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jacobg 's review for:
Dark Night: A True Batman Story
by Paul Dini
I often find myself arguing about the value of superhero stories to people. I get very angry when people dismiss them as "mindless" and "worthless" or "predictable", like they have no reason to exist. And the worst part is, for the most part, they are kind of right. Lots of comics and movies about superheroes are just there for mindless entertainment, to past the time, to get you excited for the next issue, and never really have a coherent message about the human condition or anything like that. My favorite superhero stories have always been the ones that showed how these stories can be something more meaningful, how amazing things can come out of them. It's why the Sam Raimi Spiderman films will always be my favorite adaptation of him, why Dark Knight is one of the most phenomenal films I've ever seen, and why I argue that the recent DC movies are not good simply because they aren't made very well, not because they are "moody or dark" , because when you handle it with subtlety and grace (which no one can argue that those films do), something great can really come out of it.
Case in point, this comic, which may not necessarily be for the faint of heart, since it concerns references to suicide and a harrowing depiction on what depression feels like. With that warning out of the way, lets get into the shit.
Paul Dini wrote a significant part of the Batman animated tv shows and is responsible for creating one of comics' most interesting figures; Harley Quinn. But like most artists, he was alone in life. He was also nearly beaten to death for the few dollars he had in his wallet. This comic takes the trope of "man overcomes tragedy to find something better" and sincerely questions what that really looks like in real life. Of course, Dini does come out of this alive and well off, but it is clear the scars still linger, and this is not something he can quite ever escape. When people discuss how they were once depressed or addicted or anything along those lines, it is easy to think that once they escaped the story was finished, but in reality, it lingers with you forever. There is that voice that will forever be a part of you, that side of yourself that never really does away, always willing to remind you how easy it would be to falter and go back to your harmful ways. Dini is no guru, he still has this voice in his head, and its refreshing to see someone willingly discuss how the road to recovery does not ever really stop instead of phoning it in and saying everything becomes swell at the end.
This is not all of Dini’s life, it’s more what was important to keep him alive at the time. The comic is structured like a slideshow he is presenting to someone, a little like a pitch with storyboards, which is pretty neat and allows for him to constantly interact with the reader, desperately trying to do something new with the tragic autobiography story, and through sheer charm and self-awareness, he does just that.
Eduardo Risso’s artwork is stunning too, I particularly liked how the childhood sequences were set out, and his version of the Batman characters is phenomenal as well. We get striking images to demonstrate just how horrifying this whole ordeal was for Dini, making it just that tiny bit harder to look away.
I could continue to write some massive thing about how this demonstrates everything that I believe about comics can achieve, but I could not do it anywhere near as delicately, sincerely, and ultimately constructively as Paul Dini does. He uses the characters he helped popularize and uses them to depict his crumbling mental state, and how demons never really leave us (it brings a tiny bit more meaning to the infamous Harley line: “I’ve seen scary, and you don’t have his smile”), but also to show the good that can come out of it. It is hard to read this without tearing up a little bit and will take you to some dark places during the ride, but for anyone who doubts how superhero stories have no meaning, this is an essential read. Hell, it is an essential read for anyone whose demons speak a little too loudly at points.
Case in point, this comic, which may not necessarily be for the faint of heart, since it concerns references to suicide and a harrowing depiction on what depression feels like. With that warning out of the way, lets get into the shit.
Paul Dini wrote a significant part of the Batman animated tv shows and is responsible for creating one of comics' most interesting figures; Harley Quinn. But like most artists, he was alone in life. He was also nearly beaten to death for the few dollars he had in his wallet. This comic takes the trope of "man overcomes tragedy to find something better" and sincerely questions what that really looks like in real life. Of course, Dini does come out of this alive and well off, but it is clear the scars still linger, and this is not something he can quite ever escape. When people discuss how they were once depressed or addicted or anything along those lines, it is easy to think that once they escaped the story was finished, but in reality, it lingers with you forever. There is that voice that will forever be a part of you, that side of yourself that never really does away, always willing to remind you how easy it would be to falter and go back to your harmful ways. Dini is no guru, he still has this voice in his head, and its refreshing to see someone willingly discuss how the road to recovery does not ever really stop instead of phoning it in and saying everything becomes swell at the end.
This is not all of Dini’s life, it’s more what was important to keep him alive at the time. The comic is structured like a slideshow he is presenting to someone, a little like a pitch with storyboards, which is pretty neat and allows for him to constantly interact with the reader, desperately trying to do something new with the tragic autobiography story, and through sheer charm and self-awareness, he does just that.
Eduardo Risso’s artwork is stunning too, I particularly liked how the childhood sequences were set out, and his version of the Batman characters is phenomenal as well. We get striking images to demonstrate just how horrifying this whole ordeal was for Dini, making it just that tiny bit harder to look away.
I could continue to write some massive thing about how this demonstrates everything that I believe about comics can achieve, but I could not do it anywhere near as delicately, sincerely, and ultimately constructively as Paul Dini does. He uses the characters he helped popularize and uses them to depict his crumbling mental state, and how demons never really leave us (it brings a tiny bit more meaning to the infamous Harley line: “I’ve seen scary, and you don’t have his smile”), but also to show the good that can come out of it. It is hard to read this without tearing up a little bit and will take you to some dark places during the ride, but for anyone who doubts how superhero stories have no meaning, this is an essential read. Hell, it is an essential read for anyone whose demons speak a little too loudly at points.