Review: Batman: The Man Who Laughs SC

Batman: The Man Who Laughs SC by Ed Brubaker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Despite my general love of Brubaker (Gotham Central? Sleeper? Criminal? All great!), this is just... so... mediocre. This set immediately following the end of Batman: Year One, Batman: The Man Who Laughs is basically the origin/first meeting of the Joker. Oh, also a random Batman/Alan Scott Green Lantern team-up story set ten or so years later that has literally nothing to do with the Joker.

The Joker story isn't terrible, but it's not particularly good, either. It mimics the dual narrative structure of Year One, following Batman and Gordon separately as they try to track down the Joker, who is attacking and killing people with a strange new toxin. Part of the problem for me is that this wasn't a particularly compelling Joker case, let alone origin/first meeting. Joker is killing random rich people as a cover while he plans to douse the entire city with Joker toxin in the water supply. Because he blames the city for turning him into the Joker. Meh.

It doesn't help that I find Doug Mahnke's visual depiction of the Joker lacking, as well. He's so wrinkly. I know he's supposed to look like the character from the film this story takes its name from, but it just doesn't quite work for me.

It is nice to see Batman being a detective here, though. He spent a lot of time in Year One punching people out, but Brubaker shows us the more cerebral side of Batman, as he tries to figure out what Joker's plan is, and how to counteract the toxin. Of course, he also has Batman do the unthinkably stupid dosing himself with the toxin as part of his plan to get rid of the police. Dumb.

The Green Lantern story was a little better, but set so far after The Man Who Laughs and having nothing to do with Joker that I'm not sure why it was included here. I've complained about DC's baffling decisions regarding collecting stories in other reviews, so I won't harp on it here.

The GL story is a pretty straightforward murder mystery plot. Not groundbreaking, but entertaining enough, I guess.

This is an easy pass, ultimately. There are better collections if you want Joker's origin, and the Alan Scott story isn't particularly vital. This whole collection feels too much like filler material. Too bad.



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Review: The Getaway Man

The Getaway Man by Andrew Vachss

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



In The Getaway Man Vachss tries his hand at the classic pulp style crime novel. The unnamed narrator is a young guy, a little simple, but loyal to a fault, and a hell of a driver. Driving is in his blood. He doesn't care about money, and he's only interested in cars in so much as he can drive them. It's not the car that he loves, it's the act of driving.

There's nothing ground breaking here; this is a very readable, fairly predictable, fast paced book. The genre staples are all here. There are crooks, sleazy women, double crosses, and scams a-plenty. Many of the characters read a little on the flat side, especially the crew working at the end of the novel, but part of that is pretty deliberate, given the narrator' slack of interest in other people.

A fast, readable book that doesn't disappoint but doesn't really do anything to stand out from the pack, either.



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Review: The Fall of Hyperion

The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This is the second book of the Hyperion Cantos, and is set immediately following the events of the first book, Hyperion.

And, wow. Full disclosure: there are a lot of things that happen in this book that I'm not sure I fully understand. There are a lot of questions I have, especially about some of the action near the end, but... wow. Simmons does a lot of work here, mashing together classical poetry, future tech, aliens, space travel, time travel, space-time travel, political intrigue, and so much more.

This is a very impressive book, even if Simmons is clearly laying the groundwork for future stories at the expense of the current one (Don't do that!). There are some interesting twists and turns along the way, as well. I was honestly a little disappointed in myself for not realizing some of them sooner. All of my praise for Hyperion stands here, as well. If you're looking for some fantasy sci-fi space opera action with some philosophical twists and a dash of Keats poetry along the way, you've found your book!



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Review: Hyperion

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Near the end of March, a colleague of mine mentioned that he was reading Hyperion. "Have you heard of it? It's amazing! It's so good!" His excitement for the book was obvious, and I was looking for something to read, so I added it to my hold list.

I have to say, he was absolutely right. Dan Simmons sci-fi pilgrimage is extremely well realized. He's done an incredible amount of world building, and it shows. There's a sense of a larger history in this universe, and the little drips and drabs that he doles out through the course of the story left me wanting to know so much more.

Hyperion is the story of seven pilgrims working their way to Time Tombs and the sacred temple of the Shrike, a creature/being/entity worshipped by the Church of the Final Atonement. The majority of the novel is comprised of the stories of six of the pilgrims, told to each other over the course of their journey (yes, like the Canterbury Tales) to meet the Shrike.

Each of the pilgrim's stories is told in a different voice, and each helps flesh out the larger narrative and provide details that help the reader better understand the universe the book is set in (I really can't say enough about how impressive Simmons' world building is; concepts and technologies are mentioned early and often, and while some of them aren't really explained in detail until later, I never felt lost).

While the book does end on a bit of a cliff hanger, the individual stories are so compelling, and the action so well paced, it felt more like a natural breaking point, rather than an abrupt departure.

Highly recommended for sci-fi fans.



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