DWD's Reviews

It drew me in, but it was not as good as The Dark Knight Returns Published by D.C. Comics in 2004 It's hard to be critical of a graphic novel that sucks you in, entertains, fascinates and makes you wish there was another volume in the series, but I am going to criticize anyway. For me, The Dark Knight Returns was an awesome addition to and reinterpretation of the Batman Saga. The simplicity of the dichotomy between the "sell-out" Superman and the embittered-but-still-fighting Batman powered the story. I am a casual comic book fan so I was easily able to follow along since every casual fan knows the basics of both Batman and Superman. The Dark Knight Strikes Again , however, has so many characters and so many sub-plots going on that it actually gets confusing unless one backs up and re-reads a bit. Many of the characters are relatively minor when compared to The Dark Knight Returns ' focus on Superman, Batman, Robin and the Joker. Another s

Okay story, great production Published in 2009 by GraphicAudio Multicast performance featuring 26 actors Duration: Approximately 7 hours . Batman is called to duty to fight Enfer, a new villain whose name means "Hell" in French. Enfer is skilled with fire and explosives and suffered a transformation similar to that of Joker but his change involved a massive explosion. Enfer is hired to free the inmates of Arkham Asylum by its director, Dr. Crane. His arson burns the asylum and lets dozens of inmates free, including the Joker. While escaping through Gotham City's sewer system, the Joker accidentally stumbles into a back entrance into the Bat Cave. The Joker assaults Alfred, steals a Bat Suit and the BatMobile and starts a crime wave while pretending to be Batman, turning public opinion against Batman. Enfer continues to burn the city. He wishes to attract the attention of The Joker in hopes of joining forces. Can Batman stop Enfer and The Joker before his reput

A harder edge to Batman tales than most are used to Published 2009 by GraphicAudio Performed by a cast of 30+ actors Duration: Approximately 6 hours Set early in Batman's career, Batman: Dead White features Batman versus a group of militia-based racists who are planning an Al-Qaeda inspired terror campaign designed to start a race war. The plan is reminiscent of Charles Manson's Helter Skelter race war except that the lunatic in charge of this group is much more organized and has hundreds and hundreds of followers. The Bavarian Brotherhood are led by White Eyes, a gigantic white man who speaks the standard lines of racial purity, Aryan superiority and various plots by different Jewish groups to control everything. The difference is that he has  a workable plan to de-stabilize the United States government, lots of money and access to a whole series of new and dangerous weapons that even impress Batman. Bruce Wayne has been "Batman" for about 18 months so h

I found this and hoped for something that it was not Now, I'm not going to hold the fact that I did not read the cover very carefully against the book - that's my fault, not the book's. I was hoping for something a bit more serious, like Millar's Red Son in which Superman is raised in the USSR rather than in the USA. But, this book is a tongue-in-cheek take on Superman, based on the premise that he landed in Kent in England, rather than Kansas, USA. Co-written by Monty Python contributers (it doesn't seem quite right to call John Cleese a mere contributor), this is an irreverant look at English culture, government and media - Superman is merely the medium used to deliver these scathing attacks. A lot of the book deals with how normal people react to someone with super powers. Unfortunately, much of this ground was covered by Pixar's The Incredibles (both The Incredibles and True Brit were released in 2004) and even, to a lesser (and darker) extent

Very, very, very good Published by D.C. Comics in 2004 160 pages First things first. I am not a gigantic comics fan. I've never been to a comic book shop. I know the big names. Basically, if they had a live action TV show, I know them. So, my opinion is not as well-informed as that of some. But, I know what I like and I thought this was some grade-A, high test sci-fi with a good deal of political science thrown in. Superman has always been of limited interest to some because he is an all-powerful good guy. He can't be hurt (technically, I know he can but who has Kryptonite sitting around?). He has the tools to deal with any situation. He has a healthy psyche. He is a good guy to have on your side but not particularly interesting. But, let's take away his All-American freedom-loving politics and partner him with a truly soul-crushing totalitarian regime - the Soviet Union. Stalin backed by Superman's talents is a truly scary thought. Soviet th

Very entertaining Published by Hatchette Audio in 2005 Multicast performance Duration: 3 hours, 12 minutes . Fast-paced, loud, chaotic, sometimes confusing. Sounds like a typical night with Batman. Also, it describes this audiobook. This project was completed as a full-fledged production, just like an old-time radio show rather than having one reader cover all of the characters. I am an occassional Batman reader but a regular listener to audiobooks and I found this one to be outstanding. I am not totally enamored - the ending was too "Leave It To Beaver", the Joker degenerated from credible threat to goofy annoyance as the story went along and Avenging Angel Azrael was more hilarious than scary on the first CD (he constantly yelled out the beginnings of a speech about transgressors, punishment, etc. He did it so many times that it became slapstick). However, I'm going to grade it on a Batman curve. Was it better than the movies? All but the Nicholson "

