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A review by verkisto
Tales of the Batman: Alan Brennert by Alan Brennert, Jim Aparo
3.0
I'm a huge fan of Alan Brennert, and I was surprised to find out he had written some Batman comics over the years. Luckily, most (all? I'm still not clear on it from the foreword) of those stories are reprinted here, and I was happy to sit down over a few days with this volume to see what he could do with the character.
The good news is all of Brennert's major themes -- redemption, second chances, and sacrifice -- appear in these stories, so readers familiar with his gentle style of storytelling will find a familiarity to them. The bad news is the stories still feel terribly dated. For me, continuity and canon among all titles in comics restricts the storytelling, and there are some examples of that kind of thing here. The other good news is that Brennert was far more interested in telling stories set outside of that canon (the stories are part of "What If?" titles, or set on alternate Earths), and what he chooses to do with those settings and characters in intriguing.
The highlight of the collection is "Holy Terror", a story set in a near-future totalitarian state run by the church, and where superheroism is a rare thing. Brennert retells Batman's origin, and it's a fascinating retelling of the Batman mythology, on par with the best Alan Moore can do. The rest of the stories are intriguing in retrospect, but aren't the most gripping comics I've read. Still, fans of Brennert who are curious to know what he could do in the field of comics would find it worthwhile to track down this collection.
The good news is all of Brennert's major themes -- redemption, second chances, and sacrifice -- appear in these stories, so readers familiar with his gentle style of storytelling will find a familiarity to them. The bad news is the stories still feel terribly dated. For me, continuity and canon among all titles in comics restricts the storytelling, and there are some examples of that kind of thing here. The other good news is that Brennert was far more interested in telling stories set outside of that canon (the stories are part of "What If?" titles, or set on alternate Earths), and what he chooses to do with those settings and characters in intriguing.
The highlight of the collection is "Holy Terror", a story set in a near-future totalitarian state run by the church, and where superheroism is a rare thing. Brennert retells Batman's origin, and it's a fascinating retelling of the Batman mythology, on par with the best Alan Moore can do. The rest of the stories are intriguing in retrospect, but aren't the most gripping comics I've read. Still, fans of Brennert who are curious to know what he could do in the field of comics would find it worthwhile to track down this collection.