destdest's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
2.5
It's paint by numbers (meaning it does nothing to differentiate this typical story of a kid looking up to the wrong type of adult), but it's cute.
Spoiler
i don't remember them outright stating what happened to andy's dad. he either had substance abuse or mental health issuesmariahistryingtoread's review
3.0
This is aggressively okay. Like many graphic novels because it lacks the page and word count of a traditional novel many elements feel rushed and end abruptly. While the Killer Croc aspect was well done, Andy's relationship with any of the other characters was shallow.
Also it does that thing were a grown person who has presumably lived in the crime ridden, villain laden, politically ruined cesspool that is Gotham City their whole life has a problem with Batman because 'the law says blah blah blah'. The argument about legality, slipper slopes, and the ethics of vigilantism may fly in Metropolis, but I cannot fathom an adult who doesn't have anything shady up their sleeve being virulently Anti-Batman knowing how bad Gotham City is. The Joker alone is argument enough.
Jokes aside while there are valid reasons to argue against Batman being so influential or the dangers of over reliance on him to solve structural issues this book doesn't actually have anything to say about that. There's an interesting parallel that could have been drawn between the treatment of Batman vs Waylon that would better support the narrative's supposition that if robbed of care and love at a key juncture anyone could make poor decisions. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the only reason this topic was raised at all was to check off a box on the list of moralizations to cover.
I don't like the recent trend of declawing villains, however, I'd argue Waylon has always had a tragic background embedded in to his stories that this is only highlighting rather than a total betrayal of the source materials' intentions - Cruella comes to mind.
All these words just to say, it's alright, I guess.
Also it does that thing were a grown person who has presumably lived in the crime ridden, villain laden, politically ruined cesspool that is Gotham City their whole life has a problem with Batman because 'the law says blah blah blah'. The argument about legality, slipper slopes, and the ethics of vigilantism may fly in Metropolis, but I cannot fathom an adult who doesn't have anything shady up their sleeve being virulently Anti-Batman knowing how bad Gotham City is. The Joker alone is argument enough.
Jokes aside while there are valid reasons to argue against Batman being so influential or the dangers of over reliance on him to solve structural issues this book doesn't actually have anything to say about that. There's an interesting parallel that could have been drawn between the treatment of Batman vs Waylon that would better support the narrative's supposition that if robbed of care and love at a key juncture anyone could make poor decisions. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the only reason this topic was raised at all was to check off a box on the list of moralizations to cover.
I don't like the recent trend of declawing villains, however, I'd argue Waylon has always had a tragic background embedded in to his stories that this is only highlighting rather than a total betrayal of the source materials' intentions - Cruella comes to mind.
All these words just to say, it's alright, I guess.
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