Customer Reviews

Batman: Son of the Demon

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

 

 

Well written and well drawn story. Batman forms an uneasy alliance with his enemy Ra's al-Ghul to take dawn a ruthless terrorist who is developing a weapon to control the weather. Feels more like James Bond than Batman, but it doesn't matter. What elivates this story above others is the heart-breaking romance between Batman and al-Ghul's daughter Talia, which leads to a shocking and very moving conclusion.

The book begins as Batman fights terrorists who have taken hostages. These militants, though, are lackeys for a far greater threat. Indeed, the threat is so great that Batman finds himself becoming the ally of Ras Al Ghul, the Demon's Head. They find themselves aligned against a common threat, a satellite that controls the global weather.

As they join forces, Batman finally gives in and marries Talia. Together, they conceive and Talia becomes pregnant. In addition, Batman trains Ras' men to become better fighters.

I really was surprised by a number of things in this story. It was a departure from things I take for granted in the Batman universe. For instance, Batman does love Talia, but them having a son is really surprising. Batman having a family seems to contradict his image as a lone avenger. One of the ways that people identify with Batman is through the loneliness that he exemplifies.

Also, that Batman would leave Gotham for a few months at a time is shocking to me. He is the guardian of the city, and it would seem that in his mind leaving the city for a few months would be equivalent to abandonment. His obsession with cleaning up Gotham is another of his defining characteristics.

So in some ways this book takes the Batman character in new directions. The plot creates a compelling hypothetical situation that challenges the Batman mythos and stretches it. I was really surprised at some of the ingenuity and creativity. This book takes an interesting turn.

This was one of the earlier Batman Graphic Novels to come out and unlike most of the current ones, this one truly warrants the additional size and investment. A great story of Batman, his nemesis R'as Al Gul (The Demon), and Talia, the Deomn's daughter -- and frequent Batman consort. Great adventure, great character development and excellent writing (much better than the "sequel" Bride of the Demon).

This is the graphic novel in which Bruce Wayne comes closest to having a real relationship with a woman. He spends quality time with Talia and she conceives. Of course, all of that has been written around now and DC claims it's the equivalent of an 'elseworlds' story. Ah, well.. Good reading.

Batman: Son of the Demon tells the story of Batman teaming up with Ra's al Ghul to defeat a common enemy. Unfortunately that interesting premise leads to an overall disappointing story.

My main criticism of this story is that Batman simply doesn't act like Batman and does many things that I find out of character. I can accept a Batman that is in love with Talia al Ghul, despite her villainous father, however he agrees to work with Ra's and lead his men even though they are basically terrorists. Just because they are fighting other terrorists doesn't change that fact.

That Batman ever fell in love with Talia in the first place is harder to believe, as she is written as a cliche, annoying girlfriend. She only refers to Batman as "beloved", the type of thing that would make me roll my eyes if heard it in a real couple's conversation. Of course, once it is revealed that Talia is pregnant, Batman himself becomes the annoying one. I understand concern for an unborn child, but Batman prevents a doctor from tending to men with gunshot wounds after a firefight until she checks up on Talia. That is just being a selfish jerk.

Batman is one of my favorite comic book characters, but by the end of this story I found it hard to care about what happened to him.

Batman: Son of the Demon is a showcase for the definitve Batman of the 80s. O'Barr weaves a tale in which Batman is forced to unite with his most powerful enemy, the ancient eco-terrorist, Ra's Al Ghul, in order to quell the destruction of the Earth. This is an excellent book, featuring stand-out art for Jerry Bingham, and great story telling from O'Barr. It is hard to put down, and you'll never believe the last page! And when you read that, read Kingdom Come...

Batman finally gives in to the Demon's Head, and ends up staying with him and Talia, and fighting by his side.

He does teach Ra's troops some new tricks, and lowers the level of bloodthirstiness.

Talia ends up pregnant, hence the title.

Although I do not own this particular edition, I do own a reprint of this classic story.

I highly recommend it to all Batman fans!

Ra's al Ghul has always been a rather Mary Sue-ish character, and when he's not being an author insertion, he's being a cheap ripoff of Fu Manchu or any number of run-together James Bond villains. At his best, he's a moustache-twisting loomer in the darkness, motivating Batman into situations with global repercussions and typically avoiding any real consequences for his actions. His daughter, Talia, is basically a pair of breasts with a gun, created as a fanboy fantasy so that they can pretend they're Batman. She has virtually no personality and exists as a commodity of easy virtue.

What is especially lacking about this pathetic excuse for a Batman story is the fact that Batman is written so horribly out of character, not that it's too surprising post-Crisis to see Batman utterly miswritten. Everything that went before is, in a cavalier fashion, ignored or handwaved. Batman's revulsion to Talia's machiavellian attitude and unreliability? Handwaved. Batman's undying dedication to protecting Gotham City and all its inhabitants? Ignored. His absolute refusal ever to work with someone of Ra's al Ghul's level of insanity and machiavellian worldview? Brushed under the rug.

In short, this is not Batman, but it's the shameless, tawdry fanfiction of someone who liked Ra's al Ghul and thought they'd enjoy completely and utterly screwing up Batman's already sad excuse for continuity. It's an implausible tale even for superhero stories (or, more accurately, spy fiction), which is made worse by the fact that too much is assumed of the reader and his preferences for the characters involved.

No character escapes unscathed from the incompetence on full display here: each and every character is irreparably ruined by the end of it. It's a miracle that something this poorly-conceived was ever given the approval of any editor, although it's not a surprise given its publication date; at the time DC were convinced that this sort of lackadaisical storytelling, with greater emphasis on doing something 'different' rather than being a sensible or logical progression of the characters, was the next big thing. They found out otherwise, but unfortunately didn't seem to learn from the lesson.

The art is fine, although the colouring manages to be the usual 'one-shot wonder' style popular at the time. For some reason they always tended to use different colouring styles for these sorts of graphic novels, and it almost always ended up looking washed-out and less vivid than the proper comic colour jobs.

Similar to the less terrible but still mediocre 'Bride of the Demon' graphic novel, 'Son of the Demon' is just an overpriced, overrated piece of offal best brushed under the rug in exactly the same way it brushed consistent characterisations, coherent narrative, and any continuity under the rug. These aren't in any way the characters that they should be, and the situation they're put in is completely ludicrous and forced along only because the script dictates it. It takes no time to try and make the reader want to buy into the setting, and it's difficult to imagine that any legitimate fan of Batman and his cast to that point would have taken this seriously. I suppose it says something that both 'Son' and 'Bride' completely dropped off the map, more or less. One could only hope to forget them.

Next time these creators want to get together and write fanfiction about characters, maybe they could look for a better venue for it. A hardback prestige graphic novel is not the place for it.