Norm BreyfogleCritiques

ELSEWORLDS was a great concept--take the core of a character but then play around with that character in a new setting or conceit.

Holy Terror's mildly confusing for its alternate history with a religious spin, but this is one of the stronger "Alternate-Batman" stories ever done (the best, in my opinion, being Gotham By Gaslight).

The cameos and world-changes to many other DC heroes makes this a story that thinks about all the ramifications of altering history, not just hyper-focusing on one character, as so often is the case.

Highly recommended for anyone who likes Batman or alternate histories.

So at my review of Batman: Knightfall, Part One: Broken Bat* I summarized the Broken Bat storyline, and in this one I’ll summarize the Who Rules the Night storyline.

So after Batman’s back is broken, he is rushed to the Batcave where Alfred takes care of him. For some reason then there’s a story that takes place three weeks earlier about Batman and Robin capturing Two-Face, but it’s not necessary. So Robin gives the cape and cowl to no one other than the religious sect assassin who was trained from birth to be an avenging angel, A.K.A Jean-Paul Valley. I will be calling him AzBats. So he goes out and fights some people, and then Scarecrow who wants to be a god or something. Scarecrow’s fear gas makes the subliminal messaging from the Order of St. Dumas (known as The System) to start to take hold. So he gets the brilliant idea to banish Robin forever and create CLAWS for himself. So he goes out, fights some more, people, and then attempts to take on Bane. He fails, so he immediately makes a super crazy mecha-batsuit. He fights Bane, succeeds and bam. It’s over.


Continue reading my Knightfall summaries at my review of Batman: Knightfall, Vol. 2: Knightquest.


*I own Knightfall Part One, and I checked out Knightfall Vols. 1-3 at the library.

513

This was an anthology series set in the Miracleman universe. And though it's nice to dip into that universe again, these stories really can't hold a candle to Alan Moore's original series.

A very good story of Batman pushed to the end of his ropes, and beyond. I read several of these when they were printed first in the early 90's, and enjoyed them then. It is fun to read the whole series in one continuous line.

I'll get a few negatives out of the way. The art style isn't nearly as impressive as Hush, Court of Owls or a few of the other Batman Graphic Novels I've been reading. The writing is pretty campy and classic, lots of stuff that would fit right in with the campy 1960s Batman, so if you're not down wit that, I don't blame you.

With that said, this was really compelling. The tension keeps going, and Batman's inner monologue makes you want him to go take a 3 month nap and immediate medical attention. Bane's plan really wears Batman down, and you along with him. The end 20 pages are just incredible, iconic and classic for a reason. I would say the overall structure is really strong and easy to follow. There's a reason they adapted this for Dark Knight Rises, Bane is a fun, intimidating villain.

I read this because the new Batman movie is coming soon (Dark Knight Rises) and I'm excited about it. Also, being new to comics, I didn't know anything about the character, Bane, featured in the new movie so I thought I'd read through his story arc to see which moral grey areas Christopher Nolan intends to straighten out in his latest. At first, Bane's story was full of interesting philosophical potential but this potential was quickly undermined by the exaggerated dramas and manufactured perils of comic book story time, complete with goofy side characters and cheesy dialogue. I will probably still read volumes 2 and 3 because I'm crazy weird about thoroughness but understand that I'm embarrassed about it and that where before I was hoping these could be slotted into my quirky-but-vastly-intelligent-reads category I see now they are only guilty pleasures.

The first story, "Vengeance of Bane" is excellent! Great writing and strong origin story of the big, bad man himself! The rest of the compilation is not quite up to the high standards that it sets. It's a big story with almost all of Batman's adversaries in it, as Arkham has once again been breached. But the actual Bane vs. Batman scenes are all too brief. And Robin sure whines a whole lot! Gee whiz Boy Wonder, clamp your beak and do something! Still, the visual of Batman broken over Bane's knee is a classic, and I'm glad I read it.½

ELSEWORLDS was a great concept--take the core of a character but then play around with that character in a new setting or conceit.

Holy Terror's mildly confusing for its alternate history with a religious spin, but this is one of the stronger "Alternate-Batman" stories ever done (the best, in my opinion, being Gotham By Gaslight).

The cameos and world-changes to many other DC heroes makes this a story that thinks about all the ramifications of altering history, not just hyper-focusing on one character, as so often is the case.

Highly recommended for anyone who likes Batman or alternate histories.

