by Corey
I'm sure a lot more people have a handle on who Bruce Wayne / Batman is than ever before. But I decided to catalog and profile what this billionaire has meant to me over the years. I am not an orphan, I was raised by two loving parents who stayed together for life. but something in me connected to the darkness in young Bruce's story.
I remember at a young age seeing one of the Joker's victims with a ghastly smile. I must have been at a drug store or a 7-11 Yes kiddies life was different in the seventies. The juxtaposition of a smiley face on a dead body certainly shocked the six year old me. But it didn't keep this story from being my favorite comic legacy. I still have to force myself to read other books instead of picking up the latest news from Gotham
I never really had the scratch to be a collector in my elementary years and when I got a paper route in '79 I was deep in the Star Wars action figure by Kenner tm business. So when I was Sixteen and my friend Erik handed me a blue graphic novel with a lightning bolt on the cover i was once again fatefully drawn (absolutely no pun intended) back in to this psychologically fragile landscape that is the Batverse.
That blue tome was non other than the most celebrated piece of Hero fiction in comic history: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. My apologies to everyone who takes the daunting task of writing or drawing inking colouring or lettering any Batman stories post 1986 cuz WOW! Frank gave himself the license of the future to tell the ultimate finale of this world. And as I write this I realize this is what has given me the freedom not to worry about continuity or what comic characters must be. I just want fun, epic, cool, and/or dark stories from writers and artists who love what they do.
Since collecting music had taken hold four years before this monumental moment, I didn't fall down to comic hole then. Other than briefly getting gift subscriptions from Grandma to Neil Adams era Batman & Green Arrow and Marv Wolfman's epic Teen Titans , ! still never turned my room into a long box fort. Having a complete story from cover to cover was too good for me. The single issue soap opera I couldn't hang with or afford. To this day I only read recommended arcs.
How excited could I be when the Batman trailer came out I remember riding on the back of my brother's scooter and going to the newly barely refurbished old cinema in my little home town of Lodi California. The screen lit up and I was confused and disappointed. I know people don't understand my opinion on this but I had gotten lost in what I read on those beautiful pages. Frank Millers one panel of The Joker's eye still captivates me today. so out of that seeing a rubber batman suit with ears wiggling and miscast villain (Tim Curry is who I would have cast). It was all to up close and wrong.
So from that time until about 2006 I had a handful of trusty graphic novels that were far from mint. They were as follows The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark knight Strikes Again, Batman Year One (Frank Miller), Gotham by Gaslight (Brian Augustyn & Mike Mignola), World's Finest (Dave Gibbons and artist Steve Rude) , The Killing Joke, League of Extraordinary Gentleman Vol.1 (Alan Moore), Arkham Asylum (Grant Morrison & Dave McKean), Marvels, Kingdome Come painted by Alex Ross, Wolverine Origin (Joe Quesada, Andy Kubert).
Then who knew three guys in New York would plug microphones and become my new comic mentors? I started listening to podcasts pretty much when they came out and I fortunately discovered iFanboy. it was fun hearing what was new with my favorite characters. So I was back in.
Enter Christopher Nolan. I knew him from his indie film Memento. I didn't know what to expect. I had been burned before. If you don't know, a director on a big movie is not in complete control. Even Tim Burton said he wasn't allowed to tell his Batman story until the second movie.
I mentioned in my Dark Knight Rises write up that I ultimately bought in to his realistic approach. I was even personally happy to see that Nolan shared my disdain for the yellow in the bat symbol in the costume.
Since Nolan I have discovered some other great storytellers in the batverse. Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin with the first Robin (Dick Grayson) taking the mantle of Batman and Bruce Wayne's son Damien as Robin was a novel perspective shift on the Bat family. Scott Snyder currently reigns as chief scribe and his background in horror comics has plunged Gotham into a twisted maelstrom of wicked frivolity.
