...this is what the Duc d'Orterre yells at Batman as he lunges at the Duc. I’m taking a comic book course this summer, and it is my first time reading comics. Like, I didn’t even pull them out of the newspaper as a kid. Last week we read the first 11 issues of Batman, who is called “The Batman, weird figure of darkness.”
I don’t know what I expected out of comics, but so far, these first issues of Batman are hilariously xenophobic, sexist, racist, you name it. One that takes place in Paris with “Le Duc d’Orterre” is so ridiculous it made me laugh out loud. This is the Duc :
He says things like "Eh. Mes Amis! Bring this thing to my temple. I shall be amused for a little while." The 'thing' he is referring to is Batman. The Duc even has cronies, who wear berets and scarves while they are hustling Bruce Wayne.
I'm just really not sure what to do with this genre yet. I'm cracking open this week's reading now, "Batman: The Dark Night Returns." We'll see if this one converts me or seals my fate to struggle through these remaining four weeks of summer school!
Don't judge a whole genre by one example! This would be like judging all nonfiction books based on Sarah Palin's autobiography ;o)
ReplyDeleteThere are some great comics out there. Watchmen for example....
DC Comics (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman) is doing a complete reboot of their entire universe. All of it. Costumes, character's relationships with each other... Starting over from scratch. They will be keeping some key elements, like Superman being from Krypton and Batman witnessing his parents' murder, but it remains to be seen if comics will remain a teen-boy's realm with huge-breasted spandex women and damsels in distress, or if they will take this chance to address several of the criticisms of the genre and evolve into something more mature.
ReplyDeleteTwo more things. 1- Watchmen is pretty good, I recommend it, but if you don't want to dedicate time to 12 dense (for comics) issues, the movie is pretty faithful, except at the end, and I think to movie's version is better. 2- Batman vs. THE Batman: http://www.overthinkingit.com/2008/09/24/batman-vs-the-batman/