The Dark Knight Rises

            Well everyone, at long last the year’s most highly anticipated film has been released and dear God, I swear this poor film is jinxed.  First we had a bunch of dumbass fan boys post a lot of angry comments on Rotten Tomatoes pointed at the first people who dared to give the film a negative review before they even saw the film.  And to them I say SHAME ON YOU, FAN BOYS!  I mean, good God!  What is wrong with you people?  You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!  I understand giving a critic crap after seeing the film for yourself and seeing what the general consensus is and if they are against it, (I’ve done it a few times myself), but don’t pull this kind of crap when you haven’t even seen the film and general consensus has yet to been made!  I would expect this kind of behavior from Twilight fans, Skyrim fans, or even anti-Mass Effect 3 ending fans, but from Dark Knight fans?  A franchise of films that requires an average I.Q. to enjoy?  I’m disgusted with you people!  You’re giving other fans a bad name and pulling this kind of crap before you even see the film for yourself is beyond juvenile and this is something you should apologize for!  Then we had Rush Limbaugh’s dumbass accusation that the character of Bane to be a liberal attack on Mitt Romney, (I am not even joking about that one), and just what the hell?  And of course we had the Colorado shooting and my heart goes out to all those that were injured during the midnight showing of this film and my condolences to the families who lost their loved ones.  That whole affair is something that I honestly don’t have any words for.

            But I wasn’t going to let any of this change my opinion, enjoyment or hatred of the film so here we go.  The story takes place 8 years after the events of The Dark Knight and in that time Gotham City has become a city free of organized crime due to the actions of Batman and Commissioner Gordon in the previous film.  However the events of that film have taken their toll on Wayne both physically and mentally and he is now a broken shell of what he once was.  However he is forced to put the cowl back on when a man known only as Bane emerges as the new leader of The League of Shadows and is intent on finishing what Ra’s Al Ghul started in Batman Begin.  So has this film lived up to the hype and joined the ranks of great part threes like Toy Story 3 and Return of the King or will it join the likes of crappy part threes like X-Men 3 or Spider-Man 3?  Well, here are my thoughts on it.  This is The Illusive One’s Review of The Dark Knight Rises. 

            As with the previous film the special effects are fantastic and Nolan proves once again that he knows what he’s doing in this department as everything on screen, CGI or not, looks one hundred percent real and is an incredible breath of fresh air in a decade full of mostly synthetic looking CGI crap.  Likewise, the sound effects are great and again stand out from a lot of other films in this department with everything sounding the way I imagine it would in real life and not sounding like sound effects.  As with the previous two film and Inception the cinematography is once again Oscar level and I could not be happier that Wally Pfister, (the director of photography for these films), is getting the chance to direct his own film.  The man really deserves the chance. 

            Now as I mentioned in previous posts, Nolan has never been the best with action scenes as they always suffered from shaky camera, sloppy editing, or were just poorly choreographed.  This time around he has finally perfected them.  They’re epic, tense well-choreographed and just know how to get you pumped and ready to kick some ass.  Adding to the tension of these scenes is the fact that this film is the end of this story and because of this the threat of death is everywhere and you really have no idea who is going to live or die.  Granted I don’t think that they took full advantage of this but the threat is their all the same.

            Then we have our cast.  For starters, you have no idea how happy I am to see a good interpretation of Bane and Tom Hardy did a great job playing him.  He’s menacing, badass smart, intimidating and his plan to destroy Gotham is incredibly cruel and is very eerily up to par with current events and politics.  Gary Oldman, Michael Cane, and Morgan Freeman were all once again great in their roles, even if they have less to do in this film.  Anne Hathaway was perfect as Catwoman and they just could not have gotten a better person for the part.  New comers Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Blake and Marion Cotillard as Miranda are also pretty good in their roles even if they did seem a little tacked on.  I also really liked the way certain characters tried to push Wayne in different directions, with Alfred trying to get him to give up Batman and try to live a normal life and Gordon and Blake trying to convince him to put the cowl back on and it made for some interesting conflicts.

            Now the film has gotten a bit of criticism for the plot but we’ll get more into that in a minute.  Now, starting with what they got right, they knocked it out of the park.  Whereas the first film was more about Batman, second film Gotham City itself, this film is more about Bruce Wayne and the way everything has affected him both physically and mentally and the first and final acts of the film do a very good job of showing this.  In the first act, he is basically a broken man who has lost everyone he cares about and wants to become Batman again, possible out of suicidal tendencies and by the time the film ends you get the feeling that his arc is complete.  The final act of the film is one of the best I have ever seen, with incredibly tense action scenes and more than makes up for some of the drag in the second act of the film.  Adding to this is the general feeling that the characters may not live to the end which adds layers of intensity to the climax.  There are also a few really good twists throughout the film, especially concerning Bane’s identity that were genuinely shocking.

            And speaking of which, the ending is incredibly satisfying.  The less said about this the better but as of right now, you are not going to find a better ending to a superhero story on film.  Yea, there are a few loose ends that I wish they had done a better job of tying up but they do a fantastic job of ending Batman’s story and I could not be happier with the final ten minutes of the film. 

But the best part of this film, however, was easily the score.  Whenever that Deshi Basara music came on everything got better.  The action scenes were tenser.  The suspense build up was stronger and it just knew how to get the blood pumping and how to keep you on the edge of your seat and if Hans Zimmer doesn’t at least get an Oscar Nomination for his work on this film the people running that think should be burned alive for the snub.  Seriously, it is that good and well used.

There are, however, some problems with the film and they are big ones in my opinion.  The main thing it suffers from is that it’s just not as good as its predecessor.  The with the exception of Bruce Wayne most of the returning characters just aren’t as interesting or as fleshed as they were in the last film. Characters like Blake, Bane and Daggett just aren’t as interesting or compelling as characters like Harvey Dent, The Joker or Maroni with the latter of the three feeling a bit like a throwaway character.  The storyline likewise, while better than most of the stuff out there, just isn’t nearly as good and lacks the same levels of depth, complexity and realism as well as the daring of it which really takes away from the experience. 

