Batman Begins: The Movie & Other Tales of the Dark Knight

This DC trade paperback is like a matinee movie in reverse. The comic adaptation of the opening chapter of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy by Scott Beatty and Kilian Plunkett is the main attraction. The accompanying 4 stories are like the animated shorts and adventurous serials you would watch as lead up. Only they come after the movie!

I can't really say a lot about the adaptation of 2005's Batman Begins. Unlike the 2008's follow up, The Dark Knight, I've only seen the origin story once. So I don't have any idea if Beatty and Plunkett's version of the movie has extra stuff that got removed before hitting theaters or not. I will say that reading the comic book version of the film has really pique my interest in seeing the trilogy again. Mostly because there is a lot of material in the comic that I don't remember.

While Batman Begins is what got me to buy this book, it's the 4 shorter Batman stories that really captured my attention.

First by Denny O'Neil and Dick Giordano is another origin story of Batman. Only this is the accepted DC canon version which focuses more on Bruce Wayne studying the science of criminology more than martial arts and the tools of stealth. 

Story #2 is by Greg Rucka and Rick Burchett. It simultaneously tells of Batman taking down a gang while a family of 3 are trapped in their vehicle under the Gotham harbor. With time running out and water rushing in, this story has more of a Batman: The Animated Series vibe to it and was perhaps the best story of the bunch.

Story #3 is by Ed Brubaker. In a teaming with Catwoman, Batman explores what it is that makes him a vigilante. That faithful night in Crime Alley is referenced a lot. Art is pretty good. Yet, despite my feeling that Brubaker is the best crime comic writer of them all, he commits an unpardonable sin amongst fans of the Dark Knight by having the hero proclaim that his true identity is Bruce Wayne! Not the Bat!

The final story is an unusual Batman story by Fables head honcho Bill Willingham. It sees a rooftop Batman losing his footing and crashing to the streets below. Obviously injured from the fall, the Caped Crusader must be helped by an assorted group of Gothamites. I wasn't so much of a fan of Tim Fowler's art. But the story was so different and so very engrossing. 

A great mix of stories celebrating not just the origin of the Batman but also of what makes a Batman. A worthy addition to my Batman collection of comics. Only it's not the feature that makes this book worth owning--- it's the backup material! In fact, I'd rather lose the comic adaptation and just add 3-4 more similar tales to the quartet of additional works!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

High Rollers

Who can forget the action drama High Rollers? The 2008 blockbuster was filled with A List in roles you never imagined some of your favorites ever playing.

Jamie Foxx played CQ, a captain in one of L.A.'s deadliest gangs.

Will Smith starred as Trey Loc, the coke-addled leader of a South Central drug empire.

Thandie Newton portrayed Rita, a desperate woman willing to make a deal with the devil to save her family.

Ben Stiller as Machete, a smarmy bookie with a knack for the ponies.

Wait a minute? You've never heard of this film? Oh, that's right. That's because High Rollers was a 2008 graphic novel from Boom Studios. But I didn't lie about the amazing cast that fills these pages. Artist Sergio Carrera (Green Lantern) illustrates a slew of amazing talent as the players in this story that has no heroes; only devils and fallen angels. Carrera also casts Matthew Modine, Jason Stratham and Outkast's Andre3000 in important roles in this story. There might be other celebs in here that I just don't recognize. But thanks to the likenesses I did recognize, High Rollers feels like watching a movie from an alternate earth.

High Rollers is written by crime novelist Gary Phillips (Perdition, U.S.A.). With titles like Peepland and Vigilante: Southland under his belt, this is not the author's first and only foray into comics and graphic novels. However, I liked his overall story a lot better than the prose chapter that introduces all the major players at the beginning of this book. I am also glad I didn't give up on High Rollers because of that opening segment.

