[Book/Fiction]: Batman: The Ultimate Evil, reviewed by Alex deMorris (4/3)

[RPGnet Reviews]

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9674.phtml

Alex deMorris's Summary:

Batman faces down a child sex tourism ring in Gotham and follows it back to the out-of-country source to break it. This Batman tale is different then chasing down loose criminals or the comical psychopath, but faces a real world situation through the comic lens.

Go to the full review (http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9674.phtml) for more information.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by mansperger at 2003-09-03 10:09:25
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You mention towards the end that this is not a tale you'd re-read again and again ... but how does this compare to other Vachs novels? The author writes extremely depressing tales that often leave you feeling unsettled overall which in a way makes them all the more *realistic* since happy endings are far and few between for the characters. Compared to any of the BURKE novels what do you think?

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Styer at 2003-09-03 10:47:20
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I've not read a whole lot of his stuff. Just "Batman: the Ultimate Evil" and a few short stories, but I can see re-reading those short stories, depressing though they were long before I could see rereading the Batman novel.

I just didn't feel that he had a handle on the character. It read like the message was taking precedent over characterization and story, and that made for a lesser book.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by mansperger at 2003-09-03 12:02:16
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I can understand that. With Vachs the message usually takes precedent over characterization. However, I would recommend his Burke novels to you -- they are a *fun* read once you get used to the writing style and subject matter.

Thanks for the review. :-)

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Styer at 2003-09-03 12:07:54
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I didn't write the review, I just answered your earlier question. And I have a couple friends who strongly suggest I read everything he's written. So I may have to get around to at least finishing "Everybody Pays."

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by mansperger at 2003-09-03 12:13:36
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ah. my mistake ... wasn't paying too much attention to the authot ... my bad. Everybody Pays is a good read - hope you can finish it.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Alex deMorris at 2003-09-03 19:34:16
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I'm sorry, but I've not read anything else by Vachss. I read this novel as I'm a big Batman fan. That said, I would probably read other works of Vachss, just not this or another Batman tale... it's just that Vachss didn't handle Batman well to me.

-Alex...

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by J. Edward Tremlett at 2003-09-04 03:56:04
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I've only read the comic book, and not the book, itself. So I might be missing out on something here.

That said, I liked the story IDEA, and I think it was a good thing that DC did the book. But I don't think Vachs had a good handle on the Dark Knight, and I really think it was a bad idea to rework Batman's history the way he did.

However, it's better to see something like this tried and failed in execution than not tried at all out of fear of "alienating" readers.

J

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by lugaru at 2003-09-04 10:02:24
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What is it famous for besides child prostitution... noodles? I think it should of been set in a real country... hell, even America. This is a problem that all countries face on some level or another...

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Alex deMorris at 2003-09-05 19:41:00
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lugaru wrote:
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What is it famous for besides child prostitution... noodles? I think it should of been set in a real country... hell, even America. This is a problem that all countries face on some level or another...
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That is the unfortunate part of reading this book is knowing that it does happen everywhere. I think that Vachss wanted to use some research that surfaced about Thailand in his novelization. Rather then call Thailand on its history, he distanced it slightly by his fictional name. Or, he chose to underline that the even the fictional four-color world of Batman could harbor the same vileness between its "panels." "If the Comics Code approved Gotham City can have this going on, then anywhere might," might have been the intent of raising reader knowledge and disgust with the whole issue and help support the author in fighting it here in our country.

-Alex...