Books: Batman: The Black Casebook

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Batman: The Black Casebook
Written by Bill Finger, Edmond Hamilton et al
Art by Sheldon Moldoff, Dick Sprang et al
2009




Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/


The notion of Batman's "Black Casebook" was first introduced in the pages of Grant Morrison's Batman and Son: “Vampires, flying saucers, time travel…all the things we’d seen that didn’t fit and couldn’t be explained went into The Black Casebook.” Basically: it's all the stuff that doesn't fit into everyday reality or (as everyone else has already said) it's Batman's version of the X-Files.

So: I'm guessing that this book isn't the same Black Casebook that Batman has (although that would be pretty trippy Grant Morrison-esque thing to do: Batman reading Batman comics) but - instead is a collection of allstrange and trippy pop-tastic stories from the 1950s and 1960s starring the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder. If you've read (or want to read) Morrison's take on Batman then this is the background scene-setting that you need to help make (slightly more) sense of his wild flights of fancy. Bat-Mite, Batmen of All Nations and the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh (as referenced in The Black Glove and Batman: R.I.P.) origins are all contained within. Plus a few other tales that apparently have been included because Morrison liked the looks of the covers (and - no - that's not a joke). While it is cool that there is so much grounding and obscure references that are teased out in the Morrison's Batman run the cynic in me says that really this is little more than an excuse to repackage old stories that most people had lost interest in - and really apart from the Morrison angle I'd say there's little of much interest here. There's a reason why comics haven't always been taken seriously and dismissed as 'kids stuff.' - but then again: maybe you can find something to entertain you in the light-hearted carefree adventures contained within.

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Further reading: Batman: Batman and Son.

All comments welcome.