Re: RARA-AVIS: Da nah nah ne nah ne nah....BATMAN!

James Stephenson (James_E_Stephenson@umail.umd.edu)
Mon, 20 Apr 1998 14:37:34 -0400 I was thrilled when I first heard that Vachss was doing a Batman novel;
I bought the thing brand new from the first book store I saw it in, for
full list price. I started it right away and quickly discovered that it
wasn't what I expected. I finished it, but it was a chore--that novel
was one of the worst pieces of crap that I've ever had the misfortune to
slog through. It was obvious that Vachss did not have a clear idea of
Batman's character; even worse, he did some unforgivable screwing around
with the origin story--the central event in Bruce Wayne's life that
defines and motivates his alter-ego Batman. On top of all of that, the
plot was just plain bad story-telling.

Kevin mentioned some volumes of Batman short stories; there are three
that I know of, all edited by Martin H. Greenberg. The stories vary
wildly in quality. My favorite story from these anthologies is Stewart
M. Kaminsky's "The Batman memos." Kaminsky's story is told indirectly,
through interdepartmental memos from Jack Warner, and members of his
staff. It seems Warner Brothers wants to make a movie of Batman's
exploits and is dealing with Batman's agent Bruce Wayne, who's just
arrived in Hollywood. There's a kidnapping, which is apparently solved
by Batman, but it's not clear--the only hint is a puzzling note from a
night watchman who makes reference to a man "dressed like an umbrella"
skulking around the corridors.

Finally, I'll mention that Joe R. Lansdale has written a couple of
Batman novels, and the one that I read, _Batman, Captured by the
Engines_, is really pretty good. This novel is closer to some of
Lansdale's more wild horror novels (like _The Drive-In_), and Batman is
almost ignored to the point of becoming a supporting character in his
own novel. Still well worth seeking out.

-- 
James Stephenson
Rare Books & Special Collections Cataloger
McKeldin Library
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Mailto:js272@umail.umd.edu
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