Batman: Night Cries

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After Jim Gordon had shot the Joker, it looked like it was over until he stood up and took Jim's phone. The reader doesn't know what happened until the end of the issue. The writer is Archie Goodwin. Even his name sounds milquetoast. However, he was the editor for some comics like Creepy and the Epic line, where innovation flourished. He's one of the best editors in the industry, but really only know for writing Star War comics.

Doctor Death (Karl Hellfern), a recurring villain for Cassandra Cain, is an arms dealer that specializes in weapons of mass destruction. At one point, he creates a gas that turns people into oil which would then be sold to help fund a tyrannical regime. Another time, he harvests hundreds of corpses to create a drug called Soul that turns people Axe-Crazy. His motivations seem to solely be a combination of money and science. Ra's al Ghul. A man who has lived a millennium throughout time and many centuries come and gone. A man who in his mind was cursed than truly blessed. His cynicism towards his fellow man is horrid yet, somewhat understandingly truthful. Seeing humanity grow greedy and vile throughout the years he decided to take upon himself his supposed best course of action to take. Which is pure global genocide. There was a time that Batman agreed (in an understanding and intellectual conversation) about his view. Yet is disgusted that it has to involve the many lives that it would cost. Batman stands his ground and protects all life which in Ra's eyes is most unfortunate. The premise of Batman: Fortunate Son is ridiculous, and the comic makes the mistake of taking itself way too seriously. Although it explores Batman and Robin's father-son-like relationship intimately, it reduces it to a generic and cringeworthy moral lesson. Batman: Night Cries is a 1992 one-shot written by Archie Goodwin and illustrated by Scott Hampton. Often regarded as one of the darkest Batman stories ever told, the plot follows the titular character as well as friend and collaborator commissioner James Gordon as they investigate a series of murders that suggests a drug war is being raged across the streets of Gotham. On the surface, this premise is as standard and generic as it gets for a Batman comic; however, there’s more to the story here, as the two detectives soon uncover that these murders all pertain to the abuse of children, leading them to suspect a serial killer. It’s up to these two men to find the perpetrator and put a stop to his twisted form of justice, all while they deal with their own personal demons.

GRAPHIC NOVEL GUIDE

The overall theme in the title posses a sinister but, also, realistic approach to the crimes committed by the newest “vigilante”, and once the mystery is solved- this involves one of the most heartfelt moments in a Batman comic, relating a little girl that cannot speak because of her past trauma-, one can’t really come to the conclusion of whether or not it was right for the killers to do as they did, considering the victims were all directly attached to a potential drug-war that was about to burst, all criminals that also happened to be child-abusers. That ends up conflicting both, Gordon and Batman, but it is with Gordon where we feel the weight of the case. In fact, I’ll even dare to say Goodwin’s protagonist is actually Gordon, and not Batman, necessarily. There isn’t that much of a “Bruce Wayne” perspective, as much as there was Gordon’s, and frankly, I’m okay with that. Let’s not forget one of the most important Batman comic books ever made had Jim Gordon and Batman as co-stars in ‘Year One’. And now Snyder's added the Joker to his run. And thus we're greeted with a terrifying, horrifying image of Joker ◊ holding his cut-off face, as it was cut off at the beginning of the New 52 reboot of Detective Comics, teasing his return. And the storyline title? it's called "Death of the Family". That's right, somebody close to Batman will die again. A brief Supergirl-Robin team-up reveals that on the one hand, Gotham's supervillains are completely out of Supergirl's league... on the other hand, Gotham's supervillains tend towards way more depraved than she's used to. Goodwin makes this a fairly personal story for Jim Gordon, getting inside Gordon's brain with a condescending voice of narration that I'm led to believe is his interpretation of his father. That added element of Gordon dealing with the cycle of domestic abuse, and the ramifications on his marriage and young James Jr., really get to the heart of the damage that child abuse can cause and continue to cause without dealing with the root issues.

