Batman Noel

[Caped Crusader]

Came out today, did anyone else pick it up? Looking forward to reading it.

 

[Doctor Who]

I honestly had no idea it came out today!!!!! Been dying to read it for a couple of months now though; I'll check it out when I get paid.

 

[jameson34656]

It was amazing. I'm surprised nobody is talking about it at all!!

 

[Caped Crusader]

It was great.. I hope Bermejo does more Batman, love his work.

 

[Brother Jack]

I might ask for this for Christmas.

 

[Blue Sugar]

This looks awesome, definitely gonna pick it up soon (being christmas soon and all). I love weird elseworlds stories. The art looks fantastic as always with Bermejo.

 

[Motown Marvel]

i didnt pick it up. i wasnt sure how good of a writer bermejo would be. either way, flipping through it, it didnt look like bermejo's strongest art. but i think thats due to the coloring.

 

[Yurka]

It was very good. I knew Bermejo was a great artist but I didn't know he could write as well, a great Batman Christmas story

 

[Caped Crusader]

It was very good. I knew Bermejo was a great artist but I didn't know he could write as well, a great Batman Christmas story

Glad you liked it.

 

[ALP]

Will get this the next time I go to the bookstore. Well actually I'll first compare prices to amazon haha

 

[Cobblepot]

I liked it a lot, Batman is very grimm in this and the Joker is great. Superman looked weird though, alsmost looks like he's wearing a thong.

 

[Drz]

My thoughts:

The co-creator of 2008 hot selling original graphical novel Joker, artist and writer Lee Bermejo tells his own Batman story, which is based off Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Like the classic story itself, the story follows Scrooge’s (Batman) ethical, ideological and emotional transformation from the gruesome bitter pessimistic vigilante to a more happier, optimistic man thru the visit of the Ghost of Christmas Past (Catwoman), Present (Superman) and the possible future (Joker).

What I love about the book’s art is that this time it’s all Lee Bermejo himself, not that I had any issues with the Joker having a 2 inkers, some scenes being rougher and others being very beautifully illustrated, but this time it’s all 100% Lee Bermejo and the art is just flawless to look at. Fans of Bermejo’s art and visual interpretation of characters are gifted with not only Darwyn Cooke’s design of Catwoman, but a nice treat of her famous purple & green 1960s design, the yellow oval on Batman’s chest makes an appearance, the 60s Batmobile, Penguin and even the laughing daredevil Robin the Boy Wonder makes an appearance.

I can’t stop praising how stunning this book looks, and ultimately the credit cannot be solely given to Lee Bermejo, but the story as a whole is the work of Bermejo, the colorist Barbara Ciardo brings the characters and the city to live from the light radiating Superman to the utterly creepy Joker, while Todd Klein’s lettering brings the narration to life and gives it character, as the narration is done in a very personal story, like a bed time story told by a father to son.

Ultimately there isn’t much to talk about the story, since it is an adaptation with a Bat flavor for a Christmas classic, I will say this, that Batman in this book is incredibly dark, the guy has lost all hope and literally barely even cares about saving people or protecting people from traumas, all he wants is to ensure people are too scared to do crime and catch criminals, this man changes obviously as Scrooge does, but I do feel the “3rd Act” of the story following the last ghost’s visit to the conclusion may come a bit too swiftly, perhaps I would have wanted the very last pages extended with more silent moments and focus to the characters, but it does offer a very happy ending, and despite being dark, I would recommend this for younger Batman fans as a Christmas gift, as long as they are at least teen agers in my opinion.

Rating: 80/100 - Solid adaptation of a classic story with Batman characters, a lot of heart and passion from the creative team to tell a story about a person who doesn’t believe in hope or being able to change to becoming that very person who has hope and believes people can change to the better.

 

[Doctor Who]

It was very good. I knew Bermejo was a great artist but I didn't know he could write as well, a great Batman Christmas story

I bought it for myself yesterday morning and finished it today; not disappointed in the slightest with it. Bermejo is one of the most inspiring artists I've ever come to ever see and his artwork in Noel surely is flawless, and at best, the finest pieces of art to be laid down and sold in a book. It's the mesmerizing.

The story to me is good as well; I think this might be one of the first stories Lee's wrote, but he pulls off a modern Batman interpretation of A Christmas Carol pretty damn well, but if I had any minor setbacks on it would be just the structure of the story of itself. It's not perfect and at some points it felt a little too by the book of classic slang, metaphors, etc.; I'm a vintage person myself, but Bermejo in my honest opinion played those aspects too much for my taste.

And to be fair, I felt that the story had so much more to offer; the choices of adapting Catwoman, Superman, and The Joker to being the 3 Ghosts was a brilliant idea, as well as Jason Todd as Jacob Marley, but the pacing and times that was given to each one fell flat for me. In other words, in summary, I felt that the story could have been more fleshed out, and perhaps even better if someone else wrote it. If followed a little bit more closely to A Christmas Carol and actual events that could be matched and occurred in the original Batman comic material, I felt the story could have been so much stronger and far more moving, like in which most stories are supposed to provide.

But minus those little critiques, I truly felt this was STUNNING book and recommend it to all Batman fans and for those who love Charles Dickens' a Christmas Carol like I do. Get this before Christmas if you can, and if you're home alone or don't mind being heard: read this story aloud and to yourself or with other interested viewers. I did that a bit and felt COMPLETELY immersed in the story that way. 8.7/10

NOW, what we fans truly need is a Batman novel with a Paul Dini/Lee Bermejo team up. t:

 

[The Joker]

Bought it today. Loved it. Nice little twist of the classic, A Christmas Carol.

 

[DaveMoral]

I am not a fan of Bermejo's contemporary Batsuit... but his reimaging of the Adam West suit and the Robin costume are brilliant!

 

[Blue Sugar]

Got it for christmas. Loved it!

The art is absolutely stunning, when it comes to the realistic approach Bermejo might be my absolute favorite artist. The details gives it so much life. The story is a very solid adaptation of A Christmas Carol with some of my absolute favorite comic characters (Batman, Catwoman, Joker and Superman). All in great versions too, I love Bermejos Joker (very Heath-ish)! But it is Batman that really shines here. I love how dark he is and how they showcase his loneliness and bitterness so much.

I really like the writing too, it panders to my taste with it's larger than life, metaphoric, poetic and melodramatic qualities. That's my favorite stuff!

The only minor gripes are that it is a bit rushed and under-developed and the conclusion seems too swift and quick. It could have made an even bigger impact if giving it more somber and reflective moments at the end.

4/5

 

[Art Damage]

I loved it!

 

[Czar Colossus]

One of my absolute favorites....right up there with Kingdom Come, Justice, Dark Knight, and JLA New Frontier. It's going to be traditional reading for the holidays. I liked it that much.t:

 

[badgrammar]

What a Great book!

 

[badgrammar]

i didnt pick it up. i wasnt sure how good of a writer bermejo would be. either way, flipping through it, it didnt look like bermejo's strongest art. but i think thats due to the coloring.

WOW!!!!!!!! Is this guy troling? What is his best art work?? I mean this is a whole book of his art. Not just covers.

 

[ThDWgeek]

I have mixed feelings about this book. While I really liked the artwork and the choices of the characters to play the 3 spirits, I really didn't like his characterisation of Batman, as he came off as way to inhuman in his actions, particularly in his willingness to endanger a child. I know something like that had to happen for the story to work the way it did, but it just isn't how I see the Batman character. It was a big distraction for me as I was reading the whole book.

 

[brettculp]

Got this for Christmas & just sat down to read it. Very well done. Really enjoyed this!