Batman, Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader Comic Book Review
Death of Batman - Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader - DC Heroes And Villains Collection Review - Batman Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader is a 2009 Batman story. The story was published in two parts in the final issues of Detective Comics and Batman Comics. It was written by Neil Gaiman and pencilled by Andy Kubert and inked by Scott Williams. The blurb on the book reads from the fertile imaginations of Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore, come four Bat Man stories that delve deep into the Mythos of the Dark Knight. From the award-winning, elegiac ‘Whatever happened to the caped crusader?’ to the warped but poignant ‘Mortal Clay’, Gaiman, Moore, and their artistic collaborators – among them Andy Kubert, Siomon Bisley, and Mark Buckingham – explore themes as diverse as life, death, dreams, identity, and obsession. The first story in the collection is whatever happened to the caped crusader which was first printed in Batman issue 686 and Detective Comics issue 853. Watch this video to see our review of Batman Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader And Other Batman Tales from The DC Heroes And Villains Collection from Hachette Partworks Ltd.
Whatever happened to the caped crusader? And other Batman Tales
The blurb on the book reads from the fertile imaginations of Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore, come four Batman stories that delve deep into the Mythos of the Dark Knight. From the award-winning, elegiac ‘Whatever happened to the caped crusader?’ to the warped but poignant ‘Mortal Clay’, Gaiman, Moore, and their artistic collaborators – among them Andy Kubert, Siomon Bisley, and Mark Buckingham – explore themes as diverse as life, death, dreams, identity, and obsession.
The first story in the collection is whatever happened to the caped crusader which was first printed in Batman issue 686 and Detective Comics issue 853.
This is an iconic, yet very bizarre tale about the death of Batman. At Batman’s wake, several people give eulogies about the life of Batman. Some of these eulogies are very different from what we know about Batman so, throughout this story, you are always left asking what is going on. It would ruin the story if I went into too much detail but the ending is very sad but also hopeful. Various characters and members of Batman's rogue's gallery, make appearances in this story.
The second story is called a Black and White world which was first printed in black and white issue 2. This is a very short story that takes a look at an alternate reality where both Batman and the Joker are actors on a sitcom that get along with each other, perform their scenes and then go back to normal life. This is another bizarre take on Batman but it makes it even more interesting.
The third story is Pavane which first appeared in Secret Origins Issue 36, which is a story about Poison Ivy where she divulges information about her past while also attempting to use her abilities to seduce a worker at Arkham Asylum.
The next bunch of stories had first been printed in the secret origins special. They cover more origins of the Penguin as he hunts down an old rival, The Riddler which focuses on him being interviewed about his time as a super-villain. Then there is a story about a criminal that Harvey Dent put away coming back for revenge and threatening his wife which leads to him feeling the wrath of Two-Face. The collection ends with mortal clay which was originally published in Batman Annual 11 which looks at a very unhinged Clay face who has taken refuge in a mall.
There is a variety of stories in this collection and each deals with emotions and personality traits. We see Alfred dealing with guilt over the death of Batman and trying to take the blame for himself. Two-Face has to deal with his dual personality and decide whether he lets his wife deal with the repercussions of his decisions and then we have an in-depth look at psychosis, paranoia, and jealousy in Clayface’s story.
One thing that is apparent when reading this Batman collection, is the lack of Batman. He is barely in this collection. These stories tend to focus on other people's perspectives of Batman or tell stories that don’t mention Batman at all. This is perfectly fine in Batman stories and some great stories have been told this way, but when they are all bundled together like this, it leads to very little Batman.
It is undeniable, when reading these stories, that these stories genuinely add a lot of depth to some of these characters. However, I personally found some of these stories to be average at best. Whatever happened to the caped crusader? Is, by far, the best story in this collection. I’m not saying that the other stories are bad, but I personally found myself wanting the stories to end much quicker, with the exception of Mortal Clay which did make reading to the end of the book worth it.
Overall, I found this a very mediocre book and was very surprised to find that this was the first instalment of the DC Heroes & Villains collection. I expected them to hook me in a little more than they did. I would recommend that the most die-hard of fans read this as you will get some enjoyment from it, however, I would not recommend any first-time readers of Batman to dip into this book as it could give you the wrong impression of what to expect from Batman storylines.
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Chapters for Death of Batman - Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader - DC Heroes And Villains Collection Review
00:00 Introduction
00:51 Batman Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader
01:34 Batman Black And White Issue 2
01:59 Secret Origins 36 Pavane
02:16 Secret Origins Special
02:43 Batman Annual 11 Mortal Clay
02:53 Overall review of Batman Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader And Other Batman Tales
04:20 Final Thoughts for Batman Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader And Other Batman Tales
SPOILER ALERT - I would always advise that you read the story yourself but these videos are aimed at those that do not have the time, which means that plot spoilers are present within the video.
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