Customer Reviews

Batman: Death and the City

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This graphic contains Detective Comics #827-834 and follows the "Batman: Detective" graphic, also by Dini. The artwork is good, and it contains 4 standalones and 2 two-part storylines. Dini has continued his trend of incorporating old villains turned good, and putting interesting twists on previous villains.

In "Double Talk" Batman discovers Scarface is back from the dead (see "Face to Face" for details on Scarface's "death") and Scarface's new Ventriloquist. To Penguin's dismay, this discovery takes place in the newly revamped Iceburg Lounge.

"Shark Bite" involves Riddler, teaming up with Batman in his new role as detective to find out who killed an old friend of Bruce Wayne, and why.

The two-part "Siege" storyline makes buying this worthwhile by itself. Recent fans of Batman probably know that for a while, Bruce was become rather psycotic and utterly consumed by Batman, to the point of letting his relationships with his family suffer badly. More recent fans will know that Bruce lately adopted Tim Drake (see "Face to Face" for this storyline). "Siege" begins with Bruce attempting to broker a truce between the bickering heads of states of two unfriendly nations. Unfortunately, a suicide bomber decides to blow up Wayne Towers, leaving it up to Tim and Bruce to save the day, the heads of state, and themselves as well.

"Kind of Like Family" stars Harleen Quinzel, better known as Harlequin. She's doing her best to get parole through her good behavior when she's kidnapped from Arkham (yes, really) and drafted by the new Scarface to help him carry out a robbery. This one did a good job of showing how Harley has changed, and showing her as a person rather than Joker's giggling henchwench.

"Triage" was a fun detective story, with Batman using his sleuthing skills to hunt down the mysterious person apparently intent on killing off the Terrible Trio. The real twist was in who the would-be killer is.

"Trust" was perhaps my favorite of the lot. The two-parter has a magician whose assistant died during a stunt. Batman's investigations turn up a pattern of deaths or mutilations in the magician's latest shows, and so he calls in Zatanna. It's probably a good idea to read "Identity Crisis" before reading this, although you can follow along fairly well without it. Over the course of their investigation, Batman and Zatanna must face the lack of trust in their relationship, and decide if their friendship can withstand the harm Zatanna did to Batman.

Overall, good artwork, excellent stories, and a nice addition to anyone's Batman collection.

Having been a Batman fan for many years, I've found the Dini stories begun in the "Batman:Detective" collection refreshing. The stories return to Batman's sometimes overlooked role as the world's greatest detective.

These are stories, tales, intimate looks into the intellectual (and human?) side of Batman. Watch as he forms uneasy alliances with former foes . . . and former friends.

My favorite tale involves Batman and Zatanna teaming up to solve a case that brings about a deadly encounter with an unexpected foe. The plot weaves together a mystery with a touching story from Bruce Wayne's past. The image of Zatanna as a girl blowing magical bubbles, and its reappearance in Batman's mind during a certain scenario bring a chill.

The splash pages in between stories rivet me everytime - the black and white images bring out the most stunning emotions. If you like the artwork and the effects it brings to the stories, check out some of the "Batman: Black and White" collections.

This book does nicely on its own, but when you read it in conjunction with the "Detective" collection, it takes on a unique flavor that leaves you hungry for more.

The latest Batman trade paperback collects Detective Comics issues #827 - 834. This isn't one continuous storyline as the back description might have you believe but rather a few stories which are tenuously linked. The opening tale, "Double Talk" features the return of Scarface, with a new ventriloquist pulling the strings, no pun intended. Batman goes undercover to find out who the new villain is...In the second story, "Shark Bite" Batman and the Riddler are both on the trailer of a killer who murdered an old friend of Bruce Wayne's.

One of the best stories is the two parter called "Siege." Bruce Wayne is hosting an anti-terrorism conference at Wayne Towers with several world leaders when a series of explosions rocks the building. A terrorist using a gun that shoots out a liquid explosive is fully intent on bringing Wayne Tower down ala the Twin Towers. This was a great story. Batman along with Robin were at their most resourceful in tracking down and trying to stop the terrorist, But then, how do you stop a man who is on a suicide mission? Dini shows Bruce Wayne and Batman at his best, utilizing all his skills and Robin is calm and collected, even when his life is in great peril.

The new Ventriloquist returns in "Kind of Like Family." Harley is turned down for parole with Bruce Wayne casting a deciding vote to keep her locked up. Scarface breaks Harley out of prison to use her skills in a major heist. Harley has to decide whether to aid Scarface and be free, or if she wants to truly gain her release through legal channels. One of the better depictions of Harley the person rather than Harley the villain that I've read.

The final story is the two-part "Trust." Batman teams with Zatanna to investigate the death of one of the Zatanna's former assistants. But the magician responsible for her death turns out to be something much more sinister than Batman had bargained for. Dini's story features a good deal of tension between Batman and Zatanna as a result of the events in identity Crisis and the pair are finally able to reconcile. It's also revealed for the first time that her father Zatara was friends with Bruce Wayne's father, Thomas and worked on various charitable functions with him.