Entertaining and an artistic homage Published by Knopf, 2008 Illustrated by Ross MacDonald Boys of Steel tells the story of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the two painfully shy teenagers from Cleveland who created Superman. The two met in school and discovered a common interest in science fiction and fantastic tales. One wrote stories, the other drew. Together they created story after story that never sold. Eventually created Superman and, believe it or not, no one wanted Superman either for three years. Nobleman tells about their eventual success and their ongoing struggles with DC Comics. He tells the story well but the real star is the art of Ross MacDonald. He has illustrated the entire story in the style of those early Superman comic books and the art just leaps off of the over-sized pages. My eleven year old daughter read it and enjoyed, but probably not as much as me. This one was a winner. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. This book can be found on Amazon.com

GraphicAudio delivers the goods Performed by 29 actors. Duration: 6 hours GraphicAudio promises "A Movie In Your Mind" and they come awfully close with 29 actors, special effects, music and a go-go-go plot. While not the best of the Justice League series that I have listened to, it was still quite entertaining. Superman and the rest of the Justice League get caught up in a series of weather-related missions and about one-third of the way into the story the JLA begins to suspect that someone is manipulating the weather - summertime blizzards, ultra-thick fogs, record numbers of tornadoes, droughts and even worse abound. The questions, of course, are who is doing this and why are they doing it? The main characters in this mission are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, The Martian Manhunter and the Atom who mostly sits in the satellite headquarters monitoring maps and analyzing data. Superman, though, is the star.We get to see how he he someho

Batman, super-villains and the insanity of life in Gotham from the point of view of the police Ever wonder how Batman and his cronies seem to the cops? Ever wonder how cops deal with super-villains, super heroes and the insane amount of crime that Gotham City generates? Gotham Central is a great twist on the Super hero tale. Told from the perspective of Gotham's Major Crime Unit, this series puts a different point of view on the super hero story. Besides that, many of these cops are involved in super heroics of their own. Imagine NYPD Blue or Law and Order SVU with the occasional super villain and super hero and you've got the idea. Gritty, tough, action-packed and good. I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5. This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here:  Gotham Central Vol. 5: Dead Robin . Reviewed on November 29, 2008.

So, what happens when you take a best-selling author of thrillers and have him work with a great comics team? Brad Meltzer You get a strong story, great art and some of the cherished ideas of comics are re-worked. To quote the introduction by Joss Whedon, "it's unlikely that Elongated Man is your favorite-ever character. But halfway into issue one he was certainly mine. Brad and Rags paint a portait of a man - and a marriage - that is so unassumingly lovely, it's unbearable to think anything bad might happen to either. And inevitable that it will." ****Spoiler alert**** Thank novelist Brad Meltzer for making you care and thank artist Rags Morales for making you feel the pain of Elongated Man's loss on page 31 (even now, I just glanced at THE page and I felt it all over again). Meltzer re-works some of the bad guys and makes them truly awful. Why shouldn't they be. Regular villains stalk, kill, rape, maim and torture. Shouldn't

Originally published in serial form in 1986 and 1987. I was interested in seeing the movie. The reviews sounded interesting so I thought I'd read the book first. And with reviews like, "The greatest piece of popular fiction ever produced" and "One of Time magazine's 100 best novels" on the cover, how could I go wrong? I dabble in comics. I read the big collections. I have no figurines, no stickers on my car. I see the movies, but usually on DVD. I own precious few comic books, mostly borrowing what I read from friends or the library. On the other hand, I am a voracious reader and I like to think that I know a little about books. I appreciate the fact that this book was groundbreaking in its day. It offered a bleak, jaded and, frankly, more realistic look at the whole concept of superheroes. When it asks, "Who watches the watchmen?" that is an important question. Showing the Comedian committing atrocities in Vietnam is a nice

I have not cared much for Green Lantern,  but I picked this one up on impulse... 6 CDs 7 hours Voiced by 20 actors When I was a kid I never cared much for Green Lantern. I liked Superman and Batman and in Marvel I liked Spider-Man and the Hulk but the Green Lantern never did it for me. Maybe it was the giant green baseball mitts, pincers and boxing gloves coming out of the ring. Just seemed hoaky, I guess. Which is all the stranger that I liked the audiobook for Green Lantern: Hero's Quest (Justice League of America). The book features Kyle Rayner, a new Green Lantern whose real life job is that of an artist and his specialty as a Green Lantern seems to be creating artistic even cutesy things with his ring, such as baseball mitts and giant boxing gloves. Graphic Audio  creates yet another adaptation that delivers "A Movie In Your Mind" as promised. I readily admit that I pick these up as less of a comics fan and more of an entertainment fan and I do find t

5 CDs 5 Hours 28 Actors Graphic audio published the audio version of a DC Comics graphic novel featuring the Justice League of America. Graphic Audio boasts that it is "A Movie In Your Mind" and while that may be a bit of an exaggeration, it is every bit as good as those old radio plays that, if you're lucky, a local radio station may play from time to time. Graphic Audio has 28 actors (if my count was correct as they named them all), music, lots of special effects and they use them all to create a thoroughly engrossing story. There is nothing particularly new in JLA: Exterminators . A wave of new "meta-humans" are popping up all over the globe with one thing in common (besides super powers): they were all in the UK about 10 years previously and were exposed to something that gave them these new powers. The Flash and The Green Lantern become friends with a new meta-human with telekenisis and the audience is given a perspective on both sides of this is