false 29578 57948 1563893428 9781563893421 56 <![CDATA[Batman: The Dark Knight Returns]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170484157m/57948.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57948.Batman_The_Dark_Knight_Returns 4.33 771 The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller--known also for his excellent Sin City series and his superb rendering of the blind superhero Daredevil--is probably the top contender. Batman represented all that was wrong in comics and Miller set himself a tough task taking on the camp crusader and turning this laughable, innocuous children's cartoon character into a hero for our times. The great Alan Moore (V for Vendetta</I>, Swamp Thing, the arguably peerless Watchmen) argued that only someone of Miller's stature could have done this. Batman is a character known well beyond the confines of the comic world (as are his retinue) and so reinventing him, while keeping his limiting core essentials intact, was a huge task.

Miller went far beyond the call of duty. The Dark Knight is a success on every level. Firstly it does keep the core elements of the Batman myth intact, with Robin, Alfred the butler, Commissioner Gordon, and the old roster of villains, present yet brilliantly subverted. Secondly the artwork is fantastic--detailed, sometimes claustrophobic, psychotic. Lastly it's a great story: Gotham City is a hell on earth, street gangs roam but there are no heroes. Decay is ubiquitous. Where is a hero to save Gotham? It is 10 years since the last recorded sighting of the Batman. And things have got worse than ever. Bruce Wayne is close to being a broken man but something is keeping him sane: the need to see change and the belief that he can orchestrate some of that change. Batman is back. The Dark Knight has returned. Awesome. --Mark Thwaite

]]> 15085 4.02 29936 1785 12740 4.02 1892 145 29578 4.28 835 66 914398 3936480303 9783936480306 1 <![CDATA[300]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179421549m/914398.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/914398.300 5.00 1 Writer-artist Frank Miller and colorist Lynn Varley retell the battle of Thermopylae in the exciting and moving graphic novel 300. They focus on King Leonidas, the young foot soldier Stelios, and the storyteller Dilios to highlight the Spartans' awe-inspiring toughness and valor. Miller and Varley's art is terrific, as always; the combat scenes are especially powerful. And Miller's writing is his best in years. Read it.

Do not, however, read 300 expecting a strictly accurate history. The Phocians did not "scatter," as Miller describes. His Spartans are mildly homophobic, which is goofy in such a gay society. Miller doesn't say how many Greeks remained for the climactic battle--you'd think 300 Spartans and maybe a dozen others, when there were between 700 and 1,100 Greeks. Herodotus's Histories does not identify the traitor Ephialtes as ugly and hunchbacked, or even as Spartan. 300 establishes a believable connection between Ephialtes's affliction and behavior, but his monstrous appearance, King Xerxes's effeminacy, and the Persians' inexplicable pierced-GenX-African looks make for an eyebrow-raising choice of villain imagery. Nonetheless, 300 is a brilliant dramatization.

For the full story of the failed invasion, read Herodotus's Histories or, for a concise, graphic-novel retelling, Larry Gonick's great Cartoon History of the Universe: Volumes 1-7, From the Big Bang to Alexander the Great. For a lighthearted look at post-invasion Athens and a very young Alexander the Great, check out William Messner-Loebs and Sam Kieth's witty and gorgeous graphic novels, Epicurus the Sage Vol. I and Vol. II. --Cynthia Ward

]]> 15085 4.02 29936 1785 29578 4.28 835 66 2113535 1417669381 9781417669387 0 <![CDATA[Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again]]> http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2113535.Batman_The_Dark_Knight_Strikes_Again 0.0 0 ]]> 15085 4.02 29936 1785 29578 4.28 835 66 321799 4.43 69806 1640 922961 0871357380 9780871357380 3 <![CDATA[Elektra Lives Again]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1188615514m/922961.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/922961.Elektra_Lives_Again 4.18 11
]]> 15085 4.02 29936 1785 29578 4.28 835 66 1117132 1845763459 9781845763459 1 <![CDATA[Absolute Dark Knight]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181141389m/1117132.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1117132.Absolute_Dark_Knight 4.50 2 15085 4.02 29936 1785 12740 4.02 1892 145 29578 4.28 835 66 4710950 2876950987 9782876950986 0 <![CDATA[Elektra : le retour]]> http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4710950.Elektra_le_retour 5.00 1 Qui est-elle ? Certains l'appellent Elektra. Une tueuse à gage, une ninja aux pouvoirs surhumains dont la structure du cerveau semble avoir été modifiée par un narcotique inconnu, décuplant ses capacités, faisant d'elle une bête fauve dont la férocité n'a d'égale que la beauté. On la soupçonne d'avoir tué plusieurs policiers, d'avoir massacré la direction d'un asile, d'avoir assassiné le président Carlos Huevos. D'autres sont en danger : l'ambassadeur Reich et peut-être même le sénateur Wind, super-favori dans la course à la présidentielle. De quoi inquiéter les agents du S.H.I.E.L.D. Car Elektra n'aura de pitié pour personne. Elle est là pour combattre les démons. Les siens comme ceux qui menacent le monde libre...

En reprenant ce personnage issu de comics, Frank Miller (Sin City, Dark Knight) montre encore une fois sa capacité à détourner brillamment l'univers des super-héros pour mieux dénoncer le pouvoir. Il offre de plus à Bill Sienkiewicz l'occasion de prouver qu'il est un des dessinateurs les plus talentueux et inventif de la BD américaine. Son univers graphique, qui multiplie les styles et les techniques, loin d'être incohérent, émerveille à chaque page. Du grand art. --Georges Louhans

]]> 29578 4.28 835 66 15085 4.02 29936 1785 2915609 4861761549 9784861761546 0 <![CDATA[バットマン:ダークナイト・ストライクス・アゲイン]]> http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2915609._ 0.0 0 29578 4.28 835 66 764102 5.00 1 0