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Sam Quixote's Reviews > Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?
Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?
by
by
As the original line of Detective Comics came to an end, Neil Gaiman was asked to write the eulogy to the Dark Knight and, for better or worse, this is it. A two-issue send-off for everyone's favourite superhero, the Dark Knight, the Caped Crusader, the Batman.
Gaiman creates an ingenious setup for the final Batman story. The spirit of Batman/Bruce Wayne presides over a funeral service where all of his rogues gallery, close friends and family, show up to tell their version of how Batman died � and each version is different, to reflect the numerous stories told over the years in Detective Comics. Catwoman and Alfred both get space to tell their stories in full, but Alfred's was the best - impossible, but still brilliant and momentarily chilling. That sneaky butler�
Andy Kubert's art is fantastic and imaginatively chosen. I loved the way he alternated between the many designs for Batman’s appearance, paying tribute to the different artists' depictions of him through the decades, as well as drawing different versions of the famous villains too.
While the story has some great moments � in particular the scene when Bruce goes back to Crime Alley, the place where Batman was born, to end it � it doesn’t feel like a Batman story despite having the features of one. People read Batman for the action, adventure, the mystery and the sleuthing � none of that is part of this rather slow-moving story. So while it’s a clever idea and visually superb, it’s not the most interesting Batman book to read.
But then it was never going to go down perfectly was it? Gaiman and Kubert were given the thankless task of putting to bed a game-changing line of comics and pretend to bury the most famous superhero of all time � this book was never going to satisfy the fans because no book could. Despite this, it's not a terrible story - nor a brilliant one. It's a story. It adds to the hundreds of Batman stories that are out there, that are being written now, and that are waiting to be written.
Whatever happened to the Caped Crusader? Nothing and everything. And he keeps going.
Gaiman creates an ingenious setup for the final Batman story. The spirit of Batman/Bruce Wayne presides over a funeral service where all of his rogues gallery, close friends and family, show up to tell their version of how Batman died � and each version is different, to reflect the numerous stories told over the years in Detective Comics. Catwoman and Alfred both get space to tell their stories in full, but Alfred's was the best - impossible, but still brilliant and momentarily chilling. That sneaky butler�
Andy Kubert's art is fantastic and imaginatively chosen. I loved the way he alternated between the many designs for Batman’s appearance, paying tribute to the different artists' depictions of him through the decades, as well as drawing different versions of the famous villains too.
While the story has some great moments � in particular the scene when Bruce goes back to Crime Alley, the place where Batman was born, to end it � it doesn’t feel like a Batman story despite having the features of one. People read Batman for the action, adventure, the mystery and the sleuthing � none of that is part of this rather slow-moving story. So while it’s a clever idea and visually superb, it’s not the most interesting Batman book to read.
But then it was never going to go down perfectly was it? Gaiman and Kubert were given the thankless task of putting to bed a game-changing line of comics and pretend to bury the most famous superhero of all time � this book was never going to satisfy the fans because no book could. Despite this, it's not a terrible story - nor a brilliant one. It's a story. It adds to the hundreds of Batman stories that are out there, that are being written now, and that are waiting to be written.
Whatever happened to the Caped Crusader? Nothing and everything. And he keeps going.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
August 6, 2011
– Shelved
