Paul Pope

Batman: Year 100 is one of the best Batman stories ever written alongside of Frank Miller and Scott Synder. Pope presents (like The Dark Knight Returns) a dark, dystopian take on the world of Batman and Gotham City. In Pope's reality, Gotham of 2039 is devoid of privacy - and is essentially a police state. Mixing crime noir with futuristic dystopian sci-fi, Batman Year 100 is essentially a play on Frank Miller's classic, Batman year one and is in many ways the spiritual sucessor to The Dark Knight Returns. The story centers on Detective James Gordon, grandson of the original Commissioner Gordon, who worked with Batman. He finds himself thrust between a Batman (who is he? Is he the same man?) falsely accused of murder, corrupt federal agents, and a plot by rogue agents of the government to create a weapon of unimaginable proportion after a federal agent is murdered and a contingent of Washington's top agents is hot on the suspect's trail. The Batman here is a forgotten icon from the past, who shouldn't exist at all. The mythic element of Batman remains. The art of Paul Pope is original and gritty and the storyline is very original. Highly recommended. This certainly deserves repeated readings.
… (altro)

I normally loathe or at least dislike superhero stuff, no matter how hard the creators try to subvert the tropes of the genre, but for whatever reason I had great fun reading this.
Whether it's the art style, the dream-like setting or the sense of humour that, amazingly enough, connects, I don't know - but I really hope there's another volume. I enjoyed watching "Battling Boy" and his growing pains after being thrust suddenly into the role.


(MILD SPOILER: I feel like what he needs for future adventures is a badass, sturdy jacket. Oh well, time to go find out if they released any more.)… (altro)