sagesaria's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
opentopersuasion's review against another edition
2.0
After reading some later issues that I liked, I thought I’d start with the beginning of this series in trade format.
The book was disappointing...what I like about Batman is the anguish of good guys becoming bad guys and vice-versa (the Joker tries to feed his family and ends up doused in chemicals and his brain goes hay-wire, Batman goes from being a sad orphan to an obsessive, monster-like figure). But I guess since you can’t only do origin stories, you end up with stories like this one.
The story plops you in front of a break-out of Arkham Asylum, only this time the bad guys are hopped up on some kind of drug/venom/poison. I’m not a full-on Batman expert yet, so I didn’t know a lot of the baddies, and even the ones I did know seemed to be just randomly put there. There were just so many that you only see for one or two pages, then disappear. The plot was meandering and weak, with random explanations for curing the poison that made no sense to me...Quick, you have to push him over the edge, that’ll cure him! ...What does that even mean?! The girls on the pages were the same to me as the villains, very fleshed-out, well done art for no real plot value other than to ogle at...super muscley guys and super sexy ladies.
Since what I liked in the single issues came later, I might still be tempted to try volume 2. But I’m not so sure.
The book was disappointing...what I like about Batman is the anguish of good guys becoming bad guys and vice-versa (the Joker tries to feed his family and ends up doused in chemicals and his brain goes hay-wire, Batman goes from being a sad orphan to an obsessive, monster-like figure). But I guess since you can’t only do origin stories, you end up with stories like this one.
The story plops you in front of a break-out of Arkham Asylum, only this time the bad guys are hopped up on some kind of drug/venom/poison. I’m not a full-on Batman expert yet, so I didn’t know a lot of the baddies, and even the ones I did know seemed to be just randomly put there. There were just so many that you only see for one or two pages, then disappear. The plot was meandering and weak, with random explanations for curing the poison that made no sense to me...Quick, you have to push him over the edge, that’ll cure him! ...What does that even mean?! The girls on the pages were the same to me as the villains, very fleshed-out, well done art for no real plot value other than to ogle at...super muscley guys and super sexy ladies.
Since what I liked in the single issues came later, I might still be tempted to try volume 2. But I’m not so sure.
himiko's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
life_of_karrot's review against another edition
3.0
The theme of fear was clear from the opening. Having Batman's rogues escape without a good plot explanation was cyclical, but luckily there wasn't too much focus on it, instead on the new empowering formula they were taking. Some issues: the new villain White Bunny a) could've been explored with more depth considering the whole descent into madness thing and b) definitely should have had more clothes on. The other villains all seemed to be reading Bruce's monologue as well because they started talking about fear for no real reason. Also, Batman took a LOT of hits and I was left at times scratching my head at his superhuman nature. Everything else was good though, with some typical fights and clean simple art.
lindakat's review against another edition
5.0
Man, so much happened in this story, it was a quick one, smaller than usual but it was jam-packed with layers of story and sneaky peaks of what's going to happen in the future.
Firstly there was the childhood friend of Bruce, a connection to his past before the tragic event that turned him into the infamous Batman and how she (or specifically her father) was connected to the mystical.
Next, we have a very reflective, not moody, Batman. David Finch really captured how I feel Batman would be feeling after what he had recently gone through during his time away from Gotham.
Absolutely stunning illustrations, from the character design, (realistic yet lusciously buff) to how the comic title pages were designed, to the little details that added texture and depth to the background and the colouring; I was a huge fan of this work. As soon as I opened the book I was like, 'yep, going to love looking at this one, hope the story meets up to it.'
And it really did 'cause thirdly we had cameos from Killer Croc and Penguin; just fab. Not only that but at least four times throughout the story I literally laughed out loud; Alfred is always a card, very much looking forward to Pennyworth coming to Netflix.
I loved it, as always I just live for this collection of Batman stories.
Firstly there was the childhood friend of Bruce, a connection to his past before the tragic event that turned him into the infamous Batman and how she (or specifically her father) was connected to the mystical.
Next, we have a very reflective, not moody, Batman. David Finch really captured how I feel Batman would be feeling after what he had recently gone through during his time away from Gotham.
Absolutely stunning illustrations, from the character design, (realistic yet lusciously buff) to how the comic title pages were designed, to the little details that added texture and depth to the background and the colouring; I was a huge fan of this work. As soon as I opened the book I was like, 'yep, going to love looking at this one, hope the story meets up to it.'
And it really did 'cause thirdly we had cameos from Killer Croc and Penguin; just fab. Not only that but at least four times throughout the story I literally laughed out loud; Alfred is always a card, very much looking forward to Pennyworth coming to Netflix.
I loved it, as always I just live for this collection of Batman stories.
alexauthorshay's review against another edition
4.0
I'm very picky with my comics, DC/Marvel especially, so this was actually surprisingly good given how many New 52 story lines I've been disappointed by. The first 8 comics were great, and built the story. And then the ninth went off on a tangent about the Court of Owls. I happened to have read (and regret doing so) the first volume of that comic line and Nightwing, so I'm vaguely aware of what's going on in this situation. But they really should have capped this volume with 8 comics instead of 9. It feels like the main storyline gets dropped entirely because the timelines between the different comics dictates that the Court of Owls events have to happen at that time, and for people who haven't read any other New 52 or are reading them out of order, this last comic is going to make no sense to them. Even to me, I'm wondering how--or even if--it actually ties in with the plot Finch is building in the first 8 comics of the volume.
The idea of a toxin that makes super villains even worse than they are by inhibiting fear is a really neat one. It even has some effect on Batman. White Rabbit could have been a little less BDSM fan-service-y, but so many women in super hero comics are sexualized like that I'm not even surprised, honestly. Each comic has a different suspect in sight about who caused the toxin. Technically the answer is provided in the last comic, but I don't know if the villain's motive is fully explained as to why he gave these other villains the toxin. I'd like to see more on that front than stuff with the Owls.
The idea of a toxin that makes super villains even worse than they are by inhibiting fear is a really neat one. It even has some effect on Batman. White Rabbit could have been a little less BDSM fan-service-y, but so many women in super hero comics are sexualized like that I'm not even surprised, honestly. Each comic has a different suspect in sight about who caused the toxin. Technically the answer is provided in the last comic, but I don't know if the villain's motive is fully explained as to why he gave these other villains the toxin. I'd like to see more on that front than stuff with the Owls.
mistled's review against another edition
3.0
I seem to be reading a good number of comics lately that are just ok. Add another one to the list.
Beyond asking wtf is going on with White Rabbit's lack of a costume, I'll just point you over to Anne and Sam's reviews. They gave it the same 'meh' 3 stars that I did, but they actually felt up to typing out why.
Beyond asking wtf is going on with White Rabbit's lack of a costume, I'll just point you over to Anne and Sam's reviews. They gave it the same 'meh' 3 stars that I did, but they actually felt up to typing out why.
thelaurakremer's review against another edition
3.0
Three stars was generous. Generic writing and art. Vague women with no more characterization than 'must romp around in lingerie and skimpy clothes'. I was bored with Batman. So sad. Now I want to deduct stars. Perhaps three or more Batman titles are too many at once. Maybe I've just become too jaded someone needs to argue with me about the awesomeness of Batman and maybe I just didn't catch this on the right day?
birdmanseven's review against another edition
3.0
A little messy, but it had some cool elements. Very different from the other New 52 Batman titles.