This was a mixed bag for me - it seems to be a collection of stories that weren't included in any other collection so they decided, hey lets put them up together here.

Main story is very interesting. As we watch the procession of villains and heroes and we listen to their accounts of the death of our hero int he background we see our hero observing the funeral and wonders what exactly is going on. Told in a way of cyclic heroic tales (birth-dead-birth) we witness one Batman going off-stage only to come back into the world ready to start its everlasting battle against evil. In this way story very much reminds of Moorcock's Eternal Champion series, hero challenged by same quests in every reincarnation. There just cannot be Gotham without Batman :)

Main story art is excellent, coloring and ink are just perfect. For the rest of this collection different artists were involved and art goes from the very 1920's style (Poison Ivy story line, reminded me heavily of early X9 stories) to Heavy-Metal/2000AD graphics in a completely crazy story where Batman and Joker are just actors that are called on scene to act through their encounter for the purpose of the comic story after which they leave the studio together. This was definitely strangest black & white Batman story I ever read and that I mean that in positive way :)

Good and interesting collection but seems like it was created as an afterthought because stories in it are not thematically linked.

Recommended to all fans of Batman. ( )

This was a beautiful, atypical Batman story about his friends and foes recounting their admiration for Bruce Wayne/Batman as well as Batman trying to figure out if he is truly dead. The art, the story, simply everything was stunning and the ending quite emotional. It's set up in a manner that it could take place at any time during Batman's legacy and it is also set up in a manner to where this could be read as the first volume of an on-going series that recounts Bruce Wayne's youth.

Wonderful, emotional, and touching. Damnit Gaiman! ( )

This is a book of vignettes. There is no real plot and no major revelations. It is the creative team's tribute to 50 years or so of Batman. But even without plot, the writing crackles (except for the denouement, which I found mundane) and the art sparkles.

The premise is that Batman is dead and the denizens of Gotham are having a wake in a dive bar. Each relates their own version of who Batman was and how he died. Of course, after a while it is obvious that the narrator of the story is Batman himself. Obviously not dead (yet). ( )

Batman's funeral; the guests recounting short adventures with the Batman, especially Catwoman. Full colour. ( )

So my favorite superhero and author meet at a funeral .... the author is Neil Gaiman and the superhero is Batman.

The book is set at Batman's funeral with some of the major people in his life showing up, both allies and villains . Batman watches from afar (a different dimension?) trying to figure out what happened to himself ... and he's also with someone. With whom is he conversing?

Absolutely brilliant.




( )