Dang, Iām feeling a little collection envy here! All I got are a couple of the mini Black & White figures you can get from Wal-Mart and a cute one of Superman flying a grumpy Batman one I got for Christmas last month.
Thanks I just posed some stuff on the desk real quick for documentation. Was just gonna do the Zero Year and fig but thought iād throw a few more in. I bought and read all of Snyderās run when it was going on, havenāt read them since but it was one of the best Batmobile rides Iāve been on!
Yeah, that Batmobile is pretty sweet, though I think we all know what the REAL best vehicle in that story is. 
ā¦Wait, did you say ārode in?ā You rode in a Batmobile?! 
oh I was trying to be clever as in reading his run was like going for a ride in the Batmobile. I have seen the tim burton one at car shows though.
I did too, back when I was a wee lad and Batman Returns was going on. I even got a picture with me standing next to it, a life-sized Batman statue, and a woman dressed up as Catwoman. 
Michelle Pfieifferās Catwoman 
Okay, so hereās where I turn on the comic. The first issue of āDark Cityā (the resolution of the āSecret Cityā story) is decent enough, but I hate Bruceās military-style haircut. Snyder and Capullo later do the same thing with Gordon in the āSuperheavyā story. I know that Frank Miller introduced the āwarā and āsoldierā language into Batmanās vocabulary, but this is just a bit much. And on top of that, Bruce comes off as such a jerk in these issues that I lose sympathy for him.
Iām also not thrilled with Snyderās reinterpretations of Doctor Death and the Riddler. Doctor Death is related to the Golden Age villain in name only, and his redesign and new motivations just donāt work for me. Heās now like a bony, obnoxious Man-Bat. The Riddler, on the other hand, is practically indistinguishable in motivations from Red Hood One. Just how many of Batmanās rogues have to be domestic terrorists who seek to destroy society?
And that leads into my main complaint going forward: Batmanās debut year shouldnāt have a No Manās Land level disaster in it. Perhaps Year One was way too low-key as a starting point for the adventures of a guy who regularly works with superhuman extraterrestrials to face off against intergalactic warlords, but Zero Year is too far a swing in the other direction.
If I were to summarize everything wrong with the New 52 in two words, they would be āhologram bats.ā
I really much prefer his early enemies to be more mundane criminals. Red Hood One in particular feels kind of pointless. Basically, the Joker origin weāre dealing with here is that before the Joker was the Jokerā¦ he was already pretty much basically the Joker. Somehow.
Iām kind of expecting a twist where Red Hood One isnāt the Joker and one of his goons is, but Iām not sure that would actually salvage this idea. It just feelsā¦ unnecessary. Itās distracting from Bruceās character arc.
I love the one where heās trapped under the Sphinx. The car chase one was good, but that one really shows him learning something.
You know, back in No Manās Land, a huge earthquake happened just as Batman was in the city. I think the only logical conclusion is that Batman causes earthquakes. And in fact, do you ever notice how it rains a lot in Batman stories? Batman obviously mustāve ruined Gothamās weather. Now think about Gothamās economy. Doesnāt seem to be in too good of a shape, does it? Definitely Batman again. And you know all those supervillains? You might think theyāre independent actors with their own free will, but I think theyāre literally all Batmanās fault. (Seriously, that idea makes no sense and Batman writers - and only Batman writers - just keep bringing it up.)
My point is that Batman isnāt even especially responsible for sentencing his enemies to Arkham. Really, they probably belong in Blackgate for exactly this reason. If I thought we were supposed to just think the Anchoress is crazy, I could live with this rationale, but I think weāre supposed to think she has a point. She doesnāt. But itās edgy to blame Batman for things that happen to happen while heās nearby, so apparently he ruined Arkham now.
It also doesnāt seem to address that Arkham sucks at their job, be it containment or healing.
Soā¦ yeah. All things considered, Iām liking parts of this story so far, but mostly not terribly impressed.
Meh. Beats the New 52 outfit. Purple as a highlight colorās a decent touch but not as good as yellow. Could use trunks.
Well, again: meh. Iām generally opposed to any retcon that requires the awkward cramming-in of additional shenanigans in the hours leading up to the Waynesā death. I see the instinct to have Bruce initially mistrust Gordon as much as vice versa, but it requires even more implausible contrivance to get them together. The explanation for what was actually going through Gordonās head that night with the trench coat (and the idea to give Gordonās trench coat a dramatic backstory at all) was really lame.
Now this, I enjoyed. Iāve always thought the Riddler was a perfect villain for Batman because he puts him through his paces as a detective, and seeing him used so prominently is great. And working in Doctor Death is a clever idea, and I have to grudgingly admit that I prefer this reimagining to the one from the Cassandra Cain Batgirl series. Heās distinctive-looking, has a personal gimmick, and is utterly twisted (with a twinge of sympathy deep in his backstory) like a good Batman villain should be. Now, contrived backstory connections to Bruce Wayne are less my speed, but otherwise, I think he was a cool villain.