Batman: Birth of the Demon reprints Mike W. Barr and Dennis O'Neil's trilogy of Ra's al Ghul stories with art by Jerry Bingham, Tom and Eva Grindberg, and Norm Breyfogle. DC originally published the stories as Son of the Demon, Bride of the Demon, and Birth of the Demon. DC reprinted this collection to serve as a prequel to Grant Morrison's Batman & Son, though the connection is somewhat loose. Ra's al Ghul links all three, though they are more self-contained than the collection would indicate to the reader.
Mike Barr's Son of the Demon is the strongest story in this collection, featuring Batman's marriage to Talia al Ghul and partnership with Ra's to fight a common enemy. Jerry Bingham's art perfectly matches the tone of the story and his original cover to the paperback collection, included at the end of this volume, looks like the poster to a "James Bond" film as befits the Barr's plot. In hindsight, certain elements meant to set the story in the real world date it, such as the U.S.S.R. and Mikhail Gorbachev, but they are brief and work for the narrative. Barr's Bride of the Demon is a close second, with a story pitting Batman and al Ghul against each other alongside an underlying ecological plot, timely in the early 1990s and still relevant in the 2010s. Like the previous story, this one recalls Ian Fleming's "James Bond." Tom and Eva Grindberg have their own artistic style, but they maintain a basic continuity with Bingham so that these two stories work well together. If the first and second stories can be read as two parts of a larger thematic whole, then Dennis O'Neil's Birth of the Demon stands alone, primarily focusing on Ra's al Ghul's backstory. Norm Breyfogle's artwork, though gorgeous, does not fit this tone of this collection. O'Neil, an expert Batman storyteller, evokes Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter" series more than Ian Fleming.
DC's reissue of these stories as a single volume features cover art by Andy Kubert. The modern style does not match the tone of the interior stories or artwork, though. Finally, this edition contains a printing error: the climax of Son of the Demon is missing one page; the printer substituted a page from Bride of the Demon in its place. Fans of Batman or Ra's al Ghul will find plenty to enjoy here, but the arbitrary nature of this collection means that the stories are a bit disjointed at times since the reader consumes them as one.

The full story arch of Bane. If you like Batman and probable one of his major nemesis then try to pick this one up. I found it on Amazon for $16.99 with free shipping New.

The follow up to Batman: The Abduction, but the joke's either run out or Alan Grant just isn't having as much fun with it. Critically the story takes itself far too seriously, so instead of the Grey-tastic fun the cover promises we get a poe-faced, sub-X-Files thriller.

If you're enough into comics that you've dug this out, you've read similar conspiracy stories before. Batman breaking into Area 51 should be a lot more fun than this.

It's 1998 and the Batman writers have noticed The X-Files is really popular. So Bats gets abducted while out for a drive and spends the rest of the book trying to work out if aliens are real.

Alan Grant never quite squares that with the fact Batman has met tons of aliens (not least Superman), but I don't care: for this story, Batman needs to be a sceptic and so a sceptic he will be. The DC Comics universe has always been pretty plastic anyway.

I love it when Batman gets shoved into some faddy new format, whether it's Predator crossovers, kung fu action, or UFO conspiracy thrillers. There's something endlessly appealing about grumpy old Batman, whose ambition is to take down crime in Gotham City, getting dragged into these gimmicky fun adventures against his will. You wanna be a hero? Well you're gonna have to have some fun, boy!

And in the 90s that meant getting a probe up your bum (fun fact: reports of alien abductees being anally probed only became common after colonoscopies were introduced in the 1960s). This was the same year Lara Croft went to Area 51 and climbed aboard an alien spaceship. As well as The X-Files there was the famous 'alien autopsy' video in 1995, Men in Black in 1997, and any number of indulgent documentaries. (The UFO fever seems to have petered out after 9/11 gave the conspiracy theorists something else to worry about – though not before the 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult tragically committed group suicide in the belief their souls would board a passing alien spacecraft.)

Anyway, there were a lot of people getting very worried about this stuff in 1998. As Batman proudly tells Alfred: "According to what I've accessed on the internet [sic] the UFO phenomenon appears to have been with us for virtually all recorded history!" Presumably he also found out a lot about the Grateful Dead and some pretty lo-res pornography. (I hope he doesn't still try and solve all threats to Gotham by just googling them...)

