Batman VS Superman: We have a Winner...

And it is na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na BATMAAAN! BATMAAAAAAN! BATMAAAAAAAAAN!

With an absolute squeaker of 47 to 46 this was proof that your vote really does count.  We also had a write in vote of Miley Cyrus, so that could be the spoiler of the election.  Maybe now people will finally lay off Ralph Nader!  

When contacted Batman had this to say:
 
"I want you to remember, Clark…in all the years to come…in your most private moments…I want you to remember…my hand…at your throat…I want…you to remember…the one man who beat you." 

Well, he said it in Frank Miller's the Dark Knight Returns anyways. (YP FIC MILLER)

Superman on losing had this to say:

" I don't know what I believe anymore. Everything used to be so clear. Truth. Justice. The American Way. But now? Now, I'm not sure about anything." 

Okay, he said that in J. Michael Straczynski's Superman:Grounded (YP FIC STRACZY).In my defense, these guys are very hard to get locked down for an interview.

We'd like to thank all out voters and give our congratulations to Batman and all his bat-fans!

Batman VS Superman: Batman: Year One by Frank Miller art by David Mazzuchelli YP FIC MILLER

In celebration of our Batman VS Superman election, I'll be reviewing MY favorite Superman and Batman books Of All Time! I'll try not to reveal any Bat-Bias or Super-Subjectiveness that could unduly influence this election. 

One night changed Bruce Wayne's life forever. A random act of violence took away his parents and gave him something new: a mission.  Now, after year of training his body and mind he is ready to com home.  He is ready to take back Gotham.  A city of crime, sin, and corruption at the highest levels.  Can one man save a city? No, but maybe a bat can.

This one book, even more than Miller's also excellent the Dark Knight Returns, changed the course of Batman forever.  It is as if Miller completely rewrote his DNA and brought Batman in all his dark glory into the real world. This is a young and inexperienced Bruce Wayne, that barely survives his first disastrous outings. It allows the reader to see the Batman form over time and have a real understanding and investment in what makes Bruce into Batman. In starting Batman over from scratch, Miler gets to the core of what makes Batman so fascinating: an obsessive drive to make sure that no one else has to watch their loved ones die by crime and a fanatical devotion to a code of honor.  

Miller also greatly enlarges the importance of characters that were underutilized at the time, like Catwoman and Jim Gordon. Placing a young and principled Jim Gordon on the incredibly corrupt Gotham police force made Gordon into a whole new character as vital to the Batman story as any character.  

Mazzuchelli's art is perfect for the book.  He has Batman as a menacing figure using shadows and his cape to look larger than life, but gives Bruce the realistic body of a superb athlete.  This isn't the highly muscled Batman that is seen in most comics and this makes the Batman even more impressive, because he seems so much more human.  The reality makes the idea of a man taking on crime single handed all the more impressive.

Miller is able to make Batman's war with the mob that owns the city as compelling as any Two-Face or Joker story ever written.  If you are a fan of the Christopher Nolan Batman films, then you owe a debt of thanks to Year One.  This is a perfect book for both those that are already batty for Batman or total Bat-beginners.

You can find Batman: Year One in our catalog here.

Get your Vote On! Batman VS Superman

This upcoming Tuesday is a Not-So-Super-Tuesday.  Without any large national or state level elections many people are desperate for the fun of voting with nothing to really vote on!  Not to mention our poor suffering teenagers that don't even get to Rock the Voting!  Well fret not voters! We have something of SUPREME consequence that requires your vote!  Batman VS Superman!  Who is better? Who is cooler? Who do you personally prefer? Which would when in a fight or a game of tic-tac-toe?  Answer all these any any other possible permutations when you vote for the cape of your choice!  

Simply turn in a bat-ballot or super-ballot between now and November 15th to make your voice heard.  While you're there pick up one of many bat books or super books to help you make up your mind!

The winner will reign as THE favorite Superhero of Moore Memorial Public Library for whatever superhero terms limits are (We aren't really sure.  We are on pretty shaky constitutional grounds here.).

Batman: Death Mask by Yoshinori Natsume YP FIC NATSUME

Is Batman really Bruce Wayne? Or is Bruce Wayne a mask the Batman wears for the public? There's a demon from Japan in Gotham stealing faces and taunting the Dark Knight; a demon straight from Bruce Wayne's time training in Japan before he was Batman.  He'll have to find the answer to who Batman is and face his own dark shadow to stop this deadly new threat.

