Scan barcode
themadmaiden's review
3.0
The Barbara one was the best. Also Silver age Batman will never not make me burst out laughing.
purpledragon57's review
3.0
Well this was a tricky one to rate since it's a collection of short Batman stories, from 1940 to 2003, which ranged from really good to kinda dumb. This was my first time reading any Batman at all, and knowing a fair bit from old cartoons and stuff picked up from Batman fans I know on the internet was pretty helpful. So I guess I'll just review the stories one at a time. (there will be minor spoilers)
First up was an origin story of sorts. Mostly explaining how and why Bruce Wayne became Batman in the first place, most of which I already knew. He makes a fair few stupid mistakes at first, which was interesting I guess? Also some random dude fell in acid at the end (totally not a villain origin story there.) And Batman had a girlfriend? Like an actual healthy relationship with a nice woman? So that was kinda unexpected. 4/5 I'd say.
Then there's a story from apparently the first ever issue of Batman from 1940. It was kinda dumb. Also Batman actually killed a couple of people, which was weird. Like one of them he could have easily just knocked the guy out but instead he just kills him. I guess they hadn't decided on the whole 'Batman literally never kills people if he can help it' thing. But whatever. 2/5 for that one.
The next one was incredibly silly, but that was kind of the idea. There's this kid called Batman (like his actual name is Batman, for reasons) and he gets all obsessed with becoming Batman's sidekick or something. Batman is not happy with this so he and Robin try a series of somewhat complicated plans to get him off it. 3/5
Next is a story where Batman and Robin team up with Batwoman and Batgirl. But Batwoman and Batgirl are actually a separate Aunt-Niece team? I didn't know that was a thing. It starts out okay but gets more and more stupid as things progress. The dialogue is really awkward as well. 2/5
Then there's a story where a guy kidnaps Robin and then 'kills' a bunch of fake Robins to freak out Batman. Finally we get to see Batman being more, well, Batman-ish. He doesn't make as many stupid mistakes and the tension works better since the story isn't quite so stupid. (Also apparently Gotham has a waxwork museum that literally only depicts murders. What's wrong with that city.) 3.5/5
Then there's a Christmas special of sorts. Batman's trying to figure out a weird mystery that turned up concerning his parents, and he's helped by an alternate universe's Batwoman (I assume she's Batwoman. She's only ever referred to by her real name, Helena, in this one, even while in costume, so I'm not entirely sure.), who's apparently the daughter of alternate-universe-Bruce Wayne and Catwoman. The whole alternate universe thing is just kinda dumped there, with no explanation about how Batwoman can travel between the two universes, so that was kinda confusing. 4/5
Next is a story where pretty much all the Batman villains team up to try and kill Batman before Killer Croc can. Catwoman and some girl called Talia (who I've never heard of) are not happy with this plan so they temporarily join Batman instead to stop the other villains. In the mean time Robin and Batgirl (Barbara Gordon Batgirl this time, who was the one I already knew a fair bit about.) are working together to stop Killer Croc (among other things). We also get the first appearance and origin story thing of Jason Todd (another person I know a fair bit about), which was interesting. 5/5
Then there's a very short story about a young Bruce Wayne and Alfred. Alfred is fantastic by the way. 4/5
Lastly there's a short story from a Batgirl comic from 2003. This one was my favourite. I really liked the writing style for this one. There isn't much of a story in this one, mostly just focusing on the characters, while Batgirl gets to see the Batcave for the first time and Batman basically just tests her abilities and her motivations and so on. It's mostly from Batgirl's point of view, with a fair bit of internal monologue which I thought was used really well. 5/5
(there's also a very short kinda weird thing which I think is supposed to be like a brief parody of an old movie? I don't really get what it's supposed to be which is why I'm not gonna review it properly)
So overall, it was a pretty enjoyable and interesting collection of Batman stories, with appearances from a whole bunch of characters. I'd be interested to try out the rest of that last Batgirl comic some time if I can get hold of it.
First up was an origin story of sorts. Mostly explaining how and why Bruce Wayne became Batman in the first place, most of which I already knew. He makes a fair few stupid mistakes at first, which was interesting I guess? Also some random dude fell in acid at the end (totally not a villain origin story there.) And Batman had a girlfriend? Like an actual healthy relationship with a nice woman? So that was kinda unexpected. 4/5 I'd say.
Then there's a story from apparently the first ever issue of Batman from 1940. It was kinda dumb. Also Batman actually killed a couple of people, which was weird. Like one of them he could have easily just knocked the guy out but instead he just kills him. I guess they hadn't decided on the whole 'Batman literally never kills people if he can help it' thing. But whatever. 2/5 for that one.
The next one was incredibly silly, but that was kind of the idea. There's this kid called Batman (like his actual name is Batman, for reasons) and he gets all obsessed with becoming Batman's sidekick or something. Batman is not happy with this so he and Robin try a series of somewhat complicated plans to get him off it. 3/5
Next is a story where Batman and Robin team up with Batwoman and Batgirl. But Batwoman and Batgirl are actually a separate Aunt-Niece team? I didn't know that was a thing. It starts out okay but gets more and more stupid as things progress. The dialogue is really awkward as well. 2/5
Then there's a story where a guy kidnaps Robin and then 'kills' a bunch of fake Robins to freak out Batman. Finally we get to see Batman being more, well, Batman-ish. He doesn't make as many stupid mistakes and the tension works better since the story isn't quite so stupid. (Also apparently Gotham has a waxwork museum that literally only depicts murders. What's wrong with that city.) 3.5/5
Then there's a Christmas special of sorts. Batman's trying to figure out a weird mystery that turned up concerning his parents, and he's helped by an alternate universe's Batwoman (I assume she's Batwoman. She's only ever referred to by her real name, Helena, in this one, even while in costume, so I'm not entirely sure.), who's apparently the daughter of alternate-universe-Bruce Wayne and Catwoman. The whole alternate universe thing is just kinda dumped there, with no explanation about how Batwoman can travel between the two universes, so that was kinda confusing. 4/5
Next is a story where pretty much all the Batman villains team up to try and kill Batman before Killer Croc can. Catwoman and some girl called Talia (who I've never heard of) are not happy with this plan so they temporarily join Batman instead to stop the other villains. In the mean time Robin and Batgirl (Barbara Gordon Batgirl this time, who was the one I already knew a fair bit about.) are working together to stop Killer Croc (among other things). We also get the first appearance and origin story thing of Jason Todd (another person I know a fair bit about), which was interesting. 5/5
Then there's a very short story about a young Bruce Wayne and Alfred. Alfred is fantastic by the way. 4/5
Lastly there's a short story from a Batgirl comic from 2003. This one was my favourite. I really liked the writing style for this one. There isn't much of a story in this one, mostly just focusing on the characters, while Batgirl gets to see the Batcave for the first time and Batman basically just tests her abilities and her motivations and so on. It's mostly from Batgirl's point of view, with a fair bit of internal monologue which I thought was used really well. 5/5
(there's also a very short kinda weird thing which I think is supposed to be like a brief parody of an old movie? I don't really get what it's supposed to be which is why I'm not gonna review it properly)
So overall, it was a pretty enjoyable and interesting collection of Batman stories, with appearances from a whole bunch of characters. I'd be interested to try out the rest of that last Batgirl comic some time if I can get hold of it.
More...