6 hours ago business goose🪿 liked Felicia Rondo's review of Batman: Tales of the Demon
“200+ pages of comic book storytelling excellence.
I have read great Batman comics before. I have also read great Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams comics before. But nothing could have prepared me for the incredible display of mastery over the comic book format that awaited me in this book.
The simplest way to put it may just be that everything works - excels, even. The writing, the art, those two elements that combine to make comic books the immortal medium that it is are both executed at unparalleled levels regularly throughout the stories collected in this! It's funny, it's serious, it's exciting, it's thoughtful - it is so many things and it all works!
The character of Batman and the tale that has been woven with him was 31 years young when the first story collected here was published, and yet Batman - cultural titan that he was at the time - shows no signs of slowing. In fact, these are easily some of the best Batman comics I've ever read. I like to think that proves age has nothing to do with where you can take a series like Batman.
Batman was 50 when Harley Quinn was introduced, after all, and pushing 70 when the first title in the "Arkham" video game series was released! Yes, when it comes to finding new and creative ways to keep the legend alive, Batman appears to be as immortal as his greatest foe.
And boy, does Ra's al Ghul well and truly EARN the title of "greatest foe" of Batman in this book. Not only is he cunning, with both strength and skill as plentifully at his disposal as it is for our hero, he is genuinely subversive at various times! Batman will be prepared to dive into a whole investigation to track Ra's down, only for Ra's to turn a corner and voluntarily reveal himself just to show he has nothing to fear from Batman.
He is cut from the same cloth as some of the greatest villains comics have known, with unjustifiable methods deployed for rather noble ends. He is also, incredibly, fun! I honestly never understood the appeal of Ra's al Ghul before reading this, but now I get it! He is an excellent character, genuinely magnetic on the page, it made me savor every appearance he made on each page.
And then there is the unforgettable Talia, who ensuing comic book history has turned into a far more odious force as a misguided "favor" to her. Yes, for lack of actually letting women work on comics, many men in the comics industry took to becoming incredibly self-conscious at how they depicted women and have spent years taking counterintuitive measures to "respect" them more - in Talia's case, by making her less-sympathetic and more-villainous. You know, to show how highly they think of her.
But what would come to pass has not yet come here, and instead we have a Talia that is a consistent delight throughout this book. She initially plays innocent, but we soon find she is very willing to kill for the honor of her father - to whom she is fiercely loyal. This willingness to end life would drive a wedge between her and Batman, but in fact (after a comment is made on Batman's part about his disappointment at her for being so eager to kill) we later see her choose to disarm instead of kill a different foe! This of course leads to a much more positive meeting between the two.
There is indeed a central friction in the relationship between Batman and Talia. Talia is loyal to Ra's, Batman is devoted to his moral code, and yet they both love one another deeply and say outright that there is no one that either of them would rather be with if it were at all possible. Batman has the chance to take Talia to the authorities multiple times, but he refuses. There are, in turn, many times in which Batman could very easily have been slain.
But every time, every single time that she has had the choice between her father's wishes and Batman's life, Talia consistently chooses Batman. It is for this reason that I can come to no other conclusion that these two belong together, and it is only due to editorial cowardice that they are kept apart to preserve the status quo of a sexless bachelor Batman.
Back to the comic at hand, I just can't say enough good about it so I'm not gonna try for much longer. This is a DAMN good collection of DAMN good comics, and I'd recommend them to anyone - ESPECIALLY someone who's been subsisting off of a diet of spin-off media only.
Have you only ever watched the animated series? You should read this. Have you only ever seen the movies? Here's this book, please consider reading it. Have you only played Batman video games and have little to no exposure to the character beyond that? Dear sweet jesus in heaven, christ al-fucking-mighty, how are you living like that??? Read this comic, read lots of comics, they're good! They have pictures, you can look at them to follow the story if you have trouble with the words! Do it! Please!
So yeah, would definitely recommend this to any fan of Batman. It shows its age in some places, there's some dated or outright orientalist terminology used in places that I wish they hadn't, but it was worth it for me to read on and I hope it would be for you too. :)”