How can you not love BatManga? It's got Batman and Manga! That's chocolate and peanut butter levels of greater than the sum of its parts! This definitely isn't the best or most original Batman story or the best manga, BUT it is a fun and stylish Batman adventure.  I love the face stealing baddie best of all.  He's a super cool masked assasin with the same silhouette as Batman, but in a traditional Japanese style.  It works really well for the  book, because he is super creepy and a great visual counterpoint to Batman.  The visuals are by far the strongest selling point of the book, as Batman really pops in a manga style.  i also like how the book kept me guessing about whether the villain is REALLY a demon or if there is some sort of scientific explanation behind the mystery.  They have several fun twists with this and I love it when Batman stories are also mysteries.  The only real down sides are that these ideas have been looked at before in loads of other Batman comics and that the dialogue is a little wooden.  I think the language barrier probalby explains the latter, and it's never so bad that it's unreadable.  As for the story covering old ground, many readers won't have read quite as many Batstories as I have and the book will feel fresher to them.  Also, the great visuals more than carry the book to being a can't miss Batbook.  It's Batastic! Batrific! Batstanding! Okay, that's probably enough bats for...ever.  So if you like Batman or manga, definitely give this one a read.  If you like Batman and Manga then you are pretty much legally obligated to love it!  

You can find Batman: Death Mask in our catalog here.

Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder Art by Francesco Francavilla and Jock

Dick Grayson has had a pretty odd career path.  Orphaned as a child, taken in by a masked vigilante to run around in bright red tights and green chain mail underwear as Robin, striking out on his own as a teenager to become Nightwing, and finally becoming The Batman after Bruce Wayne was sent back in time.  Now Bruce is back, but is off trotting the globe making Batman a franchise operation, so Gotham and all its depravity is under Dick’s protection.  Now a very unwelcome face from the past comes back and wherever he goes people die horribly.  Is Commissioner Gordon’s son really a monster or is someone else the killer.  Dick has to solve the case before the killer strikes again…and again…and again.

Scott Snyder really puts the Dark into the Dark Knight.  Did I say ‘Dark’?  I meant gruesomely, nihilistically, bleak!  But in a weird creepy way it truly works.  It sometimes feels like Saw meets Batman and people looking for happy endings and ‘fun’ may be put off by such a grim Batman yarn.  However, the art is great, the mystery and characterization are top notch, and Dick Grayson makes a great Batman.  All in all, it’s a good read for Batman fans and not a terrible place to start for people wanting to see what’s new with the World’s Greatest Detective.

Check out The Black Mirror in our catalog here.

Justice by Jim Krueger Art by Alex Ross and Doug Braithwaite YP FIC KRUEGER

The bad guys have won.  In one fell swoop the world’s most powerful heroes, the Justice League has been picked apart by their most powerful enemies and led by the super-computer Braniac.  He’s used all the forces of evil in the DC universe in a all out attack to rule the world.  Now the fractured and beaten League has to regroup, fight their own brainwashed friends and family, and stop the most dangerous plot they have ever faced.

This is a near perfect super hero comic.  It has loads of action, suspense, wall to wall superheroes and villains and the gorgeous painted art of Alex Ross.  Alex Ross’s lifelike superhero comics always look beautiful, but I’ve found that his action scenes are usually kind of stiff and lifeless.  However, Justice has brilliant action scenes, because they turned the penciling over to Doug Braithwaite.  Together, they have drawn some of the best super hero art I have ever seen.  This book starts with the heroes being picked off one by one and remaining the underdogs for the rest of the adventure.  This keeps things exciting and fresh and the suspense high.   

Best yet, the book is completely understandable to comics laypeople.  It is FILLED with characters that hardcore DC fans will go gaga over, but they are used in a way that doesn’t alienate readers that don’t know the entire history of the DC universe.  This is especially useful, because the book is set in the 70s and while that makes for some pretty awesome fashions, most people don’t have an encyclopedic memory of the 1970s DC canon.  You won’t learn great truths, there isn’t any soul searching or angst, none of the heroes or villains are metaphors for War it’s just a great good vs. evil tale!

Batman & Robin: Batman & Robin Must Die! By Grant Morrison Art by Frazier Irving and David Finch YP FIC MORRISON

The Joker has returned to Gotham and this time he’s here to save the day.  Seriously.  He’s decide to use Batman and Robin (The Original Robin and Damien Wayne son of The One True Batman respectively) to fight the Black Glove and stop him from destroying Gotham.  Who will get the last laugh?

