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gothicteletubby's review
3.75
70's Batman is so funny, this was so campy but not as boring as a lot older comics. However, he was actually so terrifying in the first issue, I was so creeped out.
The other issues were just fine, I didn't really like how Aquaman and everyone in Atlantis were stupid as hell for the sake of having Joker be the "King of the Ocean".
The other issues were just fine, I didn't really like how Aquaman and everyone in Atlantis were stupid as hell for the sake of having Joker be the "King of the Ocean".
andrewgraphics's review
5.0
Featuring the best Batman multi-issue story of the 70s, and maybe the best Batman story every, this of course gets my highest rating.
The fact that the rest of the book includes stories that are not only not of the same grade for Batman or even Englehart does not detract.
The fact that the rest of the book includes stories that are not only not of the same grade for Batman or even Englehart does not detract.
luana420's review
4.0
I picked this book up as the closest thing to “Strange Apparitions,” a story arc that had been recommended to me when I inquired to more Batman-knowledgeable friends about which writers I should check out.
This is a little more and a little less than “Strange Apparitions” – it fails to include the 70s Detective arc where Englehart introduces his version of Clayface; while adding a 90s Riddler arc, a bizarre Joker-in-Atlantis adventure, and the 2005 miniseries “Dark Detective.”
“Apparitions” was sold to me as Hugo Strange-centric, and I was kind of delighted to find that Strange was but a cog in Englehart’s plot machine that revolved around the crooked Gotham city council and its president “Boss” Rupert Thorne. Pretty good Can’t Beat City Hall crime stuff for a book that features ACK! ACK! Penguins, Joker Fish* and, uh… ghosts?
Yeah, so Hugo Strange is actually accidentally killed by Thorne’s goons at one point, and his ghost torments the crooked city father to madness over the remainder of the issues. I was expecting some kind of long game where it turned out it was all an illusion – Strange trying to prove his brilliance by outwitting the seemingly unbeatable cartel at the heart of the city itself – but no such thing.
Maybe this was resolved in the Clayface issues that weren’t included?
The 90s Riddler arc where Batman has a near-death-experience and is temporarily divorced from… his… soul??? would seem to indicate Englehart is down for supernatural shenanigans. It’s a fun enough arc (and hilariously reminiscent of the “Bart sells his soul to Milhouse” Simpsons episode), but it truly is a bit of a headscratcher.
The Joker-in-Atlantis double issue is the weakest bit of the collection, simply because Joker is at his best when playing off normals/squares and “Atlantis courtiers” are too off-beat to function in that manner dramatically.
“Dark Detective” is a worthy follow-up to “Apparitions” (or however much of it I’ve read), turning the concept on its head once again. Turns out Englehart’s Batman isn’t about Thorne either… it’s about Silver.
Silver St. Cloud is one of Batman’s civilian love interests that I was aware of, but never had actually read about. I always assumed given her name and high-concept (for a civvy) look, she was some comically sexual supermodel or whatever, but she’s actually a pretty down-to-earth character (who happens to look like a lingerie model, which rocks). The romance with her was really nice; she’s not some super genius who figures out who Batman really is, she’s just close enough to Bruce that she’d recognize him in a Batsuit.
Englehart is very consistent from issue #1 about portraying Bruce as a guy with human fears and wants and needs rather than a crime-fighting justice machine, and Silver is someone who fulfills (most of) them. I was a bit worried about Silver not surviving the “Dark Detective” arc (the mid-00s weren’t great about female characters) in order to fulfill a thesis statement on Batman’s Lonely Crusade or whatever, but I was relieved to find that, while Englehart does kind of make this statement, Bruce’s final bachelordom is the result of a conflict between him and Silver where she exercises her own agency.
Probably a pretty cold take, but this is truly one of the best Meat N Potatoes Batmans I’ve read. If it were just Englehart's 70s run + Dark Detective, it'd have been 5 stars.
*”The laughing fish” is for my money the best Joker story I’ve ever read. Just something completely off-the-wall that isn’t inherently violent but it escalates into violence real quick once someone is even a hair’s breadth in the way of this scheme that could have been concocted at Paisley Park at 3am.
This is a little more and a little less than “Strange Apparitions” – it fails to include the 70s Detective arc where Englehart introduces his version of Clayface; while adding a 90s Riddler arc, a bizarre Joker-in-Atlantis adventure, and the 2005 miniseries “Dark Detective.”
“Apparitions” was sold to me as Hugo Strange-centric, and I was kind of delighted to find that Strange was but a cog in Englehart’s plot machine that revolved around the crooked Gotham city council and its president “Boss” Rupert Thorne. Pretty good Can’t Beat City Hall crime stuff for a book that features ACK! ACK! Penguins, Joker Fish* and, uh… ghosts?
Yeah, so Hugo Strange is actually accidentally killed by Thorne’s goons at one point, and his ghost torments the crooked city father to madness over the remainder of the issues. I was expecting some kind of long game where it turned out it was all an illusion – Strange trying to prove his brilliance by outwitting the seemingly unbeatable cartel at the heart of the city itself – but no such thing.
Maybe this was resolved in the Clayface issues that weren’t included?
The 90s Riddler arc where Batman has a near-death-experience and is temporarily divorced from… his… soul??? would seem to indicate Englehart is down for supernatural shenanigans. It’s a fun enough arc (and hilariously reminiscent of the “Bart sells his soul to Milhouse” Simpsons episode), but it truly is a bit of a headscratcher.
The Joker-in-Atlantis double issue is the weakest bit of the collection, simply because Joker is at his best when playing off normals/squares and “Atlantis courtiers” are too off-beat to function in that manner dramatically.
“Dark Detective” is a worthy follow-up to “Apparitions” (or however much of it I’ve read), turning the concept on its head once again. Turns out Englehart’s Batman isn’t about Thorne either… it’s about Silver.
Silver St. Cloud is one of Batman’s civilian love interests that I was aware of, but never had actually read about. I always assumed given her name and high-concept (for a civvy) look, she was some comically sexual supermodel or whatever, but she’s actually a pretty down-to-earth character (who happens to look like a lingerie model, which rocks). The romance with her was really nice; she’s not some super genius who figures out who Batman really is, she’s just close enough to Bruce that she’d recognize him in a Batsuit.
Englehart is very consistent from issue #1 about portraying Bruce as a guy with human fears and wants and needs rather than a crime-fighting justice machine, and Silver is someone who fulfills (most of) them. I was a bit worried about Silver not surviving the “Dark Detective” arc (the mid-00s weren’t great about female characters) in order to fulfill a thesis statement on Batman’s Lonely Crusade or whatever, but I was relieved to find that, while Englehart does kind of make this statement, Bruce’s final bachelordom is the result of a conflict between him and Silver where she exercises her own agency.
Probably a pretty cold take, but this is truly one of the best Meat N Potatoes Batmans I’ve read. If it were just Englehart's 70s run + Dark Detective, it'd have been 5 stars.
*”The laughing fish” is for my money the best Joker story I’ve ever read. Just something completely off-the-wall that isn’t inherently violent but it escalates into violence real quick once someone is even a hair’s breadth in the way of this scheme that could have been concocted at Paisley Park at 3am.
iwillmarryarobot's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The book is very inconsistent. The 70s section of fantastic. I see why it's a lot of people's favorite Batman run. Then there's a stark drop in quality for the 90s stuff. Finally, the 70s creative team reunite for a throwback to the old run that's very solid, if not quite as good.
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