Batman: The Many Deaths of the Batman [Paperback]

John Byrne (Author), Jim Aparo (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1992

Deluxe Format semi-hard cover book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 72 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156389033X
• ISBN-13: 978-1563890338
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,775,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Byrne & Aparo - They Are Good!, July 1, 2008

By 

John C. Hyde "WJCK5" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Batman: The Many Deaths of the Batman (Paperback)

The only other review for this book has it rated at two stars so I felt there was a bit of balance needed here. The Many Deaths of Batman was a three issue mini-series of Batman published in the late eighties. Written by John Byrne and drawn by Jim Aparo, clearly this is no average Batman story. And it is certainly deserving of more than two stars - in fact it is a five star affair. The story will suck you in immediately and seem entirely too short, which you'd expect from Byrne. As for the art, it's Jim Aparo, the definitive Batman artist of the eighties.

Much of the story follows Jim Gordon which is not a bad thing. Many times you'll read reviews where people will complain that Batman was not the main character, there was too much Gordon, too much Alfred, too much whoever. That's all nonsense. When you've got characters as rich as Commissioner Gordon there is no reason at all to not allow them to drive the occasional story.

What this book really amounts to is a small taste of what was to be found during this era of Batman comics, so it's really hard to be satisfied with the mere three issues offered here. After reading this story you'll probably be overwhelmed by the urge to plunder your local comic store's Batman bins.

The Many Deaths of Batman = Five stars all the way.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Bag of Stories, November 19, 2009

By 

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Batman: The Many Deaths of the Batman (Paperback)

In the 60s and 70s, lurid comic book covers were often the norm. So often we saw covers, which claimed a character, would die, or their secret identity would be revealed. These were the hooks used to draw readers in, even if the story almost always turned out to be a "what if" story, or a dream, or a hoax perpetrated by the hero himself. We get seven such stories in The Many Deaths of the Batman, four of which come from the 60s and 70s.

"The Strange Death of Batman" is a perfect example of this type of story. After Batman has captured a ridiculous villain known as The Bouncer, We see writer Gardner Fox lying on his sofa and contemplating what if the Bouncer had really killed Batman. It's the kind silly story you saw a lot of in the mid-60s but it does give insight into that simpler era of comic book history. In "The Corpse that Wouldn't Die" Batman is electrocuted. He's breathing but has no brain function. The Atom shrinks down to microscopic size to stimulate Batman's brain and control his body to track down the person responsible. His stimulation ends up saving Batman's life.

And so it goes through the rest of the stories. This isn't required reading but its fun stuff for sure. The book reprints stories from Detective Comics #347, World's Fines #184 and 269, The Brave and the Bold #115, Batman #291-294, Batman Chronicles #8 and Nightwing #52.

1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Short read, don't go out of your way, January 23, 2008

By 

Steven Scott "LeChuck" (L.A., CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Batman: The Many Deaths of the Batman (Paperback)

This book is a compilation of 3 comics. The story is clever in its concept, but not that well executed in my opinion. Several bodies are discovered all dressed as Batman. Commisioner Gordon leads the investigation, aided by the assistant coroner who is pretty much there just out of curiosity and the chance to play detective.

These men are actually being murdered and Bruce Wayne was also a targeted assasination that didn't go down as planned so Gordon orders 24 hour protection at Wayne Manor. There is a connection between all these men, but only Bruce knows why and revealing it would uncover his dual identity.

The best part about this short is the first issue being nearly completely silent with all the story told through the artwork illustrated by Jim Aparo. Only two words are spoken. It's a great way to start it off and is quite intriguing but from that point on it loses steam and left me unsatisfied.