Batman Night Cries is more of a social revelation of the secret horrors happening in families than a Batman story. Often a core element in a Batman story, the detective work here merely serves as a plot advancing mechanism rather than a core frontrunner. The story builds up to a truth that hits you hard at the homestrech and ends on a sad note. In Batman Beyond, he has seemingly died, and his daughter Talia has taken over the League of Assassins, returning to a now elderly Bruce and trying to persuade him to undergo rejuvenation in the Lazarus Pit. It eventually revealed that Ra’s had switched his mind with Talia to avoid death when his body finally broke down and is now trying to get Bruce's as well. Killer Croc. A terrifying semi-human monster. He's completely ruthless, has the strength of a crocodile, and can regenerate. As time has gone on, his mind has regressed more and more into that of a deranged animal. He now resides in the sewers beneath Gotham and preys on anyone unfortunate enough to get lost down there.

If that isn't enough to lose sleep over, there's also always high wonderful levels of Body Horror involved. Shapeshifting abilities aside for infiltration purposes. He can morph various parts of his body into deadly solid matter or weapons. Even capable of smothering his victims within his very body... shudders* The implication being that something happened to him that was so horrible that he gave himself amnesia to forget and still went insane. The Riddler. Yeah, go on, laugh. A nerdy guy who can't even throw a punch, right? Just leaves stupid clues and makes it easy for Batman to catch him, right? Go read "Dark Knight, Dark City" ( Batman #452-#454), which has, among other things, Riddler forcing Batman into slitting a baby's throat note to perform a tracheotomy. In 'Under The Hood', Jason has a gun to The Joker's head, telling Batman that if he were to stop him from killing the clown, he'd have to shoot Jason in the face, complete with tears. See here. Batman Incorporated #8. The entirety of Damian's death scene. Despite it arguably being a Dying Moment of Awesome, it was also a Rasputinian Death as Damian went through a lot of torture trying to appeal to his Mother's better nature before finally getting stabbed through the chest.What do you get when Batman is overwhelmed by the Joker's personality? The Batman Who Laughs, a nightmarish ghoul who is essentially the DC Universe's version of Judge Death. The countless expies that Batman (and his allies) had to deal with throughout his years as a vigilante crimefighter is no laughing matter either! They're virtually literal dark mirrors on the Dark Knight himself and what he would have done had he not been so vigilant in his struggles for justice and the sanctity of Gotham City and the Gothamites residing. There are a few that deserve well-given mentions here since in their encounters they become something to dread whenever they show up. The infamous few that are just as much as our beloved Cape Crusader himself: 1. Owlman 2. The Wrath (I & II) 3. Hellhound 4. Catman 5. Killer Moth and finally the best for last. 6. Prometheus. Why him? Because he single-handedly out bested the entire JLA! And of course, to add more to this already hellish mentioning of true evils that mirror the Batman to a T. We have Joker, Two-Face, Riddler, Scarecrow to name the few that mirror him just as well. Albeit, not as close as the aforementioned doppelgangers before them but just as bad. Kevin Smith's The Widening Gyre sees Batman befriend a mysterious new vigilante, Baphomet, while also developing a romantic relationship with an old acquaintance, Silver St. Cloud. The comic focuses particularly on Batman's inability to have a regular life due to his line of job.

