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talentedcain's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
doomham's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
4.0
Cooke’s art is amazing and what bumps this up from a 3 to a 4. Love seeing all the different styles in the other stories.
Ego’s really the only story worth reading. It’s the classic tale of Bruce vs Batman. It explores his motives, his fears, his inability to kill the Joker (a topic that is constantly explored), the blood on his hands, the question of if Bruce/Batman need the Joker (another subject that is often explored). The writing itself isn’t the best, especially given the subjects it explores, but I liked it well enough. I happen to really enjoy any stories that explore Bruce’s psyche.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
ferzemkhan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
howdyellie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Suicide, Murder, and Death
unladylike's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't realize until recently how incredibly talented Darwyn Cooke was, both as an artist with a distinctly cartoonish, nostalgic art style and as a writer. (See my review of [b:Absolute DC: The New Frontier|107171|Absolute DC The New Frontier|Darwyn Cooke|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387700874s/107171.jpg|2732007]) Amanda Conner opens this collection of Cooke's contributions to the Batman world by recounting how she was shot down and forced to change her style from the very kind of animated/cartoony illustrations that Cooke was praised for with many awards. Her resentment is understandable, especially in an industry that has for a long time been a boys' club. But "cartoonish" is certainly not suitable to every comic, superhero, or more specifically, Batman story. If you grew up with the incredibly ahead-of-its-time Batman: The Animated Series of the '90s, that's the kind of cartoonish style Cooke employs to great effect. And that series was how he came to be recognized by DC as a great talent, and moved from working on the after school cartoon show to comic books. Darwyn Cooke died two years ago of lung cancer, which is probably why DC is reprinting this collection.
The first entry, Ego, was in fact Cooke's first Batman story, and was initially proposed as an animated endeavor, but years later he turned it into his Bat-debut in print. His afterword suggests great humility and a critical eye through years of growth since the story was written, but it really is a significant and ambitious Batman story. Cooke both wrote and illustrated this one, as well as the four-part heist story/"graphic novel" Catwoman: Selina's Big Score, but in a few instances throughout this book, he is credited as either the illustrator or the writer, but not both.
The first Batman: Black and White issue Cooke drew for writer Paul Grist is really good, but I agree with his ultimate assessment in the afterword that Selina's Big Score is the best. (He goes so far as to say it's the best story he ever wrote and illustrated, at least as of 2007, when this collection was first printed.) This Catwoman stand-alone story is a classic heist "tail," and apparently helped convince DC to re-launch an ongoing title devoted to her.
Following that miniseries, we get a single issue based on the first Batman comic Darwyn Cooke happened to acquire as a child in the '70s, which he cites as his all-time favorite Batman story.
After the 200-page mark, it started to lose my interest. I would give it 5 stars up to that point, but I've never cared for Will Eisner's The Spirit, even in a rare cross-over with Batman. Those two characters have an astonish number of parallels, but putting them in the same world, interacting with each other's rogues galleries, just did not end up being very exciting for me. Fans of The Spirit might love it though. Samesies for the final story, from Harley Quinn, written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner (neither of whom I'm a big fan of tbh).
Overall, this is a must-read for Bat-fans, and adds to my desire to get a hold of Darwyn Cooke's other interesting gifts to the comics world.
The first entry, Ego, was in fact Cooke's first Batman story, and was initially proposed as an animated endeavor, but years later he turned it into his Bat-debut in print. His afterword suggests great humility and a critical eye through years of growth since the story was written, but it really is a significant and ambitious Batman story. Cooke both wrote and illustrated this one, as well as the four-part heist story/"graphic novel" Catwoman: Selina's Big Score, but in a few instances throughout this book, he is credited as either the illustrator or the writer, but not both.
The first Batman: Black and White issue Cooke drew for writer Paul Grist is really good, but I agree with his ultimate assessment in the afterword that Selina's Big Score is the best. (He goes so far as to say it's the best story he ever wrote and illustrated, at least as of 2007, when this collection was first printed.) This Catwoman stand-alone story is a classic heist "tail," and apparently helped convince DC to re-launch an ongoing title devoted to her.
