Customer Reviews

Batman: Fear Itself

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

 

 

A train in the subway has gone out of control and when Batman goes to investigate, he finds the driver nearly frightened to death and mumbling something under her breath. Other instances of people becoming similarly frightened trigger the Batman to investigate further, but with all of his nemesises locked up, Batman has a new enemy that he knows nothing about.

This story was very well crafted and the descriptions were terrific. I found it very heard to put this book down. All the characters were desribed wonderfully. Unlike some of the other novelizations I have read, you don't need to know all that much about Batman to figure out what is going on in this book. I highly recommend this book!

I hope they keep cranking out these new Batman books!

Batman: Inferno had trumped Batman: Dead White by leaps and bounds but Fear Itself is an entirely different animal devoid of the money-shot moments from Inferno. I admit I'm usually a little biased in favor of Joker stories but this book was more what I'll call passively satisfying - a very real world with nothing too over the top, very believable.

Fear Itself is a toned down, flat black story. As with the previous books, it is set in a kind of post-Batman Begins continuity that blends some flavors from the modern Batman comic. There is a constant mention of "The Quake" which rocked Gotham - very reminiscent of Cataclysm/No Man's Land story line. Other ingredients of modern Batman include the familiarity with a long list of various martial arts Bruce has studied, mention of Joker, Two-Face, Riddler, Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy and the introduction of an improved grappling gun, resembling the current mono-filament grapnel in the comics.

This book does a little better job of the previous 2 in the series in making you feel in a very familiar world to Begins. You have Lucious Fox's involvement, plenty of Wayne Enterprises involvement, new gadgets, & a very healthy dose of the Bruce Wayne side of things. The ratio of Bruce Wayne to Batman in this book seemed like 85% to 15% to me and that's not a bad thing at all so don't let is scare you. It's done very well and taps into what they were trying to do in Begins since it is such an interesting side to the story.

Bat-Fans will salivate when reading this at all the possibilities for the new movie that they touch on in this book, including suit modifications to a reactive hardening material, mentions of the new improved Batcave & its entrances, layout, systems etc.

Despite the give away cover art & title, you'll find yourself in suspense when the villain you're waiting for is merely suspected for two thirds of the book before anything happens - the building action was very satisfying & a good amount of character development done on new characters Grey Berwald, horror novelist & Maggie Tolleyer the journalist type. Reaves has a solid grasp on the Batman universe. He really makes you want to see Jonathan Crane pop up again in full-on Scarecrow garb!

If you liked Batman Begins and are counting down the days until the next movie is released, then this book is definitely for you.

I tell you, the recent series of Batman novels produced have been...on and off for me. Dead white was a very good novel, but Inferno was written in a poor, first person narrative style that I found very distracting. So, picking up this book, I knew that it could go either way. What I found was a very intense and bone chillingly descriptive book about fear and one of my favorite Batman villains, the Scarecrow. Its fast paced, and with more twists and turns than a mountain highway. I really enjoyed this book, and I think any Batman fan should read this.

Well, once again a new batman novel is out in stores and the time has come to review it. This like the previous two novels, is well written and adds to the legend of the Batman. This novel, in particular, explores the topic of fear. This topic is constantly mentioned thorughout the story and is the major mystery that batman has to solve. Most of the story can be predicted easily, but the book is still well written.

I would recommend this novel for batman fans and readers looking for a novel the explores parts of the human mind.

PARTY ON, DUDES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is a tremendous focus on the horror genre in this novel tie-in to the 2005 film, Batman Begins.

A writer of horror novels is losing readers and market share, which is not a healthy combination to hold onto a career. Enter the Scarecrow, who has a concoction to keep readers frightened until their bitter end. And add to the brew a news reporter - Maggie Tollyer - who is quietly lurking like a cat while on the trail to solve the macabre mystery of a deadly terror for book readers and Batman/Bruce Wayne, who both must "Trust the Night" to solve the crime contained in the pages of terror.

The action develops slowly - and, at times, the text reads like a movie script - but it ultimately builds to a conclusion that emerges out of the deep shadows that haunt the soul.....no matter if one is a superhero or despised villain.

Ok so this book took a little to get in to. After about the first Hundred pages or so you really start to wonder about who the bad guy was in the book. Yea it deals with feel and at first thought your thinking the scarecrow but the author does a good job to make you think. I guess I am too much of a Batman fan but I enjoyed this book.

The plot: Batman discovers that readers of a horror novel have been literally scared to death. Who could be behind this???

The problem: Bo-ring. Honestly, I expected MUCH better from someone who wrote for Batman: The Animated Series. In this case, it was obvious from the beginning who the supervillain behind the plot was. Had Reaves misled us (and if they had not given it away on the front cover), it would have been more interesting and a better book.

