’t realize his intentions. Who would have thought doing good could be so punishing? Batman: Year One really surprised me with how realistic, gritty, and crime noir the storyline was. It’s not well known that Batman was originally a detective, not a superhero. It’s always been a given that Gotham City is a crime-ridden version of New York, filled with hoodlums and thugs in every alley and dark corner. But what I wasn’t prepared for was the level of blatant corruption in the Gotham City police department, which Lieutenant James Gordon encounters on his first day in the force. His partner is a thug named Flass, with Green Beret training, who casually beats up street teens and laughs it off on their first day together. Gordon is then introduced to police commissioner Gillian Loeb, a loathsome and corrupt man who reminds Gordon that loyalty and teamwork (read: don’t rock the boat) are the keys to success on the force. Gordon quickly discovers that most of the cops on the force are on the take, involved in drug trades, shakedowns, kickbacks, and every other form of graft imaginable. This all goes on under the direction of Loeb, and no cop is stupid enough to fight this, except the stubborn Gordon. As a result, he is repeatedly subjected to attacks and beatings by other cops. I’m guessing this aspect of Gotham was not explored in the earlier Batman comics, though I could be wrong. Gordon has heard about the Batman, a strange vigilante preying on small-time criminals between midnight and 4am. The Batman is disrupting the established routine of the crooked cops, so Loeb demands that Gordon take him down. However, as Gordon learns more about Batman’s acts of heroism, he begins to wonder whether Batman really is a menace to society or not. Meanwhile, Batman antagonizes commissioner Loeb past the breaking point, so he sends out a ruthless SWAT team armed with M-16s to hunt down Batman in an abandoned warehouse. Gordon is outside, helpless to prevent orders to kill Batman on sight. This is an extended action sequence that is incredibly cinematic and reminded me of Die Hard, the lone hero fighting against hordes of rivals, except in this case these are cops and Batman doesn’t want to hurt them if possible. But they show no such mercy, dropping explosives on the building. By some miracle, Batman manages to escape despite being shot and hurt, with a burning building collapsing about him. Miller does an excellent job of depicting a police force thoroughly corrupt at every level. I felt like I was watching Al Pacino’s Serpico, Kevin Costner’s Untouchables, or James Ellroy’s L.A. Confidential. And Gordon’s character stands out for his noble refusal to go along with things despite the backlash. However, things are pushed to a breaking point when Loeb has Gordon’s wife and young child kidnapped by goons. Gordon goes into kick-ass mode, fighting back in a white-hot fury. When he tracks down the kidnappers, it is Batman that provides critical assistance at a key moment. So although Gordon does not know Batman’s true identity, he also understands there are good intentions there. It’s clear that they will forge a strange alliance against all the criminals in Gotham City, both inside the police force and on the streets. The recent GOTHAM TV series has really fueled my interest in Batman’s origins. It explores the early years of Bruce Wayne, Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent, as well as many of Batman’s most infamous enemies. It’s hard to imagine a series 20 years ago centering on so many villains, depicting them as often good-intentioned people who went astray due to bad circumstances. We get a glimpse of the early Penguin, Joker, Riddler, Two-Face, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Falcone, Maroni, Loeb, etc. It’s a fresh angle to the BATMAN story, and one worthy of its own review. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 29, 2016
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Feb 03, 2016
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Jul 08, 2013
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 1563893428
| 9781563893421
| B01BITP8TE
| 4.26
| 189,322
| Jan 28, 1986
| May 28, 1997
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it was amazing
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Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: Miller reinvented Batman and the genre Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight R Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: Miller reinvented Batman and the genre Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Alan Moore’s Watchmen (1986-87) are generally considered the watershed graphic novels that revived and reinvented the comic book industry, forced mainstream critics and readers to take the genre more seriously, and laid the groundwork for a massive superhero movie industry eager to bring classic comic superheroes to the big screen with new interpretations aimed to capture a need for more dark, complex, and conflicted heroes for our times. [image] Nowadays everyone is familiar with the Christopher Nolan’s DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY (2005-2012) of films, which are just as intense, dark and brooding as Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, and excellent filmmaking though I feel they lack a sense of humor or fun. In fact, though they seem to have faded into obscurity now, I really