I picked this up last night and read it, and, well, I feel ripped off. It didn’t really delve into HOW Bruce came to be Batman aside from the bat flying into his mansion after his first night out. There was next to nothing about his training abroad, and I don’t remember anyhting being said about how he came to have his detective skills or anything of the like involving his mind. I haven’t read the Dark Knight Returns, but so far I’m not really impressed with Frank Miller’s work. The man certainly doesn’t stand up to the myth.
Just needed to get that out. Feel free to discuss (Wilf, this means you :P).
Dark Knight Strikes Again, I believe it’s called. I would have picked up DKR, but the bookstore I bought Year One at only had the sequel.
Frank Miller’s writing style was interesting, its just I feel he left a lot of stuff out that really would’ve helped make the story truly incredible. At any rate, the artwork was cool; very simple, yet very cool.
Also, anyone read the first issue of the All Star Batman and Robin series yet? If you have, what the fuck? Dick’s parents’ get shot and Dick gets “drafted”. O_o
RC: Year One was meant mainly to restablish Batman’s character post- Crisis on Infinite Earths (where the whole DC Universe was rewritten.) I definitely have seen better Batman stories. (Batman Begins definitely did a better job establishing the character)
Dark Knight is a good, powerful story, thought I never felt that REALLY was Batman- it felt more like Sin City. It’s greatest influence was that it got people to realize what a badass character Batman could be, and he’s been taken more seriously since. Again, however, I’ve seen better Batman stories (no specific issues come to mind right now, though; will get back to you.) I have not seen the DK sequel, but I heard it was BAD.
(Btw, there’s a story called “Snow” that retells the origin of Mr. Freeze, currently running in one of the Batman titles (not sure which one, there’s like four of them). This looks like a GREAT character study: the way Freeze descends into madness as he loses the woman he loves is heart-rending. In addition, this story introduces a SECRET group of Batman helpers: have you ever wondered how Batman keep tabs on all those criminals by himself? It turns out he has recruited some skilled, but normal people to do it for him, giving those poor losers a sense of achievement in the process. Now this is something so obvious I don’t know why nobody thought of it before! Though I fear that most of them will not survive this story. Recomended.)
Legends of the Dark Knight is the series “Snow” is running in. I was going to pick that up instead of the few issues of “War Crimes” (or whatever the 4 parter was that just finished running in Detective Comics and Batman), but it was already up to part 3 and the local bookstore (a 12 mile drive) doesn’t stock back issues…and the nearest comic store is 30 miles away.
I’ll definitely try to pick up “Snow”, though, next time I’m at the comic shop and have some money to burn (no pun intended >_>).
Also, have you read “The Long Halloween” and “Dark Victory”? I’ve heard nothing but good things about these two and I’m thinking of picking them up as well sometime.
Wow…never thought I’d be talking comics in a million years.
I never thought Batman had a network. I always though he’d crash some lowlife den, beat everybody up and take information from the guy he left able to speak.
RC: You could order comics by mail. Or you could wait for the Trade Paperback. I mean, these days they’re collecting almost EVERY freakin’ comic book storyline as soon as it’s completed, so I’d bet that Snow will be collected too, especially if it sells well.
I read “Long Halloween” but not “Dark Victory”. Both were written by Jeph Loeb (current writer on “Superman & Batman”, one of DC’s best selling titles) and they’re likely to please you.
And comics isn’t any dumber a topic than RPGs, Anime, or politics, for that matter. :hahaha;
Lex: Oh, Bats still beats crooks up, but there’s only so much info you can get that way. Not to mention way too many criminals in Gotham to keep tabs on by himself.
Trivia question: Batman has a THIRD identity, as a criminal, to infiltrate the underworld. Who here can name it? Extra brownie points if you can tell where he got the ID!
Its not the british chap he disguised himself as during the KnightQuest saga while he and Alfred were in England searching for Tim Drake’s Father and Dr. Kinsolving, is it?
Speaking of KnightQuest, why the hell didn’t DC deem it worthy of being compiled in a trade? I read the Knightfall novel prior to picking up the two Knightfall and KnightsEnd TPBs, and, well, I’m still pissed that I didn’t get to read the KnightQuest portion of the comics. I was going to email DC about this, but I couldn’t find any customer service email any where on their site that dealt with this time of inquiry. Any ideas who I should bitch to?
Of course, you might want to google a few other comics sites and compare prices.
And no, it’s not the british guy. Here’s another hint: he actually has used this ID in the TV cartoons, most recently in a Justice League episode.
As for why KnightQuest hasn’t been collected: beats me. There’s plenty of good storylines that get passed over in favor of more obscure ones. I have no idea what DC (Or Marvel for that matter) is thinking.
One reprint I’d love to see is SON OF THE DEMON, the graphic novel were Bats had a son with Talia (Ra’s daughter.) DC keeps vowing that it’s apocryphal… but his son is STILL mentioned in many stories. (?)
As for bitching to DC, I think they have their own Message Boards, you could try there. Check their homepage.