The plot also suffers from two other major problems.  The first is the length.  It is a long film and unlike the last one this one can drag a bit, particularly during the second act of the film which was easily the weakest part of it and I just can’t help but wish they had taken that act in another route.  It also doesn’t have enough of Batman “being Batman” as it goes straight to his battles with Bane, mostly ignoring any kind of other crime fighting or battles with the police and I really wish that they had taken a few more plot elements from the first part the Knightfall story arc, (where Batman has to fight off a crap-ton of criminals who escaped prison before fighting Bane), rather than the direction they went in.   As a result it ultimately came off more as a broken warrior’s final battle then it did a superhero film.  While this is good in its own right I just can’t help but think that they could have combines the superhero elements with the final battle elements. 

All around, this is a very good film and great ending to Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy.  But it is a flawed film.  Had it not been for the drag and relatively poor writing of the second act, (Seriously Nolan brothers?  I know you could have done better than that!), and the fact that Batman didn’t get enough screen time, this one could have easily been a rival to its predecessor and ultimately keep it from being a masterpiece and in my “Dark Knight” category.  What the film does have are some spectacular special effects, a great character study of Bruce Wayne, incredible action scenes, a few mind blowing twists, a solid villain, a great first and third act, an incredible and well used  score by Hans Zimmer, and one of the most satisfying endings that I have seen to any series.  While it doesn’t rank up there with great part 3 films like Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King or Toy Story 3 it is certainly not nearly as bad as films like X-Men 3 or Spider-Man 3.  It’s an all-around satisfying conclusion to the series and I highly encourage you to go see it if you liked the first two.

All Around

8.75/10

Comic Book Movie Rating

Great

The Dark Knight

Deshi!

DESHI!

Basara!

BASARA!

DESHI! DESHI!

BASARA! BASARA!

DESHI! DESHI!

BASARA! BASARA!

HOLY FUCK!  I AN HYPED FOR THIS MOVIE!

          And why shouldn’t I be?  It’s the sequel to what is easily the greatest superhero film ever made with arguably the best director to emerge out of the 2000s at the helm and is the most highly anticipated film 2012.  Now granted, this does leave a lot of room for disappointment but I’m keeping myself optimistic.  Chris Nolan has yet to let us down and I seriously doubt he will on this one.  But unfortunately, we still have some time before the film comes out and, as is customary here on The Illusive One’s Reviews, I’m going to give my thoughts on the film’s predecessor, The Dark Knight.  Now, before I go any further on this post, let me just warn those who haven’t seen the film that this post will contain spoilers as this one will be more about what I took away from the film and how I feel it has aged in comparison with the other superhero films out there.  It other words, it’s probably going to be more me going on like some crazy fanboy, (I get really passionate about comic book movies.  You should all know this by now), rather than a traditional review.  If you don’t wish to read something like that, I understand.  But I promise you, you will have a really, really, bad day if you don’t….

            But before I get into the magnum opus of comic book films, I want to give a few thoughts on its predecessor, Batman Begins.  To put it simply, I didn’t really care for it.  Why is this, you may ask?  Well, as I mentioned in my Amazing Spider-Man review, there was this odd period between 2004 and 2008 when comic book movies just seemed to suck and I just wasn’t into them anymore.  And, sadly, Batman Begins was not spared from my empathy and I just wasn’t into Batman any more.  It also didn’t help that the last major things that I saw him in were Batman and Robin and pre-Unlimited Justice League Animated series where he just came off as useless and out of place to me for the most part.  When I got around to watching it the film didn’t impress me and quite frankly, it still doesn’t.  Granted I do understand why so many other people like it, but it just didn’t do for me what it did for other people.  For starters, I didn’t think Christian Bale was a very good pick for Batman, mainly because of his voice, (like everyone else).  Katie Holms was just terrible, and I mean, terrible in her role as Rachel and I just can’t help but wonder what the casters were thinking when they put her in the role.  While I thought Liam Neeson was good as Henri Ducard, type casted though he may have been, as Ra’s Al Ghul, he failed to impress me.  Not that I didn’t like how they made the character more realistic, but his performance as the big bad of the film just didn’t do it for me.  The biggest problem I had with it, however, was the story.  Mainly, the second half as it just felt rushed.  This is something that all origin superhero films suffer from but this one just seemed really hurt by it.  In short, everything in the second half seemed like it took place over three days and it just seemed too compressed and was ripe with SSBS.  The whole twist with Liam Neeson turning out to be Ra’s I saw coming a mile away, as I did with the Scarecrow’s secret benefactors.  And finally, the action scenes sucked.  Redundant to say I know, but they just sucked. 

            However, there are good things to note in this film that I have noticed as I got older and they’re good if for no other reason than how they were expanded on in the sequel.  While Bale and Neeson were miscast the rest of the actor did pretty good jobs in their roles.  Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Cain, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, and Rutger Hauer were good in their roles but couldn’t bring the film up for me.  It’s also worth noting that this is one of the few superhero films where they acknowledged that this is a real world with real problems and just beating up a bunch of criminals isn’t going to necessarily change anything, (something that most superhero films failed to do).  But in the end, it just wasn’t for me.  Maybe it was the time period it came out in.  Maybe there are more people out there who share my opinion of it and I just don’t know it.  Or I’m a complete minority on this.  Either way, this film just didn’t impress me the way it did others and remains one of “those” kinds of films for me.

            But then came along The Dark Knight.  Where do I even begin?  In a nutshell, this film is just great all around.  As I’m sure we all know, the story revolves around Batman as he, along with Lieutenant Gordon, and the new D.A. Harvey Dent as they try to take down the remaining mafia organizations in Gotham.  In retaliation, the mob hires The Joker, a freelance bank robber and psychopath to kill Batman and return the city to the status quo.  Little do any of them know, his plans are much bigger and darker in nature. 

            Now the first thing that this film got right was the acting, casting, and dialog.  To put it simply, nearly every cast member in this film deserved an Oscar Nomination and is a quantum leap from what they had before.  While Christian Bale is still kind of sketchy as Batman, (more on that in a later), his dialog with people who were on to his secret was spot on and well performed.  While I felt that Michael Cain, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman were just ok in Batman Begins, in this film they get a lot more screen time, an update with their dialog and brought their A Game to their performances and, in my opinion, each deserved an Oscar nomination for the performances they gave.  The same can be said for Aaron Eckhart’s extremely underrated performance as Harvey Dent/Two-Face who was fantastic as both the charismatic D.A. and broken vigilante and in my opinion is the best version of the character ever brought to film, television, or videogames.

