In the mid-1970s, Starlin contributed a cache of stories to the independently published science-fiction anthology Star Reach. Here he developed his ideas of God, death, and infinity, free of the restrictions of mainstream comics publishers' self-censorship arm, the Comics Code Authority. Starlin also drew "The Secret of Skull River", inked by frequent collaborator Al Milgrom, for Savage Tales #5 (July 1974). Josh: Yeah, the lift here is quite apparent, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing. This is definitely where you see a tonal shift within the story. At this point, I think the element that makes the sequences actually work are the interviews with Gotham citizens.

Batman: The Cult Vol 1 1 | DC Database | Fandom

Michael : I got some major The Dark Knight Rises vibes from the anti-elite angle so I wasn’t surprised to learn that Christopher Nolan took inspiration from this book. Cause he gets broken here. His spirit is crushed and he has a crime fighting impotence. And it’s great. The art is amazing for one. And it’s written very well with the exception of two instances. One being Batman’s loose use of guns here and he stood by at a point while people died. And it’s a cult, you already know how ridiculous it’s going to be.You know that you’re about to get a thrill, when Jim Starlin is writing and even more if it’s something for DC, and even more and more if it’s about Batman. DCU | Graphic Novels". Dccomics.com. 2010-04-21. Archived from the original on 2010-12-02 . Retrieved 2011-01-03. Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide. Get started Close After Arkham Asylum, Grant Morrison, along with artist Klaus Janson, contributed the four-issue arc "Gothic" to Legends of the Dark Knight. The re-emergence of the serial killer Mister Whisper has Gotham's underworld on edge. The devil-worshiping murderer terrorizes the mob to the point that they construct a makeshift Bat-signal and beg the Dark Knight for help.

Quarantine Book Club – Batman: The Cult | Batman News Quarantine Book Club – Batman: The Cult | Batman News

Batman: The Cult is a four-issued limited series published in DC's prestige format. Each issue of the series features a raised cover. Casper: I mean, the stuff at the end with the enormous Batmobile is awesome! I just love how over-the-top that is. Matina: Yeah, unfortunately I found myself skimming many of the “talking heads” scenes, after a while they’re simply not engaging anymore. This story also requires you to suspend your disbelief and buy into the fact that an army of homeless people armed with a few guns and a bunch of knives/blunt objects easily defeated the army and a special forces unit by taking potshots at them from the sewers/building windows.But we see the GCPD fail, the National Guard fail, and Batman fail, to defeat simplistic tactics by homeless people with guns and knives. It's such bad plotting because these hurdles could’ve been jumped by any one of them if they actually behaved as they would rather than how Starlin wants them to. And the Army don't get involved because a newsreader (there's an abundance of newsreaders overused throughout to serve as both narrators and the Greek chorus - they become a hindrance to the flow of the story and tedious to read long before the end) informs us the President thinks it would be too costly to send the Army into a city in mainland US soil that's under siege! Riiiight, so if a major US city were held hostage, the government would write it off and allow it its own sovereignty? I realise “Dark Knight Rises” has this as a big part of its story but at least with the film there were large stakes – a nuclear bomb – as opposed to thousands of homeless people wandering the streets. This is the weirdest Batman story I have ever read, and I have very mixed feelings about it (some spoilers ahead). Michael : Very good distinction there. It even has a religious angle that I kind of forgot about that was interesting but wasn’t delved too far into in lieu of drug induced mind control.

Batman: The Cult, or just me? Does anyone else here love Batman: The Cult, or just me?

Lots to be said about a villain who inspires people to do what they think might be wrong for 'the greater good'. It's nuanced story telling and while there are moments where you think 'yeah this guy is a comic book villain', there's a lot in the narration that is quite poignant too. Josh: Yeah, out of all of the titles we selected, I feel like Batman: The Cult will probably be the one that our readers are less familiar with. It is a solid story, though, so I look forward to people discovering it. Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide. Get started CloseCasper: I like this one. It’s atypical for a Batman book, and you could argue that Batman acts out-of-character here, and I can totally get why that can be a problem for some readers. But I like the psychedelic stuff, and I like the idea of this underground cult that tries to take over Gotham. Basically, the first two issues are the best, because there’s this mystery and you don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. The third issue is so-so. And the fourth issue is so ridiculously over-the-top that I can’t help but enjoy it. I do think that the National Guard not being able to clean up some out-of-control homeless people (who aren’t really as organized as the story wants you to believe) is utter nonsense. So it’s a story with good moments and bad moments, but the good outweighs the bad for me, and Wray is the star of the show! Recommended if you want a different kind of Batman book. Book One: Ordeal": It is dark in the Wayne Estate and Bruce Wayne finds himself walking towards a mysterious house that has never existed before. Lured by some mysterious and magnetic attraction, Bruce is tempted to enter the eerie place and he goes deep into the dar The Others: Not sure about this one. It seemed to hold together as a story while I was reading it, but on analysis the holes are… maddening. Maybe they were supposed to be. When a sadistic serial killer begins murdering key political figures in Gotham, Batman is forced to investigate the city's hidden corruption and question his family's involvement. Michael : I can’t say Batman: The Cult is a bad book, but I don’t think it’s the type of story for me. I was totally on board in the first half. I love a compromised Batman and the idea of him being entwined in a cult that does his job “better” than him is ripe for drama. I just have to admit that the level of carnage was not just unsettling to me, but worse so, unengaging. He has a tank, he has a gun that shoots tranquilizer darts, he leaves people behind for dead, and by the end it felt less and less like a Batman book I want to read. Wrightson and Wray’s artistic efforts are stunning to behold, though, and I can see myself revisiting the story for purely aesthetic reasons.

Batman: The Cult is The Darkest Batman Story EVER - Screen Rant

The next issue features a note indicating that Todd Klein was incorrectly credited as the letterer of this issue. The actual letterer was John Costanza. I had heard about Batman: The Cult but I hadn’t a clear idea of what was about, but I knew that if I have the chance to get it, I haven’t to hesitate about it. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight is a well-loved series that featured stories that were instant hits, such as "Venom," but other tales from the series fell under the radar at the time. "Prey" is an example of the latter. Families can talk about how Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham is based on a graphic novel. What would be the challenges in adapting a novel into a movie? Weeks have passed since the incident and the Gotham City Police Department have noticed Batman's absence. Robin often spends the nights at Commissioner Gordon's office trying to find a clue that would help them locate their missing friend, only to realize something major is happening in Gotham City.

Scott Snyder may well be this generation's best Batman writer. With stories like " Court of Owls,"" Death of the Family," and " Endgame," Snyder has put an indelible mark on Batman's history. Those later successes almost overshadow his earlier work, Batman: Gates of Gotham, written by Snyder with pencils by Kyle Higgins. Interestingly, The Cult also features Jason Todd as Robin and is most likely the only Todd trade outside of A Death in the Family. For once he's not annoying. This is certainly his strongest performance, one last hoorah before death. Since then, always trying to hurt Gotham City, and each time, bigger and bigger his ambitions and the scope of his plans… I always claimed I became the Batman to avenge the death of my parents... to fight crime. That was a lie. I really did it to overcome the fear. — Bruce Wayne src Josh: Uh, yeah… “Losing focus,” is probably the best way of putting it. I was going to say the ending is rushed, and I feel like it is rushed, but just saying that didn’t feel like a complete assessment of the problem. Good call on that.