I liked this style. Very V ( )

This book is really creepy. Tim Burton could not have made this book darker. Batman is 100 years old, or so the government thinks, but he's still fighting a corrupt new government with futuristic tools. They suspect Batman of killing a federal agent. This book does get very bloody, so the squeemish shouldn't read. I really don't recommend this books even for big Batman fans like me. I could take the rubber nipples on Tim Burton's Batman suit, but this Book goes too far.
D.P.

A very intriguing look at a possible Gotham of 100 years in the future, where all the dire predictions of George Orwell have come to pass. Batman is the fly in the ointment, a totally unregistered and unidentified vigilante, seeking to bring down a government aimed at world domination. The writing is fine, the artwork takes a little getting used to, and I like the various descendants and doppelgangers of certain current members of Batman's current world. The only thing lacking, and it is a large irritant, is a coherent explanation of how this Batman, who seems to be Bruce Wayne (or a descendant), came to be in this future world. An awful lot of suspension of disbelief is asked for here, and it didn't need to be. ( )

Paul Pope is one of the best comics creators at the moment, not only because he's a great visual artist and a sharp writer but also because he has a wild, unsummarizable theory about the way that comics work as an iconic language. His theory, wild though it may be, intersects nicely with the way that superheroes are currently being treated in our culture: less as characters (who would need to grow and change as their narrative unfolded) and more as unchanging archetypes, collections of iconified traits. Once a set of traits is indestructibly established (as with Batman) you can improvise off of it pretty freely, just like you'd do with a jazz standard. Pope understands all of this, and it's part of what makes his superhero riffs so great.

In this book, Pope plants Batman in the 2030s, which permits him to riff mightily, telling his tale with verve and style, but ultimately the stock elements of the State-controlled dystopian setting erode some of the freshness on display. It's still a blast to read, but ultimately it doesn't hit as hard as the best Batman stories out there, or as Pope's own unfinished masterpiece, THB. ( )

A gorgeous looking book (Paul Pope and colourist extraodinaire Jose Villarubia make a great art team), marred by Internet overhype. It's a fun, fast-paced story with lots of action and cool ideas, but the big mystery (who is Batman and how is he able to survive for 100 years?) is never truly resolved in a satisfying way. Don't let the overhype fool you, and you'll enjoy the book just fine. ( )