Book ive always been curious about but never had the chance to read...

[Rockbottom]

Batman : Red Rain, were Batman fights Dracula, its always sounded like an interesting read to me and the reviews sound decent and it was number 9 in IGN's list of the greatest 25 Batman Graphic novels. Is it worth getting?

IGN's take on it :

Written by: Doug Moench
Art by: Kelley Jones

God bless Doug Moench for taking the name "Batman" literally. This Elseworlds tale, perhaps the finest written to date, besets a gothic Gotham with the greatest vampire, Dracula. The daring Dracula, no longer concerned with keeping his vampiric nature a secret, has a bold plan to overtake Gotham one bite at a time. The only thing that can stop the centuries-old villain is the Batman. However, Batman would be no match against Dracula's power, unless of course he himself became a vampire.
Just about every turn of the page brings a new wrinkle, a new surprise. So many comics seem to go by the numbers but Red Rain offers the unexpected again and again. Jones, who loves to draw bat-ears longer than Wolverine's claws, shows great control over his art, adding just the right touch of exaggeration to his graphic storytelling. The first of a trilogy, this is the only Batman-as-vampire tale that is flawless in its execution.

 

[Joker]

Art By Kelley Jones is enough for me to tell you to never, ever buy it

 

[CaptainBeaver91]

Wow, I'm not familiar with his work, but must be pretty bad...I'm not totally in with the premise of that either. The Elseworlds stories just never suck me in...ever.

 

[Mladen]

I remember reading the sequel, the one where Bats is offing all of the major villains... Pretty forgettable. Havent read the original

And whats wrong with Kelley Jones? He has a good control of the exaggerated, he draws a mean ribcage, and I love his take on Batman.

 

[CrimsonMist]

the first book, Red Rain, is really damn good. Kelly Jones' artwork fits the story perfectly and manages to create a rather eerie atmosphere.

Starting with the first sequel, Bloodstorm and then the third, Crimson Mist, his art just goes from bad to just down right awful. The first book has serious art in it. But with Bloodstorm, he starts getting abit exaggerated with anatomy...large heads, and goofy faces that, given the context, shouldn't look goofy. and Crimson Mist...forget it. It's like a freakin' cartoon. Undead evil vampire Batman looks cool sometimes, but everything else is just stupid looking. There's a panel where Batman transforms into this giant bat creature. Sounds cool, until you look at it. It's crosseyed. The Penguin's nose and chin are exaggerated to the point where they both look erect male reproductive tools. It isn't pleasant. Every normal character has oddly shaped heads as well. Poison Ivy looks fugly, the take on the Riddler is dopey. The last page would be deep and beautiful if it weren't for Alfred's large goofy looking head in the bottom right corner.

Check out the first one, maybe buy it. But ignore, if possible, the remaining two.

 

[Joker]

Kelley Jones...HIDEOUS artwork

 

[Motown Marvel]

kelly jones....bad.....but doug moench, had some good stories in him. never read these though.

 

[dude stannis]

Ha, Kelley Jones. I forgot that guy even existed. Red Rain wasn't bad, the sequel was meh, the third needs to have every existing copy destroyed.

 

[Nepenthes]

There's a book I'd like to reccomend.....but I've forgotten the name of it

People have probably heard about it; Batman goes out to the suburbs to solve a supernatural mystery. It's all very leafy and quaint yet with some real sinister sht lurking underneath. Batman uses a jetpack and the rotting ghost of Jason Todd makes a charming appearance. Deadman is there too, he coaches Bruce on how to navigate the realms between reality or something like that. Funny guy, Deadman. There's also another nice moment involving two dead people who are very important to Bruce and Batman.

anyway if you pick up a tpb in the store that looks something like this, give it a chance. It should be cheap too.


Edit:Gotham County Line

 

[Rockbottom]

Ive never heard of that actually, I hear one of the best elseworlds is "Gotham by Gaslight", ive never read that either lol.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

There is a Batman Elsewords called Emerald Knight I think in which Bruce Wayne inherits the Green Lantern power ring, the story is alright but I mostly bought it for Jerry Bingham's artwork.

 

[Zombie Superman]

Gotham by Gaslight is probably the best Batman Elseworlds.

 

[Agentsands77]

Gotham by Gaslight is probably the best Batman Elseworlds.

I didn't like it. It wasn't anything special in any sense.

My favorite elseworlds is probably BATMAN: NINE LIVES. Now there's a good tale.

 

[Qoèlet]

Gotham by Gaslight is probably the best Batman Elseworlds.

That's the story where Batman's set in Victorian times chasing after Jack the Ripper, right? Sounds like a neat idea to me, a Gotham just post-industrial revolution, the image of that alone tempts me to pick it up.

 

[Cobblepot]

Red Rain is great!

Kelley Jones introduced a new look at Batman in his monthly run. I enjoyed his artwork a lot.

 

[Rockbottom]

The best elseworlds imo is TDRK, but that doesn't really count in a way. Im very interested in Red Rain now though.

 

[Mr. Socko]

I'll never read this. I don't like Batman vs Dracula, Predator, nor Alien. You can keep that.

 

[Mladen]

Okay, what the hell is everybody's problem with Kelley Jones' artwork?
Its way better than any of the inane slick trash you get in today's Batman comics.

