strawberryteeth's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
discoharpy's review
4.0
Wow great art style. I love batman with dramatic long ears. Loved the reveals at the end. I love how dark and gritty everything feels like batman should as well as some great nods to Bram Stoker and Gothic literature. Overall a really good time.
dozmuttz's review
3.0
The title says it all; Batman takes on the biggest baddie bloodsucker, Dracula. In this elseworlds story Gotham is being struck by a new serial killer and their signature is leaving their victims throats slashed. There’s enough cases to get the attention of the Dark Knight and he puts his detective cap on (it’s actually always on). It all leads to the inevitable as Batman thinks he found the killer hovering over a victim seeming to be biting at their neck. He underestimates the killer and is out matched by their incredible strength and speed. This surely wasn’t a normal person, no, Batman just fought his first vampire. He survives the encounter however he comes out of the fight different. He feels stronger and can’t seem to sleep at night. You can probably guess what’s happening to him. It all leads to him coming fang to fang with the big daddy of the vampires, Dracula. He only barely escapes their first encounter as he’s saved by a group of vampires who are trying to stop Dracula, cause you know “not all vampires are bad.” Together they must make sure Dracula doesn’t succeed in overtaking Gotham and making it his domain. They must stop him before the red rain floods the streets.
Written by Doug Moench, who is no stranger to writing Batman, he gives us his usual dark vibes for the character. In this case for very obvious reasons. I found Moench brought this fun idea to the page fairly well, with my only gripes being that some of the plot points felt cliche. There’s also just nothing in this story that really shocked or wowed me too much. I mean it’s really cool to see these two kinds of worlds mix together, but a lot feels predictable and just seems to take us from point A to Z. I think Moench wrote this as well as any other writer could’ve, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting more.
The true shine in this book (or in this case, darkness) is the artwork by Kelley Jones. Probably most known for his 90s covers of the Dark Knight himself, his style is very dark and abnormal. Making him a perfect fit to add the horror elements to the story. His character designs in this one are remarkably terrifying and left me with chills down my spine. His design for Dracula’s bat hybrid form, alone, was straight up nightmare fuel. Nothing is over the top gore wise, but it’s just enough to give you an eerie feeling and in hopes to never see anything like this in real life. It’s truly some great spooky stuff.
Overall; The story, although not bad, feels like it could’ve been better. The artwork however is stunning, and alone should be the reason you check this read out.
Written by Doug Moench, who is no stranger to writing Batman, he gives us his usual dark vibes for the character. In this case for very obvious reasons. I found Moench brought this fun idea to the page fairly well, with my only gripes being that some of the plot points felt cliche. There’s also just nothing in this story that really shocked or wowed me too much. I mean it’s really cool to see these two kinds of worlds mix together, but a lot feels predictable and just seems to take us from point A to Z. I think Moench wrote this as well as any other writer could’ve, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting more.
The true shine in this book (or in this case, darkness) is the artwork by Kelley Jones. Probably most known for his 90s covers of the Dark Knight himself, his style is very dark and abnormal. Making him a perfect fit to add the horror elements to the story. His character designs in this one are remarkably terrifying and left me with chills down my spine. His design for Dracula’s bat hybrid form, alone, was straight up nightmare fuel. Nothing is over the top gore wise, but it’s just enough to give you an eerie feeling and in hopes to never see anything like this in real life. It’s truly some great spooky stuff.
Overall; The story, although not bad, feels like it could’ve been better. The artwork however is stunning, and alone should be the reason you check this read out.
howattp's review
4.0
This is certainly a unique story, another excellent Elseworlds tale. Who else is perfect for Batman to go up against than Dracula himself?
panthor's review
3.0
Dumb. Three stars for the concept/art but storywise it ends up being like a Batman/Blade crossover with a female vampire taking the place of Blade. I need to resist the Amazon daily deals sometimes.
dumblydore's review
3.0
It makes utter sense to have an Elseworlds like this, for Batman and indeed Gotham have marked parallels with that of the legendary Dracula, both being frightening creatures coming to life in the darkness of the night, each in their own pursuit of dominating others, and well, quite simply, the fact they are both bats seems to provide a great connection and divide between them.
The dialogue has dated, but the artwork is both restrained and riveting at the same time (the gore is quite simply unavoidable). A chilling story, succeeded by two more novels.
The dialogue has dated, but the artwork is both restrained and riveting at the same time (the gore is quite simply unavoidable). A chilling story, succeeded by two more novels.
clauscanddie's review
4.0
Kinda gothic classic from the 90s comics Batman. Very well ilustrated but a little apelative for my taste, mostly with nude characters. The background of the homeless people in Gothan being ignored by everyone sounds a little silly nowadays, as politicians strive to love the poor ('cause now even poor people vote, and have cellphones, nothing like Gothan). But, as always, bitting politicians is always a win. So it's a classic, I guess.