Product Description

Gotham City is plagued with crime and corruption in places high and low, but one man has taken a stand against evil in all its forms: the dark avenger known as Batman. The Dark Knight detective and Zatanna, one of the world's most powerful magicians, join forces to take on an all-new Ventriloquist (albeit with the same old Scarface); Talia al Ghul, the father of Bruce Wayne's son Damian and daughter of his nemesis Ra's Al Ghul; the 'reformed' villain-turned-investigator the Riddler and more! But is romance bubbling under between Batman and Zatanna? Written by "Countdown" mastermind Paul Dini and acclaimed writer Peter Milligan, with art by Dustin Nguyen ("The Authority"), you won't be able to put down this casebook!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #195778 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

About the Author
Paul Dini is the award-winning writer of many scripts for Batman: The Animated Series, and has also written for the Superman and Justice League animated series. His comics work includes Batman: Black and White, Batman Adventures, and Countdown. Peter Milligan has written a dazzling variety of comics, including Shade, The Changing Man, Enigma, Human Target, Skreemer and X-Force. Dustin Nguyen has pencilled the critically acclaimed WildCats 3.0 and The Authority.

Customer Reviews

Batman: Private Casebook
This compilation collects together stories from six issues of Detective Comics, plus a short from last year's Hallowe'en Special. They're mostly self-contained, but two of the tales (coincidently, the weakest in this collection) do tie into the previously published The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul (Batman (DC Comics Hardcover)). Luckily, most of the stories are written by veteran scribe Paul Dini, and more than make up for a couple of lacklustre chapters.

Batman's rogue's gallery is fully utilised here, with appearances from Catwoman, the Riddler, the Mad Hatter and the Ventriloquist. All foes that he has defeated before, but here Dini gives each a slight tweak of the new to differentiate them from older portrayals, making room for unexpected twists.

Those twists don't all involve punching, either. Batman remains the world's greatest detective, using his skills to their fullest in this book, thwarting robberies, kidnappings and even serial killings. The subject matter doesn't get too 'dark' however, and while much of the subject matter isn't suitable for very young children, this is hardly 'adults only' material.

Of course, what comicbook review would be complete without mentioning the art? Dustin Nguyen's style flows well, his figures full of expression and movement and the backgrounds around them well-defined. He uses shadows sparingly (for a Batman comic, anyway) and the flow of action and narrative is very easy to follow. His crowning achievement is the facial expressions he grafts onto the characters, who themselves are easily distinguishable from each other.

While not quite in the same league as the next book in the series (The Heart of Hush (Batman (DC Comics Hardcover))), due to the afore-mentioned Ra's al Ghul stories, this still remains an example of the right way to do a Batman story.

Crisp tales which leave you wanting for more
Paul Dini needs no introduction to Bat-fans. I liked this book for its focus on Batman's relationships with Talia (implied), Zatanna (the cutest magician on the planet) and Catwoman (for some reason I don't particularly fancy Selina Kyle as a lover for Batman...Zatanna seems to be more interesting).
Batman's treatment of Ra's al Ghul is dramatic and interesting...while the suit of sorrows is a bit weird for my taste.
Hoping to read the Hear of Hush paperback once it's out.