Absolute Batman Vol. 2: Abomination by Scott Snyder, et al.-224 pages
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Absolute Batman Vol. 1: The Zoo by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta-176 pages
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thoughts: I really like this new take on Batman's origin. He's not rich and he doesn't come from a prominent family. He's still Bruce Wayne and he went through a traumatic event as a child. This is even grittier than The Dark Knight Trilogy of movies. It's raw and real. I am looking forward to reading Vol. 2 Abomination.
The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox by Matthew Rosenberg, Jesús Merino, and more - 252 pages, ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
This was a difficult book to rate. The story is confusing, and the lettering is tiny and hard-to-read. However, the artwork is appropriately creepy and looks entirely different from any other comic or graphic novel I have ever seen. The Amadeus Arkham story was fascinating, especially because so much of it ended up in the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum. Although Batman himself doesn't really do very much throughout the book, he does come off as more human than he sometimes does. He's scared, just like most people probably would be if they were trapped in an asylum with the entire Rogue's Gallery.
The strange artwork and confusing story make reading the book an uncomfortable, disorienting experience, but it feels appropriate given the setting, and it almost makes you question your own sanity. The lettering, though, is borderline-illegible at times, especially the Joker's dialogue; although this was clearly done for artistic effect, it only makes reading the dialogue a chore. The lettering is the main reason why I rated this book four stars instead of five; although I didn't really enjoy the book per se, it is still an interesting read, if only for the artwork and the Arkham backstory.
Batman: The Killing Joke - 50 pages ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book is really two interwoven stories: the Joker's origin story (or, well, one of them, anyway) and the Joker trying to drive Commissioner Gordon insane. The Joker shoots Barbara Gordon, permanently paralyzing her (making this Oracle's origin story, too), and kidnaps the Commissioner, all to prove that one bad day can drive someone as insane as he is.
Although this is a really short book, there is a lot packed into it. Can one bad day really cause anyone to become like the Joker? The ending seems to prove otherwise, at least in one character's case, but is ambiguous enough to leave you wondering. The art is fantastic, as well. A great read.
Batman: Knightfall, vol. 2: Knightquest - 656 pages ⭐⭐☆☆☆
In case you were wondering, no, this book is not about Bruce and Alfred rescuing Mr. Drake and Dr. Kinsolving. That isn't even a subplot, which is a shame, because it would probably make a much more interesting story than the tale of Jean-Paul Valley as Batman. There is, apparently, a separate volume that follows Bruce and Alfred's storyline. Knightquest, however, is a whole 656 pages of Jean-Paul Valley as Batman, fighting obscure villains, arguing with hallucinations of his father and St. Dumas, and repeatedly insisting that he was born to be Batman and that he will cleanse Gotham City of the criminal scourge that has corrupted it. There are some stand-out moments, like when the Joker tries to make a movie about killing Batman that features him actually killing Batman, or when Batman fights the gunslinging cowboy twins who look and sound like they're from the 1966 Batman TV series. Those moments are few and far-between, though. The majority of this volume consists of forgettable stories about forgettable villains and an annoyingly sanctimonious character who believes he is the Batman. Robin/Tim Drake barely appears after Jean-Paul attacks him and insists that he doesn't need him anymore, leaving Jean-Paul without a voice of reason and the reader without a break from Jean-Paul.
Knightquest only gets interesting in the last 50 or so pages, when Jean-Paul really starts to lose it and crosses a line that Batman has never crossed before, Bruce returns, and Tim decides to say something to him about what has been going on since he left. Although I did enjoy those last 50 pages, the other 600 are just boring and pointless.
Batman: Knightfall, Vol. 1 - 630 pages ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was a fun read. Most of the famous Batman villains appear at least once, and there's a lot of action. It all feels chaotic, but not so chaotic that it's hard to follow. A decent chunk of the book follows Bane's backstory and thought processes as he becomes increasingly obsessed with defeating Batman. Before reading this, I only knew Bane from the Arkham games, where he's portrayed more as big, dumb muscle, so it was interesting to see him portrayed as Bruce Wayne's intellectual equal. By the end, I was so excited to find out what happens next that I immediately started reading Vol. 2.
