The Thor article is postponed yet again since I finally got Mass Effect today and I really want to play the fucking game, been waiting since November.
Therefore, in light of The Dark Knight's release and all-around awesomeness (and in retrospect something I should have done last week), here are my top-5 favorite Batman graphic novels ever, and why you should read them.
I purposely ignore Frank Miller's run on Batman, because it goes without saying that those are must-reads, and are universally acclaimed as the best stories in the series, ever. As for the rest, in no particular order:
- Batman: Hush
I seemed to like this story more than most people. It's not something I can completely explain, but I thought Hush was thoroughly entertaining. A great mystery, a strange new (?) villain is playing with the Dark Knight's mind through the use of some of his older enemies, lots of guest stars, and amazing art by Jim Lee.
One thing I especially liked was the fact that this story is one of the rare cases where we see Bruce Wayne's more human side, in his relationship with Catwoman, it feels like if he's actually trying to act like a human being. Personally, I found it to be a more realistic approach to his character than most.
Though that stupid mutt that Superman has almost ruins the entire story.
- Batman: A Death in the Family
Robin dies in it. Shame they had to find a replacement eventually, but it was good while it lasted.
(Cynicism aside, a -permanent- death of a major character is something that very rarely happens in comic books, and it's even rarer that it's handle as well as in this story. The aftermath haunted Batman for more than a decade.)
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
Dave McKean's art should be reason enough for anyone to pick up this graphic novel, but the fact that we get a glimpse of what happens to all those super-villains once they've been arrested seals the deal. It's completely trippy, fairly demented and almost scary at times. A very different, unique, approach to the Batman universe (Batmanverse?).
- Batman: The Killing Joke
While origin stories rarely work, when they do work, they are absolutely astounding. The Killing Joke is such a success story, and with Alan Moore behind it, it shouldn't come as a surprise. It follows the nurture over nature theory which suggests that villains, even utterly insane ones like the Joker, were once normal people just like anyone of us, who one day got unlucky and had to go thorugh more than they could handle. This is what (presumably) happened to the Joker, and this is what in turn he is trying to do to the infallible Commissioner Gordon.
The Joker's depiction in this story was the main influence behind his silver screen version in The Dark Knight.
- Batman: The Long Halloween
(Don't read the Story Summary on the Wiki, some crazy nutso summarized the entire graphic novel there!)
While the Batman's is supposed to be "The Greatest Detective in the World", we so rarely get to see him practice his detective skills fully. Not so in this tale. If you exclude for the presence of Batman and some of his iconic villains, and replace them with a regular detective and run-of-the-mill outlaws, then The Long Halloween reads like a noir detective story, based on the hunt of a serial killer who only kills during holidays.
The atmosphere is fantastic, the artwork beautiful (and I'm no fan of Tim Sale), and the story is well... sublime. The "Dream Team" trio of Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent presented at the first half of the novel is amazing, essentially it is the story of three people against an entire, corrupt, city. And for a while there, they were actually winning.
This is what makes Dent's eventual downfall all the more tragic, in a way that really affects the reader as we had seen what he was capable of, and what his potential was. Dent really was the best of the three, yet he was the one that was driven mad, the one that lost everything. In a sense, Dent's tale is a beautiful, yet sad, allegory of the tragedy that is the human existence.
On top of that, after all these years, we're still not exactly, 100% sure who the Holiday killer was.
Along with The Killing Joke, The Long Halloween was the main inspiration behind The Dark Knight.
TL;DR version:
Feel free to comment on how much my list sucks and why I'm an idiot for leaving out "Batman graphic novel 'X'".
I also think that a Batman action-adventure game based on his detective skills would be brilliant.
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2 comments:
I have read Batman: Year One, (and it was sick!), but I want to know if you or anyone has read the Batman/(Aliens,Preditor,Spawn,ect...)? I realize that the story might not be as well developed as some of the ones listed above, but I can't help but think that seeing Batman hunt down Preditor through Gotham City would be tight.
On another note, when it comes down to Batman for me, the darker it is the better. so i was also wondering if any of the ones i suggested before are dark and if the vampire saga is worth buying? I have a feeling it is. let me know!
I read the two Batman Vs Predator graphic novels back in high school, and I really liked them at the time. Definitely not as deep as these other stories, but really entertaining in their own right.
Plus, as you said, you can't go wrong with a fight involving both Batman and the Predator. :)
The first novel felt much darker than the second one, it had a better atmosphere than its sequel.
I read a Batman Vs Aliens graphic novel back in uh... 2000 I think, I can't remember a lot but it was definitely dark, and pretty tense.
I found Batman Vs Spawn to be a complete cash-in, sadly.
Never read the Vampire saga, I'm afraid, but I can definitely recommend Batman Vs Dracula! Really dark, and a great story.
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