enjoyed Tim Burton’s earlier reboot of the Batman franchise, Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), which were ground-breaking films that were clearly inspired by Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. Before Miller, Batman was best known for the Adam West TV series that aired from 1966-68. While that program may conjure up fond memories for those who watched it as kids, it clearly represents the campy, strictly-for-kids version of Batman that Miller set out to destroy and reinvent from the ashes. Batman first appeared in film in 1943 and 1949, after debuting in Detective Comics #27 in 1939. So Batman has been in existence now for 77 years. But there’s no question that Frank Miller’s bold reinventing of the Batman story and character was the most daring and dynamic change since Batman’s inception, and the Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan films took their cue from his vision, not the earlier ones. So it behooves me, 30 years after publication, to finally get around to reading this seminal work of art. And it is certainly that. In addition to the excellently written storyline, split into 4 story-arcs with gorgeous, gritty and distinctive artwork that really grabbed my attention. I really regret not reading them back in junior high, when they would have blown my mind completely. As it is, I come to The Dark Knight Returns after having seen all the Batman films and experienced the boom in big-budget superhero blockbusters, so it’s always hard to separate that from the original work itself. [image] Suffice to say, this graphic novel still packs a wallop both story-wise and visually. It breaks down into the following four books, which I will describe very briefly: The Dark Knight Returns (Book 1): Bruce Wayne is 55 years old and has retired from crime fighting for the last 10 years. However, Gotham City has not gotten better, in fact it is much worse, and the police are too weak to contain the rising tide of crime, especially the vicious street gang known as the Mutants. Jim Gordon is still Police Commissioner, but he is nearing retirement and crime hasn’t improved despite decades of battling it. Harvey Dent, the ambitious prosecutor who became the deranged villain Two-Face, has been rehabilitated and gotten plastic surgery to repair his facial damage. Although crime remains rampant, society has taken a dim view of vigilantes like the Batman, and though he still has proponents, there are many talking heads on TV who blame him for motivating criminals. Though most think the Batman is gone forever, Bruce Wayne cannot stay content to watch society succumb to violent criminals, driving him to take up the bat suit again. Once he starts to wage war on the criminals, opinion in the media heats up further, and Batman ends up having to dodge the police while also taking on bad guys. This volume ends with his confrontation with Two-Face, who has slipped back into his psychotic ways. The Dark Knight Triumphant (Book 2): Book 2 opens with Jim Gordon musing on how a lifetime of fighting crime hasn’t produced visible results. The Mutants are growing bolder, but the spineless Mayor wants to appease them and their fearsome leader. Meanwhile, a young girl named Carrie Kelly, who was saved from Mutant thugs in Book 1, is inspired to take up the costume of Batman’s sidekick Robin, though Bruce Wayne is not impressed initially. Batman is getting more negative press in the media, led by a foolish psychologist who claims that Batman’s anti-social behavior is actually to blame for the rising criminal activity. He is also a big defender of Harvey Dent’s return to society. As Gordon steps down as Commissioner, his replacement is a woman named Ellen Yindel, and she has vowed to capture and jail the Batman as an unwanted vigilante. Batman decides it’s time to take the fight to the Mutants in the dump where they congregate. He brings a massive tank to bear, but can’t resist fighting the Mutant leader in hand-to-hand combat out of pride and his own code of ethics. They have an epic battle that leaps across the panels in a succession of kinetic, bone-crunching action, and Batman gets the worst of it. Meanwhile, crime in the city is spiraling out of control, but still the authorities think the Mutants can be negotiated with, until a horrific incident with the Mayor occurs. Batman licks his wounds in the Batcave, planning his revenge. In their second meeting, Batman shows no mercy with his opponent, fighting smarter against the powerful and younger Mutant. [image] Hunt the Dark Knight (Book 3): In Book 3, the Mutants have dispersed, and there is a new vigilante group called the Sons of Batman (think of the acronym), but there are still plenty of criminals around, including neo-Nazis with machine guns. In addition, Cold War tensions between the US and Soviet Union are heating up, and strange explosions rock the city. It seems that another old villain of Batman, the notorious Joker, is at Arkham Asylum but is slated to be released soon, and requests a talk show appearance on TV. Then we are introduced to an unexpected superhero, none other than the Man of Steel himself. It seems that he and Batman don’t see eye to eye on crime fighting: Superman works with the US government as one of their most important weapons against the Russians. He doesn’t like Batman’s vigilante approach. New Commissioner Yindel goes after Batman in force, right when