Soon we will witness a knock down drag out between the Dark Knight and the Krypton's last son. Who's to say if this take will be worthy of the the cowl. I am confident that I will always find tales in this world to enjoy, he's my favorite after all.
I remember at a young age seeing one of the Joker's victims with a ghastly smile. I must have been at a drug store or a 7-11 Yes kiddies life was different in the seventies. The juxtaposition of a smiley face on a dead body certainly shocked the six year old me. But it didn't keep this story from being my favorite comic legacy. I still have to force myself to read other books instead of picking up the latest news from Gotham
I never really had the scratch to be a collector in my elementary years and when I got a paper route in '79 I was deep in the Star Wars action figure by Kenner tm business. So when I was Sixteen and my friend Erik handed me a blue graphic novel with a lightning bolt on the cover i was once again fatefully drawn (absolutely no pun intended) back in to this psychologically fragile landscape that is the Batverse.
That blue tome was non other than the most celebrated piece of Hero fiction in comic history: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. My apologies to everyone who takes the daunting task of writing or drawing inking colouring or lettering any Batman stories post 1986 cuz WOW! Frank gave himself the license of the future to tell the ultimate finale of this world. And as I write this I realize this is what has given me the freedom not to worry about continuity or what comic characters must be. I just want fun, epic, cool, and/or dark stories from writers and artists who love what they do.
Since collecting music had taken hold four years before this monumental moment, I didn't fall down to comic hole then. Other than briefly getting gift subscriptions from Grandma to Neil Adams era Batman & Green Arrow and Marv Wolfman's epic Teen Titans , ! still never turned my room into a long box fort. Having a complete story from cover to cover was too good for me. The single issue soap opera I couldn't hang with or afford. To this day I only read recommended arcs.
How excited could I be when the Batman trailer came out I remember riding on the back of my brother's scooter and going to the newly barely refurbished old cinema in my little home town of Lodi California. The screen lit up and I was confused and disappointed. I know people don't understand my opinion on this but I had gotten lost in what I read on those beautiful pages. Frank Millers one panel of The Joker's eye still captivates me today. so out of that seeing a rubber batman suit with ears wiggling and miscast villain (Tim Curry is who I would have cast). It was all to up close and wrong.
So from that time until about 2006 I had a handful of trusty graphic novels that were far from mint. They were as follows The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark knight Strikes Again, Batman Year One (Frank Miller), Gotham by Gaslight (Brian Augustyn & Mike Mignola), World's Finest (Dave Gibbons and artist Steve Rude) , The Killing Joke, League of Extraordinary Gentleman Vol.1 (Alan Moore), Arkham Asylum (Grant Morrison & Dave McKean), Marvels, Kingdome Come painted by Alex Ross, Wolverine Origin (Joe Quesada, Andy Kubert).
Then who knew three guys in New York would plug microphones and become my new comic mentors? I started listening to podcasts pretty much when they came out and I fortunately discovered iFanboy. it was fun hearing what was new with my favorite characters. So I was back in.
Enter Christopher Nolan. I knew him from his indie film Memento. I didn't know what to expect. I had been burned before. If you don't know, a director on a big movie is not in complete control. Even Tim Burton said he wasn't allowed to tell his Batman story until the second movie.
I mentioned in my Dark Knight Rises write up that I ultimately bought in to his realistic approach. I was even personally happy to see that Nolan shared my disdain for the yellow in the bat symbol in the costume.
Since Nolan I have discovered some other great storytellers in the batverse. Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin with the first Robin (Dick Grayson) taking the mantle of Batman and Bruce Wayne's son Damien as Robin was a novel perspective shift on the Bat family. Scott Snyder currently reigns as chief scribe and his background in horror comics has plunged Gotham into a twisted maelstrom of wicked frivolity.
Soon we will witness a knock down drag out between the Dark Knight and the Krypton's last son. Who's to say if this take will be worthy of the the cowl. I am confident that I will always find tales in this world to enjoy, he's my favorite after all.