Reviews

Batman: The Cult by Jim Starlin

ghiblify's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

very odd and interesting concept; batman gets taken and brainwashed by a cult. this comic explores such themes as religion, politics, and morals.

batman is at his lowest points here and at one point even decides not to come back to gotham and fight the cult, which i find  not much of his character at all since he only regrets this because of a dream he had of his parents. he also doesn’t do much for the homeless which is the root of the problem in some way, otherwise well written and executed! love jason’s robin in this.

i also found out i would be somewhat easy to brainwash, which is a weird discovery.

kellygorman's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I’m slowly working my way through a list I found online of the best Batman comics and this one was definitely a departure from the others I’ve read so far. This was such a weird premise but it was actually pretty well executed and had a lot of commentary on heavy issues like crime, politics, religion, and what should guide our morals. 

I feel like a lot of times Batman gets written off as just a guy in a costume that punches people but so far he’s the most psychological superhero character I’ve encountered. There was a lot of moral issues he faced, like whether or not he should kill and why he does his job (which is pretty much in every single one of his stories) but also why his villains do what they do. 

One thing I didn’t like was that he makes pretty much no effort to solve the actual issue. At one point, the main villain alludes to the fact that many of his followers (who are mostly homeless and poor people) were brainwashed into joining him, just like Batman was at the beginning. However, all Batman does through this entire story is beat up the followers. The homeless people just end up homeless again at the end of the story. I had hoped that at the end he would try to do something to help those vulnerable people, but he doesn’t. 

I also didn’t like that he was totally okay with Gotham being overtaken and him just ditching. The only thing that makes him decide to go back is the dream he has about his parents. What about the 4 million people that are still there and supposedly being murdered in the streets, plus all the brainwashed homeless people! Honestly I thought that was a little selfish and he never really amends that.

It was a cool story with great art and I did really like a lot of aspects of it. I think it was trying to do something really interesting. However, when I think about some aspects of it for more than a few minutes, I don’t like it as much. 

kevingentilcore's review against another edition

3.0

Pretty good overall. Wrightson's take on Batman is almost perfect.

jakewritesbooks's review against another edition

4.0

(3.5) Certainly a different take on the Batman mythos. Really enjoyed parts of it, including Batman being mentally broken (was well done) and Jason Todd doing something decent as Robin. Gotham-as-80s-NYC was good too, this almost felt like a disaster movie more than a Batman tale. I think the weakest part was Deacon Blackfire himself. His character was thinly drawn and his motives, while well explained, didn't earn their moments. I'm giving it a tentative 4 stars, might have to review that at some point. The book is sticking with me, I can't tell if that's in a good way or not.

julialof's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

bowienerd_82's review against another edition

1.0

Uninteresting and average in all ways.

aridjon's review against another edition

5.0

1988 was an underrated banner year for DC, and primarily because of Jim Starlin's stint there. I never hear enough about this story, maybe because it was the middle child in between Ten Nights of the Beast and Death in the Family? Or just that DC was on a roll with Batman at the time, culminating in the Tim Burton movie the next summer, and this got lost in the shuffle. Whatever the case, a solid psychological story with beautiful, gritty artwork by Wrightson & Wray.

neven's review against another edition

3.0

There's a lot of good stuff here, but it's still a Batman story, albeit a very harsh one. It's very talky, often cheap with metaphors, and the classic Batman canon just doesn't lend itself to "heavy" material. Robin is a rather ridiculous character to put in a gritty crime/horror story.

heyitsjack's review against another edition

3.0

Deacon Blackfire is dorky as hell and the latter half of this book was hilariously stupid. That said, it's a story with Jason Todd as Robin and those aren't common given how he turned out.

Also Bernie Wrightson's art is fantastic as always.

tabman678's review against another edition

5.0

Batman: The Cult is a pretty rad Batman story. I’d compare it to Knightfall and The Dark Knight Returns if Knightfall was better. I’d put it right up there with No Mans Land, Knightfall, and Death in the family as major trials for Batman.

Cause he gets broken here. His spirit is crushed and he has a crime fighting impotence. And it’s great. The art is amazing for one. And it’s written very well with the exception of two instances. One being Batman’s loose use of guns here and he stood by at a point while people died. And it’s a cult, you already know how ridiculous it’s going to be.

But I see why this is considered a classic. It’s violent and disturbing but very Batman. And it’s a great Jason Todd story too.

I’m giving it 5 stars.