Product Description

Gotham City is plagued with crime and corruption in places high and low, but one man has taken a stand against evil of all forms: the dark avenger known as Batman. When the mysterious masked superhero-killer Onomatopoeia arrives in Gotham City, it seems his sights (and sounds) are set against the Caped Crusader. But how does the Joker feature in his nefarious plan? With the bullets flying, the Dark Knight will be forced to make a terrible choice...stop the assassin or save the life of his greatest foe! Written by the hugely successful movie director (and sometime comics writer) Kevin Smith ("Clerks", "Dogma"), with art by Walt Flanagan and Phil Hester, this collection also features a new introduction by Smith, script and sketchbook material!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6571 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-23
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

Review
'The story engaging, the art fantastic' --- Sci-Fi Online

About the Author
Kevin Smith was the producer of the Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting and has also written and directed Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jersey Girl, Clerks II and Zack and Miri Make a Porno. He is also a comic book writer, actor and author. His next film as director is A Couple of Dicks, starring Bruce Willis.

Customer Reviews

Better things to spend your money on...
Having read Smith's run on Daredevil and Green Arrow, I was looking forward to what he could do with Batman. However, as many other reviewers have commented, I was led to be worried before even reaching the start of the story. This is due to the fact that in the Introduction, Smith apologises for his dialogue and Flanagan's artwork. While I am all for creators commenting on their work, I found myself constantly bracing for impact, rather than watching the story unfold.

I have since re-read it, and nothing much has changed. Considering Smith continually goes on about how much he loves Comics, I have no idea how he ever thought this was going to be acceptable to the average comic fan. The writing is so off, it is a wonder whether Smith has ever read a Batman comic at all, and the art is horrendous - when someone can't draw the titular character alarms bells really should be ringing. As for the bearded Joker - what were they thinking? It is really nice of Smith to ask the friend who introduced him to comics to do the art, but after seeing the results he should have got someone else in, as it makes an average story into a poor story.

Unfortunately there are much better Batman comics out there, with more engaging stories and genuinely beautiful art. Cacophony proves that even the biggest comic fans cannot produce great comics.

Starts with promise then...
It starts so strong and the dialog is clever and witty and the whole story builds steadily with an engaging pace but then the ending lets all down so badly.
I'd advise anyone to buy this, but only if its cheap as you probably wont go back to reading this again until you forget what happens (which could be fairly quickly!)
Such a shame I really was looking forward to a Kevin Smith story that would be imaginative and surprising.

The foreword says it all
It can never be a good sign when the foreword of the book apologises for the lacklustre content. I would count myself as a huge fan of Kein Smith's work, but Batman Cacophony is a real let down.

There is a genuinely good idea for the book, sadly it is never given a chance to shine. I'm all for letting artists grow and explore their abilities, however it is clear that Walter Flanagan is punching way above his weight here and that Smith is below par. Fingers crossed for their future collaberations.

Read Alan Moore's A Killing Joke again instead.