The Many Lives of the Batman: Critical Approaches to a Superhero and his Media

Rating:
Summary: Very intellectual
Review: During my freshman year of college, my writing class required us to write a research paper, and in typical style I was disappointed because everyone in my class was writing about abortion or sports, and when I saw this book at the the University library, I got very excited because it appeared that there were actual scholars writing about Batman and it presented me the opportunity to research his history. This book, in conjunction with a few others, allowed me to prove my thesis at a well-known Big Ten university (not that it was that hard) that Batman's evolution was a direct result of society's changing political and social views

Rating:
Summary: The Many Lives of the Batman
Review: The first thing that should be explained here is that this is a book of academic criticism -- not a popular history of the character, an anthology of comics, or anything of the like. That isn't a complaint: it's a notice. It happens to be a very good book of criticism, informed somewhat by the then-recent release of Tim Burton's Batman movie. Pearson and Uricchio present over a dozen essays analyzing various aspects of Batman as a character and a product, doing so without either pandering to the subject or making it too dry. No matter how high one's analysis is, after all, this remains a comic book character. Highlights include a demographic study of the patrons waiting in line to attend Tim Burton's Batman; an interview with Frank Miller (author of The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One, pivotal re-definitions of the character which set the tone for over a decade); and Bill Boichel's "Batman: Commodity as Myth." Although any student of the Batman character or mythos would be well-advised to pick up a thorough history of the character (such as Les Daniels'), Pearson and Uricchio's text is an excellent addition to any library, readable either by scholars of popular culture or dedicated fans of the character (I promise you, the academic language is kept to a minimum).

Rating:
Summary: The Many Lives of the Batman
Review: The first thing that should be explained here is that this is a book of academic criticism -- not a popular history of the character, an anthology of comics, or anything of the like. That isn't a complaint: it's a notice. It happens to be a very good book of criticism, informed somewhat by the then-recent release of Tim Burton's Batman movie. Pearson and Uricchio present over a dozen essays analyzing various aspects of Batman as a character and a product, doing so without either pandering to the subject or making it too dry. No matter how high one's analysis is, after all, this remains a comic book character. Highlights include a demographic study of the patrons waiting in line to attend Tim Burton's Batman; an interview with Frank Miller (author of The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One, pivotal re-definitions of the character which set the tone for over a decade); and Bill Boichel's "Batman: Commodity as Myth." Although any student of the Batman character or mythos would be well-advised to pick up a thorough history of the character (such as Les Daniels'), Pearson and Uricchio's text is an excellent addition to any library, readable either by scholars of popular culture or dedicated fans of the character (I promise you, the academic language is kept to a minimum).