Batman: Contagion

Rating:
Summary: Outbreak
Review: Batman: Contagion was first published in single issue format throughout the Bat books, then as a collected trade paperback in 1996, gets a reprinted edition in 2003. I would guess that given the state of our world today, and with the threat of uberviruses and bioterrorism ever lurking, powers that be decided the time was right for a reprint. I have to say that despite a lot of poor notices, the story is quite good, just the same.

The Dark Knight confronts a deadly virus, called the Clench that is sweeping through Gotham City. The cvitizens are gripped with fear and panic. As the city is brought to its knees, Batman enlists the help of friend and foe alike in a race to find a way to stop the virus in its tracks. Robin, Nightwing, Azrael, Huntress, Catwoman and Poison Ivy, all lend a hand to help find a cure. The story also gives us a stark look at issues of class. Gotham's wealthiest folks are hold up in restricted "luxuary ghetto", and willing to use their status to cure themselves-because they "deserve" to be saved.

The art and illustrations are given a lift, thanks to the use of glossy paper, over the newsprint style normally used. That said, no artist's work left me going "WOW", or was all that special. The art was serviceable.

I think the story is better than some give it credit for. The fact that its reissue makes it more timely is a bit suspect though. While it can't touch some of the other Batman trades, it's still a good read for those who follow Batman's comic book exploits. The book has 263 pages

Rating:
Summary: It did not live up to its hype.
Review: Collects the Contagion storyline that ran in all Batman related books. Overall, the book isn't so bad. There were some great moments such as Batman and Nightwing teaming together, Robin's dreams, and... I guess that's it. There were so many letdowns mainly because each writer seems to want to steer the story to his own direction rather than work as a whole. Major letdowns are the supposed major roles played by the Penguin and Poison Ivy, the quest for the plague cure, the annoying involvement of Catwoman and the resolution of the story. I had expected better.

Rating:
Summary: Quick! Get Me The Antidote!
Review: DC has reissued Batman: Contagion in the wake of it's mega-successful No Man's Land collections, and it serves as a good reminder of just WHY the Batman books needed to be shaken up so drastically in the first place...

Contagion revolves around an outbreak of "The Clench", a fictional Ebola offshoot, in Gotham City. Batman and company attempt to contain the spread of the Disease, while trying to track down a trio of survivors of a previous Clench outbreak, with the hope of synthesizing a cure/vaccine from their blood.

The book is very choppy, especially the first chapter, which appears to be heavily trimmed from it's original presentation in Batman: Shadow of the Bat. DC hasn't taken any steps to make their collections new-reader friendly, either, which could be a very big mistake. Longtime readers will know Oracle, Azrael, Nightwing, The Huntress, etc.; A new reader browsing this in a store would no doubt put the book right back on the shelf. The story has a few compelling moments, but for the most part it seems unnecessarily padded. Did we really need the Native American tracker? What did Biis contribute to the story? The writing is average at best; Most of the stories in Contagion were written by people who had long since overstayed their welcome on the Bat-books, such as Doug Moench & Alan Grant; The art ranges from okay to sub-par; Kelley Jones' chapter seems especially ugly thanks to poor color reproduction which mars his intricate pencils. The ultimate revelation of who is behind the spread of The Clench is sure to be a head-scratcher to new readers, since no background at all is offered to explain who these people are and what their motives are. DC really needs to get on the ball with their trade-paperback program; Preaching to the Choir is nice, but they need to try for new converts. Junk like Contagion is NOT the way to expand their readership......

Rating:
Summary: AWESOME!!!
Review: I cannot believe why some people do not like "Contagion". Like Knightfall, Knightquest, KnightsEnd, Prodigal, and Cataclysm & No Man's Land, "Contagion" is an awesome book. It has Poison Ivy (drool), Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Huntress, Azrael, Catwoman, Oracle, Commissioner Gordon, the Penguin, and many other supporting characters like Alfred and Ariana.

Rating:
Summary: It was really a different kind of history
Review: In this history you can see a different Batman, one that found something he cant't fight. There was a virus and he can not trap it or take it to the justice. You can see a different Batman, not necesesary a dark one but a human,a man. I enjoyed it a lot!

Rating:
Summary: In the Clenches of disease...
Review: This bat book lays some of the groundwork for later Gotham tales, notably Cataclysm and the resulting No Mans Land. It could be tricky to get into if you're not a regular Batman reader - the Azrael components might seem confusing if you haven't read Sword of Azrael (and Knightfall/Knightquest/Knightsend).

However, on its own the tale is pretty good; the art is decent and the writing is well done. It's wrapped up a bit too nicely with no real impact to the member of the bat-family who becomes infected with the disease (and I wonder how his attendant during the illness didn't get it), but that's to be expected in this sort of tale. Unlike NML that comes later, you can read Contagion without needing to get further sequels...

Rating:
Summary: A silly mish-mash
Review: This is essentially what you get if you take an essentially decent idea for a Batman story and then spread it over about seven different comics belonging to four different characters, and several writers and artists. The plot is disjointed and the art varies between excellent and mediocre. That said, it was a pleasant enough inconsequencial read.

Rating:
Summary: It's catchy.
Review: This wasn't a bad Batman tale by any means, considering it jumped on the bandwagon in the midst of the "Outbreak" type movies and TV fads about killer viruses. However, it's too much to take up a year's worth of issues for this one tale. Part sleeper and part intrigue, it reduced Batman back to his detective roots, but too many characters besides Batman kind of gives one the runaround. It's a must read if you plan on reading its slightly better sequel, Legacy.

Rating:
Summary: Sorry, I have to nitpick...
Review: Well, first I have to start by saying that this is one of my favorite Batman storylines ever. I love the number of characters it brings together, including a few unexpected alliances. But maybe it's because I like it so much that I feel the need to do a little nitpicking.

Okay, so here's this deadly unstoppable plague sweeping through Gotham City, caught pretty much the same way you catch a cold. Enter the Caped Crusaders and Company, bravely running through the streets to do what they can...without wearing so much as a surgical mask. Okay, so maybe there's an element of denial, sort of a Superhero Immortality Complex, but it just bothered me a bit that they didn't think to take any sort of precaution. It isn't until after One of Them (and don't worry, I won't tell you who) becomes infected that any of the Good Guys even seem to really acknowledge the fact that any one of them could, and even then only one of them actually starts wearing a mask.

Okay, I'm done being difficult. Anyone who calls him/herself a Batman fan should feel obligated to read this collection.