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Batman
Tales of the Batman
Contents
Neutral Ground by Mike Resnick
Command Performance by Howard Goldsmith
Subway Jack by Joe R. Lansdale
Northwestward by Isaac Asimov
Museum Piece by Mike Resnick
Wise Men of Gotham by Edward Wellen
Robber's Roost by Max Allan Collins
Brothers in Crime by William F. Nolan
Death of the Dreammaster by Robert Sheckley
On a Beautiful Summer's Day, He Was by Robert R. McCammon
The Joker's War by Robert Sheckley
Endangered Species by Greg Cox
Copycat by John Gregory Betancourt
A Harlot's Tears by Ed Gorman
Reformed by John Gregory Betancourt
Vulture: A Tale of the Penguin by Steve Rasnic Tem
Neutral Ground by Mike Resnick
Command Performance by Howard Goldsmith
Subway Jack by Joe R. Lansdale
Northwestward by Isaac Asimov
Museum Piece by Mike Resnick
Wise Men of Gotham by Edward Wellen
Robber's Roost by Max Allan Collins
Brothers in Crime by William F. Nolan
Death of the Dreammaster by Robert Sheckley
On a Beautiful Summer's Day, He Was by Robert R. McCammon
The Joker's War by Robert Sheckley
Endangered Species by Greg Cox
Copycat by John Gregory Betancourt
A Harlot's Tears by Ed Gorman
Reformed by John Gregory Betancourt
Vulture: A Tale of the Penguin by Steve Rasnic Tem
552 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1995
5 people are currently reading
266 people want to read
About the author
Martin H. Greenberg
909 books163 followersMartin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.
For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.
For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 20, 2020
Actual rating: 3.5/5, minus one star because some of these stories are repeats.
This is an anthology so bear with me:
NEUTRAL GROUND 3/5 – A story about the equipment supplier in Gotham for both Batman and the villains.
COMMAND PERFORMANCE 4/5 – This story is ridiculously long, but it has a really great Dick Grayson and a Batman who isn’t obnoxious to his Robins (in fact, he’s actually nice!).
SUBWAY JACK 4.5/5 – In another book in the series, so no review here.
NORTHWESTWARD 2.75/5 – In another book in the series, so no review here.
MUSEUM PIECE 2/5 – This is a list story about the museum in Gotham and the Joker exhibit that it has.
WISE MEN OF GOTHAM 5/5 – In another book in the series, so no review here.
ROBBER’S ROOST 3/5 – This story has Batman being a form of a parole officer to the Penguin.
BROTHERS IN CRIME 4/5 – This story is from the POV of someone in prison with the Penguin. I like this one because we get to see how devious the Penguin is.
DEATH OF THE DREAMMASTER 4.5/5 – In another book in the series, so no review here.
ON A BEAUTIFUL SUMMER’S DAY, HE WAS 4.5/5 – This story is about serious abuse; I’m pretty sure it’s the Joker when he was a child, but there are no identifying characteristics to confirm that I saw.
THE JOKER’S WAR 3.75/5 – This was a trip but fits once you get to the end.
ENDANGERED SPECIES 3.5/5 – The Penguin is obsessed with owls and this story is from the POV of the hostage meant to take care of the owls.
COPYCAT 1/5 – This wasn’t that good. I don’t like Catwoman ad Vicki Vale generally, but this story pushed me to hating them.
A HARLOT’S TEARS 3.75/5 – This story doesn’t have Batman, but it actually has a smart Catwoman so it was welcome.
REFORMED 4/5 – This story has Penguin as its main focus and also has him as being smart.
VULTURE: A TALE OF THE PENGUIN 2/5 – Penguin makes some changes in his life; it was an ok story but it wasn’t too interesting.
Rated 12+ for Illegal activities, theft, drugs, drugging people, language, abuse, romance, solicitation, STDs, and medical abuse.
This is an anthology so bear with me:
NEUTRAL GROUND 3/5 – A story about the equipment supplier in Gotham for both Batman and the villains.
COMMAND PERFORMANCE 4/5 – This story is ridiculously long, but it has a really great Dick Grayson and a Batman who isn’t obnoxious to his Robins (in fact, he’s actually nice!).
SUBWAY JACK 4.5/5 – In another book in the series, so no review here.