The prose part of High Rollers is filled with dime paperback cliches. The dialogue reads like a stereotype of blacks and South Central gangs. Not the kind of stuff I'd expect from an award winning author. Phillips in an interview with Greg Rucka (Whiteout), found at the back of this book, mentions that editor Mark Waid (Daredevil) made some notes on story improvement that Phillips wasn't a big fan of. But he did agree on some 'compromises.' With such a large cast and how the story begins in the middle of CQ's latest assignment from his boss, perhaps some story setup was needed. However, the quality of those pages didn't meet the superiority of the majority of this book.

This story is presented in 4 chapters. Chapters 1-3 of High Rollers is action-packed as CQ rises in the ranks as head of the gang. The first half of chapter 4 continues at that pace. But the way everything feels rushed to the conclusion, I wasn't satisfied with the ending. I like more definite endings. High Rollers concludes with the promise of more to come. Yet, it's 14 years later and there doesn't seem to be a sequel out there. 

I also know that we aren't supposed to judge a book by its cover. But when the cover includes items that you cannot find anywhere in the book, that annoys me. The outline of the stripper is okay as even though there are no scenes occurring in a strip club, it is mentioned a couple of times that some characters enjoy the company of them as lovers. However, there are playing cards on the front and a roulette wheel on the back cover and that's not the kind of gambling that occurs in High Rollers. Machete is a bookie to whom Rita's husband is greatly in debt. I'm also assuming that the 'high' in the title is in regards to the drugs dealt by CQ's gang. 

High Rollers was originally released as a 4-issue miniseries. The prose prologue was added just to the graphic novel. So if I had read the floppies instead of the trade paper back, I might have a slightly different attitude towards the beginning of the story. That still leaves the ending, which in my mind is still unforgivable. 

Also, I read this as a trade. So while I understand that my attitude towards the cover and chosen title might also be varied, my feelings towards this format remains the same. It's like watching Blade Runner. You have differing attitudes to the director's cut version you view. Still, the interior artwork was an amazing star-studded affair that kept me reading. So did the improved storytelling. I would just recommend that you find the back issues instead of reading the trade if High Rollers is of interest to you!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Lazarus, Volume One

Wonder Woman's Greg Rucka pens a futuristic tale that takes the idea of a dystopia and skewers it just a little bit. Instead of a structured government,or a miltia faction order is maintained by powerful crime families. They control the limited amount of resources. Their most trusted 'employees' have privilege status of rations, clothes and shelter. All other citizens are considered waste.

To protect their interest, each family funnel a large portion of their resources into a single family member known as a Lazarus. Genetically modified with cybernetics, these family champions are the pinnacles of medical science. And this means a lot of rebuilds and a little bit of playing God.

The Carlyle Family's Lazarus is named Forever.  But something is off with 'Eve'. She's got a conscious. Everyone knows that a Lazarus cannot think for themselves because of their programming. With a coup brewing in the Carlyle household, Eve is an unknown factor. She may be loyal to father now. But that very well may change when the family feud formally begins.

I think my wife got me this. I love grab bags and I think this was a part of monthly subscription service called Comic Bento; which is sadly now defunct. I added this book to my collection and then it sat for several years. Man, was I a fool.

This opening volume was phenomenal! Rucka's story had hints of The Godfather, The Terminator and a futuristic medical drama. I've got a lot of questions that remain unanswered. Like what was responsible for the fall of the world governments? How did these crime families rise to power? Yes, I have questions. But they weren't questions that had to be answered in order to enjoy this introduction to the world of Lazarus. If anything, wanted to know those answers are what will bring me back to the series again for volume 2.

Not sure when I will get to visit the family Carlyle any time soon. I'm hoping my local library has the rest. Fingers crossed.

A unique look at the dystopia trope that seems to dominant 21st century comics and graphic novels.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Whiteout

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that I tend to be a big fan of a lot of things. I know you might think when I say this that I am blowing smoke. But what I am about to say couldn't be any truer that anything I have ever posted on this blog.

I want to live in Antarctica!

 I love snow. I love the cold. I love the isolation. A dream job of mine would be to do a 9 month shift during the winter months as the head chef of a research station cafeteria or canteen. 

One of the big selling points is that all stationed on a research station on the frigid continent must read for 2 hours a day! It's scheduled so that you keep your mind active as cabin fever and trouble adjusting to permanent dark can screw with a person's mental state. And you get paid to read during that 2 hour window! 

