Batman:Bloodstorm

Rating:
Summary: Bloodstorm is a worthy sequel to Red Rain.
Review: As a follow-up to the awesome Red Rain, Bloodstorm succeeds. It is set prior to the time when, in modern continuity, Batman discovered Dick Grayson. Incidentally, there is no Robin, and it's a good thing, as Batman must struggle with his lust for blood, hating what he has become, but not wanting to leave Gotham unprotected. The iussue is: By sticking around in his present state, is Batman actually damning Gotham rather than saving it? Batman has to put that question on the backburner,however, when the Joker takes over the remnants of Dracula's undead legion. It's an awesome battle, believe me, and Catwoman is even along for the ride! Bloodstorm also succeeds quite nicely in creating a parallel universe; this story seems like it could be another storyline in a monthly comic. Of course, we know this isn't so because our Batman isn't a vampire, but it still has that feel to it. Finally, with the team of Doug Moench, Kelley Jones, and John Beatty, how can you lose?

Rating:
Summary: Cool!
Review: I got this last summer, and I still read it

Rating:
Summary: Comics aren't just for kids anymore.
Review: I think Bloodstorm is probably one of the most popular Elseworlds titles, as evidenced by the two sequels that have resulted from it. I am glad the Bat-fans have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed doing it, and I suggest everyone gives it a try. It just may change the way you look at comics!

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic look into the bat-psyche
Review: In many ways, Bloodstorm is superior to the book that is continues, Red Rain. Whereas Red Rain was bogged down by the need to introduce the concepts of vampire lore, character reaction and setup, and other formalities, this book can leap right into things and get to the important business of telling the story.
In this Elseworld's tale, Batman is now a vampire. In many ways it is a vindication of his self image as a creature of the night apart from normal humans. At the same time, Batman is built on the one thing that separates him from the monsters he fights- he will not kill. As the vampiric urge to kill grows, however, he must go to extraordinary measures to fight it or lose all that he is.
Great storytelling with an ending that even shocked the hell out of me. If you liked Red Rain, you'll love Bloodstorm.

Rating:
Summary: This book is great!
Review: This book explores all the dark side of batman. The Catwoman is also great, and the game of the Joker is great.

Rating:
Summary: Angst, Pathos, Craving, Alienation and Power
Review: This is the best book of the trilogy (I bought the other books because of this one). This book summarizes the personal hell of one man, addicted and alone, unable not to bring death to those he loves. It is about conflict, guilt, isolation, alienation ...about heroism in its rawest, truest form.

I first read this over five years ago, and it continues to fascinate me to this day. I don't care about the vampire monsters, per se, for to me they are only a necessary plot device. The same can be said for Selina's character. They only exist to further the true story, which is Batman's struggle with his own nature ...the horror of recognizing we receive pleasure from another's harm, the helplessness of an addiction to things we've not necessarily even experienced -- the overwhelming urge to satiate a thirst at the cost of our own soul. That is the heart and soul and core of this book for me.

What would we do, given his power, his isolation, and his horrible thirst? At one point he narrates this for us:

"Thirst haunts me,
Life tempts me,
Death mocks me.

Together, the three, they curse me."

That moment for me, sitting in that bookstore, galvanized an experience I had never been able to put words to ...his isolation, his thirst, his utter loneliness and despondency -- they were so real! Deep calls out to deep, as I've read elsewhere, and in spite of this book's gore and melodrama, that moment called out to me and still does to this day. I felt connected to his guilt, his shame, to his sinful pleasure and self-disgust in a way that no media ever has before or since. Selina's character, the strength and nobility she provides, and the heartbreak of her loss, bring the entire story to an unstoppable head between the maniacal Joker and a Batman now drenched in the blood of his lover.

The authors deserve top credit for making a Batman that is, ironically, more human as an undead vampire than he ever was in life. May he rest in peace...

Get this if such things interest you.

Rating:
Summary: Angst, Pathos, Craving, Alienation and Power
Review: This is the best book of the trilogy (I bought the other books because of this one). This book summarizes the personal hell of one man, addicted and alone, unable not to bring death to those he loves. It is about conflict, guilt, isolation, alienation ...about heroism in its rawest, truest form.

I first read this over five years ago, and it continues to fascinate me to this day. I don't care about the vampire monsters, per se, for to me they are only a necessary plot device. The same can be said for Selina's character. They only exist to further the true story, which is Batman's struggle with his own nature ...the horror of recognizing we receive pleasure from another's harm, the helplessness of an addiction to things we've not necessarily even experienced -- the overwhelming urge to satiate a thirst at the cost of our own soul. That is the heart and soul and core of this book for me.

What would we do, given his power, his isolation, and his horrible thirst? At one point he narrates this for us:

"Thirst haunts me,
Life tempts me,
Death mocks me.

Together, the three, they curse me."

That moment for me, sitting in that bookstore, galvanized an experience I had never been able to put words to ...his isolation, his thirst, his utter loneliness and despondency -- they were so real! Deep calls out to deep, as I've read elsewhere, and in spite of this book's gore and melodrama, that moment called out to me and still does to this day. I felt connected to his guilt, his shame, to his sinful pleasure and self-disgust in a way that no media ever has before or since. Selina's character, the strength and nobility she provides, and the heartbreak of her loss, bring the entire story to an unstoppable head between the maniacal Joker and a Batman now drenched in the blood of his lover.

The authors deserve top credit for making a Batman that is, ironically, more human as an undead vampire than he ever was in life. May he rest in peace...

Get this if such things interest you.