100 Days of Batman, Day 100

Well this is it, the end of the road, the final day of 100 Days of Batman. To bring the 100 days to a close I read the final part of Dark Night: A True Batman Story by Paul Dini and art by Eduardo Risso. As with the first two parts I will in fact be SPOILING this book so if you are planing on reading it for yourself then stop reading now and come back after you have done so.

Paul is ready to throw in the towel and move on to different writing adventures. Feeling abandoned and ashamed he rarely leaves his home out of fear of being mugged again and also the fear that people are silently judging him for not defending himself. That is until one day when he and a friend are out looking through a record store. He happened to be wearing his Warner Bros. coat while there which caught the eye of one of the store clerks. The clerk asked him if he worked at Warner Bros. to which paul replied yes. The man began talking about how great Tiny Toons was which he watched with is wife. Paul had worked on Tiny Toons before moving on to the Batman: The Animated Series. Come to find out this clerk's wife was battling cancer and one of the things that helped her get through it was funny cartoons such as Tiny Toons.

This helped put life in perspective for Paul and the next day he was back at his office working on Batman. He realized that even though a hero may or may not be true or actually exist in the physical world it didn't mean that they were not helping people get through something. Paul would always carry the scars of his mugging both physical and emotional but now understood that just maybe the stories he wrote and would write may be helping someone who just needs to escape from life for a few precious moments.

I love this book it is a MUST READ and was a great way to end the 100 Days of Batman. Reading about one of the creators of a cartoon that would be the foundation for the love I have of Batman was great and surprisingly enjoyable. His personal story has helped to motivate me in my own hobbies and goals in life. He has also taught me that it is ok to escape from the world every once in a while.

This was perhaps one of the most ambitious challenges I have done as far as writing is concerned. Somehow I have written about comics for one hundred days in a row. Not every post was a slam dunk and most of them were only a few paragraphs long, but the important thing is that I did what I set out to do. I am not sure what to do next. I will be taking a few days to figure out where to go from here. I would love to do another 100 days of a comics yet I do have a baby on the way that should be arriving towards the beginning of February and I am not sure I would be able to fully commit to it without missing a day. If any of you have any suggestions I would love to hear them in the comments.  Perhaps I will do a smaller day count. Anyways it was fun and I will be posting again in the next few days with what I plan to do next. Thanks to all of you have been reading. I really appreciate it.

N. S.

100 Days of Batman, Day 99

Time for part two of Dark Night: A True Batman Story by Paul Dini and art by Eduardo Risso. Again I will be SPOILING this book but I highly recommend it so if you have not read it you should before continuing on.

Waking up from a very restless night Paul decides to go to the doctor who upon a examination discovers that Paul was hit in the head so hard that portions of his skull were turned to dust.  Paul was in bad shape both emotionally and physically. He is broken, broken to the point where he no longer believes he should nor is able to write about a hero who is not real and was not there when he needed him most. Paul is recovering and decided to take some time off from work but keeps calling out because he just does not feel confident in who he is any longer. Paul will certainly have to face this new demon that has latched on to him since his mugging.

I really can only say that this book is absolutely a MUST READ.  Just read it and enjoy it. It gives a great look into the mind of writer and also the mind of someone who has experienced a tragic event.

N.S.

100 Days of Batman, Day 98

For the final three days of the 100 Days of Batman I wanted to read something special, maybe something a little different. So when I discovered the graphic novel Dark Night: A True Batman Story by Paul Dini and art by Eduardo Risso I knew I had to pick it up. It is a fairly long book so it is perfect to split up over the final three days. I will be SPOILING the book but I think everyone should give it a read for themselves so if you have not read it stop reading this blog and go find a copy to read.

Dark Night: A True Batman Story is not a Batman story in the traditional sense but rather the story of one man's journey through the world of storytelling and the tragic mugging he would fall victim to. Paul Dini was one of those kids that just wants to be invisible and is happiest when he is spending times in the worlds that are contained in the pages of books. He would eventually discover Batman which would lead to his love of creating new and exciting characters and of corse telling his on stories through the gift of writing. Paul would eventually get a job working for Warner Brothers as a writer on the much beloved Batman: The Animated Series. This is when you start to see the cracks in Paul's life. His family has always supported him but he never spends times with them outside of holidays, his dating life on the surface appears to be amazing but in reality it is nothing more than a joke. During everyone of these panels Paul's inner monologue is portrayed as Batman and company.

One night after walking the girl he thought he was dating to her car Paul's life would change forever. He was mugged beaten and robbed for no reason other than he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Having been left for dead Paul manages to make it home and contact the police who do little to nothing to help him and instead make jokes about how he could have used Batman. Feeling broken and alone Paul goes home where he drinks away what happened to him all the while bleeding and feeling like his head was smashed.

I honestly can not do the book justice and really think it is best if you simply read it for yourself. Personally I am loving it. It is interesting to see into the lives of someone who helped shaped my love for Batman. Batman: The Animated Series is where my love for Batman began and is still one of my absolute favorites. This book so far has been a great way to finish of my 100 Days of Batman. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book so far it is a MUST READ.

