A spiritual sequel to Busiek Superman story, but this time Batman gets the spin of not actually Bruce but a real life bruce who focuses his life on...well Batman.

The character here is a kid who lost his parents in a robbery. It's similar to the way Bruce in the comics lost his parents. Our main character grew up reading all about Batman and when his parents were killed wanted nothing more than for the "batman" to show up. But this is real life, and well, those things don't happen. However, this kid wouldn't sit down till it happened, and out pops a mysterious creature bat who attacks "bad" people.

A little bit about the injustice of the world, mental health, loss, and compassion, this book hits a lot of big notes and mostly successeds on all of them. While I felt Secret Identity was probably better crafted and better paced, this holds alot of solid themes and dialogue. The art works well here, able to capture a old 60's and 70's feel. I also enjoyed the characters and was shocked by some of the twist presented.

While not the perfect Batman book, mostly due to the pacing at points, it is still a very interesting one. Don't expect a typical Batman story. There is no rogue gallery. But if looking for a book to capture the overall tone and themes of Batman and what he is, this might do it for you. A 4 out of 5.