Andy Kubert

This was a mixed bag for me - it seems to be a collection of stories that weren't included in any other collection so they decided, hey lets put them up together here.

Main story is very interesting. As we watch the procession of villains and heroes and we listen to their accounts of the death of our hero int he background we see our hero observing the funeral and wonders what exactly is going on. Told in a way of cyclic heroic tales (birth-dead-birth) we witness one Batman going off-stage only to come back into the world ready to start its everlasting battle against evil. In this way story very much reminds of Moorcock's Eternal Champion series, hero challenged by same quests in every reincarnation. There just cannot be Gotham without Batman :)

Main story art is excellent, coloring and ink are just perfect. For the rest of this collection different artists were involved and art goes from the very 1920's style (Poison Ivy story line, reminded me heavily of early X9 stories) to Heavy-Metal/2000AD graphics in a completely crazy story where Batman and Joker are just actors that are called on scene to act through their encounter for the purpose of the comic story after which they leave the studio together. This was definitely strangest black & white Batman story I ever read and that I mean that in positive way :)

Good and interesting collection but seems like it was created as an afterthought because stories in it are not thematically linked.

Recommended to all fans of Batman.… (mais)