I have to say, Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel was a huge upgrade from Katie Holmes in terms of acting abilities.  It is true that she isn’t as attractive as Holmes, (shame on you people who thinks that automatically makes Holmes better), but she was a lot more believable in the role.  In short, she actually looked and acted like a lawyer and unlike her character in Batman Begins, actually serves a purpose in the film other then to be Batman’s love interest.  Many of the minor cast members were also great in their parts, giving it their all and are all still somehow memorable with limited amount of screen time, such as the characters of Stephens and Ramirez just leave a big impression despite having so few lines and screen time.  Easily the most un-appreciated actor in this whole film was Eric Roberts as the slimy, confident, cocky mob head Maroni and it just shocks me that this guy is still doing B movies after that performance.  Easily one of the most underrated comic book movie performances ever.

The guy who stole the show, however, and the one everyone remembers is Heath Ledger as The Joker.  What can I honestly say about him that hasn’t already been said?  The writing is for him is great, (I’ll go more into that later).  The performance is great.  The way his scenes are directed are great.  It’s just a great part.  The only thing that I can really do in this regard is bring up what some of the other fans already have and the inherent criticism that comes with the popularity of the portrayal.  The most common complaint that I’ve heard against it is that he’s not funny and that he should have been more like The Joker from Arkham Asylum and that’s the way the character should be.  But let’s really think about this for a second.  For starters, like a lot of other long running comic book characters, the character has changed so much over the decades it’s really impossible to say what the Joker is “suppose” to be like.  So saying how the Joker is “suppose” to be is a very loose statement at best.  Second, this portrayal, despite what some of the more hardcore fanboys say, does keep the essence of what the Joker is but at the same time does something new with the character.  For one thing, this Joker is funny.  The humor is darker and a bit more subtle but is their all the same and it’s all designed to make you crap your pants in fear.  And he is a psychopath who does deranged things often just for the sake of doing them.  The main difference between this version and others is that he actually has a major plan for Gotham and this is what ultimately makes this version of the character better but still a bit questionable among the more hardcore fans.

         But my opinion of this whole debate is just stupid.  All of the Joker’s are good in their own way.  However, I personally believe that this one has the best writing, as it trades in all kiddish jokes and ridiculous antics for a serious plan that was for Gotham’s sole, demented jokes that were scary as well as funny and an all-around shit you pants scary portrayal.  And that’s why so many people like this version.  It’s a very disturbing performance that gets under your skin.  The Jack Nicholson and Mark Hamill versions are funny and enjoyable, but they never reached the same level of memorabilia, depth and intensity.  As far as Heath Ledger’s death is concerned, I really think that critics of the portrayal have blown that whole thing out of proportions.  It does account for a lot of added interest in the film prior to release and for its initial finical success but they did not blow his portrayal out of the water and it deserved all the praise it got.  

But what is good acting and good characters without a good plot?  Well, as The Avengers proved, a billion dollar grossing movie!  Ha, ha, ha, ha! (Seriously, though it was a good summer blockbuster and deserved its financial success).  But in all seriousness, the story of The Dark Knight is easily the best of any superhero movie and among the best I have seen for any film, rich with complexities, dark tones, and serious themes that hit you like a ton of bricks with layers of realism that had yet to be seen in any superhero film and still hasn’t been seen sense.  And quite frankly, it’s is a little difficult to talk about.  It expands on everything that was established in the first film and takes it to new heights.  For starters, the realism factor has been upped.  Batman doesn’t just beat the criminals up and leave then for the police to find or deals with everything on his own.  He actually coordinates with Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent and shares relevant information with them that will help take down the mob in a court of law.  It establishes that just doing the usual hero thing like beating up criminals doesn’t really solve anything and that it takes real people in power like cops and D.A.s to bring criminal to justice.  This is something that you NEVER see in other superhero films and gave it a very neo noir feel to it that perfectly blended with the Batman story line.

It also happens to be the only superhero film where the world they are trying to protect feels like a living, breathing entity on its own.  In other words, it was something that you were fully invested in and most superhero films just fail to do this effectively.  In this film they establish that this is a city in trouble and needs help.  It isn’t just some random alien invasion, or a CEO who wants control over people.  This is a city that has problems, with people in despair, where criminals run wild and is truly in need of saving and by the time the film comes to its end you are fully invested in said city’s fate and how things will work out.  Again, it is something that no other superhero film has done effectively before or sense. 

And then we have Batman’s battle with the Joker and everything about this was just fantastic.  Now, I give superhero films like The Avengers a lot of crap because their villains have very simple motives, be it just trying to get rich, take over the world, or just simple revenge.  The Joker’s motive for doing what he does and how he does it is a lot more complex and, again, are more realistic.  His motive is to spread anarchy and chaos, to prove to Gotham and Batman that deep down everyone is just as insane as he is and if pushed to a certain extent they will become just like him and how he actually does this is just brilliant in every aspect of the word, using what he knows about certain people to his advantage.  Essentially, it was a much grander and better thought out version of his plan in The Killing Joke.  And all of these things mentioned before moves the story along at a great pace ensuring that every plot device and line of dialog has some kind of use in the long term and never drags.   There really isn’t any other word to describe it other than say it’s the plot of The Dark Knight.

And of course we have all the themes that are intertwined with the film and are what really push the film into what I call “Dark Knight” comic book movie territory as opposed to just being “Good”, “Bad” or “Great”.  Now, other then maybe the Spider-Man films, the Bryan Singer X-Men films, and Watchmen, most superhero films don’t even try to have complex themes and thought provoking questions.  And even these films don’t quite hit you the same way as this one does as it take them to a whole new level.  Now all of the aforementioned things, (the living city and actual use of a legal system), make the film great but it’s the themes that solidify it.  The first is Batman’s no kill rule.  Again, this is something that most superhero films don’t address.  Sure there are superhero films where the hero never kills anyone intentionally, but they never really establish that it’s bad for the hero to kill off the villains.  This in turn, leads to the big themes of the film; escalation and how far one can go for justice and what is acceptable?  Like the animated series of the 90s it does address the possibility that Batman maybe doing more harm than good as The Joker was unleashed by the mob directly due to his actions and again is something that is rarely addressed in other comic book films.  The justice part was addressed in the first film but ultimately came off as a little preachy to me.  In this film, however, it was a very well addressed issue.  How far can and should one go for justice?  Are the prices you pay ultimately worth it?  Should one lie or kill in order to obtain that end?  In fact, by the time the film ends, you really don’t have any clear answers to these questions.  While what they ultimately do does resolve the problems the city faces it leave the audience free to interpret whether or not it was all worth it.  Was that what Chris Nolan intended?  I honestly don’t know but that’s the way I interpreted it.  