Dini shows a remarkable consistency as Detective Comics writer. While none of them may be earth-shatter, his tales are always solid and that shows in this volume as there isn't a clunker on the whole lot. The art is excellent throughout but I enjoyed Don Kramer's work on "Kind of Like Family" the most. He brought a certain charming innocence to Harley Quinn that made the story stand out.

Paul Dini hits his stride with this second collection of stories from his acclaimed run on Detective Comics. Again, we are let down by his pairing with artist Don Kramer, who is improving, but still learning his craft, but Dini's two part Zatanna tale and the reintroduction of Scarface still shine behind the lame artwork.
Writer Stuart Moore and artist Andy Clark produce "seige", a far better drawn two part story about Bruce Wayne being held hostage by a suicide bomber intent on destroying Wayne Tower, while Royal McGraw and Marcos Marz produce a very competent "Terrible Trio" story, so half the book has good art at least.
This collection rounds out Dini's fist year on 'tec, and his work is getting better, with his three stories from this collection building on the ones in the previous volume. I just don't understand the art choices DC makes sometimes. Simple and elegant line work is needed here, not Don Kramer's heavy handed, badly done pencil work.
Less fill-ins and better art next time please!

Dini has done it yet again! The mastermind behind Batman the Animated Series, Batman Beyond and even more famous DC animated shows takes his spellbinding writing to the next level in this intensely beautiful and interesting graphic novel. Not only are the stories filled with loads of twists and turns but the art by J.H. Williams III, another alumni of DC fame, delivers the characters you know and love with breathtaking art. This book will be worth the money and I'm sure you'll read more than once.

This is a collection of short stories about the Batman, featuring a return of Scarface, the death of an old friend, a politically motivated terrorist intent on bringing down the Wayne building through C4 explosives, a Harley Quinn escapade, and Zatanna joins Batman to hunt down a rogue magician with a dark secret.

Some of the stories are ok like "Siege" which is more involving as it's longer than one issue and features Bruce Wayne unable to change into Batman so has to rely on Tim Drake as Robin to take down the bad guy, or "Trust" the Zatanna story which had a nice twist and had some cool imagery. But on the whole, the stories are kind of average for Batman. Not very interesting, not too boring, just so so.

Also the stories only underlined how worn out the characters of Harley Quinn and Scarface are - they don't do anything in these stories but play their usual roles and then the story ends. Maybe it's time to not bother with them or kill them off?

The book is definitely only for Batman fans who must read everything Batman related, otherwise I wouldn't bother.

Paul Dini is one of the best current writers for Batman. This collection of Detective Comics #827-834 highlights Batman's role as a detective more than that of a superhero. I found the stories well written and the art is beautiful. Five of the eight stories are written masterfully by Paul Dini and illustrated by Don Kramer. The other three stories compliment those by Dini and are written by Stuart Moore and Royal McGraw and all three are illustrated by Andy Clarke.

Having worked so extensively on Batman: the Animated Series, it's no surprise that Paul Dini can create such compelling Batman stories. A story about Harley Quinn and the new (and intriguing) Ventriloquist is excellently crafted, and look for a great Zatanna and Joker story at the end. Goes together very nicely with Dini's preceding work: Batman: Detective.

(actually, would highly recommend reading the two books together - you get so much more out of Death in the City since so many elements from the first book get picked up again in the second).

I AM A HUGE BATMAN FAN, THAT BEING SAID, I AM BIASED AS TO ANYTHING BATZ RELATED, BUT I AM ALWAYS WARY NO MATTER WHAT TOWARDS STORY(1st)& ART (2nd).
OVER THE YEARS, THERE HAVE BEEN BATMAN STORIES WITH A GREAT STORY WITH TERRIBLE ART, AND GREAT ART WITH TERRIBLE STORIES. THIS BOOK HAS GREAT STORIES AND GREAT ART...I'VE BEEN AWAY FROM COMICS FOR AWHILE NOW...I HAVE A HUGE BATMAN AND BATMAN FAMILY COLLECTION OF COMICS AND BOOKS, AFTER I SAW BATMAN BEGINS, I WAS SUCKED BACK IN AGAIN.

PAUL DINI ISNT THE SOLE WRITER IN THIS COLLECTION, AND THEIR IS MORE THAN 1 ARTIST CONTRIBUTING...BUT THE WHOLE MASS OF TALENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR A GREAT ADDITION TO THE BATMAN MYTHOS.

CUDOS!!!

For me, this book seemed to much like the Batman animated series. The stories were not very "dark" and they just didn't seem as hard edged as I would like a Batman story to be (or as the cover would lead you to beleive). The art in this book seems very average. Nothing special with that. A couple people die, there is some blood, and Batman appears to be a pretty good detective, but I just wasn't that impressed. I would recommend this book to a child between the ages of 8-10 or to someone who was a fan of the cartoon.