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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The art work is immaculate, beautifully drawn, I loved the fact that the Joker's speech text is in red. The end script really explains a lot of the harder to understand scenes, including why a character does something. I'm obsessed with the idea that the reason why the Joker makes so many sexual comments at Batman is because he knows Batman is sexually repressed and/or gay, I maybe did not really like how it was shown in this comic, but so interested in that concept nonetheless. If you read this comic with the knowledge that this was all a dream, Batman's decisions and comments make a lot more sense overall. I found the comic hard to read at first, but once I got the overall vibes of the story, the art making me able to push through the book to get to this point, it became a lot more enjoyable to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault
I don't know how I really feel about it. The art threw me off a bit, and that, mixed with not easily being able to read it at points, makes for a not very colourblind friendly read.
The script is quite brilliant, and the art is remarkable, but it is fairly hard to understand if you don't take your time. I ended up it reading three times: I read through the novel with occasional references to the script, then I read the script front to back, then I read the novel once more. I definitely got more from reading the script than reading the novel. That's for sure to do with the difficulty of following the abstract art, but I think it also speaks to the way words speak louder to me than pictures. Others might not have the same problem. After three reads, I think I've picked up on most of what there is to offer, but of course there's always going to be more.
There are a lot of layers to the story, which is always nice. The asylum itself becomes a metaphor, as does Batman's struggle with the several villains. The theme of madness is quite obvious, as it begins and ends with a Lewis Carrol quote from "Alice". My biggest complaint is that some things in the script were left out of the novel, making it difficult to follow some parts of the story. Morrison speaks to some of those things in the script notes, but others I couldn't figure out why they were missing. The art was just a little too abstract for me, and I wish it would have more clearly shown some things. I'm being a little vague here because I don't want to spoil anything.
Aside from the confusion, the whole thing is very well done. It gets a solid 4 stars from me.
There are a lot of layers to the story, which is always nice. The asylum itself becomes a metaphor, as does Batman's struggle with the several villains. The theme of madness is quite obvious, as it begins and ends with a Lewis Carrol quote from "Alice". My biggest complaint is that some things in the script were left out of the novel, making it difficult to follow some parts of the story. Morrison speaks to some of those things in the script notes, but others I couldn't figure out why they were missing. The art was just a little too abstract for me, and I wish it would have more clearly shown some things. I'm being a little vague here because I don't want to spoil anything.
Aside from the confusion, the whole thing is very well done. It gets a solid 4 stars from me.
I think I liked this? The artwork was really unique, and there are tons of visual goodies, mostly grotesque, but always engaging. The monstrous nature of the villains is exaggerated in the artwork, which has them contort into nightmare creatures, and it’s a really cool style.
My main concerns: Batman acts and speaks in very un-Batman ways. He makes unbelievable decisions. The comic opens with him saying to Gordon something like “sorry I’m late, business out of town. What’s up?”
Umm. The inmates took over Arkham Asylum and the whole PD is freaking out. How the fuck would Batman stroll up, not know what’s happening, and casually say “what’s up?”
I like the idea of delving into the insanity of the individual villains, but Batman has no reason to do this. There’s a vague threat that they will kill people if he doesn’t do it, but it didn’t seem dangerous enough for him to subject himself to this insanity. He gives in too easily. There’s no cleverness to the way he acts, he’s just a spooky force of retribution.
Overall, though, pretty good. It just missed the mark on feeling like Batman.
My main concerns: Batman acts and speaks in very un-Batman ways. He makes unbelievable decisions. The comic opens with him saying to Gordon something like “sorry I’m late, business out of town. What’s up?”
Umm. The inmates took over Arkham Asylum and the whole PD is freaking out. How the fuck would Batman stroll up, not know what’s happening, and casually say “what’s up?”
I like the idea of delving into the insanity of the individual villains, but Batman has no reason to do this. There’s a vague threat that they will kill people if he doesn’t do it, but it didn’t seem dangerous enough for him to subject himself to this insanity. He gives in too easily. There’s no cleverness to the way he acts, he’s just a spooky force of retribution.
Overall, though, pretty good. It just missed the mark on feeling like Batman.
This book is far from most Batman stories, and I feel that if I had a stronger emotional attachment to traditional superhero Batman comics, that this would've been hard to swallow. This story is more about the asylum of the mind rather than Batman himself, but the Batman of this book is tortured, his pathological need to capture criminals the fine line between his sanity and the madness of those he hunts.
Viewed as a separate work that leverages off of Batman villain lore to explore psychological themes such as perception and madness, and the way in which horror and trauma echo through time, it's a masterpiece, with respect to both the art and script. Both writer and artist create an engrossing nightmare rife with symbolism that's high-concept, but not horribly intellectually pretentious.
Viewed as a separate work that leverages off of Batman villain lore to explore psychological themes such as perception and madness, and the way in which horror and trauma echo through time, it's a masterpiece, with respect to both the art and script. Both writer and artist create an engrossing nightmare rife with symbolism that's high-concept, but not horribly intellectually pretentious.
I think if I'd read this at 20, I would have loved it. I do get why it's so seminal. It's a superhero comic! But it's psychological! It has literary allusions! And symbolism! It's transgressive and weird in a way that is a bit old fashioned now. It's a young person's book by someone excited by their own cleverness and daring. I am being a bit condescending but the book is pretentious so I think it evens out. 2 stars really but one extra because of Dave McKean.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A fantastic story that turns the batman relationship(s) on their head.