the Joker is planning a horrific attack during his TV appearance. Ironically, the same TV psychologist who has defended Harvey Dent and attacked Batman is also promoting the Joker’s rehabilitation. When the Joker springs his trap, mayhem ensues. This happens right as police are converging on Batman. It’s a narrow scrape, and the Joker is now on the loose. Even as Batman dodges persistent attacks by the police, the Joker is causing terror in the city, this time at a carnival. Batman and sidekick Robin hunt him down there, and Batman knows that all the deaths caused by the Joker are his responsibility for not finishing his old rival off earlier. Batman confronts the Joker, this time in the Tunnel of Love, and a brutal life-or-death struggle ensues. The Dark Knight Falls (Book 4): In the final book, we see the aftermath of Batman’s fight with the Joker, but have little time to relax as the police are still hot on the trail of Batman and Robin. Batman must again heal his wounds and drag himself back into fighting shape. The Sons of Batman are getting more violent, though their targets are would-be criminals. The city is quickly descending into chaos. And then the big bombshell is dropped as we find out the Russians have launched a nuke at the US. Only the mighty Superman is up to the task to stop this threat. Superman diverts the bomb, but only at great personal cost. In the aftermath, Gotham has fallen into anarchy, as regular citizens seize the opportunity to loot and steal, and the Mutants jailed by Batman’s actions are able to break out. Just when it seems the whole city will destroy itself in an orgy of violence, Batman orchestrates an unlikely truce. In the final act, the Russian menace has faded and the city has regained some semblance of peace, but two titanic forces are not yet done. Superman and Batman are destined for a showdown – their conflicting ways of battling crime cannot be reconciled. And though Superman is far more powerful than the merely mortal Batman, Batman is smarter and has a number of tricks up his sleeve. When they do engage in battle, it’s much more evenly-matched than you might expect. And though it seems one is the victor at first, the story delivers a far more unexpected ending and a surprising note of hope in the darkness. After reading this, I’m definitely looking forward to the upcoming film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. [image] There are so many things that distinguish The Dark Knight Returns from the comics that precede it. The plot is much more complex, and Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon’s characters are far more in-depth in their personal lives and motivations. Miller really wants to understand why a reclusive billionaire would choose to create an alternate identity, sneaking out of his mansion at night to risk his life attacking street thugs and other criminals. Why doesn’t he use his great wealth to attack corruption in government or business? Why take such a physically-punishing approach, trading punches and kicks with knife- and gun-wielding thugs? [image] As we discover, his fundamental rage against criminals traces back to the brutal shooting of his parents in front of him in an alleyway by a common thief. This event haunts him at every turn, preventing him from pursuing a normal life, making him a recluse whose only friend is his butler Alfred. He is a lonely, angry, and tortured soul, and this is a huge change from the heroic crime-fighters of earlier comics. The same applies to Jim Gordon, a tireless crime fighter who has spent decades as the police commissioner, battling a never-ending stream of crime, but he recognizes that this is unlikely to ever be eliminated, only contained. Despite this bitter recognition he soldiers on, thinking of his own family, but he is getting old and exhausted. In addition, The Dark Knight Returns spends a huge amount of time on exploring the various social attitudes of society towards crime, criminals, vigilantes, and the rights of ordinary citizens. In the context of the mid-1980s when this was written, there was certainly a heightened concern about crime which can be seen in the many movies featuring cops and vigilantes fighting crime (though this probably got started with Dirty Harry and Charles Bronson in the 1970s), and the biggest theme of Dark Knight is the powerlessness of law enforcement to contain crime and protect ordinary citizens on the street. Even more telling, there are so many bleeding-heart liberal talking heads on TV defending the rights of vicious criminals like Two-Face and the Joker (who are gleefully plotting crimes and secretly ridiculing these people). Miller’s opinion of this “soft on crime” attitude is abundantly clear here. These weak characters promoting criminals’ rights and the benefits of rehabilitation get dispatched without a second thought. Even so, this story is not just a one-sided promotion of vigilante justice as the only solution to uncontrolled crime. The story also features the copycat Sons of Batman that target would-be criminals, but are almost as vicious as those they hunt down. And though the Mutants start as typical mindless street hooligans, in the final book Batman takes a very unexpected approach to both the Sons of Batman and the Mutants to prevent Gotham City from completely collapsing into anarchy. So I appreciated the nuanced treatment of the pros/cons of vigilantism, even if I found the final solution a bit far-fetched. Overall, The Dark Knight Returns explores enough themes and ideas in sufficient depth to rival any book or film on crime and vigilantism, without neglecting the visual and story elements that comics allow, and the fact that Miller took such as iconic figure as Batman to show this transformation is an amazing accomplishment. The next stop will be Miller’s Batman: Year One, which details Batman’s first year of crime. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 22, 2016
