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This graphic collects Batman #655-658, 663-669, and 672-675. So there is a lot of content included, but just don't expect it all, or even most, to be about Batman's son. There is also the prose story about the Joker. The largest part is the beginning of the Black Glove story arc.

I have to admit that I got out of comic book reading for a long time after having reading them for another long while. So I am playing catch up with a lot of characters and still need to do a lot more to fully grasp everything that has changed. Also, I have never been that big of a fan of the whole Ra's al Ghul nah Talia storylines.

It amazed me that Batman was so accepting of Talia's story. He didn't even do a paternity test on the kid. As for Damien, I couldn't get a good feel for his motivations. One second he seems to hate and resent Batman and the next he can't do enough to try and please Batman.

The prose story with the Joker had promise. But the author seemed to ignore a basic rule of writing. You have to use moderation in setting the mood. Too much and the reader becomes numb. This story was unrelenting. It couldn't just say it was raining, it would have to compare it to the blood of a thousand slaughtered innocents dripping upon the floor of a tomb. Give the reader a break every once in a while. That is why it would just be the cat making the spooky noise occasionally in those old horror movies, so the next big thing would be even more shocking.

The Black Glove stories had a chaotic feel to them. I kept feeling like I had skipped a page or missed something. At other times, I wasn't sure if what I was reading was supposed to be real, a flashback, or a hallucination. It read like it had been written by a kid with ADHD that had eaten too much sugar the way it jumped around. I am not sure if including the skipped issues would have helped or not.

The Batman has always been a great character. The problem is that he also seems to be a dual character. You have the lighter, at times campy, character earlier in his history. This is where the stories revolved more around detective work and villains more interested in sticking to their theme than just killing people. The second version of Batman is the darker, brooding vigilante that will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Naturally the villains in these types of stories are extremely violent and act like they are going for the high score in a video game when killing people. Is one better than the other? That can be argued forever. Personally, I would like to see more of a middle ground Batman. Let him brood, but let him have some light in his life as well.

The same thing goes for the city of Gotham. Who in their right mind would live there? From the way it is described, I would drag myself with two broken legs out of that city. It isn't just the masked loonies either. There is crime everywhere, corrupt city officials, and the odds are you will get mugged or killed in your own home on any given day.

Overall, I would have to say this collection left me feeling lost, unfulfilled,and incomplete. It also made me realize how dark and hard to believe in the setting of the series. I still enjoyed it but I feel it could have been better. This should be a 2.5 rating.