Scan barcode
A review by oddmara
Batman: Second Chances by Dave Cockrum, Chris Warner, Norm Breyfogle, Jim Starlin, Jim Aparo, Jo Duffy, Ross Andru, Max Allan Collins, Denys Cowan
2.0
This was a very weird experience. First of all, for the longest time I thought this was a Golden Era collection. It fully isn't, and the first person/journal pov should have given it away, but the artstyle and storytelling was very similar to golden era stuff so I just worked with that assumption for the longest time. And therefore cutting it a lot of slack. Which it apparently doesn't deserve.
Firstly, I fully do not understand why they decided to collect all these stories together besides the fact that they were published in succession to each other. But that's not even true since the first two issues are published separately. I genuinely just don't understand the logic. Three of the stories are left unfinished. If they're published as a collection then surely you would try to /collect/ the stories. Weird.
When it comes to Jason Todd, I actually think he was adorable. I loved his two issue backstory, I thought the house for troubled kids was a good plot point, I thought him constantly stealing people's car tires was hilarious, I thought the fact that when Bruce looked at him he saw a mix of Dick and himself was amazing. 10/10. Love batfamily angst. Seeing him adopt a child immediately after losing one was a very big challenge on us as a reader, because on one side you fall for Jason Todd's wittiness and spunk, but on the other side you mourn the loss of Dick. The story where Dick is at the museum with his school and Bruce is there as an investor and the worlds collide is great, I thought it was a cute side story on their inner-workings and on them developing as a team.
Which leads me to my next point: I liked seeing Bruce Wayne as the business man he is, see him at work and talking with people as a billionaire rather than a vigilante. And on that same page, I loved Vicky. What a G. Her talking about how much she hates Batman and how different Bruce is from him. Comedy gold metal. Girl you're so blinded by your attraction to Bruce you're struggling to notice they're the same person. Gotham's best journalist for what.
I also really enjoyed the beginning of that story with that girl that he becomes friends with as Bruce that then gets murdered. That didn't really get an end in this issue though so. :/ Upsetting.
Finally, Nightwing's return. Him and Robin interacting will always be sweet. His confrontation of Bruce was interesting, but not strong enough or expected enough to actually have an impact. He gets batman to say that he misses him, then he walks away. And once again we have the figure of Batman overlooking them at the end of this issue. I guess in a way this is the first itteration of Nightwing: Year One, and it's a solid base for what it is. I'm glad it got to be expanded later on, if anything.
Realistically speaking, if this collection had an actual cohesive thought behind it I would have given it a much higher rating. However the seeming unrelation between the stories as well as the fact that about half of them don't have an ending is very unnerving to me, no matter if this is how comic collections usually operate or not.
Firstly, I fully do not understand why they decided to collect all these stories together besides the fact that they were published in succession to each other. But that's not even true since the first two issues are published separately. I genuinely just don't understand the logic. Three of the stories are left unfinished. If they're published as a collection then surely you would try to /collect/ the stories. Weird.
When it comes to Jason Todd, I actually think he was adorable. I loved his two issue backstory, I thought the house for troubled kids was a good plot point, I thought him constantly stealing people's car tires was hilarious, I thought the fact that when Bruce looked at him he saw a mix of Dick and himself was amazing. 10/10. Love batfamily angst. Seeing him adopt a child immediately after losing one was a very big challenge on us as a reader, because on one side you fall for Jason Todd's wittiness and spunk, but on the other side you mourn the loss of Dick. The story where Dick is at the museum with his school and Bruce is there as an investor and the worlds collide is great, I thought it was a cute side story on their inner-workings and on them developing as a team.
Which leads me to my next point: I liked seeing Bruce Wayne as the business man he is, see him at work and talking with people as a billionaire rather than a vigilante. And on that same page, I loved Vicky. What a G. Her talking about how much she hates Batman and how different Bruce is from him. Comedy gold metal. Girl you're so blinded by your attraction to Bruce you're struggling to notice they're the same person. Gotham's best journalist for what.
I also really enjoyed the beginning of that story with that girl that he becomes friends with as Bruce that then gets murdered. That didn't really get an end in this issue though so. :/ Upsetting.
Finally, Nightwing's return. Him and Robin interacting will always be sweet. His confrontation of Bruce was interesting, but not strong enough or expected enough to actually have an impact. He gets batman to say that he misses him, then he walks away. And once again we have the figure of Batman overlooking them at the end of this issue. I guess in a way this is the first itteration of Nightwing: Year One, and it's a solid base for what it is. I'm glad it got to be expanded later on, if anything.
Realistically speaking, if this collection had an actual cohesive thought behind it I would have given it a much higher rating. However the seeming unrelation between the stories as well as the fact that about half of them don't have an ending is very unnerving to me, no matter if this is how comic collections usually operate or not.