Throw in a cat and this scenario would be heaven for me. And for lead character Special Deputy U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko, her cushy job at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, is a dream assignment. That is until she literally stumbles upon a pair of deep-froze corpses.

The discovery marks the first suspicious deaths on neutral Antarctica. As the only sanctioned law-enforcement on the frozen plain, Carrie's not even allowed to carry a sidearm, least she violate countless treaties. But as the body count begins to mount, Stetko will find herself teetering the edge of diplomacy as her investigation takes her to the research stations of several other nations. 

With her superiors breathing down her neck, Carrie has the added pressure of finding the culprit before all of the compounds clear out in time for the winter purge. Agent Stetko will find help and hindrances along the way. But her biggest nemesis will be the forbidding ice and cold of the South Pole! Can Carrie solve this tangled web of crime before the clues are buried under a blizzard of snow and deceit?

I saw the 2009 movie starring Kate Beckinsale and I loved it. I also had read the first 1 or 2 issues of this story and again loved it. But I never could get my hands on the last two chapters. Finally, I just recently got this collected edition and Wow! I was freakin' blown away by it. Greg Rucka's writing is much more gritty than the R-rated live-action version. And I love it!

The artwork by Steve Lieber (Hawkman) was fantastic. I didn't realize that those research stations were such a dump. That's definitely one thing that was over-glamorized in the film. This book is from 1998. So despite the grime, as long as smoking has been banned at the South Pole, I still wanna live there!

A great frozen crime thriller that doesn't end up as a cold case. And with 2 more miniseries continuing Stetko's tenure down under, I still have some more sub-zero mayhem to look forward to!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Shattered Empire

  Over the past month, I have been reading as many of the 'Journey to the Force Awakens' books as possible before Episode VII drops on Friday. Most have been entertaining but offered very little of the vital clues that were the reason I wanted to read the books in the first place. That is not so here.

    In Shattered Empire, we learn of the continuing struggles of the Rebellion right after the defeat of the Emperor. While Greg Rucka does a fantastic job exploring the further missions of Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker that's not the reason a true fan of Star Wars needs to read this book. It's because Shattered Empire reveals the true parentage of ----- NOPE, not gonna spoil it!

    With dynamic storytelling by Rucka (Gotham Central) and near photorealistic artwork by Marco Checchetto (Amazing Spider-Man) this is by far the best book in the 'Journey' series. It was tons of fun and even brings in some of newer characters introduced in the young adult novels. But Shattered Empire is just too darn short. 

   At only 4 issues long, I finished this book in just over an hour and I was desperate for more. Thankfully, the Force will awaken in just under 48-hours.

    (This volume includes a reprint of Princess Leia #1 and a beautifully remastered edition of the comic that started it all Star Wars #1.)

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Star Wars: Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure by Greg Rucka

     Smuggler's Run is one of about 5 or 6 books issued by Disney to make new and established fans alike get psyched for Star Wars Episode VII. (Like we needed prodding...) Published as part of the 'Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens Series,' this line of books is supposed to contain vital 'clues about the highly anticipated film.'

    I've been a Star Wars fan since birth. Born in 1977, Star Wars and I have been through thick (Empire Strikes Back) and thin (the introduction of Jar Jar Binks.) The film series is like an old friend that I just cannot imagine any part of life without it. So of course, I had to snag up as many of these teaser novels as possible before the deadline of December 18th (In my case, it's December 17th, as I have tickets to see the film the day before it officially releases.)

    This book is written by Greg Rucka (Gotham Central) and features occasional artwork by Phil Noto (Birds of Prey.) Together, they craft an enjoyable tale set between Episodes IV and V. The majority of Smuggler's Run takes place immediately after the Battle of Yavin. The Rebels, despite being glad to have just defeated the Empire in this important battle, know that they've got to hightail it somewhere fast before the Empire retaliates. 