This is the conclusion (maybe) to the loooong running Black Glove storyline that features master criminal/alien-demon possessed/Thomas Wayne impersonating/Satan figure The Black Mask.  The final confrontation between and army of criminals, Batman & Robin, The Joker, and the One True Batman (FINALLY BACK!) is truly stellar.  Frazer Irving has an art style that is super detailed and mixes realism and stylism wonderfully.  Grnat Morrison is always at his demented best with Batman and I love his take on Damien Wayne as Robin, the former Robin as Batman, and the One True Batman’s return.  This is a fitting climax to a strange and brilliant ride.  As a bonus it has a prelude to the awesome Batman Incorporated.  This is a must read for Batman fans but I’d start with our earlier collections if you want to enjoy this volume.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne by Grant Morrison art by various artists YP FIC MORRISON

Bruce Wayne (the ORIGINAL BATMAN duh!) is coming back…THROUGH TIME!!! But if our Batastic hero makes it through the various time jaunts to the present he will destroy the Earth! For when Darkseid hit Batman with the omega effect (in Final Crisis YP FIC MORRISON), the Bat was charged with a sort of omega energy that will destroy all time if he ever returns to the present. One problem: NOTHING STOPS BATMAN!!! So as Bruce travels through time one of humanities greatest heroes is soon to become the universes greatest villain! And that is if and only if he survives cavepeople, witch hunters and ancient evils from beyond time and space, pirates (even Blackbeard!), cowboys, gangsters that want to frame his dead father for killing his mother, and assorted superhero ‘friends’ trying to kill him to save the universe!

Grant Morrison delivers again in another inventive and wacky Batman story that rewrites the mythos of the Bat and the entire Wayne family. Morrison has had an epic (and sometimes overly complicated) story that rewrites Batman’s entire past, kills him, sends him through time, and resurrects him. This is a great and weird piece in his bizzaro puzzle. The art changes with each time period but is excellent throughout. The work remains tense, because while you never really buy Batman would die from some measly pirates or pilgrims, you will wonder how he can defeat the Darkseid Curse. I do recommend starting with early Morrison Batman tales, but this book can be thoroughly enjoyed by comic book and Batman fans without knowing the full back story.

Batman Life After Death by Tony S. Daniel YP FIC DANIEL

Richard Grayson may have his greatest challenge filling the shoes of Batman when the nefarious supercriminal Black Mask returns to take over Gotham. With him are an evil group of Mad Scientists called the Ministry of Science and a resurrected Reaper. If that wasn’t enough there is a new turf war as the crime family Bruce Wayne wiped out years ago the Falcones returns to take Gotham back for the mob. Gotham will die if the Robin turned Nightwing turned Batman can’t live up to the title of World’s Greatest Detective and solve one of the biggest mysteries of Batman’s career!

This is a great action packed batman story that show’s off the detective side of Batman. There are loads of cameos and villains without it seeming to confusing or crowded. Daniel’s art as always is great at moving action and telling a story, but he never breaks new ground with his style. But I guess not everyone has to! This will be most enjoyed by readers that have been following the Batman comics run, but new fans will like it too if they are into superheroics. As an added bonus there is a really cool two part Riddler story after the main story.

Gotham City Sirens: Union by Paul Dini art by Guillem March YP FIC DINI

While the Bat’s away the lovely and lethal women of Gotham will play. Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn team up to try and use their powers to make money (mostly) legally. But a murderous Batman imposter and a group of deranged ex-sidekicks are all out to end this new partnership as soon as it’s begun…permanently…with DEATH!

This is a good super hero comic, but kind of seems a little silly and old hat when compared to the very super awesome Batwoman: Elegy (YP FIC RUCKA) that I recently reviewed. Catwoman is a strong and morally ambiguous leader, Poison Ivy is a human hating plant lover, and Harley Quinn is the Joker’s psychotic on again/off again girlfriend. The three femme fatales are really strong characters, but spreading the story among three leads makes for less interesting reading than Batwoman or the Rucka penned Catwoman stories. But taken on its own Sirens is a really clever and entertaining super-villain/hero romp with really good art (but not as good as in Batwoman). This is a good read if you’re jonesing for new comics and Batwoman: Elegy is already checked out.