Batman: Cacophony

The negative reviews here may have a point that Kevin Smith's writing may not be best suited for Batman, but this is still a great story.It's a complicated but well-written plot that keeps you guessing, and that doesn't allow for any cheap resolutions by the end.Smith's dialogue for Batman somehow doesn't fit too well, but he does a great portrayal of the Joker. In this story, the Joker is funny, creepy, intelligent, well-spoken, manipulative, and devious - in short, what the Joker is supposed to be.Smith is clearly influenced by all the previous iterations of Batman and Joker, so he incorporates many of those of references; while it keeps the themes familiar, it does sometimes suggest a lack of novelty. But, comic books do seem work best when keeping to familiar themes, so that may not be such a drawback. As one example, Batman and Joker engage in a kind of carbon-copy dialogue from the Dark Knight film, where they discuss good and evil, and debate that perennial question, "why doesn't Batman just kill the Joker?" (see Mark White's essay in _Batman and Philosophy_, ed. by Mark White). So, if a bit cliche and perhaps even copied in homage to sources that have inspired him, Smith's storyline seems nonetheless fitting.At least the writing is tight and to-the-point, a self-contained story that is aware of its limited space; as a three-issue series, you don't feel like you're reading a stretched-out story that had to go across several more issues, as can sometimes happen with collected editions. Thankfully, Smith kept his dialogue relatively short, unlike his Daredevil which sidelined the usually active red devil for interminably long boxes of text. In addition to being short and sweet (although it is packed with several sub-plots, many characters, and philosophical reflections), it is also funny; Smith's wit comes through in many places.The art isn't great, but it isn't bad either. If anything, it's just a bit basic and at times inconsistent. I don't think it detracts from the story, but I won't be opening it again just to admire the images as works of art (like I might with a Frank Miller, Jim Lee or Bill Sienkiewicz).In sum, Cacophony is a great read, limited only by some intangible feeling that I get that Smith's writing isn't exactly capturing the heart of who Batman is. By way of comparison, Cacophony is more enjoyable and understandable than Morrison's recent run, but not near as good as Paul Dini's work in Private Casebook or Heart of Hush or in Streets of Gotham (nor is the art here as good as that of Dustin Nguyen in those works). Cacophony is way better than Smith's Daredevil, but not as good (although it's close) as his Green Arrow, probably because Green Arrow lends itself better to Smith's witty socializing. In sum, a great read not deserving of some of the negative reviews posted here.

Buy it because its great

Overall I enjoyed the book. However, there were a few detractors. While I understand that a certain amount of the author's personally and style are going to enter into the content of the book, some of the Joker's dialog and behaviors didn't really align with the character or add any value to defining who the Joker is. Some of the jokes and references seemed thrown in to add "padding" to lengthen the book rather than to actually add insight or develop the story and it's characters. Kevin Smith has parlayed his unique sense of humor into pop culture and cult success in his films, books and internet radio (podcasting) and that unique sense of humor can been clearly seen this representation of Batman. While I enjoy Kevin's work, I think he would be better served by a more subtly approach when interjecting humor into the Batman story. This would still allow him to put own unique slant on Batman without blasting us in the face with "Hey look at me! I'm Kevin Smith! I make D@#* jokes!". Don't get me wrong, I'm a Kevin Smith fan, I just think in this case less is more.With regard to the art of Walter Flanagan, I enjoyed it. I know many have criticized Mr. Flanagan for inconsistency, however, consider those who have drawn the caped crusader prior to this book. How does anyone draw Batman and not suffer by comparison to those who came before. In addition, Mr. Flanagan is not a full time comic book artist. While he has some prior experience, he does not draw comics all day every day as a career. Considering that, I enjoyed Walt's representation of the Joker and Batman and can easily overlook inconsistencies here and there. His art kept me engaged in the story throughout.Overall I enjoyed the book. I am looking forward to reading the remaining two books in this series to see if Smith has made any changes to his style. I suspect not, but I'll enjoy reading them anyway.

It was ok. I am a huge Kevin Smith fan and love his movies and his podcasts and his interviews and I think he's really funny. The first issue of this 3 issue story is great and he did well with writing the joker. But the second issue it went down in quality for me because his writing for the joker was close to horrible in the second issue. Especially in the way joker acts. In the second and in the first issue I don't buy joker being a sexual defiant the way he writes him because it seems really forced the things joker does to express him being a sexual defiant. Also I didn't like the scene were Onomatopoeia killed a hooker because it doesn't seem how he would react in the situation. In the third issue it picks up simply because throughout the issue it's a wrap up of the story. I would have preffered if this was just a Onomatopoeia story and the Joker was just in the background of the story and it would have been a stronger story. The art is pretty good. The art is very simplistic and I personally don't think batman is character for that simplistic of art style. But the art style isn't bad I actually love it but batman isn't the character for that art style.Overall this is book that you would have to read at your own risk. But for a die hard batman fan this could be a pick, simply for the amount of villains and fast pace of the comic book and it's a short read.

