Batman Is Awesome And You Know It » Bat-Comics You Should Own

Bat-Comics You Should Own

Youri Zoutman — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:32:42 +0000

THE QUESTION by Denny O’Neill and Denys Cowan. I know, I know, technically not a Bat-Comic. But he does appear, so whatever.

Honestly, it’s one of the best comics ever published. O’Neill is a master of comics, and Cowan is a great gritty artist (At least he is here).

The Question is Vic Sage, a reporter in Hub City, who’s taking a stance on corruption and crime.

But O’Neill makes it much more. It’s also about, well like the first collection is called, Zen and Violence.

DC finally began collecting this great 80s series in 2007, although I would still recommend hunting down the singles. Why? Because of the letter pages. O’Neill included a recommended reading list in each issue, about a subject the issue dealt with, and sometimes not. But it was definitely interesting, and I wish DC would reprint the letter pages in the trades. Either way, this series is definitely worth your time, even if Batman only appears a little.

Bat-Comics You Should Own

Youri Zoutman — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:53:13 +0000

BATMAN AND SON.

Not everyone has loved Morrison’s run on Batman, like I have. Personally, I love how he’s pretending the entire history of Batman’s comic adventures happened in the span of 10-15/20 years. It’s insane.

Anyway, in Batman and Son, Bats meets his, well, son, Damian. Damian is Talia al Ghul’s kid, whom Batsy had relations with in the 1987 graphic novel Son of The Demon.

I’m explaining it badly, so to get the full picture, I suggest you read Funnybook Babylon’s annotations.

Bat-Comics You Should Own

Youri Zoutman — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:46:56 +0000

‘Hh’. Yes, not an actual Bat-Comic, I guess. But still. Morrison’s JLA is as much a Batman book as it’s a Superman book, a Flash book, a – yeah, you get the point.

It’s also one of the finest superhero books ever. I must say though, that Porter’s art isn’t really my thing. But the story is top notch superhero action.

And luckily DC is collecting Morrison’s JLA in neat Deluxe Hardcovers!

One of the best thing’s Morrison did, and what JLU did too, was open the League up. No longer was it ‘just’ Martian Manhunter, Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, etc. No, they held auditions. Hell (Heh), one of the new members is an actual angel.

So, now that the League is freaking huge, no longer were they fighting mundane villains of the week, no, only earth endangering bad bad things. Like Luthor. Or Darkseid. Big, and sometimes even new villains like Prometheus (Worthy of an entry himself, and might just make a new Villain feature just so I can feature him).

I hope this little thing persuaded you to try it out.

Bat-Books You Should Own

Youri Zoutman — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:26:23 +0000

The Essential Batman Encyclopedia!

Because it really does have everything on Batman.

Including! The Whirly Bat!

Bat-Comics You Should Own

Youri Zoutman — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:05:25 +0000

Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli is the tale of Batman’s first year. Obviously. It’s fantastically written by pre-Goddamn Batman Miller and wonderfully illustrated by Mazzuchelli.

It’s more a tale of James Gordon though, but that doesn’t matter. It’s almost crime fiction. And so good.

Bat-Comics You Should Own

Youri Zoutman — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:27:04 +0000

Crazy ass Miller? Check! Great Jim Lee art? Check!

This often quoted panel?

Check!

It’s crazy, loud fun. It makes no sense. It has Wonder Woman refer to men as “sperm banks”. It has an eight page fold out of the Bat-Cave. It has Joker, for some reason, with a Yakuza tattoo. It has Superman being a dick, like Miller always writes him.

It’s insane.

Bat-Comics You Should Own

Youri Zoutman — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:21:29 +0000

And I Am Going To Get Slammed For.

Oh yes. Well, the story is all over the place. In theory, this would be a good comic to intro someone to Batman. Great art, a Bat-villain a chapter. But Loeb kind of makes the mistake of A) going too deep into Bat-continuity, a mistake you could say Morrison also made in his most recent run. But I digress. B) Loeb simply isn’t the greatest writer anymore. I used to like him on Marvel’s Colour line (Spider-Man: Blue, Daredevil: Yellow, etc. This might be due to Tim Sale though) and his Superman For All Seasons. But lately, and maybe starting with Hush, he hasn’t been on top of his game, sadly.

So in short, great art. Ok story. Sadly, just a tad too inaccessible for the true Batman newbie.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments.

Bat-Comics You Should Own

Youri Zoutman — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:23:39 +0000

But I’m Not Sure You Will Agree Number 1.

Broken City by Azzarello and Risso.

So, a woman gets murdered and Batsy is going to solve it. But it’s mostly a tale about Batman failing and as such I can see people hating it. Also, it meant 100 Bullets wasn’t coming out for a little while.

Anyway, it is fun, and Risso’s art is great. Bruce Wayne grills a steak. Go tell in the comments how wrong or right I am.

Bat-Comics You Should Own

Youri Zoutman — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:09:33 +0000

But not according to me. No, I want to know which Batman comics you consider must haves. So, either leave a comment here or at my Twitter.

Bat-Comics You Should Own

Youri Zoutman — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:34:19 +0000

I’m not entirely convinced you have to own it, through. I mean, yes, it’s co-written by JH Williams III and Dan Curtis. And yes, the late and amazingly great Seth Fisher illustrated it, but did we need another look at Batman’s early days? Or Mr. Freeze’s origin?

That said, it is pretty cool, and while Seth Fisher’s art doesn’t reach the craziness it later did, it’s still solid.