From the technical side of things, this film is easily one of the best I have ever seen.  In an age full of overused cartoonish CGI effects, The Dark Knight manages to have special effects that look completely realistic throughout the entire length of the film.  Unlike other films this one uses actual shots of cities, miniatures, and real explosions instead of computer generating everything and this resulted in me believing everything that I saw on screen which is an incredibly rare feat for any film to do.  The sound effects were likewise great and it’s probably the first time that I noticed just how different sound effects like gun shots and car crashes are from the spoken dialog in a film.  The action scenes are a vast improvement over those of the first film and are nail bitingly intense and keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time.  While they aren’t the best action scenes in the world, (Chris Nolan has been steadily improving on them but they still leave something to be wanted), compared to all the overblown, tensionless action sequences that most films have nowadays, The Dark Knight manages to pack a lot more emotion and tension into these scenes which is something worth noting.

            Despite all the good things that this film have, there are some legitimate faults with the film that I need to address and snuff out things that overanalyzes have tried to use to downplay the film.  Now, before I start bashing the over analyzers and bringing up said faults, there are some things that, as a Batman fan, annoyed me.  There are a number of little things that annoyed me and at times I wish that they called one character “this” instead of “that” but the big one for me was Two-Face.  Now as I mentioned before, this was easily the best version Harvey Dent/Two-Face to ever come to any adaptation and as a big fan of the character I couldn’t have been happier about how he turned out.  So, as you can imagine, it really ticked me off that they killed him off in the last ten minutes of the film.  Granted I understand why he had to die from a narrative point of view but it’s still irritating to see one of my favorite villains get killed off right after they get the character right after so many attempts.  But that’s just a personal issue I have with it and it’s not a real flaw with the film.

As far as legitimate faults go, however, this film has little to none and most of the so called “faults” don’t really amount to much more then overanalyzing.  Normally this is something that I don’t bother myself with as people who look at things like this usually tend to be idiots who need to get a life and stop being contrarians looking for attention.  But given the fact that a certain blogger has told me that he’ll bring this stuff up in a future post, I have to give my take and counter arguments to these opinions.  Now, unfortunately there are people out there who don’t know the difference between a legitimate problem with the plot and overanalyzing, so allow me to explain the difference.  Take The Avengers for example.  Bringing up the fact that Bruce Banner was suddenly able to control his transformation into the Hulk during the climax, when on that very same day he was completely out of control during the act on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s flying aircraft carrier is a legitimate plot hole.  Bringing up the fact that Black Widow and Hawkeye should have been killed during the final battle because they don’t have any superpowers is overanalyzing.  Bringing up the fact that Thor’s return to Earth doesn’t amount to much more then “It’s magic bitch” is a legitimate fault with the film.  Bringing up the fact that half of the impacts Tony Stark takes throughout the film should have broken every single bone in his body is overanalyzing. 

So, where am I going with this?  Well, it’s about the most common overanalyzing complaint against the film.  The most common one and the only one that I’m going to address here is that some people say that the Joker’s plan was to complex and should have failed much sooner than it did; especially considering the fact that most of his men consisted of mentally disturbed thugs.  The overanalyzing in this case is a little more complex in this case as I’ve heard people bring up the fact that Navy SEALS couldn’t pull this off to questioning how the Joker would know people would act the way they did.  And quite frankly this is the kind of overanalyzing that give film critics and film buffs a bad name and it just disgusts me that people still do this.

But, because I’m me, I have to make some kind of overanalyzing counter argument to this and quite frankly, these arguments have some very simple explanations to them, as is usually the case.  It can all be summed up by simply saying that the Joker is a genius and just knows how people will more the likely act in certain situations.  Batman going after Rachel?  He saw the way he leaped after him earlier in the film.  Placing the bomb in the schizophrenic’s stomach?  Just needed a guy crazy and desperate enough to do it.  How did he know he could provoke the cop into a fight?  He killed like a dozen cops!  And cops are not known for their fair treatment of cop killers!  As far as the plan itself goes, a good deal of it was probably improvised as much as planned out due to the ever changing circumstances.  While he probably did know to a certain extent where he wanted to go with his plan he probably didn’t know how he would pull it off up until the later parts of the film.        

There is, however, a much more simple explanation to this and is the one that I personally prefer; IT’S JUST A FUCKING MOVIE!  AND A COMIC BOOK MOVIE AT THAT!  I mean seriously, if people can suspend their disbelief long enough to believe that a billionaire dressed up like a bat fights crime with the help of his butler and CEO are you really going to tell me that the Joker’s plan for forever tainting Gotham’s soul is too much and overly complex?  That is what made the movie so damn good!  Seriously people!  Stop the overanalyzing!  It’s pointless and there are much better things to do with your time!

Ok, now that I got that out of the way, there are some things that I do consider to be legitimate faults with the film.  While these aren’t things that cripple the film, they do keep it from obtaining a perfect score on my rating system.  The first major problem is Christian Bale as Batman.  Not that he’s terrible but when compared to the other people who have played him in the past like Kevin Conroy and Michael Keaton, his performance doesn’t really hold up.  The main problem is him trying to blend in normal society as Bruce Wayne the drunken Billionaire.  As people have pointed out, he comes off as someone who is looking for attention or as someone with something to hide.  In other words, if someone told me that this guy was Batman, you would probably believe it.  When in the Batsuit he uses that infamous voice and it gets old very fast.  When he has conversations with Alfred and Fox when not in his Batman outfit it does work but still doesn’t make up for the rest

Another gripe I had with it is hand to hand combat action scenes.  While they were a lot better than the ones in Batman Begins, they just seemed really staged.  A perfect example of this is Batman’s opening fight with the Scarecrow’s men.  It just looked like they were lining up to get their asses kicked or something.  Hopefully this is something that Nolan has stepped up his game on for The Dark Knight Rises but in this one it was sub-par.