Desperate to make some money for his family, a man accepts to guide two criminals into the chemical company he works in. When Batman shows up, the man jumps into a pool of chemical waste, terrified of the vigilante. This drives him to madness and bleaches his skin and hair turning him into the Joker. After this, he becomes Batman's archnemesis. One particularly creepy, but rather unknown, adversary of Batman is Jane Doe. She is, as quoted by one of her personas, "a cipher, she's incomplete, her life is empty, so she covets the lives of others. She takes their lives so she can have their lives." In short, she learns people's traits, kills them, then wears their skin and acts like them. If that, and what's really under her skin doesn't unnerve, it's also worth noting she's primarily responsible for turning Warren White into The Great White Shark, who would go onto be one of Gotham's most feared mob bosses. Two-Face. Harvey Dent's bout with his "evil" side of himself holds many classic struggles of one's internal thoughts. Not only is he unpredictable, well organized, and wily, but he's also shown to be adept and highly dangerous. From his obsession with the number two (.22 caliber guns, second place trophies, the 2nd National Banks, etc.) judging people's fate by a flip of his scarred sided coin, to being a creepy Stalker with a Crush with Renee Montoya. Everybody knows of his horrific mangled left-sided face. But when you delve deep into his character and history, one can understand and summarize on what drove him to become on who or what he is. All because of one instance during court by a certain thug Salvatore Maroni testifying during the infamous "Holiday" murders. What's worse is the realization that, because the Joker constantly reinvents his personality as a symptom of his madness, events similar to "Going Sane" may have played out several times over the course of the Joker's career.Scott Hampton’s meticulously painted artwork was the major selling point of Night Cries when originally released in 1992. This was in an era when not every Batman comic was subsequently reprinted in a collection, meaning an all-new story was even more of an event, and that feeling was accentuated by child abuse being a significant plot aspect. Going Sane". This little four-part story arc humanizes The Joker far better than The Killing Joke ever did. The finale is especially sad: it features the Joker's inevitable return to madness and Rebecca hoping in vain for the return of her "missing" fiance, "Joseph Kerr". No Man's Land" has the death of Commissioner Gordon's wife, Sarah, at the hands of the Joker. Joker has a large number of infants held hostage; Sarah rushes in with a gun, and Joker tosses one of the babies at her, forcing her to drop her gun to save it. No points for guessing what he does once she's unarmed. Gordon gets the news outside - he rants tearfully about how the Joker has gone too far and seriously considers killing him, but after shooting him in the knee, chooses law over anarchy and walks away. And if him weeping on the steps as Batman holds him steady doesn't get to you, then the scene of him spending the new year alone, singing Auld Lang Syne dry-eyed over Sarah's grave definitely will. What's even worse is that the Joker isn't laughing as he walks away. Even HE doesn't find it funny, which just makes it depressing.

Night Cries focused on the inescapable and devastating world of child abuse. I don't think there's any way to 100% adequately cover this topic. Let's also remember that this was published in '92... the same decade of MANY highly publicized sexual abuse and murder cases where the victims were demonized instead of believed. Abuse is one of those "taboo" subjects that many people don't want to confront. It's 2021 and we're still fighting for victims' rights. He consoles her, tells her he understands that she’s not ready to talk about the things she’s seen, but there’s a way for her to share what she knows about her parent’s deaths. He tells her that sharing painful memories can help them, and tells her she can draw a picture instead of talking; she takes a pencil, starts drawing on a pad of paper, and hands it to Batman. On the pad is a picture of a bat. Then there's his ultimate plan. Taking a drug designed to curb sociopathic tendencies and induce some empathy and reverse the effects, to drug every infant in Gotham to turn them into sociopathic killers like him. Even worse, he may have succeeded. Kathy...? I'm sorry. I don't want to frighten you. I did once when you saw me through the window at your home. I know I look scary and there have been too many scary things in your life. So I want you to see – I'm just a man, a man who's trying to help. — Batman (removing his mask while speaking to an abused girl)What I really enjoyed here was getting the mindset of both Bruce and James. Both feel defeated on their pursuit but you only see that when they're alone or in their mind. Outside you would never expect it as they both put on brave faces in their own way. I loved the family dynamic and watching Gordon deal with both his child and his wife was perfect.

