Product Description

Presented in art book style format with a "film noir" flavour, this collection of 20 short stories typifies the Dark Knight's pursuit of rough justice on the harsh streets of Gotham City.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #609962 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Good ideas are waiting to be discovered. Quite how an idea this good slipped the net for so long almost defies belief. Take a slew of industry legends, give them a dark, brooding comics icon, an eight-page limit and the stipulation that the art be solely black and white. The combustive result? Without doubt the finest, most incisive, eclectic and magnificent exploration of Batman for many years. In these 20 tales, Batman's world is expertly, lovingly rendered, from his Thirties beginnings to the far future, taking in the myth, the psychology and the vivid elements that have transformed him into a pop culture icon. In Ted McKeever's "Perpetual Mourning" Batman conducts an autopsy on a slain innocent, allowing the memory to live on inside him--"the ones I'll mourn forever". A wishful, deluded loner plans Batman's murder in Brian Bolland's astonishingly beautiful "An Innocent Guy". Batman entwines gracefully with Noir in Bruce Timm's Two-Face tale "Two of a Kind" and Matt Wagner's "Heist". Things get surreal as Neil Gaiman collaborates with the explosive stylings of Simon Bisley in "A Black and White World" in which Batman and The Joker are mere actors, whose blood-thirsty feud is endlessly interrupted by script re-writes. Yet, the finest is the wonderful "Heroes" drawn by Gary Gianni and written by the late Archie Goodwin--an exhilarating pulp tale in which the Dark Knight foils a Nazi plot. Lush, wondrous and capturing the essence of Batman in a way that a two-year story arc could only dream of. Unmissable. --Danny Graydon

Customer Reviews

Absolutely superb collection
Black and White is a big bunch of short stories by some of the best writers and artists around. A lot of the stories are extremely dark and every one is an fresh and original take on the batman. What really blew me away was the beautiful artwork. The lack of colours really does add to the gloomy, miserable atmosphere of Gotham. It's also fascinating to see so many different artist's versions of Batman in one book. The quality of the stories is just as impressive with contributions from people like Frank Miller and Katsuhiro Otomo of Akira fame among others. What I was really happy with as the way Batman is portrayed throughout the book. Always a dark, menacing presence and not a superman-like hero of the world. Highly reccomended.

different writers, different artists, magical creations.
the bat as others see him

writers and artists working on their vision of the great guy in the cape

Paul 'mad love' Dini

Neil 'sandman' Gaiman

Katsuhiro 'Akira' Otomo,

and loads more

diverse and interesting both in style and content

also includes notes on the people involved and some killer art work

the many faces of Batman
Originally published in comic form as Batman Black and White parts 1-4, this is the whole collection in one volume.20 stories are heralded by a brief 'who's who' of the various writers, inkers and so on working on each particular tale. Its all great stuff ranging from the tongue in cheek Bisley/Gaiman story to the touching, under-the-skin (pun intended), autopsy of a 'Jane Doe' by Ted McKeever. And anyone reading 'Petty Crimes' is bound to recognise the theme from the film 'Falling Down', done to good effect here.
A real gem which needs to be in the collection.