And that’s really all I have to say about the film itself but to be honest, I don’t think I’ve done it justice in this post, as it’s really one of those films like Jaws, Star Wars, or The Godfather that’s beyond review and you just have to watch it and get your own opinion of it.  As it stands, this film is almost universally considered to be the greatest comic book film of all time, and maintains the highest approval rating and average score of the genera on Rotten Tomatoes, and the highest rated of the genera on IMDB and Metascore.  It also happens to be the only superhero film to win and be nominated for widespread Academy Awards and was the major cause for the criticism the Academy faced that year for its failure to give the film a Best Picture Nomination.  While there are some people who argue against this, you won’t get away with saying that films like The Avengers, Iron Man, or Watchmen are better films.  You may argue that they’re more faithful to the source material and that as adaptations they’re better or that you enjoy them more, (which I have no problem with), but as films standing on their own you simply won’t.  This was a film that showed that superhero and comic book films don’t have to be crowd pleasing shitty summer block busters and that they can be intelligent with thought provoking themes and complex storylines and characters and it really depresses me that more films of the genera haven’t followed this one’s example.

But anyway, as you can tell I love this film and not only consider it the greatest comic book film of all time but one of my personal favorites.  Nearly everything about it I just love from the casting, to the characters, to the dialog, to the story, to the special effects, to the direction.  It was fantastic all around and created the filmmakers created a movie that can only be described with one word: Masterpiece.

All Around

9.75/10

Comic Book

Movie Rating

Dark Knight Level

            So now that I’m done praising this movie up the ass, what are my expectations of The Dark Knight Rises.  Well, as anyone who have read my posts or talked to me when I first heard that they were going to do a sequel for sure I was indifferent.  This was just a film that I didn’t think needed a sequel as the ending to this one more or less wrapped everything up.  But when I saw that Bane was the main villain, Ann Hathaway was cast as Catwoman, the initial teaser trailer, and heard the Deshi Basara chant, I was as hyped as everyone else and my anticipation has only continued to build due to the insanely good advertising campaign.

As you can imagine, there are a number of things that I’m expecting from this film.  First, I’m expecting a great version of Bane, (one of my favorite Batman villains who has sadly been fucked up the ass sense the Knightfall Story Arc), action sequences that blow the first two out of the water and for it to be better than Batman Begins and The Avengers.  What I am not expecting, however, is for it to be better than The Dark Knight, (although I am hoping).  I just don’t think that THAT can be done.  The biggest fear that I have for it is that it’s going to borrow to much from its predecessor, (although given its 164 minute run time I don’t see that being likely), or that it will regress from the summer blockbuster Oscar bait tones The Dark Knight has and go for more shitty summer blockbuster tones and based on what I’ve seen in some of the later commercials, it looks as if it could go in that direction.  Still, I’m keeping my mind open and hoping for the best.  At the very least I could rant on about this The Dark Knight and am finally able to use this meme. 

            Did that make any sense?  Only if this one proves to be what we all hope for it to be.  So until next time, this is The Illusive One saying….

DESHI! DESHI!

BASARA! BASARA!

DESHI! DESHI!

BASARA! BASARA!

DESHI! DESHI!

BASARA! BASARA!

DESHI! DESHI!

BASARA! BASARA!

The New 52 Part 2: The Batman Comics

            Welcome back to my look at The New 52 and today we are going to look at the reboot’s shot at the Batman comics.  Arguably the most popular and best superhero out there, Batman seems to be the one franchise out there that you can’t permanently screw up and even Joel Schumacher’s cracks at the series couldn’t keep Caped Crusader down for long.  The Adam West series from the 60s is widely regarded as a campy classic, the Tim Burton films are considered to be among the founders of modern superhero films right alongside Superman: The Movie, the animated series from the 90s is widely considered to be one of the best ever made, and the recent films by Christopher Nolan are widely considered to be the greatest superhero films of all time, with The Dark Knight even being the highest grossing superhero film ever. 

So with all of that in mind and the critical legacy they had to preserve you better believe that they had to bust ass to make any Batman series good.  However, it seems like they may have overdone it.  You literally have four different series that feature Bruce Wayne as the protagonist and five others that, (for the most part), take place in Gotham.  That might be overdoing it guys.  While I don’t think this really effects the stories, (for the most part), it does cause me to question just what time periods they take place in.  Do they all take place at once?  Do they take place in alternate time periods?  Other versions of Earth?  Explanation please!!!  This is a lot more complex than it needs to be!

Anyway….So as you guessed, today I’m going to look at all the Batman related comics today, starting with Batman and ending with Red Hood and the Outlaws.  This is The Illusive One’s Review of The New 52 Part 2: The Batman Comics.

Batman

As, I’ve mentioned before, the Batman series are probably the most confusing but the reasons I gave above aren’t the only ones.  While the Superman comics more or less restarted the whole series, Batman seems to have the same setting as it did before the re-launch, with Bruce Wayne as Batman, Dick Grayson as Nightwing, Tim Drake as Red Robin and Damian Wayne as Robin, (link to anyone who doesn’t know who the latter is).  In this setting, Bruce Wayne is trying to set up an urban renewal foundation to finally turn Gotham into something other than a haven for the worst psychopaths in all of America, (not much of an exaggeration).  At the same time as Batman, he’s tracking down a seemingly indestructible hit man who is apparently working for a mysterious cult known as the Court of Owls, who has supposedly been controlling Gotham for centuries.

So is the first of the Batman lines any good?  Why yes it is.  In fact it’s not only good, it’s great!  For starters the storyline is really, really good.  The mystery involving The Court of Owls is fantastic.  Whereas other comics keep you involved mainly with their action this one does by keeping the mystery alive and the reader in constant suspense of what will happen next.    As the pieces unfold you find yourself more and more intrigued by it, quickly become invested in it and want to see it solved.  The murders in these books are grizzly but nothing too over the top and really leave an impression, (in a good way though).   While characterization isn’t a huge part of this story other than with Batman, the villain is surprisingly good because of this.  He’s an incredibly threatening figure who is apparently indestructible and we know next to nothing about him or what his motivation is which really helps with the mystery.   

The only real criticism I have with this series is the general art direction.   Everything about the drawing and coloring I just find really unappealing and at times it looks flat out ugly.  But that aside, this one is really good and is probably the best of the Batman stories.  The mystery is great, the villain is great, and the way the story progresses keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time.  Check it out if you get a chance.

Verdict

Read

Detective Comics

Of all the Batman timelines this one seems to take place at the beginning, (although I can’t be entirely sure).  The story follows Batman as tries to take down some nut job known as the Dollmaker as well as going after The Joker who has escaped Arkham for the gazillionth time, (when will the cops learn they need to just shoot his ass and throw him in the river!?!?).  Beyond that there really isn’t a whole lot to say in terms of story so what’s good about it? 

