Batman: Ego and Other Tails
Batman: Ego and Other Tails, Darwyn Cooke with Paul Grist, Tim Sale, Bill Wray, DC Comics
COLLECTING THE late writer/artist Darwyn Cooke’s various Batman strips along with a Catwoman adventure this is a sequential art delight, taking in the tried and tested storytelling values of past masters like Eisner and Toth, some of the experimental approach found in alternative and independent 80s titles and all given a modern edge.
Alas I’ve read one too many introspective Batman tale that reveal the hidden depths of his psychological flaws than is good for me and the title piece, Ego, fails miserably for me as a story, but visually it’s pretty cool though a tad too long. The Paul Grist scripted Here Be Monsters runs at just the right length though, with Cooke offering some expressionistic black and white art with fetching wash tones reminiscent of Gene Colan’s early work. The whacky humour of the Bill Wray drawn The Monument raises a smile with Cooke’s hybrid Mad Magazine/The Spirit style script working nicely despite this reader sensing the punchline a few pages in. Date Knight with Cooke scripting and Tim Sale drawing is cool if slight, and the Cooke solo Deja Vu further outlines the creator’s admiration for early Englehart stories but while there are all good points in my commenting here, there’s also a "but" where I feel unfulfilled.
Fortunately, we’ve also got Selina’s Big Score stuck in here; in fact it takes up the bulk of the book. Available also as its own self-contained collection, and I’ve briefly mentioned it before in the past as “a cracking good read”. Let me tell you, this Catwoman tale is a modern crime caper that will have you purring for more. Fans of Clooney Ocean’s film franchise will enjoy this as much as any comic fans. Suffice to say, Selina Kyle has returned to Gotham city and is in need of money badly and brings together a gang to rob a speeding train of its ill-gotten gains (involving a money laundering operation across the Canadian border). It’s clever, it’s also street smart and funny but it’s heavy in places and in the aftermath of those parts quite touching too. It ‘s a great plot, played out with class from beginning to end.
Selina’s Big Score is the real deal here, everything else is filler, good as that might be in many places.
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