An out of continuity anthology featuring top comix talent from around the world working on Batman? If DC can't get this right, they might as well close up shop now. The same instinct that gave us the wonderful LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT and BATMAN: BLACK AND WHITE is on display here with the added wrinkle that each international team will showcase the Caped Crusader in their country of origin.
If you're short on time or want to go in completely blind, here's the deal: this thing RULES. It's the best Batman stuff DC has put out in ages and the ratio of good to bad is astounding. This is old school, right after CRISIS DC, sidling up to comic book geniuses like a demented gangster saying, "Look pal, I know you're normally an artiste but we know everyone who's ever picked up a pencil or laid down a script wants their crack at Batman or Superman. Let's deal."
I'm not going in depth on each story-- just a capsule. This is going to be fun for me, too.
"GLOBAL CITY"
UNITED STATES
BRIAN AZZARELLO/LEE BERMEJO
The "framing story" for the anthology allows Azzarello to do his Frank Miller impression without the burden of a plot or a point, and Lee Bermejo to make some pretty pictures that have no life in them. Dull, humorless, "I am the night" style posturing. 0 for 1.
"PARIS"
FRANCE
MATHIEU GABELLA/THIERRY MARTIN
Catwoman breaks into the Louvre, drawing the ire of both the Batman AND Wonder Woman...but she's not there for the art. Playful, whimsical, juggling icons without ever being disrespectful of them. Packs a surprise ending, an eternal truth, a guest star, and some wonderful, lively, line work into just a few pages. The best thing here and worth the price of admission by itself. 1 for 2.
"CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAYS"
SPAIN
PACO ROCA
A psychologically wounded Bruce Wayne commits to enjoying life without Batman on a trip to the Spanish coast. The respite is welcome at first, but boredom soon begins to set in. Nearly wordless and bursting with character-- I loved this off-beat little story about Bruce Wayne getting everything he wants, so that he can better appreciate what he needs. This is the kind of thing you could never do in an issue of, say, DETECTIVE COMICS and it makes collections like this such a wonderful curveball. 2 for 3.
"IANUS"
ITALY
ALESANDRO BILOTTA/NICOLA MARI
The road to Hell is paved in good intentions, and it is a fundamental tragedy of human life that we can cannot control HOW people react to our actions, regardless of our intent. This nonlinear story of Batman dealing with a a criminal obsessed with making sure his good deed goes punished has a surprisingly Zen moral and a wonderfully designed villain. Good, if a bit pretentious. 3 for 4.
"A BETTER TOMORROW"
GERMANY
BENJAMIN VON ECKHARDTSBERG/THOMAS VON KUMMANT
If any story in this collection becomes a lightning rod for debate in the eternal SJW/CG wars, it will be this one. The Joker offers a pair of eco-terrorists his services as a figurative guillotine for rich polluters. This Joker and Batman are very clearly derived from Christopher Nolan's film THE DARK KNIGHT in look, and like that film the Joker is a vehicle for an on the nose political allegory. Still, I give points for the moody art, and the nicely played ambiguity of whether the Joker's actual motives are as altruistic as they seem. This is a miss, but it's an interesting one. 3 for 5.
"RED MASS"
CZECH REPUBLIC
STEPAN KOPRIVA/MICHAL SUCHANEK
After the French talk about love, the Spanish about loving life, the Italians ponder fate and the Germans make a political statement, the Czechs come in with the novel approach of "how about doing a story where Batman absolutely kicks ass." Set during the mid-80's resurgence of the Cold War, the Eastern Bloc builds a super-weapon out of a psychic who can make people kill themselves and Batman goes in one night to bust up the works. There's definitely some editorial playfulness at work juxtaposing this story with the previous one-- implicitly asking if Batman can strike deeper chords than the ideological. Big-brain critique aside, this one just rules. 4 for 6.
"MY BAT-MAN"
RUSSIA
KIRILL KUTUZOV/EGOR PRUTOV/NATALIA ZAIDOVA
Next to the French entry, the pride of this collection. A biographical story a political cartoonist who was obsessed with Batman before he even knew what Batman was, this entry packs so much meaning into so few pages. Heartfelt, but not schmaltzy this story manages the rare feat of being about Batman as a concept, without ever forgetting to be a story and with zero pretension. Just read it. 5 for 7.
"THE CRADLE"
TURKEY
ERTAN ERGIL/ETHEM ONUR BILGIC
More of a meditation on Turkey itself than a story-- the actual Batman narrative feels like an excuse to hang a tour of Turkey upon, but that's fine in a collection like this where we're globe-trotting. I dug the Turkish themed villains and was honestly shocked when it turned out they had a connection to a more conventional member of the Rogue's Gallery. I don't think any story takes better advantage of local color than this one. 6 for 8.
"DEFENDER OF THE CITY"
POLAND
TOMASZ KOLODZIEJCZAK/PIOTR KOWALSKI
Bruce Wayne comes to Warsaw to acquire a new crime-stopping technology but it's Batman who closes the deal. Honestly...a misstep. A guest character misunderstands Batman...until they are saved by Batman, but we already know what Batman is so what have we learned from this? Gorgeous art, though. Put this Kowalski guy on DETECTIVE COMICS right away because he's masterful. 6 for 9.
"FUNERAL"
MEXICO
ALBERTO CHIMAL/RULO VALDES
Back in business with a moody bit of business that puts Batman in Mexico City, one of the most distinctive and cool locations on Earth and has him trying to help some unquiet spirits. The essential thing about Batman is that he helps people...it's not rocket science. This story marries this basic rock solid understanding of the fundamentals to some great art. 7 for 10.
"WHERE ARE THE HEROES?"
BRAZIL
CARLOS ESTEFAN/PEDRO MAURO
The Batman comes to Brazil, is faced with a problem that he cannot solve, but has hope that the future will be better. Not quite as on the nose as it may feel from that description, this one really recalls late 70's "relevant" DC books and for that I kinda love it even if "Batman doesn't work against entrenched societal corruption" really means you should have had him doing something else to begin with. 8 for 10.
"MUNINN"
SOUTH KOREA
INPYO JEON/JAEKWANG PARK/JUNGGI KIM
HOLY SHIT. Batman is charged with retrieving a device that can visualize memories that's been stolen by an assassin in Korea but not everything is as it seems. Total artist's showcase with dynamic energetic action that leaps off the page and kicks you in the face. Uses what looks like roughs at for one fight scene which only increases the manic energy. I want to see more from these guys. 9 for 11.
"BATMAN AND PANDA GIRL"
CHINA
XU XIAODONG/LU XIAOTONG/QIU KUN
Stylish art but a story that makes no sense, is built on a complete coincidence and where Batman's very presence is superfluous. Neat Chinese-themed redesign of the Batman suit, though. 9 for 12.
"BATMAN UNCHAINED"
JAPAN
OKADAYA YUICHI
A Sengoku era Batman is taught an important lesson by a stubborn artist he is trying to save from local samurai. It's indulgent, and really more about the artist making a meta-commentary on how he loves Batman but it's well made and the art is really great. I'm most on the fence about this one of all the stories in the collection. Let's call it a very near miss and wrap this up. 9 for 13.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Strong recommendation.