The main problem with The Dark Knight Strikes Again is that it doesn't live up to the expectations set by its predecessor. It tries to replicate its emotionally charged formula, but it comes across almost as a parody of Miller's hard-boiled writing style. It was executed so carelessly that the fandom prefers to ignore it. Based on Junpei Mizusaki's animated film, Batman Ninja follows Bruce Wayne's adventures after Gorilla Grodd sends him to feudal Japan. Here, he discovers most of his allies have been waiting for him, working together in the Bat Clan. Unfortunately, the Joker, Bane, and Harley Quinn are present in this time period too, so Samurai Batman and the other Gotham Knights must stop them before returning to the present. I don’t really want to spoil anything else, as this a story that you will just have to read for yourself to decide whether or not it works for you. I personally think it does a great job highlighting real-world issues, but that will be a mileage-will-vary kind of thing. The ending is a hell of gut-punch though, and I thought the Gordon subplot was unbelievably effective storytelling. The painted art by Scott Hampton is unreal as well, looking even better in this magazine sized hardcover. It adds a grimey layer to the story, and elevates the script beyond what it would have been if it had just been pencilled normally. Oh, about Joker's plan to kidnap babies? It's because he wants to kill them all off on New Year's, just to destroy the fragile spirit of the people of Gotham City. And let's not get started on what he does to Commissioner Gordon's wife. Batman #673 features "Joe Chill In Hell," a story centered on Joe Chill, the low-level criminal who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne. In the comic, Batman visits Chill every night and threatens revenge for his parents. On the last day, the Dark Knight gives Joe the gun he used to kill Thomas and Martha. The criminal connects the dots and realizes he inadvertently created Batman, so he shoots himself.Artist Scott Hampton also brings into play a unique layer of abstraction and morbidness with his artistic vision, consisting of a style entirely painted with detailed and expressive strokes. Focused mostly on drowning the story in darkness, expertly utilizing shadows to plunge the narrative into an appropriate and sinister atmosphere, it conveys a certain sense of urgency and tragedy that is difficult to achieve otherwise. He also does an impressive job in capturing emotion in his characters, rarely missing the mark despite the awkwardness of doing so with paint, while also utilizing brighter colours to express gentler moments, kinder faces, and pure innocence. All in all, his artwork is impressive and remained complimentary to the haunting narrative in this graphic novel. Night Cries": While investigating drug pushers, Batman and Commissioner James Gordon notice a common trend in a series of murders involving child abuse, and the death of the children's parents. Batman's disturbing portrayal of drug dependency in "Venom" which has a good dose of Nightmare Fuel and Truth in Television thrown in full spades. Part of the Legends of the Dark Knight anthology series (issues 16-20), Batman's reason for turning towards the fictional synthetic drug is because he failed to save one little girl from drowning to death in a cavernous section of the sewer. He ends up working unwillingly with the creator of the very drug and the father of the said aforementioned girl, Randolph Porter, and begins developing sensational use of the drug. Batman starts undergoing many changes (physically, psychologically, and through motor functions). It's hard to read the whole story from beginning to end since we get to see firsthand that Batman's reliance and dependency on Venom end up showing an almost rarely seen human side of him. Begging and pleading for more of the stuff and wallowing in himself inside. And besides being weak, he becomes more highly deranged with occasional roid rages and enjoys causing pain and suffering on his foes (surprisingly without nearly killing them!). It's both disturbing and sad to see the beloved Dark Knight turn into a big shambling drug user. And not only does it affect him, but it also nearly destroys the kindled friendships of Commissioner James Gordon and Alfred, with him beginning to question Bruce's health and well-being. For Bruce to overcome the addiction, he needed to isolate himself for a straight 30 days in his cave! As you might expect, during his detoxing period, he undergoes various craves and also suffers horrific hallucinations. This very arc from beginning to end is just Nightmare Fuel, to begin with. Oh! And if you think just the description itself is bad... Wait till you get a ◊ load of ◊ This! ◊ There are also dark mirrors of Bruce Wayne as well to add more to the fuel. Thomas Elliot a.k.a Hush is the perfect closest to a doppelganger to Bruce. The irony that these two share when they were once childhood friends to one another's families and to each other. At the same time, both suffered the losses of their mothers and fathers. The only slight difference? Bruce lost his family through heart-wrenching tragedy. Thomas on the other hand lost him through his means. He sought personal independence due to the many years of abuse from his father and frail mother and wanted to obtain his inheritance sooner. He cut his parent's tire breaks on their car and manages to kill his father, yet his mother was saved by the exceptional operational skill of Dr. Thomas Wayne fueling his hate for the Waynes. Years later he finished what he started by suffocating his mother in cold blood with a pillow, all as the world thought that it was just a simple household accident. He murdered them just to obtain the family fortune. And he resents Bruce because he obtained his true loss BEFORE his own family's demise. Hush's sole purpose in life is to destroy both the Batman and Bruce Wayne and will stop at nothing to accomplish his goals. An interesting thing to take note of on Doctor Death, is he was the very first recurring villain to tangle with Batman in the same year as the Cape Crusader made his first appearance in 1939! As the years continued, so did his vile hatred of Batman and his ungodly experiments and private war against "do-gooders" alike.