Customer Reviews

Batman & Dracula: Red Rain

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the book's introduction, Eric Van Lustbader descreibes his initial concerns over the cheesiness of the "Batman vs. Dracula" concept (really, <anything> vs. Dracula smacks of (...) to us nowadays).

Put all that aside. There is no cheese here. I am well acquinted with vampire lore, and this is just as good as any other modern interpretation. Consider how well vampire lore fits into the idea of Batman and the construction of his character. It really adds something.

Plus, it *is* an Elseworld's tale. And like all Elseworlds tales, you should let yourself go, knowing that none of this actually happened, and enjoy the alternative history. Let it get a little crazy.

The artwork is really top notch, and the story is great. My only complaint would be that the story moves too fast, and some parts (Batman's love interest...the characters dealing with *vampires* in the city) are not examined in enough detail. The work suffers from that. There *is* the sequel, though, which examines some of these concepts in more detail.

This book is the start of a three-part descent into hell and oblivion, with much angst and pathos (and blood) along the way. While the last installment, "Crimson Mist" (think "Alien 3" as far as depressing goes), wraps this up pretty well, "Red Rain" and "Bloodstorm" are my personal favorites.

"Red Rain" sets up the storyline, bringing the Dark Knight from his usual stomping grounds (and reality) into a world where, (to quote "Bloodstorm"), deduction has become meaningless, for the rules are now random. This book focuses on the sacrifices of Bruce Wayne for his beloved Gotham City. [The second book focuses on the Batman's sacrifices for Gotham, and the third book focuses on the sacrifices of those who love Batman for the sake of Gotham].

Some complain this book is boring; I disagree. Since we are at the beginning of the trilogy, Batman is all cool calm and control, even with those bat-wings and eventually fangs. It is the beginning of Batman becoming his own namesake, a true "Bat-man" who is the ultimate nightmare form of the Dark Knight ...incarnate. We get to watch him be stripped of his cool calm, his reason and deduction, his belief in "how the world is," his house, wealth, fortune, life, and even his humanity ...yet he continues the fight, altered as he is, holding fast to his ideals even as he continues to become something he doesn't recognize anymore.

Tell me that Batman doesn't seem like a man pretending to be a creature of the night, a vampire who doesn't kill. Well here, he becomes what he pretends to be. Onward to the second book to determine what happens when we become what we have so long pretended to be!

"Batman & Dracula: Red Rain" offers a unique take on the Caped Crusader. More Dark Knight than Adam West camp, this tale plops Bruce Wayne into an apocalyptic Gotham (even more so than usual), as the very sky weeps tears of blood.

Wayne's dreams are tortured by haunting images of beautiful-yet-doomed women, but even more disturbing are the mysterious scars on his back when he awakens. Soon, as the title subtly hints, Batman is matching fists (and to a lesser extent, wits) with good old Dracula himself.

This is a very violent take on the Batman saga, with more emphasis spent on blood and carnage than Batman's detective skills. Several panes offer horrifying visions of Batman's world, and it's safe to say that this is a story for older Batman fanatics.

While the look of this pulp is fantastic, the story lacks a bit of heft. After all, we're talking about the leading comic hero taking on one of the leading villains in Western Civilization . . . and yet Dracula comes across as a rather pedestrian nasty than world-class. There's also an unsatisfying clank of deus ex machina in Batman's climactic fight against the Old Count Dracul, and is not worthy of either our hero or our villain.

Still, "Batman versus Dracula" is an entertaining, if brief tale, and is sure to thrill fans of Batman to their core. Worth a read, but not worthy of the pantheon of great Batman tales.

Red Rain is a tale of gothic horror, laced with the brilliant deductive skills and high adventure that are never far behind when Batman is on the scene. When the lord of the undead comes to Gotham, Batman is the only one there is to prevent his city from sliding into an undead hell of utter chaos and depravity. Doug Moench is one of the finest Batman writers, and the art team of Kelley Jones and Malcolm Jones III (Kelley is inked by John Beatty these days, but Jones III does an excellent job here) round out the creative team responsible for this awesome tale.

The majority of reviews sum up why this book is so great so I won't go into detail and rehash what has already been said. It's enjoyable from start to finish to see Batman discover, accept, then fight Vampires in his world. They do a great job of making sure every panel counts and really dive into the back stories more then expected. Art work is dark/rough/chaotic and fits the story perfectly. Highly recommended to anyone who loves a good Elseworld tale.

When I picked up this first volume in the Batman vs. Dracula trilogy. I expected it to be an excellent graphic novel!! And it meeted my exact expectations. Batman, the Dark Knight and Dracula, the Lord of Darkness,make excellent characters for this crossover. This Batman tale has a dark and terrifying storyline with the Lord of Darkness and his undead army of vampires taking over Gotham city, plotting to plunge it into an age of utter darkness, pain, and fear! This reads just like a gothic dark fantasy or horror novel, and being a huge fan of gothic dark fantasy and horror novels, video games, and movies, such as the "Castlevania" video game series, the "Dark Shadows" tv series, and the anime movie "Vampire Hunter D", I just loved this
Batman vs. Dracula graphic novel and I certainly plan on buying the other two volumes in this epic gothic trilogy!!!

Sure, Killing Joke, Year One, Arkham Asylum and Dark Knight Returns are the best, but this book, an Elseworlds, deserves to be ranked up there with it. Kelley Jones is by far the best Batman artist and though the late Malcom Jones III inked it (vs. his usual inker John Beatty), the pencils and inks are perfect.

Doug Moench took a rather cheesy idea and made it great! It honestly scared me when I was younger, about 12 years ago when I first read it, esp. the scene when Bruce shows Alfred why he won't be needing the car anymore. SCARED ME, folks!

The first sequel was all right, but the final book in the trilogy was great, but not quite as good as Red Rain.

In the book's introduction, Eric Van Lustbader descreibes his initial concerns over the cheesiness of the "Batman vs. Dracula" concept (really, <anything> vs. Dracula smacks of (...) to us nowadays) I loved the concerpt of batman fighting vampires

I have the whole trilogy, beginning with this graphic novel (Red Rain), and I can't recommend these enough. For casual Batman readers, note, this is an elseworld story and is not within the regular batman arch/mythos. There has been many of these, i.e., Batman v. Predator, Batman v. Aliens, etc. this is sort of a "wouldn't it be cool/scary if" kind of story. This takes macabre dark elements of Batman to the extreme, and you just have to set aside the regular Batman universe and enjoy the gothic tale (this is more Batman in Dracula's universe than the reverse). Each installment in the trilogy is increasingly dark (and the last is shockingly so) and I remember finishing these and exclaiming "wow!" I read some of the other reviews and folks felt the later stories belied the idea of Batman, but they forget this is an elseworld story, i.e., the events that occur in this trilogy could never occur in the regular story line, as it would be an irrevocable diversion. I think that even in this gothic guise Batman remains true in the end. Anyway folks, enjoy!

I still haven't finished reading this graphic novel yet, but so far it's really good.