Batman: Noel

[cyberghostface]

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.

Comments

[darkknightjrk]

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...

[cyberghostface]

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.

[aeka]

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.

[whitesycamore]

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?

[darkknightjrk]

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.

[whitesycamore]

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.

[icon_uk]

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.

[whitesycamore]

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.

[icon_uk]

Ah, my mistake, I thought Rena was still in place post-Crisis, clearly not.

[benicio127]

It is Jason, actually. He's the Jacob Marley character. I was VERY happy to see Bermejo Jason!!