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A review by kathrynkao
The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture by Glen Weldon
5.0
I was so excited to read this book, given my love for Batman/the Batfamily. Since I'm more familiar with Batman than with Superman, I had already read or at least heard of a lot of the story arcs in the Batman comics, at least from the '80s on. However, it was great to read about them in a bigger cultural context, as well as in the context of the light-Batfamily-grimdark loner cycle that Weldon outlines. As I mentioned in my [b:Superman: The Unauthorized Biography|16116967|Superman The Unauthorized Biography|Glen Weldon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356462153s/16116967.jpg|21934818] review, I didn't get into comics until my first grad program, which gives me an outsider view of all the nerdrage that happens throughout Batman's changes, but I'm definitely not a normal (most childless adult women do not have all of Batman: The Animated Series, The Justice League Unlimited, and Batman Beyond, let alone have watched every episode multiple times). Tracking the bigger picture of Batman's many incarnations, as he cycles from light to dark, is fascinating, and gives me a greater appreciation for Batman's mythology--one of the things I love about comics, and about Batman specifically.
My minor quibble is that there's not a lot of mention of Batman's supporting cast, aside from Dick Greyson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake. Huntress and Barbara Gordon are namedropped, but since Batman-as-head-of-a-sprawling-Batfamily is my favorite incarnation, I really would have liked a little more exploration of that aspect. This isn't really the book for that, but I love Helena Bertinelli and Cassandra Cain so much, I wanted to read about them! I'm glad Carrie Kelly (first female Robin!) got a shoutout, but Stephanie Brown was also a Robin, and I'm really curious about the fan reaction to that (and how that storyline happened at all).
Personal preferences aside, Batfans of all types and normals alike can get a lot out of this book. Now I need to go find a copy of [b:Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth|1818336|Planetary/Batman Night on Earth|Warren Ellis|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1188769612s/1818336.jpg|1817904], which I did not know existed despite having read what I was told was all the Planetary trades some years ago (shakes fist at the 20something boys who got me into comics and neglected to mention this book that includes two of my favorite things, Batman and alternate universes).
My minor quibble is that there's not a lot of mention of Batman's supporting cast, aside from Dick Greyson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake. Huntress and Barbara Gordon are namedropped, but since Batman-as-head-of-a-sprawling-Batfamily is my favorite incarnation, I really would have liked a little more exploration of that aspect. This isn't really the book for that, but I love Helena Bertinelli and Cassandra Cain so much, I wanted to read about them! I'm glad Carrie Kelly (first female Robin!) got a shoutout, but Stephanie Brown was also a Robin, and I'm really curious about the fan reaction to that (and how that storyline happened at all).
Personal preferences aside, Batfans of all types and normals alike can get a lot out of this book. Now I need to go find a copy of [b:Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth|1818336|Planetary/Batman Night on Earth|Warren Ellis|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1188769612s/1818336.jpg|1817904], which I did not know existed despite having read what I was told was all the Planetary trades some years ago (shakes fist at the 20something boys who got me into comics and neglected to mention this book that includes two of my favorite things, Batman and alternate universes).