Hm, OK, sounds like we had kind of opposite reactions, but your points all do make sense. In order:
Agreed. Wasnāt sure if it was just that I dislike the bald/buzzed-on-the-sides look in general, so I was trying to be forgiving of it.
Really? I mean, that stuff annoys me, but itās always seemed much more prominent and annoying in Millerās writing. Or do you mean the hair specifically?
Honestly, while I usually hate Jerk!Batman, I thought this was more understandable under the circumstances.
I guess heās a little Man-Batty, but I thought it was a solid attempt at taking a character whose original concept was basically āIs mad scientist with death rayā and making him interesting.
That was a bit of a frustration. The Riddler is usually more petty than that. If he were doing this just to prove his superiority, it probably would suit him a lot better without needing to substantialy alter the plot. But then, I also think Red Hood One was a bad villain, so I guess maybe Iām just not cutting him slack for appearing earlier in the story.
Well, I havenāt read any further yet, but I imagine Iāll probably have similar thoughts on Savage City. While it makes a nice moment to have the Riddlerās plan actually work, I think this story probably shouldāve had Batman and Gordon win at the end of Dark City and stopped there (or maybe had the Riddler escape but Batman succeed on the balloon). It wouldāve been a fine climax and left more room for escalation in the āpresent-dayā stories.
Whoops, that was supposed to be a reply to Knox, but itās not showing up as one. Got the quotes right, though.
Yeah, I really like this take on the āBat-Jerkā thing, heās cocky, he feels as much like āhimselfā as he ever has for the first time, and heās going to be taken down a peg or two for it. Itās funny, between some of those weird lines and some other stuff that happens, I feel like Snyder had in mind that he wanted to do a more toned-down, less over-the-top version of what Miller tried to do in All-Star Batman & Robin.
Can you tell Iām behind on my reading? Cāest la vie. Here week 1:
I think I would find them more interesting if the Red Hood wasnāt related to the Joker, but Iām also hoping thatās just a red herring and someone else is under there.
My favorite is the one where he has to keep fighting wave after wave and henchmen. Thatās Batman to meā¦no matter what darkness life throws at him, heās just going to keep on goingā¦and goingā¦and going. Heās a dark energizer bunny is what Iām trying to say.
Itās still a place of healing. I like to imagine thereās a whole slew of folks that go to Arkham and get the help they needā¦thatās just not the kind of people youāre gonna see Batman go up against. If not, they really need to shut that place down.
But itās fiction and, really, I canāt think of any recurring Bat-villian who would actually be considered criminally insane. Even the Joker know heās doing wrong and the eyes of society to the point heās avoiding cops. Death penalty case right there for sure, or life in prison depending on state law.
I get what youāre saying, though I think itās fair to say that Red Hood has always been related to The Joker ever since the 50s. Iām curious to see what you think of it after reading the first part of Dark City.
I spent a goodā¦minute trying to find a Batman/Energizer Bunny mash-up and found nothing. The internet has failed me! 
Weāll just have to settle with LEGO Batman in a rabbit suit.
Iād honestly love to see that story, maybe following someone who had a psychotic break from work or something, did something wrong ā maybe have Batman comes in to stop him to have a little bit of action in there ā and have him go through a normal bout of psychiatric care in Arkham while all the craziness is going on in the background.
But Iām weird and might be one of the few people who would buy that story. 
Iāve toyed with the idea of a series focusing on the Arkham staff, who I think need more development, so I could see also focusing on some of the less violent, more curable patients and inmates along with that. And to ralphsixās original point, I was playing Arkham Asylum just yesterday and one of the canned announcements that plays in the background of some areas talks about their other facilities beyond the prison-for-supervillains stuff. The other patients are conspicuously absent, though, despite the game going out of its way to indicate they exist. Maybe theyāre just all/mostly outpatients and were the first ones evacuated.
True ā and some of them could be the crazed straight jacket enemies that Batman has to quickly put down who were found by Joker or his goons and gassed into insanity.
Itās okay other than the purple gloves. They must have known that, too, because those arenāt what heās wearing on the cover.
I prefer the other way better, where theyāre allies from pretty much the start, but it made for a great story beat when Bruce realizes that Gordon isnāt the person he had thought him to be all this time.
The Riddler was okay, but I really loved Dr. Death. I liked how absolutely grotesque he was, such great imagery. Also, my wife has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and that was one of the diseases he mentioned in the last issue; so, that was cool.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that the purple gloves are the one thing I like about it. 
(And no, not because Iām a contrarianābecause Iām obsessed with the Golden Age!)
I mean, they were certainly quirky and I get the throwback, but surely between Bruce and Alfred someone would figure out they clash!