| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Trade in Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"...classy art from Andy Kubert and a finale of rare emotional depth make this more than an exercise in fan-boy reference spotting." - The Daily Telegraph Review"
Product Description
"New York Times" Number 1 best-selling author Neil Gaiman takes on The Dark Knight! Neil Gaiman, co-creator of "The Sandman" and writer of "The Graveyard Book", re-teams with his collaborator on Marvel's 1602, superstar artist Andy Kubert, to tell the story that delves into life, death and the afterlife, leaving no stone unturned and exploring every aspect of The Dark Knight's life and crime-fighting career. This tale parallels the classic "Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" epic, written by Alan Moore.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a great Batman graphic novel in my opinion, but it may not be everyone's cup of tea. There are five stories in here, all covering very different ideas, and all have very definite styles of artwork too,which may not be to everyone's liking, but the stories are all strong enough to deliver a great Batman experience to the reader.
The main story deals with the death of Batman, at some point in the future. Batman is lying in state in his coffin in Crime Alley - which is essentially where 'Batman' was born ; the place where his parents murdered. All of his friends and allies have turned up to pay their respects and tell their version of how he died. Cue a who's who of the Batman universe : Catwoman, Joker, Penguin, Alfred, Two-Face, the Riddler, Superman and others. What is very impressive is the love and attention to detail Neil Gaiman has put into this. One page in particular sums it up perfectly. Batman is in his coffin in almost three identical frames, but in each he is in a different style of his outfit from the original costume, through the long-eared phase, and into the current costume. Hidden in the crowd is a cavalcade of people involved in the Batman legend - Mr Freeze, Poison Ivy, Commissioner Gordon, Barbara Gordon (Oracle), Ra's al Ghul, Azrael and more that you will enjoy finding. And this is just so nice to see in a graphic novel. It actually rewards the dedicated fan, as well as the casual reader. The fact that Joe Chill is the barman at this event won't be lost on the real fans - he is the man who killed Bruce Wayne's parents.There are some classic lines in here too - the highlight being the Joker asking someone to keep an eye on his car while he is inside. Had there just been this story i would have been very happy, but there are four others.
These four aren't up to the high standards of the main story but they certainly add something different to the Batman universe. The highlight of these is Black and White World which sees Batman and Joker waiting to do their performances in the Batman comic. It is razor-sharp wit at it's finest - Batman helping Joker doing a crossword is very funny!
Pavane deals with a Poison Ivy backstory and is quite interesting, with very old-style artwork.Original Sins deals with a television company trying to organise a tv documentary with some of the Super-criminals and begins with Batman trying to warn the tv executive that it's a dangerous business covering this subject. The final story, 'When is a Door' concludes the 'Original Sins' storyline and deals with the origins of the Riddler and gives a great twist at the end of it.
I bought the hardback version, as at the time of writing this it is the only edition available.It is the deluxe version and has a really interesting Neil Gaiman introduction that is really worth reading, and you can see why the graphic novel is so good - he is a real afficianado, and has gone out of his way to capture the spirit of the Batman universe. It also has a great alternative cover in the gallery section by the legendary Alex Ross, amongst the original sketches for the main story.
This is an excellent graphic novel, and one i would rank with other classics such as the Return of the Dark Knight, the Killing Joke and Devil's Advocate.
Batman fanatics MUST buy this immediately! Casual fans will enjoy this too, but not to the same degree.
You will read this all in one sitting - SUPERB!!!
The main story deals with the death of Batman, at some point in the future. Batman is lying in state in his coffin in Crime Alley - which is essentially where 'Batman' was born ; the place where his parents murdered. All of his friends and allies have turned up to pay their respects and tell their version of how he died. Cue a who's who of the Batman universe : Catwoman, Joker, Penguin, Alfred, Two-Face, the Riddler, Superman and others. What is very impressive is the love and attention to detail Neil Gaiman has put into this. One page in particular sums it up perfectly. Batman is in his coffin in almost three identical frames, but in each he is in a different style of his outfit from the original costume, through the long-eared phase, and into the current costume. Hidden in the crowd is a cavalcade of people involved in the Batman legend - Mr Freeze, Poison Ivy, Commissioner Gordon, Barbara Gordon (Oracle), Ra's al Ghul, Azrael and more that you will enjoy finding. And this is just so nice to see in a graphic novel. It actually rewards the dedicated fan, as well as the casual reader. The fact that Joe Chill is the barman at this event won't be lost on the real fans - he is the man who killed Bruce Wayne's parents.There are some classic lines in here too - the highlight being the Joker asking someone to keep an eye on his car while he is inside. Had there just been this story i would have been very happy, but there are four others.
These four aren't up to the high standards of the main story but they certainly add something different to the Batman universe. The highlight of these is Black and White World which sees Batman and Joker waiting to do their performances in the Batman comic. It is razor-sharp wit at it's finest - Batman helping Joker doing a crossword is very funny!
Pavane deals with a Poison Ivy backstory and is quite interesting, with very old-style artwork.Original Sins deals with a television company trying to organise a tv documentary with some of the Super-criminals and begins with Batman trying to warn the tv executive that it's a dangerous business covering this subject. The final story, 'When is a Door' concludes the 'Original Sins' storyline and deals with the origins of the Riddler and gives a great twist at the end of it.
I bought the hardback version, as at the time of writing this it is the only edition available.It is the deluxe version and has a really interesting Neil Gaiman introduction that is really worth reading, and you can see why the graphic novel is so good - he is a real afficianado, and has gone out of his way to capture the spirit of the Batman universe. It also has a great alternative cover in the gallery section by the legendary Alex Ross, amongst the original sketches for the main story.
