Enrico Marini

Enrico Marini’s Noir Burlesque succeeds at its task of staging a gritty, lush noir in the classic hardboiled style. The plot is a familiar nightmare – but isn’t this how a noir tale is supposed to be? Noir doesn’t exactly operate on the principle of novelty, although many of its most innovative entries certainly impress (e.g., Robert Altman and Leigh Brackett’s The Long Goodbye [1973], Njami Simon’s Coffin & Co. [1985], or Robert Coover’s Noir [2010]). The cross-genre range of noir (cinematic or literary) is actually very wide: detective stories, gangster flicks, police procedurals, social melodramas, underworld tragedies, not to mention the many postmodern variations that necessarily attend every interesting aesthetic form. Nevertheless, many of the classical elements are remarkably constant throughout: a probably doomed protagonist (although the doom is tonal, not necessarily forthcoming), a darkly empowered femme fatale (whose power is typically purchased at the cost of her happiness or heart, and, sometimes, her life), a fatalistic, usually urban background of corruption, vice, and violence. Above all, noir is a matter of style. And Noir Burlesque has that in buckets...: https://mothhovel.wordpress.com/2024/04/10/enrico-marini-noir-burlesque-2023/… (more)

This is an instant classic. Batman: The Dark Prince Charming draws upon the adult storytelling techniques of Batman Year One and The Dark Knight Returns to create a thrilling and moving story. This isn't your typical Bat book. Marini's artwork - every character - is stunningly awesome. And there are layouts in this book that are jaw-dropping. The aesthetic is entirely his own but If I had to I would describe the aesthetic as a mix between Tim Burton's and Christopher Nolan's take on Batman and Gotham.
The story is amazing....The Joker kidnaps a child who may or may not be Bruce Wayne's daughter...and Bruce Wayne is furious. But there is a secret that connects archetypal antagonists to the girl.
This story is clever, witty, gritty, and moving.
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