N.S.

100 Days of Batman, Day 97

Well I have just powered through Parts 3-7 of Rise of the Batman by James Tynion IV and art by Eddy Barrows. Thankfully the story did eventually get better and ends on a interesting note. I will likely be SPOILING the story so if its one you want to read for yourself then stop reading now.

Batman having been captured by the "Batmen" who we now know are part of a secret military organization called the Colony who have modeled their fighting tactics after Batman, manages to escape. Around the same time Batwoman, Red Robin and the rest of the team manage to infiltrate the colony's base to help Batman escape. Col. Kane tries to worn Batman that the League of Shadows are in Gotham and that he and his team are their to stop them and eliminate the threat they pose. Batman of course does not believe him stating that the League of Shadows is nothing more than a myth that was feared by Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Assassins.

Batman and crew manage to escape but not before Red Robin discovers the plans of the Colony. Believing their to be multiple League of Shadow agents in Gotham the colony planed to dispatch drones to kill those them. Now under the threat of being exposed by Batman Col. Kane gives the order to eliminate those people believed to be agents of the League of Shadow. It is a list of over 600 people. Returning to Wayne Tower Red Robin manages to hack into the drone protocols and change their targets to a single victim, himself. With the rest of the team trying to save the victims Red Robin just did he finds himself alone without back up to fight hundreds of killer drones.

Unable to get to him in time Red Robin is ultimately killed. With the death of their target the drones shut themselves down. The team is left to mourn and honor the sacrifice of Tim Drake aka Red Robin. Something strange is going on however as Tim wakes up in a strange cell. He is visited by a strange man in a robe who is evasive of Tim's questions. A much larger mystery and a bigger threat is likely on the way. How long before Batman and the rest of the team Tim is still alive and the captive of a strange man?

So their it is. A very action packed and enjoyable ending to a story that was very dull at the beginning. Having the focused switched from a character that I found to be annoying to a character I like of course helped. If I had my way Batwoman would be removed from the Detective Comics run. In the end Rise of the Batmen ended up being WORTH YOUR TIME.

N. S.

100 Days of Batman, Day 96

Well then. Chances are this will be a short post because I'm not really enjoying what I'm reading. Oh and chances are I will SPOIL this book. Rise of the Batmen Part 3: Army of Shadows by James Tynion and art by Alvaro Martinez sets th stage for Batwoman to take command of the team Batman gathered in the first two issues of the story arc. Batman has been defeated by the Batmen and is now missing. Batwoman assembles the team to go after them and find Bruce. She however brings her father, Col. Kane in as an advisor. Guess what he's the one running the bad guys. The team barely makes it out without being captured.

Ok so my biggest issue with this book is Batwoman. I've never really read anything with her before and I'm finding I do not like her and that she annoys me. I can't figure out why she does but I'm sure I will eventually. The rest of the cast is good and fun. Red Robin is especially well written. Sadly Batman did not make a signal appearance in the book and has essentially become the books "damsel" in distress which is fine. Because Batwoman annoys me so much this book is still only COMPELLING. Tomorrow I may just power through the remaining issues and move on to something else for the last couple days.

N.S.

100 Days of Comics, Day 95

Well on to Rise of the Batmen, Part 2: Apocalypse Now by James Tynion IV and art by Eddy Barrows. SPOILERS may come up in this post although maybe not. It does not seem to really go anywhere as it predecessor did. So Batwoman has begun her training of the heroes her and Batman have assembled to help fight this army of "Batmen". She however appears to be pushing them far to hard so Red Robin decides to put an end to it. He then goes and spend some time with Batman before heading in for the evening to spend time with his girlfriend Spoiler. Batman well patrolling the streets is attacked by the "Batmen" and that is where the book ends.

First thing is first. For some reason Batwoman rubs me the wrong way. I do not like her but I can not place my finger on why. Now the rest of the book was ok but again nothing really happened and it was overall a fairly dull book. The most interesting part was the cliffhanger with Batman about to face off against 50 or so "Batmen" I really hope the story picks up in the next issue. Part 2 however is simply COMPELLING. I really want to end the 100 Days of Batman on a great set of books so I will be disappointed if this one does not get better.

N.S.

100 Days of Batman, Day 94

So I have been hearing good things about the Detective Comics comic book so I picked up Rise of the Batmen Part 1: The Young and the Brave by James Tynion IV and art by Eddy Barrows. Azrael is being hunted by what appears to be a group of people dressing themselves as Batman. Knowing that he will not be able to face this group alone Batman begins recruiting the younger generation of vigilantes in Gotham and placing them under the command of Batwoman.

I was going to spoil this comic but honestly not a lot happened in this first issue. It was simply Batman and Batwoman recruiting a team of heroes to face this group of Batmen. I think the book shows a lot of promise and I am excited to read part two but part one was only COMPELLING. Ive heard good things about the story overall so I am confident it will get better. Sorry for the short post today but I just do not have much to say about this Issue.

N.S.