I read this novel in order to find out more about mysterious Henri Ducard, mercenary/detective that used to train Bruce Wayne before Bruce decided to become Batman.

Story in itself is solid one - Bruce trying to find himself and get out under the Batman's shadow with just a slight twist of silliness (mind control and other SF elements that I wont mention in order not to spoil experience for other readers).

But main character for me is Henri Ducard. Batman's evil twin, man who Bruce might have become if he left cynicism to take over his life, man who manages to uncover Bruce's alter-ego in a very short time but decides to keep it as a secret because Batman's actions are distractions to true criminal mastermind actions - actions in which Ducard also partakes.

Recommended for all Batman fans.
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Bruce Wayne inadvertently stumbles upon a nefarious mind-control experiment going on behind closed doors at WayneTech and before he knows it, his secret identity as Batman is at risk. What can Bruce do to save the day - and himself?

For the life of me, I can't remember now why I decided to seek this book out, but I am glad I did. This book was presented for the 50th anniversary of the Batman character's debut and was written by Sam Hamm, the screenwriter behind 1989's Batman movie. (Unlike the movie, this was a multi-layered, complex book with deeper themes explored underneath the ongoing action.) Hamm notes in the introduction that he was interested in taking an outsider's approach to the Batman character, studying Bruce Wayne's motivations obsessively. The result is a book that is peppered with moments of Bruce recalling and/or being haunted by his past as he wrestles with difficult decisions in his present.

Meanwhile, the book begins with a satisfying mystery containing a number of what at first seem like unrelated threads that ultimately come together to form a cohesive whole. There are numerous characters in this book but not so many that the story becomes unmanageable. Unlike with so many Batman books, we only hear a passing reference to ongoing villains like the Joker. Instead, we are presented with a more insidious evil plot that goes on right beneath Bruce's nose while he's out and about fighting off more typical (i.e., flashy) comic book villains.

In this book, we learn more about what Bruce was up to in the years after he left Wayne Manor as a grief-stricken young man and before he returned as the Batman. There's nothing too earth-shattering here for the modern audience, but some of this was new at the time of publication. The illustrations in this book are interesting - not as high-quality glossy and vivid as some current graphic series but definitely leaning more toward the realistic side than the cartoonish. Despite its age and the occasional ridiculous throwback (like the giant shoulder pads in Jeannie's outfits), this book holds up pretty well as an entertaining and quick read. ( )

This is an anniversary-commemorating Batman story. It features mind control, but I did not find it to be hokey (a danger of mind control stories). I like how the tale explores the real consequences of being a masked vigilante, and the suffering (for innocent bystanders and for Bruce) that comes with that. ( )

i had this on my to read list for a long while now, and picked it up cause i was looking for a guilty pleasure. it turned out to be one heck of a read!

the art and socio-political subplots are outdated (commies!!?) and, this being a graphic novel about a superhero, the plot (mind control) is totally over the top. but in spite of all these, i cannot deny that this particular batman comic is heavy with substance. it has the darkness of the nolan-verse except with less fireworks and more superb story-telling and gritty dialogue.

absolute joy for a batman fan to read :) ( )

I can't remember when I first read this - I must have borrowed it from a friend several years ago. I remembered liking it but I had forgotten just how good it really is. It's not as well known in the Bat Canon as stories like Miller's Year One, Moore's The Killing Joke or Morrison's Arkham Asylum, but perhaps it should be. While the overall quality does fall short of those works, the underlying themes are as powerful and refreshing. Hamm looks at Batman as someone whose motivations are less noble than they are a product of his self-indulgence in his suffering.

While there are more and more stories of Batman's inflexible self-righteousness - especially in portrayals of an older Batman - Hamm attempts to take a closer look at what is behind that result. Many of the new breed of Batman writers who want to portray him more harshly still end up painting his shortcomings as justifiable within the bigger picture; Hamm seems to want to question the truth of that.

Also, this is the story that gave us Henri Ducard, who like Ra's al Ghul is a much more interesting character than what we got in Batman Begins. Don't get me wrong - I liked the movie and the character that was actually in the movie, I just wish the writers had used different names.

(This review was originally posted to Amazon) ( )