anzuk's review against another edition
3.0
I started watching the Batman animated series and I’m in love with it! That made me want to know more about our dark avenger, so it made sense that I get the original comics and give them a try. This did not turn out as I have planned.
First of all the illustrations suck. Bigtime. But keep in mind that this is vintage stuff, so you have to respect it. I respect it. But fun-wise? Nah. No. Just no. Calling the story cheesy is an understatement.
I will give the next books a try since I want to read the Batman comics from the beginning till the end. It will take a shitload of time but I’m cool with it.
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just_fighting_censorship's review against another edition
4.0
This is a must read for any Batman fan. You get to start all the way back at the beginning with Detective Comics #27 and this volumes ends with Batman #1. Aside from Batman’s original origin story the reader is introduced to Professor Hugo Strange, The Joker, and the Cat (better known now as Catwoman!). They are the original issues reprinted in COLOR none of that 'essentials' and 'showcase' black and white nonsense!
This is a real piece of history complete with awkward dialogue, politically incorrect terms, and public service announcements such as the promotion of “Robin’s Regulars” you don’t need to fight crime just be regular and ‘always be helpful to those who need help!’
In short this is a CLASSIC piece of art, history, and art history?
This is a real piece of history complete with awkward dialogue, politically incorrect terms, and public service announcements such as the promotion of “Robin’s Regulars” you don’t need to fight crime just be regular and ‘always be helpful to those who need help!’
In short this is a CLASSIC piece of art, history, and art history?
jokoloyo's review against another edition
2.0
Add one more star if this surprisingly emotional batman comics is your kind of entertainment.
I guess the editor choose three stories that compiled on this chronicles based on the emotional value. The plot of these stories are emotional building until the climax. Maybe you could cry when reading Batman comics.
I guess the editor choose three stories that compiled on this chronicles based on the emotional value. The plot of these stories are emotional building until the climax. Maybe you could cry when reading Batman comics.
dr_matthew_lloyd's review against another edition
3.0
I sometimes think that I am more interested in the history surrounding comic books and the influence that history has on their content and reception than I am in the actual stories that they tell. When [b:The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 1|590744|The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 1|Jerry Siegel|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388285893s/590744.jpg|577504] were published back in the '00s I was really excited to read them, but of course I found the actual content to be fairly rubbish, the kind of cheap, improbable storytelling which gives science fiction a bad reputation. I found it much more interesting to read [b:Men Of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book|408597|Men Of Tomorrow Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book|Gerard Jones|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348629410s/408597.jpg|101610] a few years later, and I'm currently reading [b:The Secret History of Wonder Woman|21855259|The Secret History of Wonder Woman|Jill Lepore|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1408310844s/21855259.jpg|41127893] with the same intent. So when I picked up The Batman Chronicles from the library, I wasn't expecting much.
For the most part, my expectations were met. The first handful of stories are fairly terrible pulpy stories in which Bruce Wayne watches some crimes happen, then punches the criminals until they stop committing crimes - usually because they're dead. Even the introduction of the Joker is a pretty rubbish story, although the Cat's first appearance is quite good, comparatively. Throughout many of these stories I found myself enjoying their terrible dialogue, replete with tautologies, the ridiculous plot twists - Bruce Wayne discovers an attempt to bring the US into the second World War because he got lost while driving around in his Batman outfit; Robin uncovers a crime because a gust of wind blows a note back onto the boat on which he's travelling. It's quite fun, but not really worth reading.
But then... in September 1939, the first part of the fifth Batman story, titled "Batman versus the Vampire", was published. It is a work of undisputable genius. We begin with the Batman chasing down a villain "with the powers of a Satan" known as The Monk, then stumbling across a woman attempting to murder a random man (his identity is never revealed; he may well still be on the telegraph pole on which Batman leaves him). The woman turns out to be Bruce Wayne's fiancée, Julie Madison (who has not been mentioned in any of the previous four stories), hypnotised by the Monk. When he takes her to the doctor, the doctor recommends that they take a boat to Paris (in September 1939) and then perhaps on to Hungary - "The land of history and werewolves." (emphasis original). Despite his misgivings Bruce sends Julie on her way, following her in his Batplane. At one point during the cruise, he disembarks onto the boat, encounters Julie, throws a baterang at the Monk, then flees the boat and continues to follow it despite the fact that he knows exactly where the Monk is and has left Julie there with him. When they arrive in Paris, Batman spends several nights searching for Julie; when he finds her he is attacked by a giant ape working with the Monk. He is captured, then lowered slowly into a pit of snakes, from which he escapes using a baterang. The Monk captures him in a different cage and leaves him to fight the ape, but reveals his plan: "Die here, you fool, while I send the girl, Julie, on to my castle in Hungary, to feed my werewolves!" Apparently, there's no-one in Hungary - or even Europe - worth eating? Or perhaps Julie Madison is just what the werewolves requested as a special treat? Alas, we never find out. The Monk sends Julie off in a separate car to himself so that when Batman escapes and chases it down he can rescue her (after making the car crash into a tree), but then he brings her with him to Hungary anyway as he goes to chase down the Monk and his werewolves. And this is only part one. It's almost impossible to capture the majesty of this story without the dialogue, but it is perhaps the greatest Batman story ever written.
