Batman: Year 100
Paul Pope
I am starting to realize that I like “graphic novels” a little more than I like “comic books.” I enjoyed reading this, but had some issues too. The plot seemed overly complex to me, and a little bit far-fetched (not in terms of unrealistic fantasy stuff, but villains with motives that didn’t really make sense). There was also not much character development of Batman. I realize that in some ways he’s supposed to be a cipher, but in this book, even when he was not under his superhero identity, he still pretty much “acted like Batman.”
I did appreciate the overall style. The artist presents a much more run-down version of Batman–more gritty Christian Bale than suave Val Kilmer/George Clooney. One of the more interesting parts was reading the artist’s commentary at the end, and seeing the little details that I missed in the book. Also, there were a couple of really awesome drawings of blurry night-vision vidcaps of Batman looking scary as heck.