Well the first issue starts with a bang as Batman has an intense chase with The Joker and has quite the shocking ending.  The mystery elements involving what happed to The Joker are also pretty good as is his hunt for The Dollmaker.  He also has a love interest who, for a change, isn’t some kind of villain which I think is a good thing for the series.  The drawing style is also A LOT more appealing than it was in Batman which I think is the biggest thing this comic has on it. 

For some reason though, Issue Five annoyingly cuts off the Batman story halfway through the book to another involving Eli Strange.  In it, he’s basically playing poker with mobsters and helping Catwoman recover some jewels that they stole from her, (ironically, this story was a lot better than the actual Catwoman line but more on that later).  It was good story sure, but it was really annoying that they cut the Batman story off in order to tell it.  Why not just add more pages to the book?  Oh well, but that said it was still a good story.

As far as bad things go there were surprisingly few.  The gore often came off as a bit over the top, (although I’m not entirely convinced that’s a bad thing), and while the mystery was good it was easily inferior to Batman and kind of came off as it’s less talented brother.  But when you take that last factor out of the equation it is a good read and another that I would recommend.

Verdict

Read

Batwing

This story takes place during/after the events in the series Batman Inc., (one that they are bringing back to the rejoicing of fans everywhere from what I gathered).  To those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, it was a series where Bruce Wayne decides to take his fight against crime to a global level and starts recruiting people from different cites all across the globe to become part of, (for a lack of better words), the Bat family.  This story happens to revolve around David Zavimbe, known as Batwing as he fights against a villain known as Massacre in The Congo as he kills old superheroes of the country for reasons unknown as David battles his own personal demons.

  Now I’m not going to lie.  The whole premise behind Batman Inc. is not one that I care for at all.  I admit I haven’t read a single Batman Inc. comic but just the idea of it rubs me the wrong way.  This book, however, really delivered.  For starters we have a really good protagonist in David who has a really good backstory that puts a lot of the other superhero backstories to shame.  While it does ultimately amount to a redemption type story you quickly find that David does have a lot to repent for and is very sympathetic and despicable at once for what he’s done.

While I initially thought that a Batman in Africa was kind of stupid, (call me racist if you want but it seemed weird to me as did Batman Inc.), the concept grew on me very fast.  The more I thought about it the more I realized that this was a great place for a Batman to be as there is a lot to fix.  People think Gotham is bad with its crime and corruption?  They should spend a bit of time in this place.  I bet they’ll never bitch about their cops, taxes or The Joker ever again.  The supporting characters are also really good and each contributes something to the story’s whole.

Then we have our main villain, Massacre and I have to admit, I have mixed thoughts on him.  On one hand, we know next to nothing about him or his motivations and he’s totally badass, able to slaughter an entire precinct full of cops single handedly with just machetes.  On the other hand, he’s a little over the top in terms of his strength.  I mean seriously, what kind of juice was this guy on to pull this crap off?  So with this guy, I suggest you get your own opinion.

The only bad things I have to say about these books are that, like Batman, the action is a tad underwhelming and the general art style is a little weird at times.  The first issue was also fragmented and felt really choppy and forced together and to my knowledge there was a plot point that they never quite followed up on at the start of the first issue which really bugs me.

Minor gripes aside, this one was really good.  The main character was great as was the drama surrounding his past and desperation to stop Massacre.  Even though he seemed a tad over the top, Massacre did provide Batwing with a suitable antagonist that lead to a great conflict and a mystery involving the country’s past.  It’s definitely one of the best ones of the Batman lines so I highly encourage you to give it a read.

Verdict

Read

Batman: The Dark Knight

The third line to have Bruce Wayne as the protagonist, The Dark Knight again centers on Batman solving crimes in Gotham.  Only this time, someone is infecting people with what seems like a combination of Bane’s venom and a reverse Scarecrow fear toxin.  This results in many of the criminals running around Gotham like an army of Hulks destroying anything they can as Batman tries to find out just who is behind all of this.

Good things started happening to this series after Issue 1.  The drawing style radically improved and the actual plot turned out to be really interesting.  It also features a lot of crossovers with a lot of the other Batman related characters like Batgirl and The Birds of Prey as well as others like The Flash, Wonder Woman and Superman.  The only bad thing I really have to say about it is that the first issue was terrible, with bad art work, (Gotham looked like a blue Minis Tirith at one point) and a story that really didn’t make any sense what so ever but it has improved over the past few months.

This is probably the story I have the least opinion on because by this point it just seemed like another Batman comic line with other superheroes making an occasional cameo.  It’s not a bad comic by any means and I do like it but it doesn’t really bring anything new to the table and a lot of what is in here probably could have been featured in Batman, Detective Comics, or Batman and Robin.  This one just seemed like overkill to me.  It’s not bad, so I won’t say burn but approach it with caution and only after you’ve read all the other Batman lines.

Verdict

Browse

Batman and Robin

After The Dark Knight comics it seemed like the series had run itself dry, but nope.  It still had one last story to tell and one that involves the relationship of a father and son.  And that is a lot more literal then you would think.  The storyline focus on Bruce Wayne and his relationship with his son Damian, (am I the only one who thinks that’s an unnerving name for Batman’s son?), the current Robin as they try to bond and Bruce attempts to keep Damian’s homicidal tendencies in check.  For those of you who were too lazy to look at my link above, Damian is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul who is living with Batman now, for some reason, (I honestly have no idea why).  At the same time, a man named Morgan Ducard tries to convince both Batman and Robin to join him and his more lethal style of justice.  And even though it’s the fourth storyline with Batman as the protagonist, it’s surprisingly good.

For starters, the characterization is really good.  It’s actually really interesting to see how Batman deals with being a father and how he tries to raise him.  It’s interesting to see just how Damian deals with his personal darkness, be it through catching and crushing bats with his bare hands or drawing disturbing pictures, (seriously though, the kid has issues) and this makes it all the more challenging for Batman to bring Damian to his way of thinking.  Ducard is a really good villain and presents quandaries for both Batman and Robin, concerning their ideal of justice and Batman “franchising” his war against crime.  It also deals with Bruce’s past while he trained with Ducard and why he feels his method is so wrong, (but it hasn’t quite gone into details yet). 

