nerd teacher [books] reviewed Batman by Frank Miller
It's... horrible.
1 star
Frank Miller is not someone who I like, and I honestly think he's done more to harm visual storytelling media than... not. I don't think he's set out to do so (it's not like he can be blamed for being an influence on others), but the grim-dark method of storytelling with excessive panels and small details and a lot of text... It's a very confusing comic book to look at, and it's just... hideous. Very little pops out, many of the elements are hard to follow, and everything has a feeling of sameness. This is especially bizarre when they do try to include bright pops of colour, since it still manages to feel incredibly similar to everything else. It's... not great.
This also doesn't help when there are a lot of perspective shifts. The sameness actually makes it harder to follow than anything else.
The story itself is …
Frank Miller is not someone who I like, and I honestly think he's done more to harm visual storytelling media than... not. I don't think he's set out to do so (it's not like he can be blamed for being an influence on others), but the grim-dark method of storytelling with excessive panels and small details and a lot of text... It's a very confusing comic book to look at, and it's just... hideous. Very little pops out, many of the elements are hard to follow, and everything has a feeling of sameness. This is especially bizarre when they do try to include bright pops of colour, since it still manages to feel incredibly similar to everything else. It's... not great.
This also doesn't help when there are a lot of perspective shifts. The sameness actually makes it harder to follow than anything else.
The story itself is also... awful. While violence doesn't innately bother me in storytelling (it's something that can be discussed within narratives), the ways violence is portrayed often come off as being... about gratification. And it's regardless of who is doing it. I also find the perception of "excessive violence" as being "more adult" a bit absurd. If anything, excessive and gratuitous violence is something that I'd stop and question as an editor of a story. What is the point of it? How does it drive the narrative or character development? Does it actually harm the story?
But Frank Miller has been known for his... I'd charitably say questionable decisions and statements on these series. And I'm not a fan of those, either. This whole thing isn't gritty; it's needless and infuriating.