Batman The Man Who Laughs

Damn. This was actually... not that good.

I hadn't bought a comic book for a while prior to this. After seeing The Dark Knight Rises twice I decided to give No Man's Land a bash with the ol' reading stick, albeit Volume 3 to begin with, because, you know, who begins at the beginning of a thing? It's Batman so I'm never lost in Gotham City, even post-big-earthquake Gotham. It's a good read as far as Batman stuff goes, nothing terribly exciting but I had a good time with the collection of different stories that take place in a ruined Gotham City.

I've seen multiple versions of Batman's origin, Joker, Bane. But beyond Batman Begins I've never seen Ras. He's so old that his real origin is shrouded in mystery, and Batman knowing it for certain seems impossible. It's never brought up that I've read so far, but that's exactly what this is: Ras al Ghul's origin. And combined with one of the most beautiful graphic novels I've seen, it's phenomenal. As most of the story takes place in the ancient middle east, it's hard to remember this is Batman. Watching his downfall was surprisingly sad, as you keep hoping he can gain power without the pit, without turning into the heartless mass murderer he is. It's beautiful in story and art, and combined, this is perhaps my favorite origin in all of DC that's I've seen so far, and the fact it's a villain just ads to how wonderful it really is. Five out of five stars indeed.