Since I’m getting a BIG check next week, due to a moron in our company screwing up paychecks meaning I haven’t gotten one in the last three weeks, after I pay some debts off I’m going on a comic shopping craze for Batman but need help locating certain things.
I’m a big fan of the O’Neil and Neal Adams run of Batman, is their work collected in any TPB’s? I’m sure their might be the big black and white one’s, but I’d prefer color.
I would also like the Brave and the Bold comics, preferably with the Neal Adams art. I know this has the B&W books, but again I’d prefer color.
Other than that I’m picking up Batman & Son, along with Astonishing Vol.4
Batman: The Long Halloween was awesome, whoever has hated Loeb for the crap he’s been doing recently will find more comfort with his older works, specially from DC.
I am still confused on one thing tho
Who
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exactly was Holiday? Was it the Dents, or was it the Dents AND Alberto?
Hey I remember a while back Wizard said something about a Countdown “dream” versus battle. In the article they said that it was legit and even provided a picture. Does anybody know if this really happened?
I know that the Batman In The Seventies TPB has a bunch of stories from O’Neill and Adams. Other than that, the only other books I can think of are the hardcovers collecting Neal Adams’ Batman work.
I don’t know if there are any Brave and the Bold reprints in color. I only know of those Showcase Presents volumes.
Jeph Loeb
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I don’t think Jeph Loeb knows who did it. He probably wrote himself into a corner and decided to end with an “ambiguous” ending so that we would end up being confused, and hopefully (in his mind) end up debating the mystery for all eternity, as a testament to Loeb’s everlasting genius as a writer.
Seriously, I’m scared to re-read those old Loeb/Sale comics I used to love. I know they won’t live up to my memories.
That actually did happen in the Countdown: Arena miniseries.
It sucked ass, though. I wouldn’t recommend wasting the bandwidth even to download it.
You might be right. That said, the ambiguity didn’t bother me that much. Not every story has to clean up nice in the end, and the loose ends–intentional or not–are food for thought.
I think the one thing about the Long Halloween that drives me up the wall is the blatant copping of mob movie cliches and dialogue, which is utterly constant throughout the book. It was cool at first until I realized that they didn’t stop, weren’t going to stop, and were pretty much relied upon completely by Loeb in order to generate the kind of atmosphere he either wasn’t confident enough or outright unable to create himself.
Alright I ended up getting some comics this week, due to a friends kindness, at least until I get paid lol.
Among my stack was a few issues of the Arkham Asylum mini-series. I got Scarecrow and Two-Face, was hoping a Riddler one would be made as well.
STUFF!
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The Scarecrow issue wasn’t bad, followed a standard movie horror plot and added some preaching from Scarecrow. I was more surprised to finally see Scarecrow actually killing people, most times he just gases and farts around until Batman kicks his ass.
Two-Face one actually bothered the hell out of me, the way he was written was done poorly. I never took Two-Face for a comedian, or snarky in anyway, just dead serious and scary. He was cracking stupid jokes and trying to prove an all knowing point that played a little too much on the Movie Harvey’s obsession with chance. The fact that Two-Face’s scars were diminished by a blond copycat doesn’t help matters.
The art was good though on both, I enjoyed the different approaches. [/details]
I’m in the minority of being a Loeb/Sale fan, and Long Halloween is my favorite story. I’m biased since Two-Face is my favorite villain, but I also like film noir mysteries, no matter how crappy some people believe it was. I’m also in the camp of people who think it’s like a “Choose your own adventure” book for the purposes of that question.
Thanks for that Zephy, Neal Adams has the most dynamic approach to Batman I have ever seen and really enjoy the collaboration with O’Neill in the few stories I’ve read, just want to read more and get some classic bat stories.
I’m not a comic book fan by any means (I just wait for TPBs to come out). In any case, I just read All-Star Batman and Robin. And is it me, or does anyone else think that it’s kinda. . .well, crappy?
I mean, Jim Lee is great–liked his WildCats stuff from the 90’s (although personally, I thought Hush was crap). And Frank Miller is obviously amazing because of Year One/DKR. But man. . .having Batman talk like a 7th-grade punk wannabe? Making him blatantly sadistic and borderline insane, instead of being tortured like in DKR? It was. . .weird.
Granted, some elements of ASBR were good. Having Batman paint an entire room yellow and offer Green Lantern lemonade was hilarious. But everything else. . .not so much.
Also, I just discovered Michael Turner’s artwork. Gotta say, his rendition of Batman is absolutely perfect. I might pick up his work on Superman/Batman later on.
The ambiguity doesn’t bother me, either. I never even gave it much thought until someone in the original Comic Book Thread (probably P. Gabby) mocked it. I still don’t mind the ambiguity in terms of enjoying the ending, but what does make me doubt myself is whether Jeph Loeb actually knew what he was doing.
That’s why I’m scared to go back and reread it. I don’t think I’ve read it since, like, '03 or '04. I pull it off my shelf every so often just to admire the amazing artwork, but the scripting is definitely ham-fisted. (LOL, I used a goody phrase!! Yay me!) The actual writing definitely feels like a poor knock-off of actual crime noir writing, though. It’s the art that carries the book’s tone. Also, the mystery aspect of the plot isn’t as well-conceived as a story written by an experienced crime writer. The “multiple choice ending” kind of feels like a cheat, and the only reason I can overlook it is because I didn’t think of The Long Halloween as a hard-boiled crime story. I looked at it as a story about Batman beating up mobsters and his various rogues.
The fact that Loeb’s gone on to write crappy “mysteries” like Hush just makes me feel that if I reread The Long Halloween, I will only be able to see all the weaknesses of the writing. I liked Catwoman: When in Rome when it first came out, but when I reread it last year, I felt embarrassed for myself and ended up selling it. Whatever, though, I’ll probably end up keeping The Long Halloween just out of sentimental reasons.
But Jeph Loeb is still a horribly overrated writer, and Tim Sale is the true genius behind anything good in The Long Halloween and Dark Victory.
I, Zephyranthes, personally grant Sano permission to do his job and tell you how to make spoiler tags. Sano, take it away, bub.
Like I said a couple paragraphs ago, I have a tough time accepting The Long Halloween as a genuine noir. The art certainly establishes a noirish tone, but as goody said, Loeb’s writing is full of generic gangster movie cliches. And it doesn’t even feel like a loving homage to the genre; it just feels like Loeb thinks that’s how the writing is supposed to sound in a crime story. HAM-FISTED, I tell you, HAM-FISTED!!!1 The plot’s great, but it’s the dialogue and narrative captions which are the biggest weaknesses of The Long Halloween.
I swear, twenty years from now we’re gonna look back on Loeb’s writing and it’ll be exactly like how we look at Claremont’s writing today.
I don’t think ASSBAR is as bad as everyone says it is. It would just be so much better if someone else drew it. Someone with a better sense of humor in his artwork. Someone like Frank Miller.
Are_you__Okay click edit on your post and see how I typed out the spoiler tag for future reference. It’s like this - [ s p o i l e r = The title of what you are spoiling ] The actual spoiler [ / s p o i l e r ]
All together it looks like this -
Bla bla bla
Spoiler
Bla bla bla
You can just quote this post or any post that has used a spoiler tag too to see how you type it out.
It’s funny but the other day a kid walked into the Gamestop near me and asked if there was a new Batman video game coming out. I’m guessing he just saw The Dark Knight or something. The guy in the store told him about Lego Batman and the kid said “Lego Batman? That’s LAME!”
I know I’ll be getting Lego Batman for certain. The Lego games I’ve played have all been fun, I think it’s going to rock in a ‘make you feel 10 years old’ kind of way.
It is wild that WB didn’t have a Dark Knight video game to coincide with the movie but video games based on movies tend to be bad IMHO. It’s probably for the best.
I’m hoping the Arkham Asylum game turns out well. Paul Dini’s a nice start.
Yeah Lego Batman is one of my few pre-orders for the year, next to Left 4 Dead and Dead Space. Xbox Live co-op? Play as the villains? Nightwing is as badass as ever? Awesome.
I really hope this game is good, Batman is always stuck in a rut when it’s a video game. I will be keeping an eye on this one, and will spill any info I get in my next month’s Game Informer.
Just read the latest issue of Batman. I think its starting to come together?
I’m probably wrong
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So, Batman went crazy, but he planned on it… I guess in the cave (during 52), when he isolated himself for 39 days or whenever, he developed another persona, the Batman of Zur-en-arrh. It was a failsafe for if he did go crazy: “I’m what’s left when you take Bruce out of the equation”. So, in short, he’s crazy, but he knows what’s happening. Am I totally off base?[/details]
Yep i think that what it is a failsafe a prep-time trick incase something goes wrong mentaly. But i dont think it has to do anything with the 52 cave isolation but more of the old space medicene arc. If he is crazy or not, i got no idea. but i also want to know if the black glove knew he will become ZEA-Batman if it was all part of the plan
I borrowed the Detective Comics “Heart of Hush” run of issues from a buddy. That was actually a pretty nice story. Dini actually takes a Loeb creation and tries to make him shine, and does as admirable a job as anyone could possibly expect. And it seems like Dini is the first guy who actually writes Catwoman with some reverence to what the Bru established and accomplished with her.
