mysteriousmre's Reviews (1.22k)

Ah, I remember there being some filler in here. To be fair, there is some stuff here that does pertain to the plot later on, it's just you could have told this story in half the time. At the very least it's a pretty quick, breezy read.

Re-reading this made me go from "Eh, it's a fun nostalgia trip" to "No, this actually holds up really well". Volume 3 is still my favorite in the series, but this is a close second. The plot twist is incredible, not just because of its impact on the story moving forward, but because of how freaking hilarious it is.

Not as good as the previous volume, but no where near as stretched out as Vol. 5. Thorn develops a bunch of new abilities seemingly out of nowhere, but the book does a good job showing just how desperate everyone is post-Vol. 4.

Lots of cool world building for the old kingdom and the different factions of the Disciples of Venu. Great set-up for the finale.

Really loved looking through all the concept art and reading about all the artists/art movements that influenced this movie though there's a couple things that took it down a star for me. For starters I wish we got more concept art for the character designs. Obviously some characters are more important to the narrative than others, but I think part of the initial appeal of Spider-verse (aside from the animation style) is that we get to see so many different incarnations of Spider-Man and his rogues gallery from throughout the multiverse. Seeing more about the alternate Spider-Men, the various costumes, and the villains would have pushed this book from being "great" to "awesome". This also might sound kinda picky, but I wish we got a bit less commentary from the higher-ups like Amy Pascal. Obviously Sony has a right to be proud of this movie and I LOVED the foreword by Brian Michael Bendis (who's apparently a huge fan of books like this), but I think books like this should be where we hear more from the creative minds behind the movie and less from executives. Otherwise it's a fun read and absolutely worth your time.

Also: Yeah this should kinda be obvious, but this book is FULL of spoilers so go watch the movie before you read this!

The first half of the book is essentially the third act of the story from the previous volume, and it's a great conclusion that makes great use of the New52 setting (a version of the DC Universe where all different Earths have been merged together), but the other half is made up of one-and-done stories that are of varying quality. I like the story dedicated to Harper Row (because I like Harper Row), but I think the Pennyworth story was unnecessary, and I have mixed feelings on Snyder's reintroduction of Mr. Freeze. Part of the appeal of the character is that he's the most sympathetic villain in Batman's rogues gallery, and this story discards that in favor justifying Freeze's confinement in Arkham Asylum. It's not a bad story, but it subtracts from the character without adding anything really worthwhile to it.So unless you enjoyed Court of Owls and want to see the ending of the story, I'd recommend you give this book a pass.

And the award for most disgusting book cover goes to *drum roll* Batman: Death of the Family!!!!!

*audience cheers*

Already posted my thoughts about the book on Twitter, but I figured I'd dump them here too. I've had mixed feelings about this story over the years ranging from "love it" to "hate it". I loved it when I first read it because it was the first "event" comic where I read all of the tie-ins and it was the first Joker story I read where Joker not only felt like a threat but was downright *terrifying* (I didn't read Killing Joke until a few years later). Then I hated it because I felt it had too many fakeouts and didn't leave much of a lasting impact on Batman, the Batfamily, or Gotham at large. After re-reading it last night I don't hate it, but I don't think it's as good as it could have been either.

I like Snyder's idea that Batman's family and humanity are what makes him strong and compelling. I think this might be kind of a criticism of Grant Morrison's Batman, who was Snyder's predecessor on the book and a mentor for him at DC. I haven't read the entirety of Morrison's run on Batman, but the general consensus from what I've seen online was that Morrison focused on the idea that Batman was more than human. He was a myth and a symbol. When I re-read DotF, Snyder's Joker seemed to agree with that idea. From Joker's perspective, he and Batman both want to be myths and symbols. Because humans were vulnerable and could be hurt, but myths would never truly die.

"And there you are Batsss...chasing us, forever chasing! And why? Because it's what you want to happen. It's what you neeeed. Because you see, with us you're more! With us, you transsscend! With us you're always." - Joker cosplaying as Leatherface

Thus Joker wants to "help" Batman achieve this status of immortality by removing anything that would humanize him and make him weak. In particular, his relationships (well, relationships with anyone other than Joker). It's a neat take on the Joker and a cool theme that's never fully explored. What the book really needed was some moments demonstrating the opposite. That Batman's relationships have made him a better, stronger, and more capable person. We only get 1 moment like that when Batman admits to himself the real reason he talks to Alfred on the way to battle isn't because strategizing helped him, but was because talking to Alfred comforted him and made him braver for whatever came next (*aww <3*). I wish there were more moments like that, but there isn't despite the fact that this story has tie-ins to 5 different on-going books.

There's still some great scenes and genuinely scary moments in the book (the opening sequence with Joker infiltrating the GCPD and taunting Gordon from the shadows. THAT was downright terrifying), but it could have been better if it had spent some time exploring those ideas. And in true comics fashion, it has no real lasting impact on Batman or the relationships he has with the rest of his family (seriously, something like this should have been *TRAUMATIZING*). As it is, it's cool I guess, but there isn't much substance to it. I'd love to see another writer take these ideas and run with them. Seriously. You could probably make an entire season of a show based on some of Snyder's ideas here.

This book is cute as heck man. Gigi's art is flat out GORGEOUS and her riffs on traditional prophesied hero narrative keeps the book fun and light hearted. Just a fun breezy read.