2014 book log #11- Batman: Four Of A Kind
Apr. 25th, 2014 08:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lonemagpieBatman: Four Of A Kind collects the Year One stories for four villains, from the 1995 Annuals.
Alan Grant's Poison Ivy story has the best art, but a weak story. The art does very much sexualise Ivy, but works in context (like when she's actively trying to seduce Bats), and actually adheres to proper anatomy. Unfortunately her self-proclaimed backstory is the sort of astoundingly cliched "all men are lying hypocritical abusing bastards" that your average MRA type thinks is what feminism is about.
Chuck Dixon's Riddler story is the best story, with a good punchline, but has the worst art. It's a good read, though.
Doug Moench's Scarecrow story is pretty decent, with disappointing art, but really suffers from an unreadable italic font in most of the caption boxes.
Chuck Dixon's Man-Bat story is nice, and has nice enough art, but it's strange that it's included in a villains' backstory collection, as the Man-Bat is clearly *not* a villain, and does nothing evil in the story - he's just a victim. But Batman does beat the shit out of him and drug him, just in case.
Anyway, a reasonable collection overall, if variable, but nothing really standout.
Alan Grant's Poison Ivy story has the best art, but a weak story. The art does very much sexualise Ivy, but works in context (like when she's actively trying to seduce Bats), and actually adheres to proper anatomy. Unfortunately her self-proclaimed backstory is the sort of astoundingly cliched "all men are lying hypocritical abusing bastards" that your average MRA type thinks is what feminism is about.
Chuck Dixon's Riddler story is the best story, with a good punchline, but has the worst art. It's a good read, though.
Doug Moench's Scarecrow story is pretty decent, with disappointing art, but really suffers from an unreadable italic font in most of the caption boxes.
Chuck Dixon's Man-Bat story is nice, and has nice enough art, but it's strange that it's included in a villains' backstory collection, as the Man-Bat is clearly *not* a villain, and does nothing evil in the story - he's just a victim. But Batman does beat the shit out of him and drug him, just in case.
Anyway, a reasonable collection overall, if variable, but nothing really standout.