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Jan 29, 2016
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Jul 08, 2013
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0930289455
| 9780930289454
| 0930289455
| 4.37
| 225,940
| Nov 16, 1988
| Mar 01, 1988
|
it was amazing
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Batman: The Killing Joke: The infamous origin of the Joker Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) Batman: The Killing Joke: The infamous origin of the Joker Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Batman: Year One (1988) completely reinvented the caped crusader as a dark and conflicted figure. This time, it was Alan Moore’s turn to reinvent Batman’s greatest rival, that homicidal madman The Joker. Batman: The Killing Joke (1988) tells its compelling story in just 51 pages, but the writing and artwork are so phenomenal that it has retained a legendary status. Even now, you can find a deluxe hardcover edition being sold in bookstores, and how many single issues get that treatment? Even those casually familiar with the Batman story know his flamboyant rival The Joker, with his powder-white face, shock of green hair, and snazzy purple suit. He was fairly clownish in the 1960’s Adam West TV show, but in this comic he is far more sinister, brutal, and yet frighteningly funny than ever before. In fact, all the best monologues belong to him, as he steals the show with his crazed philosophy about the random injustice of life. Essentially, The Joker sets out to prove that anyone, no matter how strong of mind, can be tipped into madness with just ONE BAD DAY. He should know, because we are shown his early days as a failing stand-up comedian struggling to support his pregnant wife. [image] These flashbacks are shown in black and white, with just strange flashes of color. The artwork by Brian Bolland is so precise and detailed, particularly the characters’ expressions. You can see the anguish of the young comedian as he is torn between supporting his family and getting involved in a heist that will generate some badly-needed cash. The story begins on a dark, rain-drenched night. Batman and police commissioner Jim Gordon go to visit the Joker at Arkham Asylum. Batman wants to talk to the Joker about their relationship. Already, we are in unfamiliar territory. How often to arch-rivals have a heart-to-heart discussion like a married couple in therapy? As he says this, the Joker quietly flips cards, his face in the shadows. Every frame of this exchange perfectly complements the dialogue and emotions of the principals. It’s an absolutely brilliant combination of storytelling and artwork. [image] Then the Joker is on the loose yet again, and he does an unthinkably evil act that sets in motion the inevitable collision between Batman and his arch-rival. This time Jim Gordon is at the center of the Joker’s plot, and poor Barbara is an unfortunate victim. This part of the comic is quite shocking and upset many fans, but it is very deliberate on Moore’s part: he wants to make it crystal clear that the Joker is cruel and ruthless, and knows no boundaries. We then flash back again to the Joker’s past. He has been suckered into a heist by two hoodlums who want to be escorted through the chemical plant he used to work at to rob a playing card company next door. He’s hesitant but they pressure him, playing on his concerns about taking care of his family. The image of him after he has first been transformed, laughing uncontrollably, is both horrifying and unforgettable. Meanwhile, back in the present, we discover that the Joker has taken Jim Gordon hostage at a dilapidated old carnival, populated by freaks that are truly creepy, all in thrall to the Joker. Gordon is given the most awful carnival ride of his life. During this, the Joker gleefully expounds on his life philosophy: [image] “So when you find yourself locked onto an unpleasant train of thought, heading for the places in your past where the screaming is unbearable, remember there’s always madness. Madness is the emergency exit. You can just step outside, and close the door on all those dreadful things that happened. You can lock them away…forever.” Finally, Batman arrives on the scene for his climactic showdown with the Joker. The Joker taunts him with surprising insight: “You had a bad day once, am I right? I know I am. I can tell. You had a bad day and everything changed. Why else would you dress up like a flying rat? You had a bad day, and it drove you as crazy as everybody else…only you won’t admit it! You keep pretending that life makes sense, that there’s some point to all the struggling! When I saw what a black, awful joke the world was, I went as crazy as a coot! I admit it. Why cant’ you?” [image] Batman and the Joker battle each other, and the artwork and panel arrangement are flawless. I rarely see this level of precision on the inner