One of the more interesting features of this period of Batman is the careless abandon with which he throws criminals off roofs, scaffolding, into rivers, and so on - he kills a lot of people and is open about doing so. Having read Men of Tomorrow, I know that it wasn't until somewhat later that DC decided that their superheroes would never kill anyone again. It's interesting in part because, having recently watched Marvel's Daredevil on Netflix, I note that superheroes didn't stop beating people up and throwing them off roofs in exactly the same way, it's just that those people stopped dying when they hit the ground.
I don't think that there's a lot in these early stories to really entertain beyond the so-bad-it's-good aspects of certain stories and the historical interest of the blending of noir, gangster, and emerging superhero motifs. It's certainly not clear that the Batman would go on to be the phenomenon he is today. But there is scope for fun.
For the most part, my expectations were met. The first handful of stories are fairly terrible pulpy stories in which Bruce Wayne watches some crimes happen, then punches the criminals until they stop committing crimes - usually because they're dead. Even the introduction of the Joker is a pretty rubbish story, although the Cat's first appearance is quite good, comparatively. Throughout many of these stories I found myself enjoying their terrible dialogue, replete with tautologies, the ridiculous plot twists - Bruce Wayne discovers an attempt to bring the US into the second World War because he got lost while driving around in his Batman outfit; Robin uncovers a crime because a gust of wind blows a note back onto the boat on which he's travelling. It's quite fun, but not really worth reading.
But then... in September 1939, the first part of the fifth Batman story, titled "Batman versus the Vampire", was published. It is a work of undisputable genius. We begin with the Batman chasing down a villain "with the powers of a Satan" known as The Monk, then stumbling across a woman attempting to murder a random man (his identity is never revealed; he may well still be on the telegraph pole on which Batman leaves him). The woman turns out to be Bruce Wayne's fiancée, Julie Madison (who has not been mentioned in any of the previous four stories), hypnotised by the Monk. When he takes her to the doctor, the doctor recommends that they take a boat to Paris (in September 1939) and then perhaps on to Hungary - "The land of history and werewolves." (emphasis original). Despite his misgivings Bruce sends Julie on her way, following her in his Batplane. At one point during the cruise, he disembarks onto the boat, encounters Julie, throws a baterang at the Monk, then flees the boat and continues to follow it despite the fact that he knows exactly where the Monk is and has left Julie there with him. When they arrive in Paris, Batman spends several nights searching for Julie; when he finds her he is attacked by a giant ape working with the Monk. He is captured, then lowered slowly into a pit of snakes, from which he escapes using a baterang. The Monk captures him in a different cage and leaves him to fight the ape, but reveals his plan: "Die here, you fool, while I send the girl, Julie, on to my castle in Hungary, to feed my werewolves!" Apparently, there's no-one in Hungary - or even Europe - worth eating? Or perhaps Julie Madison is just what the werewolves requested as a special treat? Alas, we never find out. The Monk sends Julie off in a separate car to himself so that when Batman escapes and chases it down he can rescue her (after making the car crash into a tree), but then he brings her with him to Hungary anyway as he goes to chase down the Monk and his werewolves. And this is only part one. It's almost impossible to capture the majesty of this story without the dialogue, but it is perhaps the greatest Batman story ever written.
One of the more interesting features of this period of Batman is the careless abandon with which he throws criminals off roofs, scaffolding, into rivers, and so on - he kills a lot of people and is open about doing so. Having read Men of Tomorrow, I know that it wasn't until somewhat later that DC decided that their superheroes would never kill anyone again. It's interesting in part because, having recently watched Marvel's Daredevil on Netflix, I note that superheroes didn't stop beating people up and throwing them off roofs in exactly the same way, it's just that those people stopped dying when they hit the ground.
I don't think that there's a lot in these early stories to really entertain beyond the so-bad-it's-good aspects of certain stories and the historical interest of the blending of noir, gangster, and emerging superhero motifs. It's certainly not clear that the Batman would go on to be the phenomenon he is today. But there is scope for fun.
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