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unladylike's review against another edition
3.0
2 stars for first Gotham Knights #8 and main Broken City arc
4 stars for Flashpoint: Knights of Vengeance and Wednesday Comics #1-12
This edition is three, wait, no, four stories, according to the back cover, though the first feels more like a prologue to set the tone, more than its own story. All with the same writer and artist, all in black and white.
First there's a single issue focusing on Zsasz, which I was not fond of.
The bulk of the book is called Broken City, and it is mostly an attempt at emulating Frank Miller's Sin City books. Certain panels look like they were Xeroxed from those pages! I didn't *hate* the gritty noir style, but it felt forced, and I did not like the characterizations of various well-known and beloved people like Batman, Croc, and Penguin. Bruce narrates the whole thing in a voice like classic noir detectives, and the villains even address him as "detective," but why? He doesn't do any quality detecting. Most of these issues is just watching Batman beating people to a pulp with little to no reason. In fact, the most interesting thing about the story is examining his failure and how easily he's misdirected. He projects his ego and pain onto situations and then lashes out in anger, looking for targets in the wrong places.
I'm glad I stuck with it though, because the second two stories are where the quality writing's at. Brian Azzarello has written some really great comics, and the weekly miniseries is a great example of how a whole arc can be told in one-page chapters. The panels and art are really stellar here (I know, I use that word a lot when I like something.)
The best part of this collection is the Flashpoint arc, told in an alternate earth of the multiverse that we see encountered in other titles, where it was Bruce who was slain in Crime Alley and Thomas Wayne goes on to become a more brutal - and criminally entangled - version of Batman. The story has good twists and drama that elicited a variety of emotions from me while reading it.
4 stars for Flashpoint: Knights of Vengeance and Wednesday Comics #1-12
This edition is three, wait, no, four stories, according to the back cover, though the first feels more like a prologue to set the tone, more than its own story. All with the same writer and artist, all in black and white.
First there's a single issue focusing on Zsasz, which I was not fond of.
The bulk of the book is called Broken City, and it is mostly an attempt at emulating Frank Miller's Sin City books. Certain panels look like they were Xeroxed from those pages! I didn't *hate* the gritty noir style, but it felt forced, and I did not like the characterizations of various well-known and beloved people like Batman, Croc, and Penguin. Bruce narrates the whole thing in a voice like classic noir detectives, and the villains even address him as "detective," but why? He doesn't do any quality detecting. Most of these issues is just watching Batman beating people to a pulp with little to no reason. In fact, the most interesting thing about the story is examining his failure and how easily he's misdirected. He projects his ego and pain onto situations and then lashes out in anger, looking for targets in the wrong places.
I'm glad I stuck with it though, because the second two stories are where the quality writing's at. Brian Azzarello has written some really great comics, and the weekly miniseries is a great example of how a whole arc can be told in one-page chapters. The panels and art are really stellar here (I know, I use that word a lot when I like something.)
The best part of this collection is the Flashpoint arc, told in an alternate earth of the multiverse that we see encountered in other titles, where it was Bruce who was slain in Crime Alley and Thomas Wayne goes on to become a more brutal - and criminally entangled - version of Batman. The story has good twists and drama that elicited a variety of emotions from me while reading it.
frispbabe's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
stilldirty's review against another edition
5.0
This comes with a noir-ized version (read: un-colored/black&white) of 'Batman: Broken City', a book which I already love, but also includes some other rad pieces of Risso/Azzarello Batman work. I'm a little biased toward this team, so that's why I got it in the first place, knowing theirs will be ideal art to see in this type of reformatting—rich, darkness or light spaces of Azzarello's layouts already lend themselves to such noir tones.
Basically, this notion that's occurred in recent comics to do 'Noir' versions of characters (I guess the only 'official' incarnations comes from Marvel, and Batman is DC...), stems from the success of the look of the 'Sin City' books. But in this such instance with Batman, I'm going to call it "Unplugged". Like when you hear a band redo their songs with acoustic instrumentation. Nirvana, Eric Clapton, Stone Temple Pilots, 10,000 Maniacs... Whoever's your favorite. Take your pick. This is the comic version of that.
Basically, this notion that's occurred in recent comics to do 'Noir' versions of characters (I guess the only 'official' incarnations comes from Marvel, and Batman is DC...), stems from the success of the look of the 'Sin City' books. But in this such instance with Batman, I'm going to call it "Unplugged". Like when you hear a band redo their songs with acoustic instrumentation. Nirvana, Eric Clapton, Stone Temple Pilots, 10,000 Maniacs... Whoever's your favorite. Take your pick. This is the comic version of that.
beyadob's review against another edition
5.0
I bought the deluxe hardcover edition of this book, and it's the best decision I've ever made. The pages are brilliantly filled with stark black and white images. The details and shadows are excellently done--simply put, I love the noir style of the book.
The stories are the best part though. "Scars" was an intriguing look into the psyches of Zsazz and Batman, contrasting the ways in which these two interlocked characters perceive life. The biggest draw, of course, is "Broken City", which takes a deep, dark look into Batman's inner workings. The story has its fair share of twists and turns, but they all come together in the end and are wrapped up in a nice bow. More than that, though, is Batman's personality. It shines through the darkest pages and makes you empathize with a broken man.
Following that is "Knight of Vengeance", which takes us to the Flashpoint universe where Thomas Wayne carries the mantle of Batman (he kills!). I especially loved this story because it's so different from what I'm used to. It's not that Batman kills his villains or is best friends with Gordon--or anything else like that. It's outstanding because of the way it deals with loss and desperation. Plus, the ending was exceptional with the symbolism.
Finally, the "Wednesday Comics Batman" was a decent way to wrap up the book. I quite enjoyed and liked it, for it was a simple story about love and loss for Bruce Wayne.
Overall, I'd highly recommend getting the book. It was money well spent for me.
The stories are the best part though. "Scars" was an intriguing look into the psyches of Zsazz and Batman, contrasting the ways in which these two interlocked characters perceive life. The biggest draw, of course, is "Broken City", which takes a deep, dark look into Batman's inner workings. The story has its fair share of twists and turns, but they all come together in the end and are wrapped up in a nice bow. More than that, though, is Batman's personality. It shines through the darkest pages and makes you empathize with a broken man.
Following that is "Knight of Vengeance", which takes us to the Flashpoint universe where Thomas Wayne carries the mantle of Batman (he kills!). I especially loved this story because it's so different from what I'm used to. It's not that Batman kills his villains or is best friends with Gordon--or anything else like that. It's outstanding because of the way it deals with loss and desperation. Plus, the ending was exceptional with the symbolism.
Finally, the "Wednesday Comics Batman" was a decent way to wrap up the book. I quite enjoyed and liked it, for it was a simple story about love and loss for Bruce Wayne.
Overall, I'd highly recommend getting the book. It was money well spent for me.
tabman678's review against another edition
4.0
while it contains Broken City which is quickly becoming one of my favorite Batman stories it also has Batman from the Flash point timeline and some comics that were published monthly like features written by Stan Lee near 2010 for Spiderman.
it's a solid read, the only factor is the price which is quite heavy for as much as it contains.
However, if you don't have Broken City you should read it for that alone.
it's a solid read, the only factor is the price which is quite heavy for as much as it contains.
However, if you don't have Broken City you should read it for that alone.
tomhcolley's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
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