Batman: Reptilian

Product Information

Did the story deserve to be a 6-parter though? Gosh, no! Half that, 4 tops, would have been enough. This is hilarious, but its sad at the same time! In a nutshell: If you want a grounded deep story that takes the character of waylon jones serious then ignore this book. I would hate to live in a world where comics characters never changed. Or rather, I wouldn’t care because I would have stopped reading comics when I was a child. Because they wouldn’t have remained interesting to me because they’d never changed. Or, to put it a bit differently, nobody would have had the imagination or guts to have written them “out of character.”

While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.Ennis: For me, the book isn’t a tribute to Steve, it’s just something that in practical terms exists because of him. I don’t think anyone would be too surprised to learn that were I to celebrate Steve’s life it wouldn’t be with a Batman comic or any kind of comic -- it would be with a large donation to his favourite charitable cause, the Arthur Guinness Foundation. But I do like to think of him having a good old laugh at Mr. I-hate-superheroes ending up writing Batman. The End... Or Is It?: The monster is killed, and Killer Croc is arrested, but Batman remarks that Croc is still mutating, and could become something even worse in the future. There is a fascination we feel towards Batman, both in what he represents (the pinnacle of humanity, a stoic symbol of progress, both biological and technological) and in where his adventures are set (Gotham as the worst city you’d want to live in, possessing the charm of decadence, a dystopia that functions as a caveat in regard to what chaotic – and corrupt – urbanization can lead to). Actually rather fun despite its pregnant gory atmosphere. Monolithic and tongue-in-cheek, Batman is that close to being hilarious. The humour is tipically Ennis- hence tipically british- so it sometimes sounds a bit odd in Bats’ mouth but it’s fun either way. Alfred’s a riot too despite his few lines.

Goo Goo Getup: Killer Croc wears a diaper in the cover of Issue #5 while his offspring holds him in their arms like a baby. Batman Reptilian is a book you will either absolutely love or absolutely hate. I, for one, fall into the former category, as Ennis weaves a surprisingly hilarious Batman story, with artwork by Liam Sharp that is utterly jaw-dropping on every level. This is one of those stories that starts with a pretty okay first issue but just gets better and more absurd by the end. The gist is some weird, new creature is rampaging through Batman’s rogues gallery, and now Batman has to figure out what it is and what exactly it wants.Batman, as a character, has become part of global popular culture, popular being here a way of highlighting a certain anthropological and social attitude towards what might be called modern folklore. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, Batman has been the subject of many changes, many interpretations (and, also, reinterpretation), a necessity given its long – seemingly unending – life. Ennis' Batman has more of a sense of humor but it's a biting, insulting one. His attitude towards criminals comes off the same as a rich person who is inconvenienced by someone less fortunate. I think most Batman fans have a definitive version in their mind and Ennis' is a jarring change that doesn't come off as very heroic.