A review by iffer
Batman: Black and White #1 by Mark Chiarello
4.0
I, like many others, and not generally a fan of short story collections/compilations. The quality is usually too varied, and I prefer longer story arcs. Batman: Black and White is a huge exception to this. Every single story is much better than average; the art is phenomenal; the short stories are well-conceived.
I'm not quite sure why fans of "Western"/superhero comics aren't generally fans of black an white art (ironic, since it seems like the opposite with photography). The examples in Batman: Black and White are superlative, and black and white is perfect, not only because Batman is all about operating from the shadows, but because the artists use the "restriction" to black and white to capture the cohesive moodiness of each short story.
Some stories are closer to "cannon," such as Bruce Timm's, while others are only tangentially related to Batman in plot, but fitting because of their mood and themes. I'm glad that the editors and creators pushed this through, in spite of concerns that no one would buy it!
I'm not quite sure why fans of "Western"/superhero comics aren't generally fans of black an white art (ironic, since it seems like the opposite with photography). The examples in Batman: Black and White are superlative, and black and white is perfect, not only because Batman is all about operating from the shadows, but because the artists use the "restriction" to black and white to capture the cohesive moodiness of each short story.
Some stories are closer to "cannon," such as Bruce Timm's, while others are only tangentially related to Batman in plot, but fitting because of their mood and themes. I'm glad that the editors and creators pushed this through, in spite of concerns that no one would buy it!