No Man's Land" has the death of Commissioner Gordon's wife, Sarah, at the hands of the Joker. Joker has a large number of infants held hostage; Sarah rushes in with a gun, and Joker tosses one of the babies at her, forcing her to drop her gun to save it. No points for guessing what he does once she's unarmed. Gordon gets the news outside - he rants tearfully about how the Joker has gone too far and seriously considers killing him, but after shooting him in the knee, chooses law over anarchy and walks away. And if him weeping on the steps as Batman holds him steady doesn't get to you, then the scene of him spending the new year alone, singing Auld Lang Syne dry-eyed over Sarah's grave definitely will. What's even worse is that the Joker isn't laughing as he walks away. Even HE doesn't find it funny, which just makes it depressing. Clayface. Formerly a prestigious actor acclaimed for a certain role, now he is just a sadistic, psychopathic killer. Sure, a humongous, hulking mud body may not be that scary to some (though it depends on the source material), but think about this: he can physically turn into anybody. From your best buddy to your loving partner, even to your mom or dad. And you may not even realize it until he decides to turn you into a pasty red smear. In 'Under The Hood', Jason has a gun to The Joker's head, telling Batman that if he were to stop him from killing the clown, he'd have to shoot Jason in the face, complete with tears. See here. Neal Adam's Batman: Odyssey is a strange character study. After almost killing a man, Bruce Wayne reflects on his journey as a vigilante. The comic mixes Batman's thoughts about this experience with several different battles, making it feel like a bizarre fever dream. Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth follows Batman as he fights his most dangerous supervillains inside Arkham Asylum. After the Joker dares him to escape in an hour, the vigilante's attempts end up with him deepening into a supernatural mystery linked to the Asylum's origins.Wow. Read this on a whim, and it turned out to be excellent. Probably one of the darkest Batman stories out there. It's gruesome and unflinching, but never exploitative. There's a fine line between grim and edgy, and many writers, especially in the 90's, failed to walk it. No such failure here. I've usually liked what I've read from Archie Goodwin, but I've never seen him turn in something quite this personal and upsetting. He's one of the few "old guard" comics writers that successfully transitioned his writing style from the campy yesteryears to the more complex modern age, and this is certainly prime evidence of that fact. I'm surprised this isn't a more well-known comic, because it's definitely in the upper echelon of Batman stuff for me. My guess is that it didn't jive well with the particular kind of darkness readers were looking for in 1992. It's raw, unflinching, mostly actionless, and not at all "cool" or "badass". It's just solid writing. I always thought of you as a father to me, but I was wrong. You're not like a father, you are my father Alfred. And the fact I am blessed to have had two amazing ones in this life of mine, well it only makes it harder to say. Goodbye, Dad." Batman #23.2 does a good job showing how terrifying Riddler can be. Breaking into Wayne Enterprises, killing anyone who stands in his way, all so he can play a game of solitaire in peace.

Batman Night Cries is more of a social revelation of the secret horrors happening in families than a Batman story. Often a core element in a Batman story, the detective work here merely serves as a plot advancing mechanism rather than a core frontrunner. The story builds up to a truth that hits you hard at the homestrech and ends on a sad note. The crossover one-shot with Batman and Elmer Fudd. Batman survives an assassination attempt by Elmer and confronts the man over it. Learning Elmer had been set up by "Bugs", the two proceed to hunt him down. They ultimately learn that the true mastermind was Silver St. Cloud. She had fallen in love with Elmer after she couldn't take being with Bruce's "dangerous" life, but when she learned Elmer had just a dangerous life as Bruce, she opted to turn the two against each other through "Bugs". After the revelation, the three men could only approach the counter of the bar they're in and ask for "carrot juice" to drown their sorrows.

Live-Action Series

This is based on opinion. Please don't list it on a work's trope example list. Follow ing Tear Jerker / Batman: Venom -- by Dennis O'Neill, José Luis García-López, Russell Braun, and Trevor von Eeden -- sees Batman turn to an experimental enhancing drug so he can be a better vigilante. When he fails to save a kidnapped girl, he starts using Venom, but soon becomes addicted. Batman: ...And I swear that if you harm that woman at all, I'll make you pay! I will break and twist things within you. You can't conceive of the pain I can cause. It's pain that will go on forever. You won't escape it... BECAUSE I WON'T LET YOU DIE.

Fridge Horror sets in when you realize that somewhere, buried deep within layers upon layers of insanity and psychological damage, lies a conscience, a small, sane, unchanging fragment of Joker's personality that not only realizes what he's done/doing, but so desperately wants Batman to stop him. Going Sane". This little four-part story arc humanizes The Joker far better than The Killing Joke ever did. The finale is especially sad: it features the Joker's inevitable return to madness and Rebecca hoping in vain for the return of her "missing" fiance, "Joseph Kerr".

Video Games

So Batman and James have to team up to hunt down a serial killer. It sounds simple enough and we've seen it a million times in Batman titles. But this serial killer is hunting and murdering people who've touched, hurt, molested children. This makes it question if stopping him worth it based on the disgusting behaviors of the victims of the killer. In the night, he listens. ‘Two million cases. Two thousand deaths. Too many cries. Someone else has to hear them.’ In the night, he listens. And only the sound of his own voice comes to him, screaming in frustration. The cry of a lone bat. Unable to find its way.” The sadness of Batman's origin is taken up to eleven in the 2016 "I Am Suicide" arc of the Batman comics in the new Rebirth continuity. A letter Bruce sends to Selina Kyle/Catwoman as she is on her way to be detained in Arkham Asylum for committing 237 counts of murder explains the emotions that came out of witnessing his parent's murder in-depth. Bruce explains that after his parent's deaths, he felt nothing but pain, and attempted to slit his wrists with his father's razor. However, remembering all of the people in Gotham that were going through similar pain kept him from ultimately doing the deed... at least physically. Spiritually, he already felt dead, and crafted the Batman persona in the hopes that he would one day die defending Gotham from criminals. The events of this particular comic arc seem to be building up to just that. It's extremely harrowing to find out that, at least in this new interpretation, suicidal despair was the ultimate emotion behind the creation of Batman. Yes, I loved the artwork. I'm always looking for some "unique" comic artists. To again confront some critics, the watercolor style isn't "sloppy"; it's haunting. It's haunting just like the subject matter is haunting. Some wish they could just wash away their trauma and suffering, but they can't. Just a great Batman story from start to finish with some hauntingly beautiful art by Scott Hampton.