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capincus's review against another edition
3.0
Great artwork and some interesting concepts but the layout and overall plot leaves something to be desired. This is clearly supposed to be a weird and edgy graphic novel (and at the time it was released it probably was) but that seems to me to have detracted a bit from the quality of the reading experience. The Joker's text for instance is written in an odd font that goes along well with his character but can be difficult to read. The way certain pages are laid out it can be kind of confusing whether you're supposed to read onto the next page or down to the next line. And probably worst of all is the plot is pretty abrupt without enough detail fully flushed out and made up entirely of a few ambiguous events.
afbrown's review against another edition
2.0
Quick read. Awesome art. Okay story, seemed too brief. Each villain wasn't dedicated enough time, and the storyline with Batman and the Joker didn't seem in any way important, just a tag-along to the Amadeus Arkham back-story.
Visually it is amazing however.
Visually it is amazing however.
bjcmusic's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
5.0
christie_esau's review against another edition
3.0
I'm willing to bet I would have enjoyed this more if a) I had a greater background with the Batman canon, and b) if I could actually read more than half of the text. Granted, I was reading in relatively dim lighting, but I couldn't decipher half of the Joker's red text dialogue. For how popular this graphic novel is, a real publication annoyance.
amyeewing's review against another edition
4.0
After finishing this book, I feel like I got mugged without realizing it with the mugger leaving something in place of what they took. I think I need to wait to write this review until I've had more time to digest what just happened.
metalandmets's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
jason_pym's review against another edition
4.0
Not a fan of Morrison or the story, but Dave McKean's art is amazing, worth it for that alone.
thestoryowl's review against another edition
4.0
Very hard to follow (the joker's dialogue in red was seriously hard to read)but fantastic in both material and graphics.
sandeeisreading's review against another edition
2.0
…
I'm trying to form words to describe how I felt about this because… I really have no words.
On one hand, I liked it how different it was from the typical comic book outline, but on another hand, I found the difference unnecessary at times.
I did get what the story was trying to accomplish. I really do. But the illustrations, the weird transition from past to present, took me out of the reading experience quite a lot of times. I started this a few months ago, and I only finished it now. While I appreciate their attempt to provide a unique storytelling technique, it just didn't work for me.
- The story was interesting enough that it got me reading. We, actually, follow two storylines here. One is in the present, with Batman, and the other one is set in the past, wherein we meet Amadeus Arhkam, the founder of Arkham Asylum, and there, we see how and why lost his marbles.
- The illustrations were atrocious. It was horrible. But that's because I have a particular taste in art, and this, was something that didn't appeal to me. For the story it was trying to tell, the weirdness or the illustrations draws you away from the story and not suck you in. It could work for some other story, but not for this. I don't care what their intent for this was. I really don't. It just didn't work.
- The Batman we see here, didn't interest me. I found he was a bit boring. Meeh. He made stupid and reckless decisions. That's all I can say.
I'm usually all for unique narrative styles, but the way this story was told was faaaar too much for me.
Trippy.
That would have do. I think it's the only word, right now, that I can use to describe it. The entire story, the illustrations feels like it's either or drugs or on marijuana. I can't really tell you, which is which, but you get what I mean. It's too artsy for my taste, and I consider myself an artsy person.
Could have been better, really.
I'm trying to form words to describe how I felt about this because… I really have no words.
On one hand, I liked it how different it was from the typical comic book outline, but on another hand, I found the difference unnecessary at times.
I did get what the story was trying to accomplish. I really do. But the illustrations, the weird transition from past to present, took me out of the reading experience quite a lot of times. I started this a few months ago, and I only finished it now. While I appreciate their attempt to provide a unique storytelling technique, it just didn't work for me.
- The story was interesting enough that it got me reading. We, actually, follow two storylines here. One is in the present, with Batman, and the other one is set in the past, wherein we meet Amadeus Arhkam, the founder of Arkham Asylum, and there, we see how and why lost his marbles.
- The illustrations were atrocious. It was horrible. But that's because I have a particular taste in art, and this, was something that didn't appeal to me. For the story it was trying to tell, the weirdness or the illustrations draws you away from the story and not suck you in. It could work for some other story, but not for this. I don't care what their intent for this was. I really don't. It just didn't work.
- The Batman we see here, didn't interest me. I found he was a bit boring. Meeh. He made stupid and reckless decisions. That's all I can say.
I'm usually all for unique narrative styles, but the way this story was told was faaaar too much for me.
Trippy.
That would have do. I think it's the only word, right now, that I can use to describe it. The entire story, the illustrations feels like it's either or drugs or on marijuana. I can't really tell you, which is which, but you get what I mean. It's too artsy for my taste, and I consider myself an artsy person.
Could have been better, really.