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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Anthology of a Fall from Grace, February 20, 2008
BATMAN: RED RAIN
Ultimate Sacrifice
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: BLOODSTORM
Angst, Pathos, Craving, Alienation and Power
This is the best book of the trilogy (I bought the other books because of this one). This book summarizes the personal hell of one man, addicted and alone, unable not to bring death to those he loves. It is about conflict, guilt, isolation, alienation ...about heroism in its rawest, truest form.
I first read this over five years ago, and it continues to fascinate me to this day. I don't care about the vampire monsters, per se, for to me they are only a necessary plot device. The same can be said for Selina's character. They only exist to further the true story, which is Batman's struggle with his own nature ...the horror of recognizing we receive pleasure from another's harm, the helplessness of an addiction to things we've not necessarily even experienced -- the overwhelming urge to satiate a thirst at the cost of our own soul. That is the heart and soul and core of this book for me.
What would we do, given his power, his isolation, and his horrible thirst? At one point he narrates this for us:
"Thirst haunts me,
Life tempts me,
Death mocks me.
Together, the three, they curse me."
In spite of this book's gore and melodrama, that moment in the book continues to call out to me. Not only that, but Selina's character - the strength and nobility she provides, and the heartbreak of her loss - brings the entire story to an unstoppable head between the maniacal Joker and a Batman now drenched in the blood of his lover.
The authors deserve top credit for making a Batman that is, ironically, more human as an undead vampire than he ever was in life. May he rest in peace...
Get this if such things interest you.
BATMAN: CRIMSON MIST
Concluding the Trilogy...
Don't get me wrong, Batman as a vampire is the most compelling concept I've come across in comic-land. The first two books were so cool and intense that years later I still read it with eyes intent on the page.
I can't say for others, but for me all three books speak of the heart's deep inner urges, longings, appetites, and its pent-up rage and regrets. Bloodstorm was, for me, the penultimate description of the human condition. Only Christie Golden's book, "Vampire of the Mists," can touch what the creators have done in this trilogy.
Having said that, I must admit that the third installment here carries two basic flaws:
First of all, it loses touch with what makes Batman a living, pulsing character. I can't speak for others, but I can't identify with an unleashed, hell-bent-for-slaughter-and-mayhem Batman pushed past an insanity even the Joker never had. This Batman kills without compunction, guilt, recrimination, or reserve. He's ten times worse than any criminal he savages, and he's SCARY in ways that Batman never was meant to be, even in Elseworlds!
Second and more importantly for me, he looks U-G-L-Y ...with a capital UGH! I don't WANT to look at an animated rotting dessicated corpse of a once-Batman-turned savage killer running about tearing out necks and cutting off heads! I can only handle so much gore, and the creators gave more to spare here!
Call me silly, but one of the reasons I loved the first two installments is that Batman looked so COOL as a vampire! All shadows and cape and fangs ...he was creepy, but in a COOL way. He was all that Batman pretended to be... for real! But this Batman is just an ugly, insane monster.
Aside from all that, it was still a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. The end of Bloodstorm left me hanging, sad, and wanting more. Crimson Mist left me with a feeling of closure, as Batman dissolves into dust, leaving his cape behind to find that peace that he so longingly searched for.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Batman: Vampire the graphic novel, October 9, 2008
A graphic novel that combines the three Elseworld stories Batman & Dracula: Red Rain, Batman: Bloodstorm, and Batman: Crimson Mist.
A good read that deals with interesting questions and situations for the characters. If you're a Batman/vampire fan you'll most likely enjoy this.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Entertaining Tale Spun From a Hokey Concept, September 7, 2008
If you told me that a story about Batman vs. Dracula could be a decent graphic novel, let alone a series of graphic novels spanning a couple of hundred pages, I would have said you were mad. The strangest thing about this collection, however, is how seriously Doug Moench takes the concept.
Rather than a superficial battle of a superhero and a vampire horde, Moench spins an entire alternate Gotham City out of the concept. Many of the villains are different, including a werewolf-like Catwoman. ("Dark Knight" fans will recognize the alternate Two-Face design here as one similar to Chris Nolan's design from the film.)
The artwork begins in a vein similar to Bernie Wrightson, but Kelley Jones's characters get wilder and wilder in the second and third parts. The anatomy for some of his characters looks odder than a Rob Liefeld pin-up...which isn't pretty, to say the least. It's distinctive, though, but still the only thing holding this book back from being a five-star classic.
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