Reviews

Cacophony. Kevin Smith, Writer by Kevin Smith

offworldcolony's review against another edition

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3.0

Flanagan is not a great artist and Smith is not a good Batman writer. SO between them this is a disappointing book. The villain seems like a perfect shoe-in for the comics medium - so why does he suck so much? He's an unexplored, one-note conceit that on paper, fails spectacularly. And then a horrific attempt at doing The Killing Joke, but you, by the guy that made Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. I've def. read much worse. So it's 3 stars, I didn't hate it as much as I remember. Perhaps I'm going soft on it.

osborne2read's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

4.75

modkuraika's review against another edition

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4.0

The interesting thing about this book is that I feel like Kevin Smith read my mind when designing his original villain, I had always thought the idea of a villain with an onomatopoeia gimmick would be fun to tackle, and I'm glad it's been done so well.

hollydoesstuff's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 stars. I like Batman and I like Kevin Smith, but this sort of fell flat for me somewhere in the middle and didn't really get to a place where I could have loved it at the end. But I'm going to check out the Widening Gyre because the Forward suggests that it will be better.

bookwyrm_kate's review against another edition

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3.0

So much fun :) It's definitely not [b:Batman: The Killing Joke|96358|Batman The Killing Joke|Alan Moore|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1346331835s/96358.jpg|551787] (one of my personal favorites), but there were some definite gems in this book! I disagree that the dialogue "sounds like Kevin Smith." No one said "whatnot," or "what have you," and there was a very clever reference to a merkin that I quite enjoyed, as well as some interesting drawings of the Joker with a beard (disturbing, yet captivating). I did feel that the more mysterious villain in the story was completely superfluous, because the real treat of the book was exploring Batman's relationship with life/death and the Joker in a new way.

I'm also very impressed with Walt Flanagan's art. If every superfan had a chance to create their own graphic novel (not a guarantee, but a CHANCE), I think we would be surprised by the depth, emotion, and creativity discovered.

revolution666's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

jamietherebelliousreader's review against another edition

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3.0

3 stars. I wanted more from this story wise but I was a bit disappointed. I feel like the ending was abrupt and left a lot to be desired because in the end, Onomatopoeia remained a mystery. Also, this was more of a Joker story, which I didn't mind because I quite liked him here; especially the last conversation he had with Batman was particularly great. The humor in this was kinda juvenile and it threw off the flow sometimes but the artwork was really good and was kinda wasted here unfortunately. The story could've been so much stronger because the plot had a ton of potential and I can see what Kevin Smith was trying to do. Overall, not a bad read but I really wanted more.

themtj's review against another edition

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3.0

I liked it a lot, but it is either too short or has too many threads. Three villains in three issues. I guess I don't know the background on this, did he intend to do more with this?

stilldirty's review against another edition

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3.0

Not bad. Has some interesting thoughts and poignant moments. Borrowed it from the Library so I'm glad I didn't buy it. Again, not bad, and much better than some other Batman stories I've read.

pirogoeth's review against another edition

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5.0

It’s an amazing read as always. I really like how he brought back Onomatopoeia. It’s going to be really interesting to find out what he has planned for that character. The thing that suprised me the most about this one was how much it was really about the Joker. I had been given the impression it was going to be more about Onomatopoeia. But the storyline was just amazing. And I love the last issue. Getting to see what a closer to sane Joker is really like.

The rest is at the blog.