Comic Books
BATMAN STREETS OF GOTHAM #9
It’s Batman, Robin and Abuse against Zsasz’s army! Will the heroes be able to save the captured children in time?
And in the Manhunter co-feature, the trial takes a turn as Jane Doe has a new suspect on her radar – the ever dangerous Black Mask!
Written by Mike BensonCo-feature written by Marc Andreyko
Art by Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs
Co-feature art by Jeremy Haun
Cover by Dustin Nguyen
Price: $3.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 0.0%
Reviews
| User | Added | Spoilers | |
| odare77 | 02/20/10 | Yes | Read Review |
| petevaldez | 02/17/10 | No | Read Review |
| akamuu | 02/16/10 | No | Read Review |
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This has been my favorite of the three main Batbooks. The Zsasz stroy has been killer. I was hoping the solit would say something along the lines of, "Manhunter dies and is replaced by a more interesting cofeature," but no such luck.
@HailScott
Or better yet, "Manhunter dies and is replaced by 8 less pages the standard price point."
Least favorite of the batbooks, Detective is better, Batman is only slightly better and Batman and Robin is mediocre at times, IMO. Good to see DIni and Nguyen back at it though. Their run on detective was mighty.
Here’s why I’ve been enjoying the Zsasz arc so much:
I actually only started buying Batman books this year. In addition to getting the comics, I’ve been grabbing lots of the old books from my library. Here is what I have discovered so far: 1. I like Batman best when he is the only game in town (i.e., no Superman fly-bys, etc.) 2. I like Batman best when he is dealing with more realistic adversaries, as opposed to super villians or monster-type enemies and the like.
So, with that in mind, what do you guys suggest for further readings in this area? I know the connor/josh/ron did a podcast on their favorite Batman trades- I have to download that and listen to it and ceck out what they say, too.
This co-feature is my favorite of all the co-features.
@conor: I think it’s on par with the Question and the Captain Atom co-features. Though Captain Atom is becoming very convoluted for such a short format.
@atom220: In terms of co-features I love The Question, but find Captain Atom unreadable. The Question and Manhunter are my two favorite. Metal Men was third, but that’s over now.
@ato220: The cover says Mike Benson, not Paul Dini. The solicit is wrong again just like it was last month.
@Connor: Manhunter IS the best. The Question isn’t too bad though. I don’t read Action anymore so I couldn’t tell you what I think about Captain Planet.
I think Benson is done after this issue, as this arc is only two parts. The last issue was pretty good, playing highly to Batman’s detective skills. This series, as a whole, has been pretty satisfying as well.
I hate these fill-ins between Dini issue with this and Sirens…can’t we have a book called ‘sub par batman fill-in stories’? We shove this and Tony Daniel’s run and get an awesome Dini Batman book I’d be good.
co-feature is the only reason i’m still buying this
I only read this book for the Manhunter co-feature. The Batman part is ok I guess… The covers have been really awesome lately.
I have no idea who Benson is but the beginning of this arc wasn’t all that bad. I can’t remember what happened, but I do remember liking it just a little. I’m mainly still buying it cuz I love these Manhunter back ups though.
I keep waiting for Dini to come back. He’s why I’m buying this book. Well, I like Nguyen’s art too, but, this is going to be dropped come caveman bruce wayne time.
I didn’t bother reading the main feature. Manhunter is great as always.
I think I like the art more for John Kalisz’s colors than Dustin Nguyen’s pencils. Not that I don’t like the pencils. I absolutely love the way he draws Gordon.
Im trying to work out whether to drop this, or "Batman"…so far this is winning, purely because of the art, but i would love to get rid of the manhunter story and pay normal price for it….
The ending reminded me of the last arc of this series — really sudden & jarring. But, the difference was that the last arc with the priest was really good, & this one was not. The plot was way too simple. It was the kinda story you’d find on any one of the thousands of crappy, brain-dead TV detective/CSI type shows. But, on a positive note — Nguyen’s art was strong as always.
Definitely a lot better than "Batman", im gonna keep up this one, i love the art, and the story at least makes sense…Manhunter back up story is getting better, but i still would opt to get rid of it and pay standard price if possible.
Amazing cover. Not enough to make me pick this up though.
I really enjoyed this issue. It made me think of that Sea of Love film by Richard Price with Pacino. Benson is a solid gritty crime writer. It’s what he does best and he did a very good job of it in his Moon Knight books. He writes street crime tales so anyone wanting to see the big coloful badguys are going to be upset, but with that said, it’s a much more grounded Batman and I like that for my taste.
average issue. the manhunter story consistently interests me more than the main story.
I liked this arc a lot.
@HailScott: Well if you’re just getting into Batman, you’re a very lucky guy because I don’t think there is any other superhero with a larger backlog of good shit to read. Get Year One even though the catwoman in that book is african american so I never truly understand what that was about. I wouldn’t worry too much about Year Two but it is a decent read. Then get Long Halloween so you can get more acquainted with Harvey Dent, but don’t bother with Dark Victory which is its sequel because it sucks. Then you’re gonna wanna get A Death In The Family where Jason Todd gets killed faster then he was even made Robin. I never understood how Grayson was the first Robin if this happened like one year after Year One but DC always has continuity problems. Then get the Alan Moore Joker book and another good one by Brubaker that is called Man Who Laughs to get all the important stuff done.
Get the first installment of Knightfall but don’t bother with none of the Azrael becomes so new and technologically improved psycho Batman crap after that. All you have to know is Jean Paul eventually hands the mantle back to Bruce when Bruce’s back heals up. There is another arc where Grayson temporarily takes over as Batman after that but it is impossible to find because it is out of print. I heard it is not even worth bothering with it. Don’t even bother with Contagion neither.
Then skip a decade worth of crap and total $ wasters like all that earthquake in Gotham boredom and get Hush and both parts of Under The Hood. Don’t get Hush Returns, but get Heart Of Hush for everything you’ll need Tommy Elliot-wise. What the hell, get Private Casebook too. It’s not bad and should be out in trade by now. Don’t get ANYTHING that say Bruce Wayne: Murderer or Bruce Wayne: Fugitive because it is even more boring then the earthquake in Gotham stuff!! I never read any of the War Games or War Crimes stuff but from what I hear, it was a total waste of paper.
Okay, now you’re ready for Morrison’s run which is the most fun in my opinion. It starts with Batman & Son, then get The Black Glove, and then get RIP. Get them all in trade because they have the Ghosts Of Batman stuff mixed into the backs of them too and that’s definitely required reading in the best kind. I read all of those books like seven times each. Don’t bother with Morrison’s Ras Al Ghul stuff though. Awful!!
And there you go!! All you got left after that is What Ever Happened To The Cape Crusader and possibly Battle For The Cowl if you can’t just figure out what happened without it and you’re already for Batman Reborn which most of probably isn’t out in trades yet but maybe hardcover. The Batman & Robin hardcover should be out in a month or two. I’m not sure if Streets Of Gotham and Winick’s Batman run have been collected yet but you’re gonna want those too.
And there you go!! As long as you have like three or four hundred bucks to spend on trades and a few hardcovers, you’re all set, son!!!! Good luck to you!!