pages of comics, but it’s no surprise that Brian Bolland does a lot of cover art. And then this brilliant story ends with the strangest conversation two arch-enemies are ever likely to have. Their expressions and body language are perfectly rendered. Batman: “Do you understand? I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want either of us to end up killing the other. But we’re running out of alternatives, and we both know it. It doesn’t have to end like that. I don't know what it was that bent joker 6your life out of shape, but who knows? Maybe I’ve been there too. Maybe I can help. We could work together. I could rehabilitate you. You needn’t be out there on the edge any more. You needn’t be alone. We don’t have to kill each other. What do you say?” [image] The ending is very poignant and unexpected, which I liked quite a bit. Not your typical superhero story by any measure. The entire comic is unusually well-crafted, and gives up deep insight into both of these well-known characters. Overall, it’s a bravura achievement, one you can enjoy many times over. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Feb 10, 2016
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Jul 08, 2013
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Paperback
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| 0930289234
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| 0930289234
| 4.38
| 566,445
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| 2005
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it was amazing
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Watchmen: Changed the genre forever (Graphic Novel & Movie Review) Originally posted at Fantasy Literature What more can be said about this brilliant, g Watchmen: Changed the genre forever (Graphic Novel & Movie Review) Originally posted at Fantasy Literature What more can be said about this brilliant, game-changing graphic novel from 1987? It challenged, deconstructed, and redefined the superhero story to the point that it’s hard to imagine any comic book writer not being fully cognizant of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s Watchmen when they put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard). Despite it coming out almost 30 years ago, it’s remained continuously in print with its iconic yellow smiley face with a drop of blood. Most fans consider it the greatest graphic novel ever written, and Time Magazine named it one of the 100 best English-language novels. I’m not an expert in comics or graphic novels, but I wouldn’t disagree. In fact, until recently it was the only graphic novel (other than Frank Miller’s SIN CITY series) I’d read in the past 25 years despite a life-long love of SFF. I think Watchmen addresses a lot of the reasons WHY I wasn’t interested in comics all that time. They’re right next to SFF books in the bookstore, and they feature stories that are mostly fantastic in nature. Not only that, but they having amazing cover artwork that really catches the eye. So what’s the problem? I guess my memories of comics are from the mid-1980s, and back then when I read G.I. JOE and TRANSFORMERS, I’m pretty sure I was just brain-washed by Hasbro. The stories weren’t great and neither was the artwork. I was never really interested in SUPERMAN, BATMAN, THE AVENGERS, X-MEN, etc. The stories seemed too simplistic (just a preconception – I didn’t actually read them) and filled with KAPOWS and THWACKTS ala Adam West’s classic Batman TV series. Once I was actively reading 500-page SFF novels as a teenager, I simply assumed that comics COULD NOT achieve the same depth of story and character that books can. However, over the last two decades Hollywood has discovered what an absolute treasure trove comic book superheroes are. They’re ready-made franchises with thousands of episodes and story-arcs, iconic characters that everyone knows, and tons of product tie-in potential. It’s been a bonanza for MARVEL and DC, the two industry heavy-hitters. And most people now know who Frank Miller and Stan Lee are. One of the biggest trends of more recent years has been the increasingly dark and complicated nature of super heroes. You need look no further that the original Tim Burton versions of Batman from the 1990s to the incredibly dark vision of Christopher Nolan’s DARK KNIGHT series. It’s very likely that Watchmen (and Frank Miller’s DARK KNIGHT reinterpretation) deserve a lot of credit for that trend toward dark, complicated, and twisted superheroes, to the point where the term “hero” comes into question. In Watchmen there may be a lot of characters dressed in costume, but you’d be hard-pressed to identify the “superheroes” among them. In fact, it’s fair to question whether they are “super” at all. The characters of Watchmen are all attracted to the idea of the “superhero”, that person with extraordinary abilities who uses them to fight crime and injustice. And while there is certainly one character (Doc Manhattan) who has incredible powers far beyond most superheroes, he is distant and uninvolved in human affairs despite his human origins and love interests. Watchmen asks the disarmingly simple question, “What is a superhero, and why would anyone want to be one?” I mean, they’re dressing up in tights and spandex and going around beating up criminals. That’s not a “normal” career. In fact, how do superheroes earn income? Do they pay taxes? Do they take those