Reviews

Dark Victory is a sequel to The Long Halloween. While probably not absolutely necessary to have read it, I think it will definitely help one to understand the finer details of what this story is launching off from. I read The Long Halloween a few years ago and thought it was just okay. I liked this one much better. Dark Victory had a great mystery that had me guessing the whole time who was behind the Hang-Man murders. They had the classic set-ups of false suspects and also a whole host of people that could be guilty.

I loved the set-up of how alone Bruce is at this time. With Harvey Dent becoming Two-Face, he lost a friend and an ally, not only as Batman but as Bruce Wayne, and it’s this traumatic blow that causes Batman to pull away from Jim Gordon and working with the GCPD. Not only that but it becomes plain that Bruce is walling himself off from everyone. This leads beautifully into him taking in the newly orphaned Dick Grayson. The side by side panels of Dick’s situation vs Bruce’s situation were wonderfully done. The character growth of Bruce in this story was great and having the beginnings of his time with Dick leading into that ending really spoke volumes.

The only thing I didn’t really like or get was why Batman and the GCPD just allowed the supervillains who escaped Arkham to continue running free for a year, even when they crossed paths with them, as they were more worried about whomever the Hang Man was. It made sense story-wise because they were part of the plot, I just felt that a line or two could have been used explaining why they were letting these murderers roam Gotham.

The art tended to be exaggerated in the human form, where some characters are just not nice to look at or are rather jarring, but if you can get past that, you’ll find a great story. I liked the little pictures at the end of each chapter which saw Gordon sitting at his desk with a board behind him that was constantly adding each new piece of evidence as another body was found. A great story showing more of Batman’s early days and a retelling of Dick Grayson’s origins.

girlbosslindsey's review against another edition

Go to review page

its just soooo dark and boring. i wanted to learn more about the robin origins but. not today!

ferzemkhan's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

stopnodont's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

The undeniable fact is that superhero stories are inherently childish and stupid, and this book is no exception. I keep taking stabs at Batman books hoping to feel a bit of the magic that adolescents feel while reading superhero comics, and I continue not to feel like anything other than a grown man reading a children's book.

As expected, Batman is omniscient, invincible, and thus stupid. He's always right where he needs to be, he's never at any tangible risk of danger - there are literally no stakes when he's on the page. It's dumb, but that's superhero stories. They are what they are.

All of that said - who is truly to blame when I sit down to read a superhero book and then get annoyed when it's a superhero book? None other than the man in the mirror. For this reason, I have to judge this book against others of its ilk as opposed to literature as a whole.

Here are some positive things about this book:

The story is complex and interesting. It's a sneaky page-turner and I crushed the whole thing in about 90 minutes, which is less than the runtime of the most recent stupid Batman film rebooting the franchise for the 20th time. I'd read this again before watching that film again.

The art is pretty solid. It's not standout - I wasn't blown away by it like I have been with other graphic novels but it is notable. Some of the full-page panels in particular are pretty memorable, even if Joker is drawn like a new-school tattoo for some reason even though none of the other characters are. Seriously, his proportions are absurd and cartoonish despite the rest of the cast being relatively realistically depicted.

If you like superheroes then you will probably think this book is one of the best superhero books you've ever read. It's certainly objectively better and more grown up than 95% of the genre.

I hate that I am giving this the same number of stars that I gave Cat's Cradle and God Emperor of Dune. Books like this don't belong in the same breath as genuine works of literature - and they aren't in the same category as far as I'm concerned. That's how I've justified this score to myself. I've built an invisible subcategory in my mind, in which this book is only measured against other comics. As comics go, you could certainly do a lot worse than this one.

dodong's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

sandeeisreading's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

FINAL RATING: 4.5 STARS

Dark Victory lived up to my expectations. I loved The Long Halloween, but I actually liked this a bit more. While I think this is an amazing follow up from The Long Halloween, some of my questions from the first one still remained unanswered, while some were finally put to a close. The conflict. The deceit. The twists. The turns. The action. I loved all of them.

Full review to follow.

karliclover's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense 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

5.0

More...