The only real downsides to this line is that it moves a little slow, and Damian sometimes comes off as being a little emo.  All around, though, this one was really good.  While it can come off as “another Batman comic” it more than made up for it with an approach that I felt was really good.  The characters were really good, the conflicts they go through are compelling, and it brings something new to the table.  While I’m not sure it’s as good as Batman, it certainly is the runner up.

Verdict
Read

Batgirl

With our sixth Batman related comic, I have to admit, I’m running out of ideas for opening paragraphs and STILL HAVE FIVE MORE TO GO AFTER THIS!!!  I think I may have bitten off a bit more then I can chew.  Anyway, this story revolves around Barbra Gordon who has resumed her role as Batgirl and first fights against a murder known as The Mirror, and later another known as Gretel.  And I’m just going so say it.  I don’t like this one at all.

For starters, it’s a very wordy comic line with dialog, (or inner monologs), that aren’t very good and come off as being really hammy.  That and this book seemed really, REALLY, underwhelming when compared to the books mentioned above and I was really bored by them.  I didn’t find the storylines that interesting and something about the way they progressed just failed to keep me in suspense.  Finally, I don’t think Barbra is that compelling of a protagonist.  I’m not sure what it is but she just fails to keep my attention and something about her PTSD doesn’t seem right to me, although I don’t know why. 

The only things that I could find in these comics that were somewhat interesting are the villains.  The Mirror is one of those tragic villains that we love to see in Batman comics with motivations that are interesting.  The new villain Gretel is interesting as well but more time will have to pass before I can pass judgment on her.

Sadly, however, this isn’t enough to save this comic.  The protagonist isn’t that interesting and the way the story progresses keeps me from really getting sucked into the story and to me that really qualifies as a bad book.  Maybe it will get better as time goes on but for now it’s one of my least favorites and not one that I would recommend in the least bit.

Verdict

Burn

Batwoman

When I heard that they were doing a Batwoman comic as part of The New 52 I thought, “Oh you godda be fucking kidding me!!!”  And up until the fifth issue my feelings on this remained the same.  The story revolves around Kate Kane, the Batwoman, (thank God were on our last Bat!) and her fights against crime in Gotham as well as dealing with personal issues in her life.  And I have to say, like Batgirl, there isn’t much good to be found here either.

 For starters Kate Kane isn’t that compelling of a protagonist.  She just comes off as being a cold bitch rather than badass protagonist.  And yea, I know she’s been through a lot in her life but there is nothing likeable about this woman whatsoever.  Not only that but a lot of the other characters aren’t that interesting either.  The next problem is the first villain they used who is known as The Weeping Woman and it brought a single question to mind.  Why?  Just, why?   I’m not entirely sure how to describe her other than to say she seems like something that belongs in Justice League: Dark or Demon Knights or something.  She just doesn’t fit here.  Finally, I can’t help but dislike the general art work.  I can’t identify exactly what it is but there’s just something about it that I don’t like.  And this may be a nitpick but there are way too many two page spreads in this book and they annoy the crap out of me.

However, unlike Batgirl, there is something that keeps it from the burn and that’s the story arc involving the organizations of Medusa and the D.E.O. which does look promising.  Hell, their director is a living skeleton who smokes a cigar.  I don’t care how stupid that sounds to you but that is frikkin awesome!  In fact they offer her a chance to join the D.E.O. to help track down Medusa which will in turn, put her at odds with Batman Inc.  This alone, it the only thing that I really like about this comic and is what saves it from burn pile.  My final piece of advice is to give it a read and a chance for future books but keep your flamethrowers ready.

Verdict

Browse

(But Keep Your Flamethrowers Ready)

Nightwing

After so many damn Batman comics already, you would think that Nightwing would have been dead on arrival.  But, surprise, surprise, this one turned out a decent line.  The storyline revolves around Dick Grayson, (duh), as two major events happen in his life.  First a hit man, known as Saikois, attacks Dick, not Nightwing, claiming that he is Gotham’s fiercest killer for reasons that have yet to be revealed.  Then the owner of the circus he grew up with leaves him the deed to the circus in his will claiming the circus was more than it appeared, (and it’s still pretty vague as to what that means).

So what separates this one from the crowd?  Well, unlike a lot of the other comics, the general art style is really good with everything looking the way it should.  The characters are as well, and it’s really interesting to see just how Dick reacts to the fact that the circus has come back into his life in such a major way and it really gives the reader things to ponder on.  Is it better to leave your past behind you or try reclaim some of the joy you got from it?  It’s a question that just about everyone asks themselves in their lives and this one does a good job of incorporating it into the story.  It also helps that the story progresses at a good rate, (for the most part), with a number of genuinely shocking twists and a great villain with a mystery behind him.  It also helps that this one doesn’t take place in Gotham and gives it a sense of independence from the other Batman stories.

The only real negatives I have for this one is that in Issues Four and Five the main story kind of grinds to a halt for other subplots and build up for future events and it doesn’t show much signs of stopping this.  Sometimes the action is also a little hard to follow with the way they depict the Nightwing’s acrobatics and it can be irritating. 

All around though, this is a great line and one I would recommend.  It has a good story, great characters and does a good job at distancing itself from the other Batman stories and I really like what they’ve done with it. 

Verdict

Read

Catwoman

This is one that I’m not entirely sure what to make of.  The story is basically about Catwoman pulling various jobs throughout Gotham and the various situations she gets into as a result.

On the positive side, the action panels are well done and keep the story from getting boring.  The storylines aren’t great but they aren’t bad either, often involving Catwoman biting off more than she can chew and the various situations she has to deal with are well paced with most issues ending on a cliff hanger which draw the reader into what happens next.

But then we get into the aspect that draws a lot of controversy; the fan service.  And there is a lot of it.  They literally take every opportunity to show off her boobs.  Why?  I honestly don’t know but it’s just ridiculous and comes off as immature.  Most of the characters are bland and uninteresting and Catwoman comes off as a slut, (no exaggeration).  And I know this is a bit of a nitpick but I can’t get over the way she looks.  I mean is it just me or does she kind of look like Nina Myers from 24?  I know it’s a nitpick but I find it really distracting.

But my biggest issue comes from the end of the first issue where she actually has sex with Batman and implies that they screwed on several occasions.  Not even joking.  So why does that bother me so much?  Well, you see I grew up with the animated series of the 90s and recently re-watched the whole thing and one of my favorite aspects of it was the cock tease relationship between the two.  There was constant flirting back and forth and times where they almost got together and it legitimately kept me interested in how things would work out between the two.  What they’ve done here just seems, (for a lack of better terms), anti-climactic and just annoyed me.