costumes to a dry-cleaners or hand-wash only? The more you think about it, the more ridiculous it sounds. We all know that crime pays, but what about crime-fighting? You don’t get much besides the keys to the city, a handshake from the mayor, and the thankful smiles of a grateful citizenry. So wanting to be a superhero is something internally-driven. Even then, why? The thrill of anonymity, perhaps, or the desire to become someone more exciting than the everyday prosaic middle-aged tax accountant with the nice house, pretty wife, 2 cars, golf membership, kids and a dog. Then again, maybe you really have a grudge against crime and want to champion the weak. You might have been the victim of a terrible crime and vowed to dedicate your life to protecting people from such a fate. Or maybe it just seemed like a cool idea and you didn’t have any other particular plans. There are so many themes explored in Watchmen that you could easily teach a college lit course about it, and there are in fact such classes, though I was never fortunate enough to take one. Our very own FanLit comic expert Brad tells me he has taught this text many times to many of his students. It’s guaranteed to produce a lot of amazing discussions, I’m sure. It’s also clearly intended to be read multiple times, and I’ve read it twice. So to avoid driving myself insane trying to cover every aspect of this multi-layered work of art, I’m going to stick to the central theme of “what is a superhero, and why be one?” One of the great aspects about Watchmen is that it is a deeply moral work that concerns itself with justice, free-will, evil, despotism, hubris, and yet it never spells out its agenda, or cheapens its characters by making them mouth-pieces for the author’s pet ideas. Of course each character explores aspects of the superhero concept, but none of them fit that Golden Age stereotype with bulging muscles, a square jaw and deep voice, and an untiring drive to fight crime. Below is a basic synopsis of the main characters of Watchmen. There is an earlier set of superheroes that arose in the 1940s and 1950s in this alternate reality, but I won’t even attempt to describe them. They form the basic conceptual framework for superheroes, but I’m most interested in the characters who drive the main story arc in the 1980s: THE COMEDIAN (Eddie Blake): This guy is a big, cynical and amoral thug. He revels in conflict and violence – although ostensibly falling under the “superhero” rubric, he quickly finds he has no problems taking down Latin American dictators as a government operative. He also takes great pleasure in killing “badguys”, which in Vietnam basically meant everyone opposed to US forces. Machine guns, flame throwers, fists & kicks, it’s all good to the Comedian. Because to him life is one big, ironic joke. The joke being that you’re a sucker if you believe there is any justice or purpose in our lives. The strong take what they want, and the weak don’t. Who would you rather be? His philosophical differences with Nite Owl are fascinating, and his emotional dealings with both iterations of Silk Spectre show his best and worst sides. RORSHACH (Walter Kovacs): Rorshach sees the world in black and white, a simple dualism of good and evil. He was bullied as a child, railed against his prostitute mother, and developed an intense and smoldering hatred for the worst aspects of humanity. This hatred is so all-consuming that it leaves little room for sympathy for the common man. As a form of self-validation, Rorshach spends all his time hunting down criminals of the streets, beating and killing them without mercy. Those that hurt children in particular draw his ire. Where he struggles is finding room for anything that doesn’t fit his ultra-narrow worldview. There are no grays in his moral universe, only black and white shifting but never mixing, like his mask. He is an angel of vengeance, a vigilante with the noblest intentions. But is he a hero, or a vigilante? Does purity of intent and purpose justify his ruthless killing? Readers who sympathize with Rorshach should examine their politics in other areas as well. Maybe he is right, maybe humanity is unworthy, but what an awful way to live each day. NITE OWL (Daniel Dreiberg): The modern-day Nite Owl is actually the second to wear the costume. Dan Dreiberg inherited a lot of money from his banker father, and has a deep love for flying machines and animals. One suspects he wishes he could just watch owls all day and fly with them. He was the crime-fighting sidekick of Rorshach and the Comedian, but has hung up the wings to do…nothing. His life seems fairly pointless after quitting crime-fighting. He tinkers in his place alone, only reliving the old times with weekly beer sessions with the senior Nite Owl. His characters is pretty wimpy until he catches Silk Spectre on the rebound from Doc Manhattan, at which points things spice up a bit. Although he is perhaps the most normal of the Watchmen, he is hardly heroic. OZYMANDIAS (Adrian Veidt): After retiring from crime-fighting, Adrian has become an extremely-successful businessman who is also “the smartest man in the world”. He is incredibly athletic and handsome, skilled at hand-to-hand combat, and markets his own training program. In other words, he’s that guy from high school everyone hates and envies. He runs Veidt Enterprises, and is something of an unholy combination of Tony Starks (rich, charismatic, brilliant) and Donald Trump (complete egomaniac, superiority complex). Adrian’s biggest problem is that he is so superior to the average man that he can’t help looking down on him. This causes him to hatch an elaborate and evil master-plan that any super villain would be proud of. SILK SPECTRE (Laurie Juspeczyk): Laurie is the weakest character in the group, and probably Moore’s least impressive creation. It seems clear that he had trouble coming up with a viable female superhero. One wonders what would happen if he had instead tried a Harley Quinn-type villain with some charm. Laurie’s mom was Sally Jupiter, the original Silk Spectre, who had some ties to the Comedian in the past. Laurie grew up idolizing her superhero mom, and so has followed in her footsteps. However, her main purpose seems to be the love interest for Doc Manhattan, his last emotional connection to humanity. DOC MANHATTAN (Jon Osterman): He is by far the most interesting of Moore’s creations. Doc was a promising scientist studying particle physics. When an experiment goes terribly wrong, he is initially atomized before finding a way to reconstruct himself, atom by atom, and become this all-powerful blue man-figure with a great physique and disdain for clothing. He still stays with his girlfriend at the time, but the US military increasingly uses him for geopolitical power politics, particularly to maintain a precarious edge over the USSR in an alternate version of the Cold War (perhaps the only plot element that feels overly 1980s). The stresses of being used for his powers (including the Vietnam War) despite his growing disillusionment with the petty conflicts of humanity eventually spoils his relationship, but instead he shacks up with the Laurie, the younger iteration of Silk Spectre. She too suffers from his clumsy inability to understand the emotional needs of another human being, let alone a lover. We see Doc Manhattan wield almost unlimited powers over matter, creating and destroying at will. And yet when he gets completely fed up with the tawdry squabbles of mankind, he ditches Earth and heads to Mars for some R&R, meditating and creating a fantastic geodesic artifact to occupy himself. What we see in him is a far more realistic portrayal of what an all-powerful being is likely to behave like. Unlike Jehovah of the Old Testament, who is constantly punishing humanity for every little transgression like a petulant child smashing his toys, Doc Manhattan can’t be bothered with people. Seriously, why would you when the world of tachyons and quarks are so much more interesting. The other fascinating thing about Doc is that he lives in a quantum universe, so he experiences time as a continuum, seeing past, present, and future simultaneously. Moore really nails the mechanics of avoiding time paradoxes: my favorite pet peeve involves that hairy old chestnut “going back to change things”. It’s very simple, really: you can’t change anything because time already exists and is fixed. You can look up and down the line, but don’t think you can change it. This means that Doc knows the future but can’t do anything about it. That makes it pretty frustrating when Laurie tries to have conversations with him. It also makes the universe a very deterministic place and discounts the concept of free will. Even if we are free to make our choices, they have already been made in the quantum universe. So the clever reader must have noticed, where are all the super villains, the Jokers, Penguins, Magnetos, Green Goblins, Lex Luthors, etc? Haven’t figured it out yet? There are no super villains in the real world, silly, that’s just in comic books. And Watchmen is not some pulpy wish-fulfillment fantasy. It’s about the world you and I live in, filled with well-intentioned but imperfect people with passions, aspirations, dreams, psychoses, problems, frustrations and occasional triumphs like everyone else. It’s just that some of them wear costumes, that’s all. Dave Gibbon’s Artwork/Tales of the Black Freighter: The comic medium is distinct from novels because of the artwork, and the artwork of Watchmen is truly special. It is an example of total artistic commitment by both author and artist to achieve something never before seen in the genre. Dave Gibbons was given extremely detailed instructions by Moore for each frame, and they agree to use a 9-panel layout to give a uniform structure, unlike the more common variable size/number of panels. Gibbons inserted an incredible number of details into each panel, especially the various textual media found throughout the book, such as newspapers, graffiti, TV screens, book covers, etc. Much of these visual clues point to the impending countdown of the doomsday clock ticking down to nuclear Armageddon. There is also the pervasive metaphor of the smiley face button, which the Comedian uses for ironic purposes, but I see the iconic image of the drop of blood covering the face as a clever metaphor for how the innocent ideal of comic book heroism is tainted by the violence and death of the real world. There is such a wealth of visual details in the book, not to mention the book-within-a-book horrific pirate story called Tales of the Black Freighter, that I have never seen in graphic novels before. And the crowning touches are the inserts between chapters of excerpts from the autobiography of Hollis Mason (the original Nite Owl) that describe the origins of the first