scans_daily: Batman: Noel

cyberghostface (

cyberghostface) wrote in

scans_daily,
@ 2011-12-24 11:13 pm UTC

Entry tags:

char: alfred pennyworth, char: batman/bruce wayne, creator: lee bermejo, title: batman

Batman: Noel

So I figured I'd try something different this time around. Rather than posting 1/3 of a comic with excerpts that span the entire story from beginning to end, I'm instead just going to post the first third as-is. This is in part because it would be difficult for me to select the right pages (given the presentation of the book; there are a lot of double-page spreads), but also because I feel it really should be read in its entirety and not just selected bits and pieces. So hopefully this introduction will provide you enough incentive to check out the full book yourself.

Also this was a full length (98-100 pgs or so) graphic novel.

...and that's where I'm going to stop. Clearly it's not too hard to guess where the story is going, but it's still a clever take on Dickens' tale and an interesting perspective on Batman as well. Definitely worth checking out.

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	no subject aeka 2011-12-25 04:42 am UTC (link)
	Damn the art in this book is pretty. I can't imagine how long it took to put this one together with all the details that went into giving it the realistic look. _____________________ (Reply to this)

	no subject darkknightjrk 2011-12-25 04:56 am UTC (link)
	The Robin bit is interesting--I mean, considering continuity, it almost has to be Jason, but the way Robin is described, it sounds like it should be Dick. This doesn't look too bad, though--I wonder who the ghosts of X-Mas past, present, and future are... (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 9 comments) (Show 9 comments)

	no subject cyberghostface 2011-12-25 05:07 am UTC (link)
	This shouldn't be a spoiler as they're on the back cover, but just to be safe... spoilers Catwoman's the Past, Superman's the Present and Joker's the Future. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject aeka 2011-12-25 05:31 am UTC (link)
	The Robin bit is interesting--I mean, considering continuity, it almost has to be Jason, but the way Robin is described, it sounds like it should be Dick. I was thinking the exact same thing as well, but I keep leaning more towards Jason for the whole sense of 'loss' theme that seems to be going on in these pages. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject whitesycamore 2011-12-25 04:55 pm UTC (link)
	The Robin bit is interesting--I mean, considering continuity, it almost has to be Jason, but the way Robin is described, it sounds like it should be Dick. Um, why? Because Bruce's memories of him aren't uniformly dark? (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 5 comments) (Show 5 comments)

no subject

darkknightjrk
2011-12-25 08:23 pm UTC (link)

I wouldn't go that far, but the way Robin is described here, it sounds too happy and optimistic to be Jason. I know he wasn't like that Pre-Crisis, but he was more or less a Dick clone with red hair then. Even at his best in Post-Crisis, there was a little edge on him--and that's a good thing, it's what set him apart.

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	no subject whitesycamore 2011-12-25 10:36 pm UTC (link)
	I wouldn't go that far, but the way Robin is described here, it sounds too happy and optimistic to be Jason. I don't agree. Bruce has described Jason as his light and as a source of hope many times. Come on, Jason made him laugh in Crime Alley on the first night they met. Sounds like he inspired optimism to me. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

no subject

icon_uk
2011-12-26 12:29 am UTC (link)

Aside from his Two-Face issues, and his later (qnd since he was killed off less than two years after introducing him, "later" is a very relative term) anger managment issues, there wasn't much to distinguish him from Dick, he made jokes, had a girlfriend, etc etc.

Most of his "edge" has been retconned in since then.

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whitesycamore
2011-12-27 01:11 am UTC (link)

Post crisis Jason didn't have a girlfriend, actually. The poor mite was quite shy if Batman Annual 12
is to be believed (and one of the things I really liked about Winick's portrayal is how he wrote Jason as cocky and trash-talking as the Red Hood, but reserved and quiet when he's in his civillian guise).

But yeah, Jason still made jokes post crisis, and he wasn't uber dark anger-issues-boy all the time, even towards the end.