I will not claim to be a Batman expert. I have only seen the old Batman - The Movie movie (absolutely hilarious!), the new Batman Begins, and the 80's version of Batman. The biggest reason I even thought about reading this book was that it was written by Michael Reaves, whose Star Wars books I have read and enjoyed. I was a little shocked to see that it actually had a co-author since the only place you even see his name is inside the book, but I tried not to let that keep me back.
A runaway train causes Batman to race to the scene to stop an impending crisis. Thinking he would find terrorists at the wheel or a dead driver at the least, Batman is surprised when the woman is actually alive but cowering in tremendous fear. So the Dark Knight (along with Maggie Tollyer, a well-known journalist) begins the search to find out why the driver suddenly developed a phobia and who is behind all the attacks.

Good:
Batman/Bruce Wayne and his "gentleman's gentleman", Alfred Pennyworth, are very much like their movie counterparts from Batman Begins (I have seen this one more recently and frequently so I will compare only to this one). Several times, I could see Michael Caine's reaction to Bruce's discoveries as penned in the book, or imagine Christian Bale performing the moves in a fight scene, or hear Gary Oldman speak as the police chief, Gordon. And Jonathan Crane as the Scarecrow was very well done. In these characters, the author(s) did a superb job capturing the qualities seen in the movie versions. Very impressive (and convincing!).
Furthermore, once the story gets going (about page 100 or chapter 7), it is fast paced. There are few dull moments and lots of Batman action. Several times, I could almost see the action as if the book were a movie or a TV show.

Bad:
Let's start with characters: Maggie Tollyer. Here's an independent, sassy, attractive, obstinate, sexy journalist (who was described as "tall" in the first chapter but then as "petite" when parading as Catwoman--which is it, guy(s)?) that just happens onto the scene of the crime. Is this ever explained? No. Then, she steals (yes, steals) a novel from the crime scene and instantly assumes that the book was the cause of it. That was sure fortunate. Then, this, to quote a character in the book, "annoying" woman parades through the rest of the book, crashing parties, forcing interviews, investigating the Undertown in sexy black leather, giggling with a pimp (exactly what I would be doing while investigating a crime!), and forcing Batman and Grey to rescue her. I have one question: Why? Why must all these stories have some super independent woman that looks great in a Catwoman costume or in sexy black leather clothes (which, may I add, I saw coming a mile away) who falls in love with Batman and ends up, at one time or another, completely helpless and/or tied up? Gag me!
Other characterizations (besides Bruce Wayne and Alfred) were not much better. Cutter is one of the most pathetic characters ever with his Sally Sob-Story. I could practically recount his biography just by the physical descriptions the author(s) gave them. And I was infuriated when the author(s) gave this character a gun. Cutter has never before held a gun then buys one for the heck of it? He doesn't even know how to shoot for Pete's Sake! He's more likely to shoot his own foot than kill someone.
And then Grey Berwald is absolutely all over the board. This guy had the potential to be really interesting and I tried to like him, but the author(s) foiled me each time. The fact is, Grey Berwald is probably bipolar (Bruce Wayne mentions this fact in the book, though flippantly). One minute, he's shy and sophisticated; the next, a boisterous Texan. And his "let's make friends with Bruce" scene really made my eyes roll.
Then, character interactions were completely bonkers. Firstly, "off-screen", Grey Berwald asks Maggie on a date. That sudden revelation threw me for a loop. Previously, Maggie had been pressing Grey Berwald for information (namely him saying he likes controlling people's emotions). So why would Grey ask her on a date? And then Grey shows his date his scare room and is surprised when she is freaked out by it. I don't know, but I think I would save the freak room for the second date. And then, as if she wasn't totally freaked out by the room, Maggie starts grilling Grey again. Huh?
Then, Maggie and Random Female Officer go trudging through Undertown. Of course, for this undercover mission, they decide to wear tight-fitting, sexy black leather that will TOTALLY not attract attention from the seedy denizens. While parading around for America's Next Top Undercover Investigator, the pair run into a pimp. As he is trying to sell his wares--you know, men and women who sell their bodies to pay for drugs?--these two cute girls are just a hair's breadth away from bursting into giggles. Women? Being professional? Taking being into such a supposedly dangerous place seriously? Whatever are you talking about? It's not like there are real life women in this world doing jobs like reporters, police officers, FBI Agents, doctors, lawyers...
Second, 86 pages into the book I realized I knew about the same amount as I did 20 pages into the book. The driver got so paranoid that she couldn't do her job. Check. Chemicals weren't in the atmosphere or in her blood. Gotcha. She did read a horror novel before setting out. Uh huh. So, why does it take 80 pages to tell this over and over? And, I continued along, it really doesn't change as you proceed through the book. Not much is actually learned. A lot of scenes are dedicated to Gag-Me Maggie, brain-dead Cutter, and flip-flop Grey, but not much is accomplished in that time. It gets to the point when you wonder if the author(s) weren't sure how to proceed so threw a bunch of stuff in your face, hoping you will be distracted long enough until they figured out what to do next. And the bad guy at the end? Well, let's just say you know who it is from pretty much page 1 and just spend the rest of the book watching everyone else figure it out.
Other quibbles:
1. The conclusion is much too perky given what happens in the end.
2. The "scare" rooms in Grey's basement are mind-boggling and following the action in them is nearly impossible.
3. Every time you turn around, words like "benison" (said to be "archaic" in the dictionary), "frisson", and "inveterate" crop up. And then words like "forfend" (is if "offend" or "forbid"?) appear.

