Friday, July 24, 2009

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader by Neil Gaiman

batmanBatman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (Deluxe Edition) By Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert 2009 128 Pages 4/5 I've never been a huge Batman fan, but I like him enough. I've never read all that many of the Batman comics, but I know enough to know who the main villains are and Batman's backstory. And that sufficed just fine for this latest installment in the Batman series. Originally published as Batman 686 and Detective Comics 853, Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader tells the story of Batman's death. Neil Gaiman wrote it to be the final tale of Batman no matter where the series may go in the future. That was certainly no easy task, but if anyone was up to the challenge, it's Neil Gaiman. The story takes place at Batman's funeral, before his casket. All of the familiar villains are there, Catwoman, The Joker, The Riddler, just to name a few. His friends are there as well. And everyone has their own story of how he died. Gaiman uses this story as a great way to show that life is not about how we died, that doesn't matter, it's about how we lived and how we will continue to live on. Batman must learn this for himself as he looks beyond his own grave. I bought the deluxe edition of this one, and I'm so glad that I did! It has a section of Andy Kupert's amazing sketches for the series along with the stories behind the drawings. Gaiman and Kupert both wanted this to be an homage to all of the previous Batman artists and writers, so we see different styles of Batman all throughout the graphic novel, but through an Andy Kupert lens. The version I have also comes with a few standalone comics at the end which are all fantastic and each deals with a different villain. There's a great story about Poison Ivy that I absolutely loved. Is it worth the $25 sticker price? I think it is if you're a batman or Neil Gaiman fan. If you're just curious about it, pick it up at Amazon for $15 and if you're not nuts about it, pass it on to someone who will be! For I think that there will be lots of people raving about this tale. batmangaiman1-thumb-550x431-13655

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