Rating: 
Summary: Batman: For Real
Review: Batman and vampires. It seems an obvious match. Who better to take down creatures of the night than the Dark Knight, himself? Of course, in Gotham, things are always a little more complicated than they appear at first. I really enjoyed this book, once I got past the artwork. It can be too stylish at times. But the idea and the story are nicely done.
Rating: 
Summary: A solid and worthwhile graphic novel
Review: I was really pleasently surprised by the quality of the book. The story line is very coherent and well put together, the artwork is superb, and the twist in the end puts a great touch on a great story. Definitely well worth having in your Batman collection!
Rating:
Summary: A solid and worthwhile graphic novel
Review: I was really pleasently surprised by the quality of the book. The story line is very coherent and well put together, the artwork is superb, and the twist in the end puts a great touch on a great story. Definitely well worth having in your Batman collection!
Rating:
Summary: awesome: batman + dracula = wicked good elseworlds crossover
Review: if you like vampires and are a batman fan then you will love this book. It's written by one of the all time best batman authors, Doug Moench, and illustrated by the outstanding Kelley Jones. kelley's art in this book is absolutly fantastic as is all his other art. The story and plot could not be any better. Dracula comes to gotham to feed and build up his legions with a vampire huntress hot on his heels. batman befriends this vampire killing chick and aids her in her battle. During the book batman actually becomes a vampire which is awesome. And, again as i said before, Kelley Jone's art is amazingly good and chilling and sometimes even gory. This book is the first in a trilogy of batman vampire stories and i highly suggest you pick all of them up they are great reads and the art is, i can't stress this enough, fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: awesome: batman + dracula = wicked good elseworlds crossover
Review: if you like vampires and are a batman fan then you will love this book. It's written by one of the all time best batman authors, Doug Moench, and illustrated by the outstanding Kelley Jones. kelley's art in this book is absolutly fantastic as is all his other art. The story and plot could not be any better. Dracula comes to gotham to feed and build up his legions with a vampire huntress hot on his heels. batman befriends this vampire killing chick and aids her in her battle. During the book batman actually becomes a vampire which is awesome. And, again as i said before, Kelley Jone's art is amazingly good and chilling and sometimes even gory. This book is the first in a trilogy of batman vampire stories and i highly suggest you pick all of them up they are great reads and the art is, i can't stress this enough, fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: No, seriously...this is great!
Review: In the book's introduction, Eric Van Lustbader descreibes his initial concerns over the cheesiness of the "Batman vs. Dracula" concept (really, <anything> vs. Dracula smacks of (...) to us nowadays).Put all that aside. There is no cheese here. I am well acquinted with vampire lore, and this is just as good as any other modern interpretation. Consider how well vampire lore fits into the idea of Batman and the construction of his character. It really adds something. Plus, it *is* an Elseworld's tale. And like all Elseworlds tales, you should let yourself go, knowing that none of this actually happened, and enjoy the alternative history. Let it get a little crazy. The artwork is really top notch, and the story is great. My only complaint would be that the story moves too fast, and some parts (Batman's love interest...the characters dealing with *vampires* in the city) are not examined in enough detail. The work suffers from that. There *is* the sequel, though, which examines some of these concepts in more detail.
Rating:
Summary: No, seriously...this is great!
Review: In the book's introduction, Eric Van Lustbader descreibes his initial concerns over the cheesiness of the "Batman vs. Dracula" concept (really, vs. Dracula smacks of (...) to us nowadays).Put all that aside. There is no cheese here. I am well acquinted with vampire lore, and this is just as good as any other modern interpretation. Consider how well vampire lore fits into the idea of Batman and the construction of his character. It really adds something. Plus, it *is* an Elseworld's tale. And like all Elseworlds tales, you should let yourself go, knowing that none of this actually happened, and enjoy the alternative history. Let it get a little crazy. The artwork is really top notch, and the story is great. My only complaint would be that the story moves too fast, and some parts (Batman's love interest...the characters dealing with *vampires* in the city) are not examined in enough detail. The work suffers from that. There *is* the sequel, though, which examines some of these concepts in more detail.
Rating:
Summary: One of the quintessential Batman tales.
Review: Red Rain is a tale of gothic horror, laced with the brilliant deductive skills and high adventure that are never far behind when Batman is on the scene. When the lord of the undead comes to Gotham, Batman is the only one there is to prevent his city from sliding into an undead hell of utter chaos and depravity. Doug Moench is one of the finest Batman writers, and the art team of Kelley Jones and Malcolm Jones III (Kelley is inked by John Beatty these days, but Jones III does an excellent job here) round out the creative team responsible for this awesome tale.
Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly one of the best Batman tales ever
Review: Sure, Killing Joke, Year One, Arkham Asylum and Dark Knight Returns are the best, but this book, an Elseworlds, deserves to be ranked up there with it. Kelley Jones is by far the best Batman artist and though the late Malcom Jones III inked it (vs. his usual inker John Beatty), the pencils and inks are perfect.
Doug Moench took a rather cheesy idea and made it great! It honestly scared me when I was younger, about 12 years ago when I first read it, esp. the scene when Bruce shows Alfred why he won't be needing the car anymore. SCARED ME, folks!
The first sequel was all right, but the final book in the trilogy was great, but not quite as good as Red Rain.
Rating:
Summary: Ultimate Sacrifice
Review: This book is the start of a three-part descent into hell and oblivion, with much angst and pathos (and blood) along the way. While the last installment, "Crimson Mist" (think "Alien 3" as far as depressing goes), wraps this up pretty well, "Red Rain" and "Bloodstorm" are my personal favorites. "Red Rain" sets up the storyline, bringing the Dark Knight from his usual stomping grounds (and reality) into a world where, (to quote "Bloodstorm"), deduction has become meaningless, for the rules are now random. This book focuses on the sacrifices of Bruce Wayne for his beloved Gotham City. [The second book focuses on the Batman's sacrifices for Gotham, and the third book focuses on the sacrifices of those who love Batman for the sake of Gotham]. Some complain this book is boring; I disagree. Since we are at the beginning of the trilogy, Batman is all cool calm and control, even with those bat-wings and eventually fangs. It is the beginning of Batman becoming his own namesake, a true "Bat-man" who is the ultimate nightmare form of the Dark Knight ...incarnate. We get to watch him be stripped of his cool calm, his reason and deduction, his belief in "how the world is," his house, wealth, fortune, life, and even his humanity ...yet he continues the fight, altered as he is, holding fast to his ideals even as he continues to become something he doesn't recognize anymore. Tell me that Batman doesn't seem like a man pretending to be a creature of the night, a vampire who doesn't kill. Well here, he becomes what he pretends to be. Onward to the second book to determine what happens when we become what we have so long pretended to be!
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