Tales of the Batman: Tim Sale

Batman

by Tim Sale (Illustrator), Darwyn Cooke, Alan Grant

Collects Batman tales drawn by Tim Sale.

Genres: Comics, Batman, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Bande Dessinée

240 pages, Hardcover

First published December 5, 2007

About the author

Tim Sale was a comic book artist best known for his work with writer Jeph Loeb on Batman.

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an historical artifact, this is an excellent read. Tim Sale is one of the all-time great Batman artists, having drawn The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, two exceptional Batman stories, the quality of which is due largely to Sale's dark, moody atmosphere. This book, which is accompanied by sections where Sale elaborates on the evolution of his creative process, goes deep into the nuances of how a comic book artist leans and evolves, and makes you feel like you're being ushered behind the scenes. Sale is so honest and forthcoming in his intros, you really feel like you're learning something about how an artist thinks, and how their ideas about mistakes and failure can be so different from the person only viewing the work through a reader's eye.

I loved getting these glimpses into Sale as a person, but unfortunately, the writing of these stories is just... not great. Sale's early career saw him working with folks like Alan Grant and James Robinson, who are upheld as classic comics writers, but I honestly have never read anything by either of them that wasn't hokey, flat, and overly crammed with bad dialogue. This is the case in this book, too. I came here for Tim Sale's artwork, but a lot of it is obscured by the sheer amount of (bad) text clogging this book to the brim, and the terrible characterizations Grant and Robinson give to the otherwise extremely well-drawn cast.

The only stories that really stand out are one by Darwyn Cooke (an artist himself) and Kelley Puckett, short one-offs about 8-12 pages each. These stories work on a thematic level, while allowing Sale's artwork to do all the heavy lifting. These stories practically float, light as air, and allow you to just feel pulled into Sale's incredibly detailed world as they unfold. If the entire book was made up of stories like these, I'd have given the book 5 stars.

In any case, if you're a fan of Tim Sale, this is still worth checking out for the artwork and background alone. But if you're not, this is unfortunately pretty skippable from a story perspective.

[Randy Lander · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this on a whim, as I thought I'd already read most of it. Turns out I had read only about half, the three-part "Blades" story arc by James Robinson and Tim Sale, which is probably the best story ever done in the Legends of the Dark Knight title. It definitely held up to my positive memories.

But I was delighted to find that this early work by Sale was stuff I hadn't read. A funny, quirky two-parter about the Arkham inmates being shipped off to Blackgate prison after Bane blew up their asylum, complete with prison rivalries, suicidal crazies, an intramural convict baseball game and a darkly funny finale opens the volume, and closes with a cover gallery of Sale's work on Detective and Batgirl from a couple years back.

There are also stories from the Sale and Darwyn Cooke issues of Solo and a pretty fun story from Shadow of the Bat featuring two new characters from Texas. The art on these, being earlier stuff for the most part, isn't quite as lush as Sale's work with Loeb in the last few years, but it's pretty impressive, especially the "Blades" work, featuring colors by Steve Oliff. In addition, there are commentaries before each story from Sale (I'd love it if every book contained author's/artist's notes like these in their collection) and a solid intro from Richard Starkings. A really good volume of Batman stories.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very uneven collection of work by Tim Sale, the artist probably most well known outside of the comic book crowd as the artist of Isaac's future prediction paintings on NBC's Heroes.

The middle piece of this collection, Blades, is the standout piece, allowing us to see what Batman might have been if tragedy had not touched his childhood. The interplay between Batman and Cavalier, Gotham City's newest swashbuckling hero, if fresh and the characterizations solid.

Second best piece in this book is Date Knight, a quick Batman and Catwoman back-up piece that allow Sale's art o flow in large spreads.

The rest of the stories are standard Batman fare. However, the collection starts with a sour note with 'Madmen Across the Water'. What's intended to be lighter comic fare suffers from being too far outside the realm of suspension of disbelief: inmates from Arkham Asylum are temporarily housed in Blackgate Prison when the asylum is blown up. The inmates are kept in General Population, which defies credulity given that many of the criminals in Blackgate are former henchmen of said inmates and understandably hold a grudge for being incarcerated. Not to mention that a majority of the inmates are homicidal maniacs. The fact that one of the inmates - not a super-villain inmate, just a regular Gothamite with suicidal tendencies - is brought to Blackgate is beyond the pale.

[Vicki-shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first major Bat books I ever read were, THE LONG HALLOWEEN, HAUNTED KNIGHT, AND DARK VICTORY, three amazing volumes written by Jeff Loeb and drawn by Tim Sale. I read those volumes over and over, because the art and writing was a thing that lurks in the shadows and leaves you breathless, so when I came across TALES OF THE BATMAN collecting Tim Sales earliest works with the Batman I didn't give buying it a second thought. It was cool to see Tim making his own in the world of batman, although the stories themselves were nothing spectacular they were still very enjoyable especially the tale MADMEN ACROSS THE WATER where the inmates of Arkham are pitted against the inmates of Blackgate in a game of baseball. (wtf right? awesomely hilarious though.) My other favorite tale is DATE KNIGHT where Catwoman basically attacks batman in both a sexual and violent way leaving Batman all sorts of mad and sexually frustrated.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good read, and it was cool to hear the stories behind an artist's work, not to mention his personal curation of his own career.