   A Rebel by the name of Ematt has gone into hiding on the planet Crykon. The leader of a covert team know as the 'Shrikes,' Ematt has been scouting out potential sites for a new rebel base. Should the Empire find the Rebel, the entire fate of the Alliance could go up in smoke with no potential place left to hide in the galaxy.

   Han and Chewie are hired by Princess Leia to rescue Ematt. But the task will not be easy as the Emperor has made the capture and interrogation of Rebels a top priority after the destruction of the Death Star. Now, an Imperial Security Chief named Beck is hot on Ematt's trail. Oh, and don't forget the team of bounty hunters that followed the Millenium Falcon to Crykon on a mission to capture Solo and his Wookiee for payments owed to the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. The smuggler's are going to need much more than luck if they hope to survive this suicide mission.

    That's the plot of Smuggler's Run in a fairly large nutshell. So, where do clues to Episode VII fall in with all of this? Well for one, the story of Ematt's rescue is sandwiched between scenes of an older Han Solo biding his time in a cantina. Also, with characters such as Ematt and Beck playing such prominent roles, I wouldn't be very surprised if they pop up at some point in the Force Awakens, even as minor characters. 

   This is just speculation here but the stormtrooper character of Capt. Phasma is played by a woman- so maybe Beck becomes Phasma after the fall of the Empire? Both Beck and the actress playing Phasma, Gwendoline Christie, are blond so it's possible. Heck, there's such a tight lid over who many of the actors appearing in the film are playing, anyone new in this book might show up in the upcoming film and I not know it yet.

   Smuggler's Run was an enjoyable read. But it just didn't have as many Easter eggs as I expected. Now, I might very well revise this after I watch Episode VII- we'll just have to wait and see. But for less than $15, this isn't a bad read and despite being a young adult book, it's not something any fan of Star Wars should pass up.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

   

Gotham Central: Book One: In the Line of Duty

   Explore the series that inspired the FOX series GOTHAM. Written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka, Gotham Central focuses on the men in blue who keep Gotham City safe when Batman is busy.

    I love this series, it's like Law & Order meets Batman. In this volume, the night and day shifts of the GCPD work together to bring down Mister Freeze for killing one of their own before the sun sets and the Dark Knight clocks in for his shift. Then the night shift works overtime to solve a kidnapping ransom gone sour in the midst of a fire bug's reign of fiery terror. This volume wraps up with the day squad and Rene Montoya being outed as a lesbian. But things get even worse for the detective when the creep who is blackmailing her ends up with a bullet in the back and all evidence points to Montoya as the prime suspect. 

    I just recently completed my run on this groundbreaking series. It's been on my radar for quite some time after  I read a couple of issues reprinted in a Batman 100-Page Spectacular a while back. Plus, I am such a huge fan of Brubaker's work on Captain America and his ICON crime series Criminal. I'm not so familiar with Rucka's body of work, but that's actually going to change as I recently bought the Han Solo tale he wrote for the 'Journey to the Force Awakens' series of novels published in time for next month's release of Episode VII.

    One of the neat things about this series is that not only are the stories  separated by night and day shifts at Gotham Central, but each shift is written by just one author. Brubaker writes the night shift tales while Rucka tackles the day shift adventures of Montoya and partner Crispus Allen. The writers did manage to join forces in the opening storyline that joined the two squads together and introduced all of the major players. 

    Though the two squads are as different as night and day, the title's transitions appear seamless thanks to the striking artwork of Michael Lark. His gritty style looks like a series of courtroom sketches were married with the timeless design appeal of Darwyn Cooke's 'New Frontier.' It was both classic and modern at the same time, much like how the sets and costumes on the TV series GOTHAM is designed.

     If you like Gotham for its superhero-less approach, you'll love Gotham Central which has limited amounts of Batman Family sighting. On the flip side, if don't like that elements of classic and new Batman stories got melded together then you'll love this series which has Gordon as an old man instead of a rookie cop under the tutelage of Montoya and Bullock.

   A great series that didn't get much love when it first came out in 2002. Find it now in bargain bins before the popularity of GOTHAM and next year's Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice sends this sleeper into the stratosphere. 

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.