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A review by stopnodont
Batman: Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb
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.
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.