Just to clarify, as much as I want to talk about Breaking Bad and uncle Danger, this post is about a different masterpiece. Chill.
I'm not much of a comic book fan as I am of their movie counterparts. If a hardcore comic book enthusiast talked to me about Batman we'd probably have different things in mind. While I think Joe Levitt is Robin, the other guy probably knows more than four characters by name and history who took the mantle of Batman's sidekick. Like movie adaptations of novels not every single detail is carried over to the reel and projected to the big screen, otherwise we'd be having a 12-hour Joker killing spree instead of two (and I'm not saying that's a bad thing). The same goes for comic book adaptations but unlike novels comic books have a rich history to them that goes years back. That's one reason why I feel discouraged in reading even just one issue I find unsealed in the shelves of a Power Books branch. What if I get lost in the story? What if this Batman is different from the Batman I know? Who are these characters? Batman has a son!? And so on.
Let's get a little off topic here. I love masks. If I'm on my way to buy a copy of the latest Zelda game and I see a Darth Vader mask along the way a civil war between my id, ego and super ego will spark, and I'd probably end up going home not buying anything but still with the dilemma of deciding between a game or a mask. A few months ago my mom told me about a creepy (well that's a given) Joker mask displayed on one of the shelves of Fully Booked. It took me a long time to finally see what the Joker mask looked like (apparently the concept of Google search didn't occur to me that time), and finally three weeks ago I had a good long stare at it at the Quezon City branch of Fully Booked. It was love at first sight.
But why would Fully Booked sell a mask anyway, you ask? Well, included in the box, hidden behind the mask, and well advertised in the packaging is a copy of Batman - Death of the Family graphic novel. Again, love at first sight.
For someone who has only shown interest in manga since high school, western comic books, graphic novels in this case, seem so fresh it feels like spring never left. Death of the Family, in particular, kept me entertained for all of its 176 pages. Sure I got lost in its opening pages. I knew who Gordon is, of course I know who Batman is, but four Robins? Oh wait, no. It's Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, and Robin. Then there's also Batgirl. I also don't understand how the Joker's face got ripped off and the story behind it, but all those things I wasn't aware about were kind of pieced together as I continued flipping the pages. It's a wonder to behold, and story to marvel at (heh, marvel get it? sorry). This is probably the truest characters of Batman and Joker that I've seen thus far, right in the panels with their speech bubbles, with your own imagination giving them voices, yet still they have their own emotions.
If Death of the Family is the start of what may be my own shelf full of DC and Marvel graphic novels, then I'm off to a great start.
I did a little research after reading the story and found out that, with the massive roster of heroes DC has, the heroes involved in Death of the Family have their own overlapping stories. Dear lord, that's a lot. Reading this one graphic novel made me realize just how much I don't know about DC, Marvel, superheroes, or just comic books in general.
And the mask:
Yep. I always knew I look better wearing a mask.
Let's get a little off topic here. I love masks. If I'm on my way to buy a copy of the latest Zelda game and I see a Darth Vader mask along the way a civil war between my id, ego and super ego will spark, and I'd probably end up going home not buying anything but still with the dilemma of deciding between a game or a mask. A few months ago my mom told me about a creepy (well that's a given) Joker mask displayed on one of the shelves of Fully Booked. It took me a long time to finally see what the Joker mask looked like (apparently the concept of Google search didn't occur to me that time), and finally three weeks ago I had a good long stare at it at the Quezon City branch of Fully Booked. It was love at first sight.
For someone who has only shown interest in manga since high school, western comic books, graphic novels in this case, seem so fresh it feels like spring never left. Death of the Family, in particular, kept me entertained for all of its 176 pages. Sure I got lost in its opening pages. I knew who Gordon is, of course I know who Batman is, but four Robins? Oh wait, no. It's Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, and Robin. Then there's also Batgirl. I also don't understand how the Joker's face got ripped off and the story behind it, but all those things I wasn't aware about were kind of pieced together as I continued flipping the pages. It's a wonder to behold, and story to marvel at (heh, marvel get it? sorry). This is probably the truest characters of Batman and Joker that I've seen thus far, right in the panels with their speech bubbles, with your own imagination giving them voices, yet still they have their own emotions.
If Death of the Family is the start of what may be my own shelf full of DC and Marvel graphic novels, then I'm off to a great start.
I did a little research after reading the story and found out that, with the massive roster of heroes DC has, the heroes involved in Death of the Family have their own overlapping stories. Dear lord, that's a lot. Reading this one graphic novel made me realize just how much I don't know about DC, Marvel, superheroes, or just comic books in general.
And the mask:
Yep. I always knew I look better wearing a mask.
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