[Mohammed Abdikhader Firdhiye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blades written by James Robinson and Night after Night written by Kelley Puckett was the best stories. Two great Bat stories with the usual great Tim Sale,gothic Batman art.

Despite some of the stories being his early career, this collection show once again why Tim Sale is the best Batman artist i have seen. His Batman look,the way Batman movies,the faces of the character is unbeatable.

[Garrett Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really incredible collection of stories can be found in this book, with stellar art to match. I am probably biased because Tim Sale is one of my favorite artists of all time, and I don't think any of his work has done anything less than enchant me with the incredible detail and style that is found uniquely in the art of Tim Sale. That being said, this collection is a real treat because it shows the evolution of his work over the years with the character for which he may be known best, Batman. As the reader, you'll get to see the evolution of Tim Sale's art go from his more grounded and realistic style, to the more abstract drawings you'll find in his stories like "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory." The stories found in this book are all great fun, with Tim Sale's gorgeous art showing a real positive progression between them. This book has serious, action filled, and fun stories, with Tim Sale's art being the great connecter between them, and his ability to work with the tone of the story to provide engaging art work that flows with the mood and progresses excellently is something great about a collection with many of his works. There's something for everyone in this book, unless you don't like the art of Tim Sale, then maybe check out another book. Though some of the stories are better than others, they are all good and fun to read. I fully recommend this book to anyone that likes the art of Tim Sale.

[Nate]

A collection of Tim Sale’s early Batman work before The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, plus two later shorts. The 90’s stories are average for the time while the later ones, being more artist-driven, are quite good. I’m a fan of Sale’s art so I liked that aspect of the book; his trademark shadowy, noir style is here, but most of these stories are visually bright. The brightness owes to the colorists, sure, but I think Sale’s pencils bring out a decidedly lighter tone. Tacked on are a number of Sale covers which showcase his stylized way of drawing villains. I’m sorry, but his Penguin looks ridiculous.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting collection of some of Tim Sale's work with different writers, inkers, and letterers. I didn't know much of his work beyond the famous "Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory." His artwork is so unique and pairs well with the darker stories featured in this collection and surprisingly the fun "romp" with Darwyn Cooke as well. This was quite an enjoyable collection.

[Patrick Lum (Jintor) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little Batman collection of works by Tim Sale. Normally artist-focused story collections aren't really my thing, unless they're also the author, but this collection is a fantastically curated number of one-shots aren't too mired in prerequisite comic-book knowledge to work as standalone tales.

[Robson Castilho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compila 5 histórias desenhadas por Tim Sale e escritas por diferentes roteiristas.

As 3 primeiras histórias são da primeira metade dos anos 90 e são muito boas, acima da média das mensais da época.

As 2 últimas são bem curtinhas, apenas 12 e 8 páginas respectivamente, então nem dá pra considerar muito.

[Joel Haas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay Batman stories that capture artist Sales development. Nothing wrong with this collection but little stands out as it is more examples of his artwork developing rather than a (or several) 'wow!' items.

Not bad, just not great.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven but satisfactory collection of stories. The best of the bunch was the multi-part 'Blades,' although the action vignette 'Date Knight' was amusing.

[Heisenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

classic detective story with a blend of Batman in it . Tim Sale's colorful and vibrant art definitely blew my mind . And Saraf Elahi deserves gratitude for letting me read this one . :D

[StrictlySequential · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly Tim's early stuff mixed with some questionable writing.

[Robert Gotschall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating it 4 stars for the art alone. The writing is standard affair, with the Blades trilogy, and the Black and White short story being the best in the narrative department.

[James Hiltz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glorious Tim Sale art, both in pages and covers, alongside with little thoughts from Sale about his career. The stories themselves are a pretty mixed bag from a group of otherwise decent writers.

[Zo · Rating 4 out of 5]

fuck it this is fun idc

I mean there's a whole plot abt batman villains playing baseball what more do you want??

[Giacomo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tim Sale is a personal "fave" of mine. He brought an original style to comics, working chiaroscuro with outstanding talent. To be honest, he's simply wasted on superhero titles.

This collection of his early Batman work is alone worth buying for the included first run he did on "Legends of the Dark Knight", Blades, written by James Robinson. Sale's mature (yet not indulging) art is polished by some fantastic coloring from Steve Oliff, and matches Robinson's writing like a perfect glove.

The second jewel in the book is Date Knight, a short romp based on a basic plot from Darwyn Cooke. Then there's Sale's contribution to Batman Black and White vol.2 and some of his outstanding work on covers. The rest is filling material, some of which butchered by Jimmy Palmiotti's heavy inks.

If you don't already have Blades and Date Knight, then by all means buy this book and go straight to them. Otherwise, you can probably give it a miss; there's plenty of good work from Sale (especially on Batman) around bookshops, this volume doesn't add much to it.