generation of superheroes (the Minutemen) in the 1940-50s, articles describing the history of Doc Manhattan and his impact on the Cold War, a description of the artists involved in early pirate comics, police documents of Rorshach, snippets from the New Frontiersman newspaper, even super-realistic notes from a Hollywood producer corresponding with Sally Jupiter, the original Silk Spectre. The verisimilitude and depth achieved with these interludes gives Watchmen the feel of a completely three-dimensional experience, encompassing storyline, character history, story-within-story, and visual elements. Watchmen Film (2009, directed by Zack Snyder) It was inevitable that a graphic novel as epic and complex as Watchmen would attract the attention of filmmakers. However, as is frequently a case with such a dense and complicated storyline, finding the right people to come up with the right screenwriters, producers, directors, and studio is an extremely difficult task. So the film got bounced around Hollywood for years and years, with directors and producers as diverse as Joel Silver, Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky, and Paul Greenglass before the stars aligned and Zack Snyder was given the nod thanks to his distinctive visual work on Frank Miller’s 300. The film version has a big budget of $120 million but hardly any major household names. The costs mostly involve the elaborate sets and special effects. The Watchmen graphic novel served as the storyboard. Visually, fans of the original will immediately recognize scene after scene from the comic, and Snyder did an excellent job bringing the dark and dystopian tone of the book to the screen. He also brings strength in the kinetic and violent action sequences, especially with sudden switches to slow motion in mid fight. The faithful careful attention to details extents to the beautiful geodesic glass artifact constructed by Doc Manhattan on Mars. It looks exactly as I envisioned it from Dave Gibbon’s artwork. The acting isn’t quite as strong as the visual work, but I was satisfied with the fiercely uncompromising Rorshach and cynical Comedian. Nite Owl was played accurately as a fairly milquetoast aging superhero who has almost forgotten his glorious crime-fighting past, but I enjoyed his character when he finally takes out the Owlship with Silk Spectre to break Rorshach out of prison. The weakest actor by far played Silk Spectre, but a lot of my dislike may be more towards the character than the performance. Although Doc Manhattan is portrayed using CG, the actor Billy Crudup shot the scenes with the other actors. I like his cool and distant voice, it worked well with character. Alan Moore refuses to have any involvement with film adaptations of his works, so writers David Hayter and Alex Tse were free to reshape Watchmen into something that could fit within the confines of a 2 ½ hour film. I think the two best decisions made in cutting down the story include removing all the Tales of the Black Freighter from the film, since this really was intended for readers of the comic as a tribute to pirate comics, and wouldn’t have worked in the movie as it lacks any direct connection with the story. I also liked how they and Snyder used the opening frames of the movie to depict the early Minutemen superheroes in technique that allows real-life stills to mimic photographs, but still retain some motion. This way viewers get a taste of what the early superheroes looked like without having to devote lengthy screen time to their backstories. The biggest change made was to the final climactic scenes in Antarctica as Rorshach, Nite Owl, and Doc Manhattan attempt to foil Ozymandias’ evil master-plan. I actually thought this was overly complex and difficult to understand in book. (view spoiler)[ Teleporting some freakish alien monster, whose brain was cloned from a human psychotic, into New York City in order to use the massive psychic shockwave from its brain to kill half the city? And this will somehow unite the warring superpowers against a common enemy? Perhaps this was a conscious dig by Moore at the implausibility of master plans by comic book villains? Since the rest of Watchmen seems very realistic within the alternate reality created by Moore, this part of the story struck me as farfetched. So I was actually quite happy when the film version made Ozymandias’ plan more concise and sensible. By simulating nuclear attacks in cities around the world and framing Doc Manhattan for it, this would be more likely to unite the world against Doc Manhattan, thereby completely alienating him from humanity and also eliminating him as a rival to Adrian Veight’s plan to rule the world in the aftermath. (hide spoiler)] I’ve heard that many Watchmen fans really hated the film version, but I didn’t feel that way at all. While the film of necessity had to shed many of the side and back stories and incredible background details that make the graphic novel so rich, I think they retained the important aspects of the storyline and focused on them. I also think the film piqued the interest of many viewers to give the graphic novel a try, directing new blood to the comic/graphic novel genre. There are so many disastrous comic book adaptations out there, so Zack Snyder’s film is much better than that. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Jan 15, 2016
not set
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