Customer Reviews

Batman: Snow

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

 

 

Snow examines Batman's early years and demonstrates why he operates solo or at best, with Robin.

Batman assembles a team of civilians to aid his intelligence gathering efforts because James Gordon and Harvey Dent are sworn law men whose loyalites sometimes conflict with the Dark Knight's extra-legal duties.

The origin of Dr. Freeze is explored and like Alan Moore's story of the beginning of the Joker in The Killing Joke, the villain is sympathetic and tragic.

Seth Fisher's artwork is really good, packed with obsessive detail and rich colors. It reminds me of Geoff Darrow's work in Hard Boiled but with a little softer edge.

As for the story, the other main villain, crime boss Peter Scotta, is not developed at all. Scotta's lack of characterization renders him a cardboard cutout who moves the story along but adds no flavor or fear. His character is the only major storytelling shortcoming.

It's a fun read and adds nuance and depth to the Batman mythology.

The main appeal of this book is the fabulous art by the late Seth Fisher. I think I've read all the superhero stories he drew, and along with "Willworld", this is one of the best. Fisher had an insanely-detailed style, influenced by European cartoonists like Moebius and Bilal, but much more precise (and whimsical, as when smoke blows out of Commissioner Gordon's ears). With the pastel colors of Chris Chuckry, the result is a Batman story unlike any you've ever seen before.

The story is very well-done as well, one of the seemingly endless series of "Year One-and-a-Half" stories that DC has commissioned to fill-in the backstory of Batman after the DC universe was re-shuffled in the mid-80s. This one gives us a good look at what it might have been like to be a brand-new crime fighter in a tough city like Gotham.

It's an enjoyable story, and the fact that it's not officially part of DC's continuity gives the writers a lot more freedom than they would probably have enjoyed if they were writing an "official" Batman story. But the real selling point here is the art. If you like unique, unconventional comic book art, you definitely need to check this one out.

This story contains a good version of the origin of Mr.Freeze and an interesting attempt by Batman to put together a civilian team of helpers for his war on crime. After being badly injured, Batman/Bruce Wayne realizes he needs some help(this story is pre-Robin), so he goes about recruiting his own kind of Mission Impossible type team.Each member has a certain attribute to contribute, i.e. a communications expert, a psychiatrist, a former FBI agent, an ex-com with underworld connections and an ex-special forces guy to provide muscle and special ops if needed. They get mixed up with some gangsters who are in the process of trying to get their hands on a top-secret Government weapons sysyem that deals with an ultra freezing ray. At the same time the rays inventor, Dr. Victor Fries' wife has become terminally ill and the good doctor is distraut. He removes his wife from the hospital and takes her to the lab in an attempt to cure her. Needless to say everything goes wrong and the weapons reactor explodes and MR. FREEZE is born. His wife is killed and the efects of the weapon drive Fries insane. He has an ongoing delusional relationship with his dead wife and goes on a rampage against those he feels are responsible for her death. Batman, his team, the police, the mob and Mr. Freeze all intersect in an exciting conclusion.Batman learns valuable lessons about endangering others in his "war".

This book contains great art and a brighter than the norm color scheme featuring varying shades of pastels and blues. The writing is excellent and poignant. The thing I especially liked is the artists depiction of Batman as more of a regularly proportioned man.Athletic, but not like some kind of steroid abusing muscle bound goon. 5 stars.

I kind of looked at this one and thought 'this artwork is kind of childish and goofy; this is probably just a one trick pony based on unusual artwork'. Not so, this had a really good story, and the art really grew on me towards the end. With some of the batman graphic novels it gets so dark and noir-y that you can't even tell what's happening, its just swirls of red and black. Not this one...if you can't tell what's going on here, get a new hobby. So yea, kind of refreshing. Also, I liked the idea of Batman assembling a team and playing off their emotional needs. It was like reservoir dogs, if Batman was the boss.

Bruce Wayne has just started out as the Batman, he's maybe a year or so into learning his new role as this Caped Crusader, and he's starting to feel the heat. So he decides to recruit some out of work, talented underachievers to act as his surveillance/backup team on the various criminals loose in Gotham. Meanwhile, Dr Victor Fries suffers a devastating loss when his ill wife takes a turn for the worse - but can he save her with the ice technology he's been working on?

Dan Curtis Johnson and JH Williams III write a Batman story that shows the Dark Knight still learning who Batman is and the complications that are fraught with being a vigilante. It's set sometime in the 70s (judging from the fashions and tech) and Batman's fighting an afro-ed mob boss (no-one famous like the Falcones) and having trouble accomplishing this simple task. I thought the vulnerability and uncertainty of Batman was unusual but showed a side to him that should be seen by the Batfans out there, showing that their hero wasn't as slick as he is today.

That said there were a number of issues I had with the book: why are Bruce and Jim Gordon so old-looking when they're supposed to be just starting out? Wasn't Bruce in his early twenties when he decided to become Batman? Wayne Manor looks like a cottage with Bruce enjoying a leisurely English breakfast each morning after 6 hours of sleep (impossible to imagine given how much time of Batman's is spent in the night) and his cape looks ridiculously billowing alongside his small, almost schlumpy frame (no muscles at all, Batman here looks like an impersonator).

