Graphic Novel

BOOK REVIEW – BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN

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Batman: The Long Halloween is a 13 issue comic book series that was initially released between 1996 and 1997. It was written by Jeph Loeb with artwork done by Tim Sake.

The story in The Long Halloween takes place at a time when Batman was still relatively new and inexperienced in his crime-fighting career. In the Story, Batman, with the assistance of Commissioner Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent hunt for a killer who kills on notable holidays, such as Halloween, Christmas, New Years, Mother’s day and so on.

Various members of Batman’s Rogues gallery make an appearance including the Joker, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and Catwoman, to name a few, and the story also covers the transformation of Harvey Dent into Two-face.

Batman: The Long Halloween is widely considered one of the definitive Batman stories, but saying that it is not one of my favorites as there are numerous plot holes and logic leaps that I find detracts from the overall story.

It is still a very enjoyable read, however, if someone is interested in getting started in the Batman comic series, I would instead suggest Batman: Hush or Batman: Year One as a better starting point.

BOOK REVIEW – BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN

MOVIE REVIEW – BATMAN: GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT

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Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is a 2018 animated movie produced by Warner Bros Animation and DC Entertainment and is based on a one-off graphic novel by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola (originally published in 1989). The story forms part of the DC Else World series which places known characters in different timelines or realities and does not form part of the main DC universe continuity.

The story takes place in a Victorian era Gotham city sometime in the 19th century, which is strongly styled after London during the Victorian times. The story revolves around a killer, Jack the Ripper, who is terrorizing Gotham city and how the Batman is trying to apprehend him.

Various familiar characters make an appearance such as Poison Ivy, James Gordon and Hugo Strange, but they all take on different roles than the ones we know them for. For example, young Tim Drake, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd are in a street gang known as the Robins.

The movie is beautifully animated as with most DC animated movies and the voice acting is outstanding, Bruce Wayne\Batman is voiced by Bruce Greenwood, who does an exceptional job, however I do always find it slightly jarring when Batman is voiced by anyone other than Kevin Conroy.

This movie is immensely engaging and does a great job of bringing the graphic novel to life. It does have a major plot twist, that I will not spoil, that adds a real sense of surprise to how the story ends.

It is a great movie for Batman and DC Animated Universe fans and is a really enjoyable watching experience.

MOVIE REVIEW – BATMAN: GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT

BOOK REVIEW – BATMAN HUSH

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Batman Hush is a mainline Batman story arc that was originally published in the Batman Comic between 2002 to 2003, which has subsequently been published in this graphic novel. Hush is a great self-contained story which can easily be picked up by anyone looking for a starting point in the almost endless selection of Batman comics.

Batman Hush is one of the best usages of the Batman Villains’ gallery, featuring a large cast including, the Riddler, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and the Joker to name a few. The graphic novel tells a great story written by Jeph Loeb, full of twists and a few surprises along the way, it really is one of the classic must read story in the Batman comic series.

The story is beautifully bought to life by the artwork, which is some of my favorite in the long running Batman comic series. The art is the combined work of Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair, being responsible for pencil, ink and color respectively.

I can really recommend this graphic novel if you want to get started in the Batman comic series as it is a great jumping-off point and if you are already reading the series and have not read Hush, then you are really missing out.

BOOK REVIEW – BATMAN HUSH

BOOK REVIEW – LITTLE NIGHTMARES VOLUME 1 GRAPHIC NOVEL

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Needless to say, this graphic novel is based on the game Little Nightmares and contains the first 2 comic books in the series. The series was initially announced to consist of 4 comic books, however at the time of this post book 3 and 4 unfortunately appear to have been cancelled.

Anyone who has played Little Nightmares will know that the world of the game is a dark and mysterious place, with a lot of unanswered questions. This graphic novel builds on this world and provides some additional bits of information about the greater world that was not directly shown in the game.

I really like the ascetics and feel of Little Nightmares and part of its appeal is this sense of unknown, and the graphic novel does not spoil this, providing just enough information to get the reader more curious. For example, the comic books explain how the kids end up on The Maw, the fictional ship on which the game and its DLC takes place, but gives no additional details about the mysteries surrounding the Maw itself.

The graphic novel is beautifully illustrated with amazing artwork, in line with the graphic style of the game.

It is however important to mention that this graphic novel will not make sense to someone who has not played the game. It is very much a companion piece to the game and builds on the world that was established therein. But if you played Little Nightmares and loved the world it built then this will be a great read.

BOOK REVIEW – LITTLE NIGHTMARES VOLUME 1 GRAPHIC NOVEL