But personal gripes and fan service aside, I’m not entirely convinced the bad negates all the good.  The things that are done well are done very well and help drive the story along and in that light the comics really aren’t that bad.  On another note, some of the fan service actually had something to do with the plots, (though rarely) and it helped her get into places to pick up information and go to where her desired loot was.  If you’re able to get past or don’t care about the things I mentioned above I say give it a chance.

Verdict

Browse

Birds of Prey

So, Birds of Prey.  A story about a group of all female superheroes who fight crime.  And they’re based out of Gotham City.  ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS!?!?  THEY ALREADY HAVE BATMAN, NIGHTWING, BATGIRL, ROBIN, AND BATWOMAN PATROLLING THE STREETS AND THEY REALLY NEED ANOTHER TEAM TO HELP OUT?!?!  HOW FUCKED UP IS THIS CITY?!?!

Well anyway, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, the story focuses on a team of female vigilantes put together by Black Canary to fight crime in Gotham.  The members include Poison Ivy, (who has gone hero for some reason although I have no idea why), Katana, Starling, and occasionally Batgirl.  Most of the actual storyline focuses on the team’s efforts to work together as well as take down a mysterious organization known as The Cleaners who we thus far know next to nothing about.  And, despite this being the eighth comic to take place in Gotham City, it is surprisingly good.

For starters, the characterization is actually really good.  Black Canary is a bit of a blank slate right now but works as the team leader.  Starling is nuts but surprisingly enjoyable, Kitana is delightfully insane, Batgirl is surprisingly more interesting and less hammy here then she was in her own line, and it’s really interesting to see how they all deal with Poison Ivy, a former supervillain and convicted murder, being in their group and she is a surprisingly interesting character.

The mystery involving The Cleaners is really good and does a great job of keeping the reader in suspense and wondering just who the hell these people are and what they want and what their goals are and the way the Birds investigate and are foiled by them are pretty interesting and creative.  The action panels are decent, if nothing mind-blowing and help progress the story along.  Speaking of mind-blowing, unlike a lot of the other lines in The New 52, this one doesn’t flat out sexualize their characters and keeps fan service to a minimum.  And considering Catwoman and some of the comics that are to come, that’s unusual.  Good job to the writers and artist for keeping it classy here.

The only real problem I have with it is the general art style.  I mean, it’s not the worst I’ve seen but there are a lot of moments where things just don’t look right and if you see it you’ll see what I mean.  But all around, this one was surprisingly good.  The characters were enjoyable, the mystery was good, and it had more than enough action, suspense and mind boggling moments to keep anyone interested and is one that I would recommend.

Verdict

Read

Red Hood and the Outlaws

          And now, it’s time for our final review for the day, Red Hood and The Outlaws and THANK FUCKING GOD!!!  I was beginning to lose my patience here.  Why exactly D.C. grouped this with Batman, I’m not entirely sure, as it has next to nothing to do with the other Batman lines but I may as well review it here.  Anyway, the story focuses on Red Hood, (Jason Todd and the second Robin), Arsenal, and Starfire who, as of right now, are trying to find out who killed The All-Caste, a group of warriors who mentored Red Hood after his resurrection, (just read that part on Wikipedia).

          So what makes this story work?  Well for starters, the general art style is really good and most of the stuff looks the way it should.   The action panels are well depicted and keeps the story moving on at a fast pace.  Another thing that may surprise some people is that Jason Todd is a surprisingly compelling protagonist.  Yea I was surprised to.  After all this is the douchie punk who was killed by The Joker because fans didn’t like him.  But here he has a stake in the main storyline that we as readers can latch onto.  It’s one that combines revenge with a serious conflict that could potentially get out of hand and it results in a really good main storyline.  It involves a period in Jason’s past that I don’t think we’ve ever seen before and makes for an interesting read.  Like most the other good storylines it’s also very well paced and had a good mystery that keeps you intrigued into what is going on.

          But there are problems with this story that have generated a lot of controversy.  For starters, (although less controversial), Arsenal isn’t a very interesting character.  It seems like they’re going places with him and he has some interesting backstories but he’s ultimately kind of annoying.  Maybe he’ll get better as time goes on but for now he’s just an annoyance.  Then we have Starfire and, oh my God, she’s like Catwoman only a lot worse.  She’s generated a good amount of controversy and it’s fully justified as they take the opportunity to sexualize her and show skin at every possible moment, even more so than Catwoman.  While this isn’t anything new in the D.C. Universe, they just took it way too far in this line.  Now, this wouldn’t bother me so much if the character herself was well written the way Harley Quinn is in Suicide Squad, (more on that in another post), or passably written like Catwoman.  But here, she’s literally a blank slate with zero characterization.  I can get past the fan service aspect but add that to the whole thing and you get something that deserves panning.

          However, despite all of that, it’s still a really good comic line.  Yea.  It’s good.  In spite of Arsenal’s annoying factor and Starfire being an intentional fanboy’s sexual fantasy the art style, action, story, protagonist, action and pacing are all just too good.  These things do bring it down, but it’s never to the point of where the story is unreadable or unenjoyably and it’s one that I would recommend.  Yea, crucify me feminists but I like the story too much to say this story is bad or even unlikeable.

Verdict

Read

           And that’s it for the Batman comics and it’s obvious that D.C. was intent to squeeze every last penny out of anything Batman related.  And for the most part, it worked.  Batman, Detective Comics, Batwing, Batman and Robin, Nightwing, Birds of Prey, and Red Hood were all really good and ones that I recommend but don’t read them all back to back or you’ll probably go nuts.  I say get your own opinions on Dark Knight and Catwoman but the former seemed like overkill, and it won’t take a whole lot for me to take a flamethrower to the latter.  The same can be said for Batwoman which only saves itself from my pyromaniac wrath because it has potential it may exploit but I’m still keeping by torch lit.  Batgirl was the only one I couldn’t find anything interesting about.  It just bored me to tears and it’s not one that I would recommend and I’d ready your flamethrowers upon viewing them. 

          And that’s all I have to say about the Batman comics, and my God was this one long!  For those of you who kept with me the whole time, I appreciate your patience and hope you found it informative.  Next time I’ll be looking at The Green Lantern Comics and there are fewer of them so it will be a bit of break for us both.  So until next time this is The Illusive One signing off.