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
Expect da**, he** and the like in the dialogue arena (with mentions of characters shouting unwritten obscenities).
Bruce Wayne pretends to be a playboy. Maggie and an officer go to Undertown and run into a pimp who tries to sell his wares.
Batman intervenes in a gang war. The exploits of the likes of the Joker and other criminals are alluded to. Gang members draw knives and shoot guns. A gang member dies.

Overall:
So what do I think of this novel of the infamous Dark Knight? Well, if the movies that I mentioned above were any indication of the Dark Knight from the comics, then this Batman stays very true. I can easily see Christian Bale (or Michael Keaton) slipping into the Batman of this story and being very comfortable. On the other hand, the story was a little flaky, the characters other than Batman and Alfred lame, and the writing clunky. I would probably never read it again (though it did have a Star Wars reference) and would only recommend to those who are very fond of Batman and have no trouble ignoring the issues I had with the book.

Brought to you by
*C.S. Light*

Novels based on characters from comics and mangas have become popular. Recently DC Comics licensed and released a number of novels based on their comic book characters.

Batman: Fear Itself (2007) is written by Michael Reeves who received an Emmy Award for his work on Batman: The Animated series. What about Steven-Elliot Altman? My paperback copy does not list him as an author.

{warning: contains spoilers}

The basic premise of this novel is simple. If you are a best selling horror writer who seems to be losing his edge and his sales, what and how far will you go to reestablish yourself as a writer?

Grey Berwald is that horror writer. His solution was to turn to the master of horror, the Scarecrow a.k.a Dr. Crane for help. The Scarecrow gave Grey a neurotoxin to spray on his novels so that whoever read them will have a heighten state of fear. Things went wrong when some people cannot handle their fear and caused accident and death.

Batman/Bruce Wayne and investigative reporter Maggie Tollyer investigates and finally confronts the Scarecrow.

Reeves works with some interesting premises; How far will you go as a writer to get sales and reach the top of the best seller list? Do you have limits in what you will and will not write? Are you responsible for what people do after they have read your writing? Will you sell your soul to the devil?

It can be said (and proved) that in life...nothing is linear.

Nothing moves in a straight line. Everything curves, bends, crosses, intersects and comes together and falls apart in a series of waves, explosions and tears throughout this reality (and all those still left to discover). So, it comes as some (but no real) surprise that there is an expection to this rule and that expection is FEAR ITSELF by Micheal Reaves and (not good enough for the cover) Steven-Elliot Altman.

From the cover to the final page there is not one plot twist, turn about, curveball, surprise, or GOTCHA! moment to be found in this book. As sure as B follows A there is no mystery here. Who's behind the latest bio-terror generated fear attacks in Gotham? What fiend is "thrilling" people to death with pulp fiction? The cover gives the game away even before you turn to page one... and it takes Micheal Reaves (and shy guy) Steven-Elliot Altman nearly three quarters of the book to catch up to something YOU already know (and, I should point out here, that I lay full blame for this on the marketing department at BALLANTINE BOOKS, not on Reaves and (hide and seek) Altman. I'm sure if BALLANTINE released a novalization of CITIZEN KANE, ROSEBUD would rest dead center on the cover - giving the jig up). So, as Batman and company work their way fresh through the "mystery" the only thing you have to do is keep turning the pages and fight the urge to skip ahead to find out how this villain managed to do what he did and why.

Don't fight that urge. Skip three quarters in and just finish the book. Don't worry about who's who or what they have to do with the plot or each other, they're just company characters with cardboard problems and stock and trade payoffs. It's so linear, so common and so mindless that it amazes me that it took two people to write it. I assume one was there to wake the other if they happened to fall asleep while typing (which must have happened often).

If there is ever any more perfect example of SWEAT SHOP FICTION, then FEAR ITSELF is it. A major disappointment here for BATMAN fans. Avoid.