This is an excellent graphic novel, and one i would rank with other classics such as the Return of the Dark Knight, the Killing Joke and Devil's Advocate.
Batman fanatics MUST buy this immediately! Casual fans will enjoy this too, but not to the same degree.
You will read this all in one sitting - SUPERB!!!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
'Batman - whatever happened to the caped crusader' is a complex, not linear, tale of Batman by Neil Gaiman (Sandman, Coraline) and beautifully drawn by Andy Kubert. This comic is a must have if you're a fan of the Batman series. If, however, you're a casual reader this work may be a bit confusing because quite a lot of Batman's adversaries, as well as regular Batman characters, appear without further introduction - and most even without dialogue or without being addressed. So it is helpful if you know a bit about the 'history' of Gotham and the characters, this will also make it easier to see how brilliantly Gaiman combines and expands the Batman myth.
The comic - graphic novel is an appropriate term as well - consists of the main tale, which I will come to in a second, and three additional tales: one very funny black and white tale where Batman and Joker are actually 'actors' who get paid to play their part in comic books. The Parvane story deals with Poison Ivy, and it does much credit to this character. The last one is a story about the Riddler, which could be read as a 'Riddler - the beginning' type of story...in Riddler style of course.
Spoiler alert, please do not read onward if you truly want to be surprised.
The main story concerns itself with Batman's possible demise: since he is mortal, he will one day inevitably die...how would that come to pass? Who would come to his funeral? From that moment onward nothing is as it seems to be. Several characters (adversaries) claim having killed him, or know how he was killed, but each story contradicts the tale of some other character, so there is no certainty. The combination of various plotlines, such as the Joker and Alfred are just truely brilliant twists on the original Batman concept. I do not wish to give more away that I already did, thus I will conclude by stating that this comic is highly original and wildly imaginative. A true must have for fans, and worthwhile for casual reader (albeit, sometimes you will miss certain hints, jokes and background information)
The comic - graphic novel is an appropriate term as well - consists of the main tale, which I will come to in a second, and three additional tales: one very funny black and white tale where Batman and Joker are actually 'actors' who get paid to play their part in comic books. The Parvane story deals with Poison Ivy, and it does much credit to this character. The last one is a story about the Riddler, which could be read as a 'Riddler - the beginning' type of story...in Riddler style of course.
Spoiler alert, please do not read onward if you truly want to be surprised.
The main story concerns itself with Batman's possible demise: since he is mortal, he will one day inevitably die...how would that come to pass? Who would come to his funeral? From that moment onward nothing is as it seems to be. Several characters (adversaries) claim having killed him, or know how he was killed, but each story contradicts the tale of some other character, so there is no certainty. The combination of various plotlines, such as the Joker and Alfred are just truely brilliant twists on the original Batman concept. I do not wish to give more away that I already did, thus I will conclude by stating that this comic is highly original and wildly imaginative. A true must have for fans, and worthwhile for casual reader (albeit, sometimes you will miss certain hints, jokes and background information)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Neil Gaiman's nostalgic two part Batman essay, set at The Batman's funeral, much of which is taken up by stories told by his friends and foes alike; impossible, contradictory stories as they are. Included to fatten the book up are some concept art pages, some stage by stage art and three short Batman themed oddities by Gaiman, including A Black & White World (quite funny but has featured in other collections) and a couple of villain secret origins (Poison Ivy & The Riddler).
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Goodnight Batman
In 2008 DC Comics decided to kill off Bruce Wayne in the Batman R.I.P./Final Crisis story and to make it official they invited Neil Gaiman to write a climax to a character with 70... Read more
Published 3 days ago by bigdunc
If you're interested just because of the Gaiman name, avoid, otherwise...
I suspect a lot of people will buy this because it has Neil Gaiman's name on it. I did.
I am a Batman fan, although not a completist by any stretch of the imagination,... Read more
I am a Batman fan, although not a completist by any stretch of the imagination,... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mike N
Goodbye stars in the sky...
I put the Batman graphic novels down a long time ago (after the appalling Dark Knight Strikes Again) and would happily have dipped back into Knightfall, Arkham Asylum, Year One,... Read more
Published 11 months ago by R. McEwan
RIP Batman!
A very interesting idea for a Batman graphic novel.The story has nearly every character in the Bat World,attending the funeral of the Caped Crusader.Or are they? Read more
Published 14 months ago by nafnamtab
Okay, not great
It's fine - there's nothing brilliant about it - it's just a bit thin and not that well developed. There's no doubting the cleverness of it, but its not really that much of a... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Ci Stark
The poor cousin...
I bought this after reading the brilliant Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? and its definitely the poor cousin, a great book in itself but by comparison I found... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Lark
Witty and original
This was a nicely told and genuinely amusing and moving story about the "death of batman" It was pretty original. There were plenty of nice twists in the tale. Read more
Published 18 months ago by The Emperor
Nice 'end' to the Batman story
From Neil Gaiman, the genius behind the beloved Vertigo 'The Sandman' title, I bought this book with high expectations which were for the most part met. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mr. A. J. Mann
Better that you can imagine
This is the best Batman story I have read so far (among Hush, Year One, DKR etc.), and a wonderful and truly satisfying ending to all stories. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Ilya Zverev
Gaiman goes batty
Gaiman is often said to be a man who takes a tale a new route to the previously expected offerings. Yet here in this one about Gotham's crime fighting hero you get a story that's... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Gareth Wilson - Falcata Times Blog
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