This is a great, great Batman story. The only thing keeping me from giving it 5 stars is, it is kind of short. The description says it is 160 pages. The book is. However, the story ends at page 101. The rest is a first draft of the dialogue and a couple of art work variants. I am use to the variants at the end of these, but there could have been a lot more story or even another story.

This is one of those books that everyone seems to really hate, and while i can understand a lot of the criticisms hurled at this graphic novel it isn't the worst Batman graphic novel you will ever read. There are worse ones out there, trust me.....Fundamentally, this book is flawed - and flawed on many levels.As other people have said, the artwork isn't that great - it is not the worst you will ever see, but for a showcase author, doing a one off storyline you would expect a lot better. The one thing that has improved over the last ten or fifteen years has been the standard of artwork - and this book, puts it back by that period of time, in one fell swoop.Secondly, the story is too short. WAY TOO SHORT. At just about 100 pages long, how can you expect to put a new slant on Batman, the Joker, Maxie Zeus and introduce a new villain? There is no depth to any of these characters, and in truth, there is no real ending or meaning to this book.And yet, there are some good points to this book. The new villain, Onomatopoeia has some potential to be a worth Batman villain. A villain with a dual identity could really be explored to full effect and would draw great comparisons between them and Bruce Wayne. There is also a very interesting piece where an lethally injured Joker clings to life, and Batman and Commissioner Gordon debate whether to save him or not. That is the highlight of the book for me and again, this could have had more time devoted to it.It is worth reading the introduction by Kevin Smith. As other reviewers have said, he admits to his own failings when writing this book. Where others have really criticised Smith, i take a slightly different point of view. He comes across as realising that he took a lot for granted in believing he could write a great Batman book, and that whilst this isn't what he is capable of, it has made him realise how tough it is to write a great story for Batman. I think that is pretty honest of him, and i am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as to whether he can pull of a good, or great Batman story in the future. There is a new book on the way later this year, and i for one, hope to see a dramatic improvement in the results of Kevin Smith's work, or i will be less forgiving. But in the mean time, we need to be open minded about this book. It has some potential - some great potential - and hopefully we will see that potential shine through in his next book. And yes, it has some flaws - some really major flaws - but we have to remember this is a first attempt. Even the great writers and artists didn't get it right first time, and even now, some of those greats can't deliver absolute excellence every single time.To sum up, this isn't a great book. It won't be in your top ten Batman books, top twenty, or quite possibly, top fifty. But it is worth a look at a price you are willing to pay, and hopefully Kevin Smith's next foray into the world of the Dark Knight will be much better...... Fingers crossed!!!!

Unfortunately, the art is absolutely awful and amateurish. Never spend money on this book, try to get a pdf online

I realy enyoed this Batman, becouse it's about his relationship with Joker. His love and hate. The decisions Batman must take is wery difficult.Amaizing story, great pictures.

love it

When I heard that Kevin Smith had written a Batman book I was hyped. As a fan of Clerks, Mallrats and even Jersey Girl; knowing that my favourite director worked on my favourite comic book character seemed like a dream come true.Kevin Smith every week hosts a podcast where he talks with people that have worked on Batman books/films and TV shows so you would think he would be perfect for writing a great story with the character. Sadly this story doesn't go beyond good, a humorous moment here and there does not deter from the inconsistent art and okay plot.The story is a very simple one, the Joker breaks out of Arkham Asylum with the help of a mysterious assistant and Batman must chase him down. There are numerous homages to previous story arcs and minor villains but these will go over the head of even the most hardcore DC fan. The most interesting part of the books is when the Joker is interacting with other villains and seeing him make jokes, these however only occur a couple of times in the 3 issues making this story.The most important part of any batman book when it comes to the art is how batman looks. Sadly batman is the least impressive character in terms of how he looks. It's clear that Walter Flanagan had more of an interest in how the villains looked than how the dark knight did as his appearance is inconsistant. Batman's appearance goes back and forth throughout the book but never seems to reach that point where you say "that looks like Batman".The best way to enjoy this book is to read it while listening to Kevin Smith's Comic Con Babble-on Theatre. These shows are like a read along with narration and character voices being done by Kevin, Ralph Garman and one episode includes well known voice actor Kyle Hebert.If you are expecting a great batman story, there are tons of better books that you could be reading instead. This is definately something to show someone who is new to Batman comic books. If you have read most of the well known batman stories and want to see how this is because you are curious I say go for it but don't expect to be blown away.