Stuart Moore (1)

3.5 stars
This is a very different story from the Avengers: Civil War movie. For one thing, it's better written and the plot is more complex than the personality clash the characterizes that movie.

The fundamental differences between Captain America's ideas of personal liberty and Iron Man/Tony Stark's pragmatic and businessman-like views on how the Mutant Registration Act works, laying down rules on how superheroes should conduct themselves ring true for both sides.

On the one hand, it gives show more the heroes a guaranteed income, benefits, time off, and ground level support from the local infrastructure. On the other hand, it actually hinders their ability to stop the bad guys and limits some of their freedom of movement within the larger society safely, since they have to announce not only their hero identities but also their real names to the public. This could lead to other issues of personal safety, etc.
These are forces at work in the real world and Mr. Moore caught the tones just right.

I also really enjoyed having a broader spectrum of Marvel's universe to interact with as the Fantastic Four, the Young Avengers, and other characters either play an integral part of the story or make cameo appearances - for instance the X-Men stay out of the argument and stay neutral. Each side has its ups and downs and it does not help that S.H.I.E.L.D. is in the mix and rudderless without Nick Fury's leadership. I can't quite decide if SHIELD is a good thing or not, occupying that morally grey area in which their actions may seem justified but feel completely wrong.

I wish this book could have been the basis for the movie. It's so much better than what we actually got. show less

In Batman: Nightwalker – The Graphic Novel, Stuart Moore adapts the novel of the same name by Marie Lu with illustrations by Chris Wildgoose with Cam Smith, color by Laura Trinder, and letters by Troy Peteri. Like other YA original graphic novels based on DC’s characters, this story reimagines the familiar characters in a new setting freed from decades of continuity, although this one adapts a novel that did the same.

The story focuses on a young Bruce Wayne, just come into his show more inheritance on his eighteenth birthday. Meanwhile, a group called the Nightwalkers are targeting the wealthy in Gotham, murdering them in their homes and offices. Bruce begins to get involved in the case, slowly developing his detective skills. Bruce begins doing community service at Arkham Asylum where he meets Madeline, one of the Nightwalkers. As a result, he learns more about the class inequality that underpins life in Gotham. Even as billionaires donate to charities or engage in philanthropic works, they make their money from industrial prisons and other companies that siphon off resources Gothamites might otherwise use. Lu and Moore carefully try to position Bruce as a “good” billionaire and are greatly assisted by his youth and naïveté in this volume. The story works well as a standalone reimagining of Bruce Wayne with Alfred, Lucius Fox, and Harvey Dent adding a touch of the familiar despite changes to fit this story.

It remains unclear if Lu or others will return to this version of Bruce Wayne, but fans of Elseworlds stories and younger readers will likely enjoy Batman: Nightwalker. In terms of art Laura Trinder’s colors are brilliant, using heavy grays and faded blues in a way that both creates a noir aesthetic and recalls the Batman’s classic costume. The occasional pop of yellow to emphasize scenes completes the Batman color coding. In this, she recalls other YA graphic novels from DC that use their characters’ color palettes to bring the art to vivid life and compliment the stories’ tone. show less

My parents did not approve of comic books. I wasn't allowed to read 99% of the titles on the shelf at the drug store (the only shop that sold comics in the little town I grew up in). Allowable titles were mostly Disney. Huey, Dewey and Louie are cute....and I loved all the comics I was allowed to read.... but the exciting, more mainstream characters were off limits for me. To this day, I don't really understand why. Superman, Batman and the other superheroes were fighting to save humanity, show more right? I guess it fell somewhere between "Violence and fighting are bad'' and "Girls don't read comic books.'' I think they were hoping I would turn into a dress-loving, girlie girl if they kept me away from what I naturally gravitated to....but it didn't work. I was always up a tree in the yard reading a book or chasing the neighbor kid with a garter snake. (In my defense, the kid was annoying.....sometimes the only way to get rid of him was to chase him with a snake.)

So......the end result....I was an adult, and married to a long-time comic book enthusiast, before I ever really delved much into comic books and superheroes. This leaves me out of many nerd debate topics on cannon, reboots, different artists, weird plot tangents, etc. I just read and enjoy. With slight rants about some of the horrible movies, I love Batman. What's not to love about a billionaire businessman who has every freaking cool gadget ever invented....plus an awesome cave lair.

My point is this -- I don't know cannon or most past plots from the comic book world -- Marvel or DC. I just love the characters, the art, and the storylines! So I jump on every graphic novel I can get my hands on that involves superheroes.....Love, love, love!

I thoroughly enjoyed Batman: Nightwalker! The storyline features a young, 18-year old Bruce Wayne who has just come into his fortune. A group of thieves is targeting wealthy residents of Gotham. The Nightwalkers start out stealing money from the wealthiest of the wealthy.....but they quickly descend into more violent actions like murder, blowing up buildings, etc. Bruce tries to talk to one of the captured Nightwalkers who sits in a cell at Arkham Asylum. She refuses to say one word to anybody, but Bruce gets to know her. He discovers that there really is only a fine line between his brand of vigilante and the Nightwalkers.....

I have never read the book this graphic novel is based on. I did however see much ranting about it online. And promptly ignored most of it. This is a young version of Bruce Wayne. He's a teen and trying to cope with the loss of his parents, coming into his wealth and figuring out what to do with himself. He's feeling a bit of angst....gets into trouble.... and ends up serving community service in Arkham of all places. And he meets someone who confuses and intrigues him. I enjoyed seeing his character develop. He makes a decision to use his drive to better the world in a positive way, rather than delving into the dark side of a more criminal element. It's a YA Batman story....with some nice tech elements (drones, robots, etc) and interesting "bad guys'' thrown in.

I enjoyed the story. The muted colors of the artwork was awesome! And I liked the message. Even superhero billionaires have to discover who they are at some point -- Batman included. I can see this version of the character as a nice update to the present.

Looking forward to the next Marie Lu graphic novel!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from DC Entertainment via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** show less

I had already read all the Marvel Civil War graphic novel collections when I discovered Graphic Audio's production. I was looking for upcoming Marvel releases when this popped up.

I don't normally listen to audio books because I can read so much faster. However, the ones I have enjoyed have had full casts, like this one. GraphicAudio also uses sound effects to enhance the story. I found it to be more like a radio show than "a movie in your mind," mainly because of the substantial use of a show more narrator. The audience can't see the characters, so there is a lot of description of what people look like or are doing to set the stage. The voice actors are all very good, and I had no trouble differentiating between the various characters. The story flowed smoothly.

The full event encompasses 7 large hardcovers, so naturally a lot has been cut. Still, the adaptation is surprisingly faithful to the main event itself. Most of the cuts come from the tie-in material. Just as is the case with most book-to-film adaptations, the book is better. However, this audio production is excellent and a nice companion - even for those who have already read the graphic novels. I loved hearing the tone of voice when the characters were conversing; something you don't get with printed stories. At nearly six hours, this is a great option for long road trips. The story is a bit dark, so probably not good for the younger set but certainly teens and adults should enjoy it. Overall, this was very entertaining and I will definitely buy more titles from Graphic Audio, in particular the Marvel titles. show less