[Orrin Grey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Tim Sale's work, and I'd previously only read one of the stories in this volume, so I figured I'd give it a shot. The quality of the stories is all fairly high, though the art changes fairly dramatically as it represents a span of over ten years.

The best is the justly famous three-part story "Blades" written by James Robinson. The art is very effective, and clearly shows both Sale's future potential and also his early influences from Matt Wagner. And, of course, I love swashbucklers.

There's also a nice cover gallery in the back.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Tim Sale's artwork in The Long Halloween and Dark Knight so I picked up this collection of some of his other shorter Batman work on sale. It is interesting to see his drawing evolve as time passes. His take on classic Batman characters is always unique, especially Penguin, and I've never seen Tim Drake so punked up. The actual stories are entertaining, from Arkham inmates playing baseball to a swordsman vigilante to a group of B-list villains teaming up. They all feel rather light compared to current Batman stories, which is a good thing; it's still not something you'd hand a child (the swordsman storyline particularly has some gruesome murders) but nothing over the top.

I'm glad I read the book because it's Batman but I also probably would never have missed it had I not read it.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth reading if only for the Darwyn Cooke story at the book's end. It is in that short chase between Batman and Catwoman that you finally see all of Tim Sale's artistic style bursting through and rising above the drabness of the everyday crime stories otherwise collected in this volume.

Now I happen to love Sale's work, so this volume is a boon to me, even as I recognize that this sample of his early work does not contain groundbreaking stories in themselves, or ones I will return to often. The individual issues were handpicked by Sale, though, to allow his audience to explore his development as a graphic artist, and it is gratifying to watch his style change and become bolder over the course of the book. A must for Sale fans.

[Chris Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have absolutely nothing to add to my review below, other than how much of a joy it is to see Sale’s brilliance grow as he develops as an artist. What a loss to comics he is

***

The stories take second place to the art here, although it’s interesting from a 2000AD fan’s perspective to see how easily Grant falls into Gotham’s world and the Blades storyline is nicely pulpish. But the point of the book is to celebrate Sale’s art and it’s phenomenal - lively, grotesque, funny, absurd and with a real sense of how to use patches of colour OR absences of colour. It’s beautiful and really shows how unconventional artists can flourish in mainstream comics if left to develop their own vision

[Noah Soudrette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very uneven, but interesting collection. The first story deals with Batman's Rogues Gallery being temporarily put up in a prison while Arkham is being renovated. This story is hilariously awesome, especially when the Rogues challenge the cons to a softball game. The second story, while excellent, is a bit predictable. The rest are totally disposable. I enjoyed the covers collected at the end, but they weren't nearly all his covers (what about Ed Brubaker's Detective Comics covers?) Unless your a huge Tim Sale fan and completest, I'd pass.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short anthology of various Batman tales drawn by Sale, with "Blades" being the standout. His offering for Batman Black and White Vol. II is included, but, while the washed out grays are cool, the story that was written for it was too choppy and graceless. The story "Misfits" doesn't involve a horror-punk band, but Grade B supervillains and it is good as well. I could care less about the Arkham inmates being transferred to Blackgate prison or about Catwoman's sexual innuendoes when fighting Batman.

[Corey Lindstrom · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part, a collection of Tim Sale's earlier, non-Jeph Loeb related Batman work. It's interesting in that you get to see, in my opinion, one of the all time great Batman artists before he really came into his own. Unfortunately, Alan Grant and James Robinson are just not my thing, so the stories themselves were a bit rough. On the more recent side, also included are a short story from Solo #1 written by Darwin Cooke (which is fun) and a short from Batman: Black And White (which looks beautiful).

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of Batman stories drawn by Tim Sale, and written by various writers, including Alan Grant and James Robinson. There are two long stories here, and a few shorter ones.

I enjoyed the longer stories, one written by Grant and the other by Robinson. Both are from the mid-90s, I think, and were originally three issues long. They're standalone stories that don't tie into any convoluted continuity or anything like that.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Tim Sale's Batman stuff, and has already read Long Halloween and Dark Victory.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a perfect example of an artist contribution to a story.
Drawn by a lesser artist, these stories would have simply faded into the background of mundane Batman stories. The stories aren't all that great, however, when you add the art of Tim Sale, they immediately stand apart.
Includes:
— Madmen Across the Water
— Blades
— The Misfits
— Date Knight
— Night After Night
— & a Cover Gallery

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I already had a couple of the stories included here in other formats, but it was nice to have a collection of so much early stuff from one of my favorite artists under one cover. The work is rough, as expected, but I was happy to see that the most well regarded of the bunch, "Blades," had actually aged pretty well. It was also cool to get commentary from Sale on each story, even though most of it is him just pointing out the parts that most embarrass him.

[Ernest · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume features the work of illustrator Tim Sale in some Batman stories. The stories were enjoyable enough to read, but given that the only link between the stories were the illustrator, it feels like only those particularly keen on the illustrator or Batman would find lasting enjoyment given the lack of narrative links between the stories.