boredsilly

But then 30 years later, we got BTAS which took Bats to a whole new level, and that was an awesome thing.

ytrez

I loved Aparo, but hated the inking of Mike DeCarlo. I was also NOT a fan of Starlin's work on Batman. I lost interest somewhere around the Bane, Breaking the Bat storyline. I own the issues but never read them. Recently though I picked up a trade (Face the Face, I think it was) that I thought was pretty good. Batman really needs a return to glory.

JasonF

Fair enough, but the influence of the TV show lasted what -- 3 years? 4? We've had 20 years of sociopath Batman and I'm sick of it.

madcougar

That's kind of a funny thing to say. Having read Batman books for more than 20 years, I sometimes wonder if there's anything left to "say" about Batman. His parents were murdered, he's a bit nuts, he has issues with his Robins, Batman is the real guy and not Bruce Wayne, yadda, yadda, yaddda.

Don't get me wrong. There are still great Batman stories being told, but the character as a whole for me has grown stale. And this is from someone who will quickly admit that Batman is his favorite superhero ever.

madcougar

Is the big reveal you're talking about

The only reason I ask is because these collections are coming out almost similtaneously with the monthly comic book! That issue just came out about four weeks ago.

Superboy

I like it, because I accept it as part of Batman's history. It's nice when comic characters have diverse histories

Giantrobo

Ok, fair enough. I liked that take on Batman as well.

Giantrobo

It lasted a good deal longer than that. I remember back in '89-'90 when people were bitching about how Tim Burton's BATMAN movie shoulda been "fun and campy like the 60's show". Well I guess they eventually got what they wanted....


I hear you man and please understand that I'm not putting down your thoughts on the matter. I guess I wonder what you want them to do with him? Over the last 2 years they've been trying to make Bruce/Bats less of a loner ass and more of a team player with his taking the year off and working on his relationship with Tim, Dick, and others. I'm not crazy about this, but I can see where fans like you and others need to have this sort of rebirthing of sorts to keep things fresh.

Personally, I like Batman this way but I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I'm an "on and off" comic fan. I take long stretches off so it helps to keep the characters from getting stale to me.

Giantrobo

That's fine. But just like some hate Psyho Bats, others hate Gooffball smiley Bats.

taffer

...and hopefully everyone hates the Goddamn Batman. That is seriously the only comic I have ever put through a paper shredder. I will never read that series again.

Giantrobo

Hope in one hand....

< Enjoys the Series. It's over the top fun.

JasonF

People who's only exposure to Batman was via Adam West wanted the movie to be campy. Meanwhile, the comic hadn't been campy since the late 1960s.

I want the Batman of "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" and "Strange Apparitions" and "The Batman Nobody Knows" and "Daughter of the Demon." The Batman written by David V. Reed and Denny O'Neill and drawn by Neal Adams and Irv Novick.

To me, those stories seem to strike the right balance between the happy-go-lucky hero of the fifties and sixties and the brooding maniac of the late 80s and 90s. It's a Batman that's closer to the Timm/Dini version than any other (which is why I always enjoyed the Batman comics based on the animated series).

In fairness, they've been moving back in that direction over the last few years.

taffer

True. What percent of the population reads comic books? 0.01%? For the vast majority of the people, their only knowledge of Batman prior to Batman '89 came from the Adam West show. So to them, Batman is camp.

Giantrobo

Thus making point that the 60's show didn't help.

JasonF

Help what? I don't care what J. Random Passerby thinks when you say "Batman." I care what I get to read about when I pick an issue up off the stand.

By the way, I got the Batman & Son hardcover in the mail, and I must say Grant Morrison's Batman is much, much closer to the Batman I enjoy. It still seems a little off, but it's very much in the right ballpark. I'm also reading Detective Comics, and that stuff is good too. It's good to see a Batman who is fit to be around other people.

Giantrobo

Yeah, we all do and I don't want your selfish need to "balance" Bats to fuck up my Psycho Batman!!! Now suck it!!!!

I'm Goddamn Giantrobo!!!


Well I'm glad something Bat-related finally makes you happy.

Gamblor187

Can someone recommend a good place to start Matt Wagner's Grendel? I'm not too familiar with the character having only read the Batman/Grendel crossovers several years ago and the recent preview of the new Grendel series.
I see that an inexpensive Grendel Archives hardcover was recently released, collecting the first couple issues. Though I usually like to start a series at the very beginning, I'd hate to be turned off of it if the early issues aren't a good representative of the series' quality.

And I hope all you Bat-fans picked up the Wagner's Batman & the Monster Men and Batman and the Mad Monk. NOBODY does Batman better than Wagner!

Giantrobo

I remember reading the one where Grendel was fighting the Crazy kabuki/Samurai and that was my first intro to the character. I always thought Grendel was cool.

ytrez

Just started:

boredsilly

Lucky you! Allstar Superman is incredible.

And what exactly would be a return to glory for Batman? I kind of agree that his character can be stale, and he's my favorite too. In fact I don't tend to read many Batman comics because they tend to be a little boring, but I love Batman in other books interacting with other heroes. My favorite Batman (in comics) is when he was the anti-social jerk in the JLA.

Josh-da-man

The Grendel Archive that was recently released isn't really the best introduction to the character. It contains Wagner's first attempt at the character, which only lasted three issues and ended on a cliffhanger. The storyline was eventually reworked into "Devil by the Deed."

Unfortunately, Dark Horse Comics (who currently have the Grendel rights) have done a piss-poor job of presenting the pre-existing material.

The proper reading order for the Grendel saga is as follows:

Grendel "Devil by the Deed" Graphic Novel. [Originally appeared as a back-up in Wagner's Mage: Hero Discovered series.]

Grendel #1-40 [Originally published by Comico. Most of it has been reprinted by Dark Horse in both singles and TPBs, though the DH run is rather fragmented and incomplete.]

Grendel: War Child #1-10 [Ten issue miniseries, reprinted as a TPB. This is, more or less, Grendel #41-50. Grendel #41 was solicited by Comico, who went out of business before it saw print. Dark Horse then picked up the rights and presented what was to be the #41-50 arc as a miniseries.]

There are also numerous spin-offs, such as "Black, White, and Red," "Devil Child," "Silverback," "Grendel vs Batman," "Devil Quest," and various "Grendel Tales" miniseries, but the main thrust of the Grendel saga is shown above. That should be read first, before any of the other spin-offs.

bluetoast

Picked up the latest Y...holy **** man, that's a shocker.

DataZak

Just finished reading Batman and Son hardcover. So...erm, Batman #666. What was that all about? The Apocalypse is cancelled? Okay, thanks Damian. It felt as if editorial told Grant Morrison to write a satan story for issue 666 and he came up with that over the weekend or something.

I liked the rest of the book, though.

Superboy

Yeah, tell me about it. I've read that the next issue is supposed to have an even bigger shocker.

Chew

Regarding Y: I subscribe to several TiVoCasts, one of which is "The Stack". They said they were going to spoil Y, so I FF through that part because I had not read it as yet. Naturally, they throw up the single most important panel of the entire issue on the screen thereby spoiling it anyway.