Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo’s Batman: Damned collects all three issues of the series originally published as part of DC’s Black Label line of comics. The series focuses on Batman following the apparent death of the Joker. While he’s recovering from his injuries, he sees visions and receives clues from John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman, Etrigan, and the Swamp Thing. Flashbacks appear to reveal that the Enchantress met Bruce Wayne when he was young, prior to his parents’ deaths. His father, Thomas, was unfaithful and Bruce saw Martha’s pain. He wanted to preserve his family and so gave himself to Enchantress, who promised to take away his tears after a great tragedy. In the present, Batman continues to search for the Joker while Constantine and the other magical anti-heroes dog his steps. Harley Quinn confuses Batman’s search, but sets the stage for the final revelations.

The overall tone of the story resembles Justice League: Dark, though without some of the charm that those stories feature. Instead, it’s dark and the reader is often just as disoriented as Batman. Characters come into and go out of the story like visions, spouting some wisdom or prophecy as they appear. The disorienting nature of the story feeds toward the ultimate conclusion, but it’s best to view this as an Elseworlds tale like many of the more obviously reimagined Black Label comics.

Azzarello has written extensively for DC, with his 100 Bullets series as well as runs in some of the Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman titles alongside Hellblazer. He also worked on The Dark Knight III: The Master Race and the animated film adaptation of The Killing Joke, a story he references at the beginning of this tale. Azzarello and Bermejo have worked together previously, most notably in the 2008 Joker graphic novel, but also The story features Bermejo’s trademark style of realistic clothing, which he employed in his runs on Action Comics, in Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, and the 2008 Joker graphic novel. That style works well for gritty stories, but the realistic body armor, clothing, and injuries seem out of place amid scenes of Batman leaping into the night and magical beings floating about. Overall, it feels like Azzarello and Bermejo are trying to do too much without fully developing many of their themes. The twist ending connecting to a more well-known and well-regarded Batman story only works to show the narrative weaknesses in this tale. ( )

Unreadable ( )

An unpleasant Elseworlds story with yet another revamp of Batman's origin tucked in between roll call of cameos by DC's major supernatural characters. The art is eye-catching, but story is a mess of wouldn't-it-be-cool scenes and annoying-as-hell voiceover narration.

I had no idea until the end matter than the goth girl haunting Batman throughout the book was supposed to be Enchantress. I still have no idea why she was even in the book at all. ( )