Reviews

I really like the Earth One concept, and there are some great things about this volume. It is cool to see Batman/Bruce have a larger group of people he trusts. It has also been cool to see the spin on some of these classic characters. Johns definitely makes this feel like a new take instead of a retread. However, the story here feels overly convoluted with the Arkham's lineage and the larger baddies. I was also disappointed both in the design of Catwoman and the handling of mental illness. If we are being honest, the Batman property has always had a problem with its villains and the way it treats mental illness. But in current times, you would have hoped they had got past some of that. Just like you would hope that the prominent females in comic books would get past this gross male gaze centric design.

villyidol's review

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2.0

Well, this disintegrated completely.

description

The first two volumes were excellent and about half of this book is still decent, albeit already suffering from the characters, and Alfred especially, being a bit weaker here. But then it's gone completely off the rails with the nonsense plot surrounding the Dents and the Arkhams.

It's particularly perplexing that it turned out to be an extended visit to Crazytown when you consider that this story was initially set up as something of a real world Batman. It wasn't fun and, frankly, it didn't make any sense either.

Maybe the fourth book (about to be released in 2033, I suppose) will be a return to form? As the previous ones, this ends with the introduction of a new player (one I'm looking forward to) but then will keep fans hanging for years, I guess.

2.5 stars

Buddy read with Nataliya, who's a fan of Two-Face now, I'm certain.

subhamroxx's review

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3.0

Bruce is going about his life and his early years as Batman and dealing with criminals, teaming with Croc before he finds that his grandfather Adrian Arkham has returned and also the criminals are organizing an attack on Gotham under someone and as he investigates them he teams up with Catwoman and also Croc and all, mysteries gallore, sudden revelations are to be head and we find him vs the threat of True face and also the origins of Adrian and the aftermath that follows.

Its an okayish story and a bit disappointing compared to the others but its to be expected as its coming out after a lot of time but I enjoyed the slow unravelling mysteries behind it and all and the stuff with Two-face was a welcome addition and add to it the origins of Batman the way we know him and him using his detective work well and also him operating with a team made more sense and the art is just gorgeous all throughout but there are no big action scenes which were a bit disappointing but despite that its great.

The epilogue shows Jokers and maybe the forming of the outsiders, does that mean there maybe a sequel coming?

rocketbebop's review

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

honguan's review

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

jakewritesbooks's review

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4.0

Such a refreshing, clever take on Batman, with great art to boot. It doubles as an interesting exploration of mental health and trauma and while it doesn't break ground there, it perhaps goes further than the typical Batman stories do. I hope I don't have to wait long for Vol. 4.

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