But I love it. I love the po-faced, zeitgeist-riding madness of it. I love it slightly less when it goes a bit psychedelic around the midway point and a floating hippie begins throwing illusory Bruce Lees at the Caped Crusader, but it did remind me of Batman: Arkham City – and I love that.½

Okay. That was really, really long. On the theoretical side I like the idea of a super TPB collection. They basically took two of the Knightfall collections from when they were first put out in TPB form and put them together. Still. It's the Knightfall Saga, which is probably in my opinion, the second most draining (emotionally when read) saga to read (No Man's Land being the most draining by a long shot). And so, 600 pages of pretty much non-stop emotional intensity is well-- very intense. Still, it's a greatly done story even if it's a mostly dark and depressing one as well.

For those who haven't read it. The main character is Bane, a ginormous and seriously mentally deranged 'new' bad guy at the time who wants to make Gotham City his kingdom. He has three flunkies who aren't your typical stupid thugs and with them he aims not just to destroy Batman physically but mentally as well. And to get that started he unleashes --all-- the inmates of Arkham Asylum.

That was one thing that I liked about the saga, all the totally awesome villain team ups. Joker and Scarecrow, the Ventriloquist, and Amygdala (and Socko, heh). And others. They weren't totally out there, but weren't the run of the mill team ups either.

It has some characters that are now (after 2012) well established in the DC world too, like Renee Montoya as an officer (not Detective quite yet). It also had a bit of a 'visit' by Oracle, and Catwoman appeared at the end too.

I do have to say that although I mostly liked the art, there was the problem that Bane (sans Venom) changed size a whole lot (bigger, then smaller) throughout the TPB. It was weird.

Still. It was a great TPB, and a story that changed Batman forever (well, at least changed him until the next reboot/retcon happened).

A very taunt & fast paced story line tells the first part of the loss of the mantle of the Bat, from Bruce Wayne to Jean Paul Valley. Old fashioned art & colouring doesn't distract from a seminal Batman story arc. Good roles for some of the Bat family but others have lesser roles. Really a key work for anyone interested in the character.

Son of the Demon was really the only worthwhile story in this book. The other two I could have done without reading. Birth of the Demon does appear to have had some influence on the story of Ra's al Ghul and Talia in The Dark Knight Rises. Bride of the Demon was nearly unreadable, and I wasn't all that thrilled with it. If you're into Ra's al Ghul, go for this book as I'm sure these are probably some of the best stories. Though they're the only ones I've read, I can't imagine a Ghul story getting much better than Son of the Demon.

Better than Bride of the Demon, but still not as good as Son of the Demon. I would like to read more Ra's al Ghul stories to determine if these really are among some of the best, that being the Ra's al Ghul saga. Son of the Demon would be the main story to read if you're looking for an al Ghul history lesson.

Son of the Demon was really the only worthwhile story in this book. The other two I could have done without reading. Birth of the Demon does appear to have had some influence on the story of Ra's al Ghul and Talia in The Dark Knight Rises. Bride of the Demon was nearly unreadable, and I wasn't all that thrilled with it. If you're into Ra's al Ghul, go for this book as I'm sure these are probably some of the best stories. Though they're the only ones I've read, I can't imagine a Ghul story getting much better than Son of the Demon.

Of all the Batman Graphic Novels I've, read, which I confess are not that many, this has been the one I've enjoyed the most. The story line is more clear, and while the Batman character is other than I've seen, that actually made this take fresh.

These three Ra's al Ghul stories are epic. The first two by Mike Barr are globetrotting action stories with a James Bond flavor. The final story by the great Denny O'neil tells the dark mystical origin of al Ghul somewhere in Arabia. This tale is the reason to read this collection and features stylish and colorful art by Norm Breyfogle.

Adequate. Jerry Bingham may be well schooled and winner of a few industry awards, but his art in this collection strikes me as Neal Adams with a splash of Mike Grell. It's not BAD art, it just doesn't have an original take or voice. Meanwhile, bogging down the book are scenes like Batman's reaction to the big news (Yes, I'm trying not to spoil this for you. God knows why) which just doesn't seem to be in character. Further, where did Batman bring the gift from? (Or the box for that matter). Yes, it's all Suspension of Belief, but usually that aspect is not as prevalent as this collection.

Skip reading this book; there are many other graphic novels out there that are better.

5

Another pretty good comic that I was interested in. I wouldn't say to original of a story line but what can you do when you write comics? All the ideas have been taken a long time ago, and its hard to create new ones.

The Batman goes undercover to thwart a quasi-government mind-control project, and to rescue two inadvertent victims who have infiltrated it with the same goal. Not bad, just not particularly memorable.

A "Batman" graphic novel about what happens when Batman finds that he has been abducted by aliens, in the urban legend sense. Interesting in concept, but a very convoluted story that leaves a lot of loose ends. I'm not all that impressed with the artwork either.