And then there's the somewhat laughable team Batman puts together to help him fight crime which serves to point out that Batman should only work alone - or maybe with a certain circus acrobat as backup only.

"Snow" is mostly about Mr Freeze's origin story and while this is fairly interesting, seeing Batman bumble about Gotham with a ragtag bunch of misfits backing him up with some lo-tech gadgets in vans isn't as fun to read as you'd think. The script is a bit spare and boring but the artwork from Seth Fisher is fantastic, a mix of JH Williams III (whose artwork is far, far better than his writing) and Geof Darrow, and is worth picking up this book just for that.

Overall, not bad but a very average outing for the Dark Knight and not nearly as interesting as it could've been. A slow story with few memorable scenes and too much time given over to uninteresting side characters who only really factor in this book rather than in the Batman universe - "Snow" is definitely for fans only.

Anybody that loves Batman should read this. It's a very interesting story and is a good way to read about how Victor Fries became Mr. Freeze.

Batman Snow is a stirring story that tells the origin of Mr.Freeze batman's most deadly foe, which is more in line with his counterpart from BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES.Writer Dan Curtis Johnson and artist Seth Fisher deliver a concise and believable story of a family tragedy that has coupled with the creation of technological development that went terribly wrong. The two stories of course completely intertwined together of Batman's fighting crime for about a year and a half, and him wearing tired and thin at it. He decides to recruit help in the form of a team of a variety of experencied people in it which goes all terribly wrong for him when they encounter more than they bargained for. Mr Freeze forced by circumstances he believes are not his fault turns to revenge on all who caused the mishap in his life. Of course Batman's team fail miserably under Freeze's onslaught and Batman has to once more fight the good fight alone. A compelling story of 2 men at each other with their agendas and tragedies to deal with in their own way. This story was not the Schwarzenegger version of the cruel cryogenetist scientist but instead a story of a man who because of his tragic circumstances took the road he believed to be the right one but wasn't because in instead it was like raging blizzard in which is wrong of course. I thoroughly enjoyed this book to read and I understood why Freeze is repeatedly mentioned as the most sympathetically tragic of Batman's villains in which the is in a story that has two plots,in it one is of course Freeze's origin and the other is of course the formation of batman's new team.Even though the two stories seem totally unrelated, to each other they nonetheless absolutely effortlessly converge together at the end for a final showdown between each other as enemies that will continue in future storyarcs of development!

This book was surprisingly enjoyable. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from this story because the idea of the Dark Knight Detective forming his own team sounded a bit disconnected from the usual Batman characterization. Luckily though, the drama unfolded as each team member's character dynamics started to propel the story and plot forward. Unlike other superhero team books this one was firmly grounded in reality because the recruits were not super powered themselves but ordinary people with extraordinary talents. The imagery of Batman presiding over a hodge podge of professional criminal justice seekers at once seemed a bit hokey but deliciously entertaining in a sort of "Charlie's Angels" kind of way.

The device used did lend some introspection into the motivations of a young Batman and how he realized that waging a war on crime has to become a team effort if success is desired. The art of course is unconventional for a Batman story but does have a great silver age throwback feel to it. The art is great because it is not your typical comic or Batman art. It's light, fun, rich, and well lit. Seth Fisher did not deliver as much surrealistic imagery as he was known for in this story but he did still include his mind boggling Geoff Darrow type detailing in rendering Gotham landscape and architecture. It's still a great leap ahead of what you currently find in many current Batman titles.

But again, the unconventional story and art do not take away anything from the Batman conceits or conventions but rather give a nice interpretation that I think adds a bit more depth and dimension to the already very large Batman tapestry. Highly recommended.

Judging from this title, DC is working hard to ruin the Batman character.

'Snow' is a very tired account of Batman vs. Mr. Freeze, with Seth Fisher artwork just a tad too similar to that of Geof Darrow (there is much to be said for originality...)

Batman seems unsure of himself in this book. He slouches a lot and, the artwork seems to indicate, suffering from from bad posture issues. He's also depicted artistically as being somewhat undeveloped and out of shape. I found this distracting: the Dark Knight as a flabby, tired hero, who resorts to hiring others to help him (including a porn shop owner? What?)

Nothing ground-breaking with the Mr. Freeze story. Just a bland retelling of his origin, except now his freeze gun causes grizzly fatalities/dismemberments.

I read this title once, and just couldn't muster enough interest in a second read. Far better Batman tales have been told. This one should be avoided.

I read the original five issues of LOTDK and it was completely different from the Batman stories. Seth Fisher, who tragically comitted suicide after SNOW was published, did a wonderful job of capturing the Batman from a brand new point of view, and I love how both of the Caped Crusader's costume elements was blended(The Batman's classic 1982 blue-and-gray costume added with the "Year One" utility belt). The best part of the graphic novel was Victor Fries' delusional conversations with his late wife. Above all, this is one of the best DC Comics graphic novels to read.