 

[DocLathropBrown]

The Vampire Trilogy is wonderful, one of my favorite Batman series.

At once it is uplifting and at another turn, it's tragic. I don't want to spoil anything, but in the end, it's a wild ride between fighting the ultimate evil, purging the evil within one's self and finally an attempt to keep dignity, honor and decency. The writing is top-notch and the art is fantastic. You'll notice that a majority of people who dislike Kelley Jones come off as pretty damn ignorant. People don't like his style.... does not mean that his art is terrible, in the LEAST. Grow up, folks. Different does not equal bad.

Definitely some of the best elseworlds stories you'll EVER read. I swear, Elseworlds was made for Batman (In fact, it was made because of him!).

 

[BubbaGump]

Okay, what the hell is everybody's problem with Kelley Jones' artwork?
Its way better than any of the inane slick trash you get in today's Batman comics.

Nevah!

-By the way, the art in the latest issues of Detective and even Batman has been pretty good.

 

[Cobblepot]

Okay, what the hell is everybody's problem with Kelley Jones' artwork?
Its way better than any of the inane slick trash you get in today's Batman comics.

My thought exactly.

 

[BubbaGump]

You'll notice that a majority of people who dislike Kelley Jones come off as pretty damn ignorant.

How does not liking a certain artist's style make the person ignorant?

People don't like his style.... does not mean that his art is terrible, in the LEAST.

Well that's YOUR opinion.

Grow up, folks. Different does not equal bad.

...sometimes it does.

 

[DocLathropBrown]

How does not liking a certain artist's style make the person ignorant?

Not what I said. Re-analyze my sentence.

 

[Mladen]

Nevah!

-By the way, the art in the latest issues of Detective and even Batman has been pretty good.

Most recent issue of Detective I read was illustrated by Don Kramer, and it looked REALLY awful and amateurish (shame, since the Dini story was pretty decent). Mostly I find it hard to differentiate a lot of the artists on recent books, their work is almost always near-identical, and I'm sure DC prefers that since the bulk of their readership mostly follows titles and not artists/writers. Thats not to say there aren't good artists working on Bats or Detective, I just think that most of them fail to stand out.

Kelley Jones artwork has an excellent sense of abstraction (which I'll admit he DOES occasionally takes too far, especially if you take the time to count the ribs on his characters ). What he does well is highlight the supernatural aspect of the Battyman, in the process making the character less serious and a bit more fun. He REALLY goes to work on the cape, ears, and ribs, and makes him DARK, which a lot of fans dont seem to like because they like the boy-scout ears and slightly dull grey outfit. Jones makes him look demonic and a little scary, which I feel is a great way to look at the character since he becomes more than just some dude in an outfit.
There's a funny (glow in the dark) cover by Jones where Batman and Deadman are beating up some Aztek mummies... Awesome.

Is it the abstraction you don't like? Or that Batman (and other characters) become supernatural and dream-like when he draws them? Is it a realism thing?

 

[BubbaGump]

Most recent issue of Detective I read was illustrated by Don Kramer, and it looked REALLY awful and amateurish (shame, since the Dini story was pretty decent). Mostly I find it hard to differentiate a lot of the artists on recent books, their work is almost always near-identical, and I'm sure DC prefers that since the bulk of their readership mostly follows titles and not artists/writers. Thats not to say there aren't good artists working on Bats or Detective, I just think that most of them fail to stand out.

What issue was it? Since I was referring to the latest Detective--the one with Scarecrow (art by Tom Mandrake). There's this one splash page in which a flock of crows attack a group of Arkham guards--good stuff. As for Don Kramer being generic well I can't argue with you there.

But then again, Paul Dini's stories are short, simple arcs so Don Kramer's art fits in real well. They're not life-changing stories, so why should the art be? That was my problem with Alex Ross. His work tends to exaggerate a simple story too much. Art and story shouldn't distract from one another.

The artists on Tec and Batman may be generic (Kubert, Kramer), but to me it's good enough. Kramer's art compliments the story pretty well.

I don't like how he draws Batman though. However, I do enjoy his Joker.

Kelley Jones artwork has an excellent sense of abstraction (which I'll admit he DOES occasionally takes too far, especially if you take the time to count the ribs on his characters ). What he does well is highlight the supernatural aspect of the Battyman, in the process making the character less serious and a bit more fun. He REALLY goes to work on the cape, ears, and ribs, and makes him DARK, which a lot of fans dont seem to like because they like the boy-scout ears and slightly dull grey outfit. Jones makes him look demonic and a little scary, which I feel is a great way to look at the character since he becomes more than just some dude in an outfit.
There's a funny (glow in the dark) cover by Jones where Batman and Deadman are beating up some Aztek mummies... Awesome.

To you it may seem demonic and scary, but it just passes off as silly to me. That being said, however--we all see things differently. In the end it all comes down to personal preference.

Is it the abstraction you don't like? Or that Batman (and other characters) become supernatural and dream-like when he draws them? Is it a realism thing?

Just between you and me...

Spoiler

I don't like his ears. By the way, thanks for the detailed response. It's hard to get into civil conversation about comics these days without personal opinions being attacked.