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	no subject icon_uk 2011-12-27 01:20 am UTC (link)
	Ah, my mistake, I thought Rena was still in place post-Crisis, clearly not. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject benicio127 2011-12-27 04:14 am UTC (link)
	It is Jason, actually. He's the Jacob Marley character. I was VERY happy to see Bermejo Jason!! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject moetushie 2011-12-25 05:19 am UTC (link)
	I really like that Gotham cityscapes in this. (Reply to this)

	no subject althechi 2011-12-25 05:42 am UTC (link)
	Is that Jason costume a shout-out to "Faces"? It'd be pretty neat if it was. (Reply to this)

	no subject captainbellman 2011-12-25 08:22 am UTC (link)
	I've read through the whole thing in a bookshop. If not for the saving grace of Bermejo's art, I'd call this the worst adaptation of the story since Robert Zemeckis' awful grim-n-gritty mo-cap panorama from a couple of years ago. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 9 comments) (Show 9 comments)

	no subject korvar 2011-12-25 10:44 am UTC (link)
	I'm also not sold on Batman being Scrooge - the whole idea is broken. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 4 comments) (Show 4 comments)

	no subject icon_uk 2011-12-26 12:34 am UTC (link)
	Motto (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject benicio127 2011-12-27 04:20 am UTC (link)
	Hmm... Considering his pre-Tim days (which it seems this book is going for), I would say a Scrooge-like Batman isn't out of the world of possibilities. Even Rucka's Batman was quite dick-ish. In the end of this story, it's a child who shows him the light (which is essentially what Robins do!) (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 2 comments) (Show 2 comments)

	no subject whitesycamore 2011-12-27 08:23 pm UTC (link)
	Off-topic, but your icon is the perfect icon to accompany a comment that begins "hmm..." Mia totally looks like she is pondering there. Pondering carefully. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject benicio127 2011-12-27 10:33 pm UTC (link)
	Pondering and punning.... The two things she does best! ;D (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject althechi 2011-12-25 10:57 am UTC (link)
	...wait, so you mean Jeph Loeb did something better? Color me surprised. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject icon_uk 2011-12-26 12:36 am UTC (link)
	There might be an interesting story with someone else as Scrooge-analogue meeting Bruce as Christmas Past, Dick as Christmas Present and Damian as Christmas Yet To Come. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject starwolf_oakley 2011-12-27 03:25 am UTC (link)
	Robert Zemeckis' awful grim-n-gritty mo-cap panorama Aren't all adaptations of A Christmas Carol grim-n-gritty? At least when they get to the "Ghost of Christmas Future" sections. Even "Mickey's Christmas Carol" had Uncle Scrooge get knocked into a flaming grave by Pete. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

no subject

cyberghostface
2011-12-27 03:43 am UTC (link)

Yeah...the original story is pretty dark. Zemeckis' film, while certainly flawed, was pretty faithful to the book IIRC (to the point where some said it was too faithful given how the story has been done so many times) excluding some of the sillier scenes where he's shrunk and chased around. I certainly don't think he made it that much more grim and gritty than Dickens did...

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	no subject cypherfdp 2011-12-25 05:06 pm UTC (link)
	Batman believing this kid is going to end up as Henchman #47 and being an asshole to that one guy is what destroys it for me. Batman, if anything, always has faith that people can change. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 2 comments) (Show 2 comments)

	no subject benicio127 2011-12-27 11:37 pm UTC (link)
	Not so much in his more dick-ish days though.... (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject cypherfdp 2011-12-28 01:18 am UTC (link)
	We don't talk about those days. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject starwolf_oakley 2011-12-26 03:24 am UTC (link)
	Maybe it is the way he is drawn, with buckles on the costume and visible eyes in the mask, but I'm guessing most people would see this Batman as more "scary man in bat costume" than "weird, supernatural creature of the night." (Reply to this)

	no subject blackruzsa 2011-12-29 01:39 pm UTC (link)
	This is pretty damn amazing stuff, my eyes are all a-shimmering. (Reply to this)

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