“Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?” by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert
DC Comics decided to do for Batman what they did several years ago with Superman. They had a two-part story written by a comics great (Alan Moore) that ended the series running at the time, then started the titles again from 0. (Making comic-shop employees everywhere groan.) For Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader, they tapped Neil Gaiman and artist Andy Kubert. Set at the funeral of the Batman, friends and foes take turns telling stories, as the reader tries to figure out what’s going on.
“Where am I?”
“You’re here. In Gotham.”
“Am I dreaming?”
“No, you aren’t dreaming.”
“This is Gotham. I mean, I know it’s Gotham. But…it’s strange. I know Gotham like I know myself.”
Typical of Gaiman, the story focuses on the power and relative truth of stories. Included in the Deluxe hardcover edition are 3 other Gaiman Batman-related stories. Kubert channels past masters as the appearance of Batman and the style of the stories changes. It’s a nice edition of a good tribute to a great character but better perhaps for fans of Batman than for fans just of Gaiman because of the comics backstories that inform it.
January 10th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
I wonder if my college girls know about this? They are very into the DC Universe these days.
January 11th, 2010 at 9:12 am
I liked this one for the stories the other characters tell