Following that miniseries, we get a single issue based on the first Batman comic Darwyn Cooke happened to acquire as a child in the '70s, which he cites as his all-time favorite Batman story.
After the 200-page mark, it started to lose my interest. I would give it 5 stars up to that point, but I've never cared for Will Eisner's The Spirit, even in a rare cross-over with Batman. Those two characters have an astonish number of parallels, but putting them in the same world, interacting with each other's rogues galleries, just did not end up being very exciting for me. Fans of The Spirit might love it though. Samesies for the final story, from Harley Quinn, written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner (neither of whom I'm a big fan of tbh).
Overall, this is a must-read for Bat-fans, and adds to my desire to get a hold of Darwyn Cooke's other interesting gifts to the comics world.
bone173's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
reickel's review against another edition
3.0
Sorry Darwyn, it was good but didn't blow my hair back. The quality of each story did not correlate to the length--the stories I wanted more of ended too quickly, and the stories that didn't grab me seemed to extend a bit too long. Gimme more of the your best!
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Like many, I rewound and watched the new trailer for The Batman several times since it came out. I’m a big fan of the Caped Crusader; he’s basically the only superhero I roll with on a consistent basis. When looking up reviews for the trailer (go ahead and laugh but I was curious how others would interpret the Easter Eggs), I saw that one of director Matt Reeves’ big inspirations for the movie was Darwyn Cooke’s Batman: Ego graphic novel from over 20 years ago. Obviously, I needed to check it out for myself.
The story itself comes these days in a collection of several Batman tales (and one Catwoman one). Some are better than the others. Ego is first and perhaps the best. It starts by Batman taking a look at the psyche of others while chasing a criminal. He eventually comes face-to-face with it himself, arguing with his subconscious (that takes the form of the batsuit with long sharp teeth) on what he is supposed to do. The set up for it is very well done. The pay off? Not bad, could be better. It has its moments but comes off as a bit too much like a dorm room philosophy argument. Still, it’s an engaging story with some of my favorite artwork in a Batman comic (minimalism representative of Year One). If Reeves takes the right lessons from it, it could be a winner.
Most of the other stories hit more than miss. I had already read Selena’s Big Score. It’s good; a must for Catwoman fans. The Guardian one, where someone builds a statue to Batman that becomes the scene of public debate and eventually the scene of a crime, was very good and would be perfect to reexamine in this time. The black-and-white art on it worked. The Spirit team up had too many Spirit references for me but was still fun.
It’s a good collection that will maybe give the Batfan an idea of Matt Reeves’ approach to the Dark Knight. Check it out if you can.
The story itself comes these days in a collection of several Batman tales (and one Catwoman one). Some are better than the others. Ego is first and perhaps the best. It starts by Batman taking a look at the psyche of others while chasing a criminal. He eventually comes face-to-face with it himself, arguing with his subconscious (that takes the form of the batsuit with long sharp teeth) on what he is supposed to do. The set up for it is very well done. The pay off? Not bad, could be better. It has its moments but comes off as a bit too much like a dorm room philosophy argument. Still, it’s an engaging story with some of my favorite artwork in a Batman comic (minimalism representative of Year One). If Reeves takes the right lessons from it, it could be a winner.
Most of the other stories hit more than miss. I had already read Selena’s Big Score. It’s good; a must for Catwoman fans. The Guardian one, where someone builds a statue to Batman that becomes the scene of public debate and eventually the scene of a crime, was very good and would be perfect to reexamine in this time. The black-and-white art on it worked. The Spirit team up had too many Spirit references for me but was still fun.
It’s a good collection that will maybe give the Batfan an idea of Matt Reeves’ approach to the Dark Knight. Check it out if you can.
pjwhyman's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant stuff. Darwyn Cooke was such a great writer and artist.