Books: Batman: Snow

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Batman: Snow
Written by Dan Curtis Johnson and J. H. Williams III
Art by Seth Fisher
2007




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


Reading through the stuff out there - it feels a little like all the different possible combinations of Batman stories have already been told. I mean - unless it's Grant Morrison of course (probably one of the few people out there able to push and pull the Dark Knight into strange new shapes). But - everyone else prefers to follow the same old established template: there's somekind of crime with new supervillian/old established favourite up to somekind of mischief - Batman does some detecting - big fight at the the end - roll credits.

The thing that makes Batman: Snow so nice is the way that it goes off the beaten path and finds a new type of Batman story to tell: and does it with a Batman that's less Tim Burtony dark and brooding and sticking to the shadows and more Adam West: slightly goofy looking and with lots of exuberant sound effects.

I'm going to admit that part of the reason I picked this up was because it had J. H. Williams III's name on the cover: and if you've ever seen his artwork in Promethea, Desolation Jones or Batwoman then you'll know why I'd be hungry for more. Thing is (and it took me a few pages to figure this out) is that here he's actually doing the writing and not the artwork: not that I minded too much - Seth Fisher (who did the trippy and delighful Green Lantern: Willworld) does a beautiful job with lots of bouncy intricate artwork that has lots of spaces for your eyes to get lost in.  

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Links: Are You A Serious Comic Book Reader Article: Snow Days: Batman versus Mr. Freeze in Batman: Snow, Supervillain Article on Seth Fisher.

Further reading: Green Lantern: Willworld, Batman: The Black Glove, Batman: Year One, Planetary: Crossing Worlds.

Profiles: J. H. Williams III.

All comments welcome.

Books: Green Lantern: Willworld

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Green Lantern: Willworld
Written by J M DeMatteis
Art by Seth Fisher
2001




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

Don't know if I can do much better than Seth Fisher who has described this book as: "'Green Lantern meets Little Nemo in Quantum Wonderland. A playful, surreal, quantum physics fairytale." Apart to say that this is the best Green Lantern story I've ever read - and one that can be enjoyed with little previous knowledge of his convoluted continuity (all you really need to know is that there's a guy named Hal Jordan who has a magical alien ring that can create various effects sustained purely by the ring wearer's imagination and strength of will and you're in). Full of lush art that spirals around through detailed psychedelic strangeness and populated by all sorts of fantastical creatures - all held together by a story that tumbles and rolls around yet still says somehow consistent enough so it's not just randomness for the sake of it: this is a comic with not that much on it's mind than it's next phantasmagoric image and dreamlike wanderings on the nature of reality.

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Links: Supervillain Article on Seth Fisher.  

Further reading: Batman: Snow, The Filth, The World's Greatest Super-Heroes, Saga, The Umbrella Academy, Hewligan's Haircut.

All comments welcome.