NORTHWESTWARD 2.75/5 – In another book in the series, so no review here.
MUSEUM PIECE 2/5 – This is a list story about the museum in Gotham and the Joker exhibit that it has.
WISE MEN OF GOTHAM 5/5 – In another book in the series, so no review here.
ROBBER’S ROOST 3/5 – This story has Batman being a form of a parole officer to the Penguin.
BROTHERS IN CRIME 4/5 – This story is from the POV of someone in prison with the Penguin. I like this one because we get to see how devious the Penguin is.
DEATH OF THE DREAMMASTER 4.5/5 – In another book in the series, so no review here.
ON A BEAUTIFUL SUMMER’S DAY, HE WAS 4.5/5 – This story is about serious abuse; I’m pretty sure it’s the Joker when he was a child, but there are no identifying characteristics to confirm that I saw.
THE JOKER’S WAR 3.75/5 – This was a trip but fits once you get to the end.
ENDANGERED SPECIES 3.5/5 – The Penguin is obsessed with owls and this story is from the POV of the hostage meant to take care of the owls.
COPYCAT 1/5 – This wasn’t that good. I don’t like Catwoman ad Vicki Vale generally, but this story pushed me to hating them.
A HARLOT’S TEARS 3.75/5 – This story doesn’t have Batman, but it actually has a smart Catwoman so it was welcome.
REFORMED 4/5 – This story has Penguin as its main focus and also has him as being smart.
VULTURE: A TALE OF THE PENGUIN 2/5 – Penguin makes some changes in his life; it was an ok story but it wasn’t too interesting.
Rated 12+ for Illegal activities, theft, drugs, drugging people, language, abuse, romance, solicitation, STDs, and medical abuse.
September 8, 2022
Like most short story collections, this one is hit and miss, with some authors apparently either unfamiliar with the characters or having an outdated notion of them. Some, like Isaac Asimov, simply slapped some Batman-related names to a random story.
Not all the stories feature Batman, at least not as the main character. Some focus on the villains, Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin, this last one gets more than one tale and it's the book's closer that makes this book worth it - Vulture: A Tale of The Penguin by Steve Rasnic Tem. This story really takes the character into unknown places, evolving him into something much more sinister than the waddling Foul Fiend. I was really surprised where this story went, Batman was featured tangentially, but was ever present in the Penguin's fractured psyche. Good stuff. Subway Jack by horror writer Joe R. Lansdale was another good one that actually ties into his novel The Nightrunners.
Other stories, sadly, read like rejected cartoon episodes but enough winners to keep one's interest.
Not all the stories feature Batman, at least not as the main character. Some focus on the villains, Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin, this last one gets more than one tale and it's the book's closer that makes this book worth it - Vulture: A Tale of The Penguin by Steve Rasnic Tem. This story really takes the character into unknown places, evolving him into something much more sinister than the waddling Foul Fiend. I was really surprised where this story went, Batman was featured tangentially, but was ever present in the Penguin's fractured psyche. Good stuff. Subway Jack by horror writer Joe R. Lansdale was another good one that actually ties into his novel The Nightrunners.
Other stories, sadly, read like rejected cartoon episodes but enough winners to keep one's interest.
November 3, 2014
really. i enjoyed it
January 2, 2012
It's a collection of Batman stories, some good and some bad. The two best stories are Subway Jack and On a Summer's Day He Was, and they are wonderful (and the reason I'm giving the book four stars). The last story, Vulture, is maybe third best with a look at Oswald Cobblepot as performance artist (kinda). There are some crap stories in here too, but I think the three above more than make up for them.
October 19, 2013
The best stories were:
Subway Jack by Joe R. Lansdale
Death of the Dreammaster by Robert Sheckley
The Joker's War by Robert Sheckley
Wise Men of Gotham by Edward Wellen
On a Beautiful Summer's Day, He Was by Robert R. McCammon
The rest weren't very good, in my opinion.
Subway Jack by Joe R. Lansdale
Death of the Dreammaster by Robert Sheckley
The Joker's War by Robert Sheckley
Wise Men of Gotham by Edward Wellen
On a Beautiful Summer's Day, He Was by Robert R. McCammon
The rest weren't very good, in my opinion.
December 2, 2014
The book had a lot of short stories in it but took a long time to read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews