Bat-Poop Crazy

Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man June 18, 2016 at 9:06pm

My first is Damian: Son of Batman by Andy Kubert from 2013-2014.

This book was thrown up all over while it was coming out. I decided to check it out for myself (okay, I got it from the library!). The story is indeed pretty nuts.

SPOILER WARNING!

First off, we start following a Damian Wayne as a young adult. Now, this came after Damian's "death" in the pages of Batman, Inc., so at least we knew we were dealing with a Damian that was not in canon. He is apathetic toward Batman and more brutal than ever. He witnesses Batman's death early on in the series. This Batman turns out to be Dick Grayson, however. Bruce Wayne is still alive, and he comes after Damian in a rage.

The first crazy flag was when they are battling, and Damian pulls the trigger on a grappling hook gun (Watchmen?) that severely injures Bruce. He is remorseful and promises to end the bad-guys in Gotham for good. He does so by killing off all the villains--Killer Croc, Penguin, etc. start dropping like flies.

He fights many crazy animal-human hybrids (a shark, a gorilla, and such). He fights a guy who is some new Joker (spoiler--the old one pops up at the end, with the hopes/expectations of a sequel!).

Oh, and I forgot one other part. Alfred dies, and--I swear I'm not making this up--his consciousness is transferred into the body of the Batcave's cat. Alfred-Cat begins talking to and advising Damian just as he did when he was Alfred-Man.

While reading this, I would laugh out loud. Especially that random cat version of Alfred.

I was stricken by how stunning Andy Kubert's art was, though. It was gorgeous. I daresay this was the best work I have ever seen out of him.

Has anyone else read this?

Detective 445 June 18, 2016 at 9:11pm

I didn't even know it existed. Sounds like something Neal Adams would love.

Randy Jackson June 18, 2016 at 10:06pm

I actually liked The Dark Knight Strikes Again albeit in a similar vein to how I enjoyed Titus Andronics. Taken as a tragedy, Shakespeare's play doesn't really work. Taken as an over the top farce, it does (I would love to see a dubbed kung-fu version one of these days). To me, DKSA works best as a satire, and read in that way, I think it works well. .

Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man June 18, 2016 at 10:20pm

My thoughts exactly. Which is why I started this thread!

Randy Jackson said:

I actually liked The Dark Knight Strikes Again albeit in a similar vein to how I enjoyed Titus Andronics. Taken as a tragedy, Shakespeare's play doesn't really work. Taken as an over the top farce, it does (I would love to see a dubbed kung-fu version one of these days). To me, DKSA works best as a satire, and read in that way, I think it works well. .

Detective 445 June 18, 2016 at 11:53pm

I just went and looked at my copy of Robin 3000 #1. Wow! It really fits the title of this thread to a T. I guess I had blocked it out because I had no memory of it except that it was drawn by P Craig Russell, which is probably what prompted me to buy it in the first place.

As for wacky Batman stories that work for me, I guess I have a soft spot for most of the Bob Haney Brave and the Bold stories.

Randy Jackson June 19, 2016 at 12:27am

I have to concur. Haney's work was lunacy, but it was also fun.

Detective 445 said:

As for wacky Batman stories that work for me, I guess I have a soft spot for most of the Bob Haney Brave and the Bold stories.

Captain Comics June 19, 2016 at 2:53pm

There was one B&B story where Batman was able to spot Wonder Woman's invisible plane because he could see the fuel. That makes my brain hurt.

Ronald Morgan June 20, 2016 at 12:40am

That's like the Invisible Man saying he had to hide after eating until his food digested because people would see it floating around in his stomach.

Ronald Morgan June 20, 2016 at 12:46am

Jackson Bostwick did a Z budget futuristic film of Julius Caesar as a teenaged girl on a flying skateboard. When he got divorced he and his wife fought over everything so the movie has never been released. I've always wanted to see it since my sister has a small part flirting with Brutus. Then she randomly transforms into a male kickboxer who beats everybody up as he rushes for the door. (The guy's manager insisted they put his part in the picture immediately because he had to be somewhere else the next day, and Bostwick shot all of the scenes in order so my sister's part was cut short to get in the kickboxer before he left.)

Randy Jackson said:

I actually liked The Dark Knight Strikes Again albeit in a similar vein to how I enjoyed Titus Andronics. Taken as a tragedy, Shakespeare's play doesn't really work. Taken as an over the top farce, it does (I would love to see a dubbed kung-fu version one of these days). To me, DKSA works best as a satire, and read in that way, I think it works well. .

Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man June 24, 2016 at 1:50pm

Today I read I, Joker by Bob Hall.

This was a pretty solid concept: A future Gotham where everything is screwy ("dystopian"!). Batman is revered as a god. In fact, the public knows him as the almighty Bruce. Gordon is a religious leader in this Bruce church/theocracy.

This version of the Joker (and really, he is a Joker, not the Joker) understands his role quite clearly. He is supposed to be the bad guy and get killed by Batman. In the end, he has to become Batman in order to stop Batman. It was fun to see Joker play the part of protagonist, even hero, for this story.

This seemed like it could have been longer. It reminded me a lot of The Running Man, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the movie was inspiration for the book.

Bob Hall is best known (to me, anyway) as the writer of Shadowman for Valiant back in the 1990s. I always thought he was a natural fit for Batman and am surprised he didn't do more with the character.

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Bat-Poop Crazy

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