The Man who Never was

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga My rating: 3 of 5 stars News outlets keep telling us how, despite the great leaps made by science and technology, despite globalization and relative global peace, in our current world, wealth disparity is at its worst. Where, on one end we see billionaires (and unreported oil trillionaires) whose total assets exceed the GDP of small and some medium sized nations. Ones who can afford to purchase ludicrously exorbitant eccentricities, have entire private nation states under their command, can control the economies of the world and remake it according to their (often naive) whims. And when the end of civilization becomes apparent, the only ones will be fully stocked and furnished bunkers and lifeboats, all ready to create a new dystopian post-apocalyptic new world order. Think 2012, but with less CGI and a lot more suffering. On the other side of the spectrum, there are those who work 3 or more jobs, jumping through hoop...

Batman Vampire by Doug Moench My rating: 4 of 5 stars *** Content warning: Mature themes, graphic violence, nudity. *** When your favorite comic character dresses like a bat, works during the dark hours, stays in the shadows and instills the ever-living fear of death onto criminal scum, it's only a while before you begin to draw parallels between them and another of pop culture's iconic characters, who share many of the traits, but inhabit moreover of a neutral evil compared to the Lawful Good (maybe Lawful Neutral) of your favorite muse. So many jokes are being made about Count Batman, or the Bat Vampire, it would not be a surprise if there are stories featuring both of them facing off; or him being an actual f***ing Vampire. What surprised me was that it took me this long to come across the story. I had previously encountered a similar character in the DC animated movie 'Justice League: Gods and Monsters' but seeing as how that char...

Batman: One Bad Day - Ra's Al Ghul #1 by Tom Taylor My rating: 4 of 5 stars Ra's al Ghul is a character who'd best fit the saying 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions'. As well as the villain who sees himself as the hero in his own story. He's one of the members of Batman's Rogues gallery, who is driven by a higher purpose, and one who you would likely empathize with; were it not for the fact that his methods tend to largely be genocidal. Ra's, I felt, has been a perfect foil for Batman, in a manner different from the Joker. Where the Joker's brand of Anarchy contrasts Batman's need for rules and order, Ra's is more of Bruce's intellectual and physical equal. Both have the skills, training, and resources at their disposal to see their respective missions to fruition. Yet where the similarities get more evident, is the sheer drive that Ra's and the Bats have to their ideals; to the point that ...

Preacher, Volume 1: Gone to Texas by Garth Ennis   My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews Well, in case you had any doubt; it's official. Garth Ennis absolutely despises what others hold dear. He has already shat on heaps upon Superhero genre, through his disturbing interpretation of truth, justice and the American way in  The Boys . Now, let us turn our attention to his earlier classic, shitting upon everything religion, specifically Christianity. Nothing is holy, nothing is sacred, everything is depraved. So why would one go about reading Garth's interpretation of the Father, the Son and the Holy spirit, where everything caters to the lowest denomination, and the worst stuff of nightmares you could think is put on screen? Well, the characters are mighty likeable, as well as the rapport the primary trio have with each other. Plus, there is a whole lot of gratuitous violence and fetichism for those who're into all that. Only thing I know is that, de...

Nemesis by Mark Millar My rating: 1 of 5 stars Rating 1 out of 5 | Grade: F; Disappointing, Infuriating, Tiresome Warning for expletives and a whole bunch of cursing. Read at your own peril. Full Disclosure, the reviewer is a lifelong DC fan, and a hardcore Bat nerd. So, any biases that you may spot is intentional. When the whole premise of your story can be summed up as 'Batman, but if he was an a**hole', you as a reader can be justified in the sense of apprehension that is building up within you. And when you finish reading the story and realize that it is just as much of a shit stain that you surmised, you can breathe a sigh of relief at not being prejudiced at a story merely because they alluded to one of your favorite fictional characters in a negative light. You see, unlike the dark, gritty, gratuitously violent and offensive works of Garth Ennis such as The Boys , which also features a negative portrayal of the Justice league and Batma...

Batman: Ego by Darwyn Cooke My rating: 4 of 5 stars You know, I love Batman. But even the most hardcore fans really find it vexing how the Joker & Batman go about this game of cat & mouse, with the death toll ever rising. And they wonder, 'Why doesn't Bats just end the clown? One death, in face of the countless casualties. Some writers try to come up with contrived reasons other than the 'We can't kill off one of our most popular Villains'. But others, take that as a challenge, and chose to delve into the deep, dark, and ultimately f**ked up the psyche of Batman; yes Batman, because there is no Bruce Wayne. It tells the tale of a man whose dark impulses could rival that of even the mad clown, and combined with his indomitable will, genius and skills could turn him into a menace that can give Gods & Demons pause. But then we see this man, restraining those impulses, tempering them, and using them to help people, rat...

Batman: R.I.P. by Grant Morrison My rating: 4 of 5 stars Preceded by: Batman- The Black Glove Succeeded by: Final Crisis Rating 4 out of 5 | Grade: A; I’m the Gorram Batman (of Zur-en-aarh) Grant Morrison clearly subscribes to the Alan Moore school of storytelling. Which is psychedelics, dreams, bizarre mindscapes, non-linear storytelling, and a pinch of WTF did I just read. Following the events of Batman: The Black Glove, the torment in which he had to endure some serious psychological trauma (which seeing as this is Batman, is just another Tuesday for him), plus some hypnotic manipulation from Dr. Hurt, leader of the Black Glove, causes Batman’s psyche to become shattered after hearing the trigger phrase ‘Zur-en-arrh’. This causes him to fall back to an emergency psyche which he had created just for the eventuality of someone messing with his mind. Because, why wouldn’t he, this is the goddamn Batman, the guy who prepares for every possibilit...

A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman My rating: 5 of 5 stars Rating 5 out of 5 | Sometimes it's OK to be taken for an unexpected ride; provided it's an entertaining one Gaiman you eloquent bastard, you got me again? Every time I go into one of your books, expecting something un-expected. Yet every time, you manage to hoodwink me like a magician with their pretty assistants. Even this time, when I went into the story looking for something suspicious, you used the familiarity of the reader with the subject matter to subvert their expectations, with a twist, which in hindsight should’ve been seen from a mile away. Anyways, I won’t discuss the specifics, as I don’t want to ruin the experience for prospective new readers. But still, a Spoiler alert just in case. Synopsis It is the turn of the twentieth century, Albion (Great Britain). A Detective & his companion, the Major are consulted to solve the crime of the murder of one of royal blood. Onl...