Stuart Moore

A ruthless new gang of criminals known only as Nightwalkers is terrorizing Gotham, and the city’s elite are being taken out one by one. On the way home from his 18th birthday party, newly minted billionaire Bruce Wayne makes an impulsive choice that puts him in their crosshairs and lands him in Arkham Asylum, the once-infamous mental hospital. There, he meets Madeleine Wallace, a brilliant killer…and Bruce’s only hope. Madeleine is the mystery Bruce must unravel, but is he convincing her to divulge her secrets, or is he feeding her the information she needs to bring Gotham City to its knees? Adapted by Stuart Moore and illustrated by Chris Wildgoose, this graphic novel presents a thrilling new take on Batman before he donned the cape and cowl.

Batman: Nightwalker (The Graphic Novel)

Leonie

First and foremost: I have not read the book this graphic novel is based on, so I can’t judge wether this adaptation differs from the original or not.

Let’s start with what I enjoyed the most about ”Batman: Nightwalker“.
I really liked the art style! The color scheme was mostly dark with some rare bright accents and suited the overall mood of the storyline and setting.
The style the characters were drawn like was great! I also appreciate how much attention was paid to tiny details.

Now to the characters... I was not a huge fan of Bruce Wayne. He had a bit too much of a “woe is me“ attitude in the beginning of the novel, which luckily got better towards the middle of the plot.
The side characters weren’t especially fleshed out, not even Madeleine, who’s the love interest.

Which brings me to the romance. I found the romance aspect completely unnecessary, and I read books with romantic (sub)plots almost exclusively. So if I’d rather skip on some romance, it’s pretty bad, folks!
There was no chemistry at all between Bruce and Madeleine. They did not even spend enough time with each other to develop feelings for each other. I really wish they’d left that part out...

And now on to the plot: The plot was pretty fast paced, and - compared to other graphic novel adaptions I’ve read - also fairly cohesive.
I found Bruce’s punishment completely unrealistic though, but hey, it’s fiction, so who am I to complain.

The ending of the book made sense and would probably be satisfying to most readers, but I was a little disappointed by it.

Overall, “Batman: Nightwalker“ was a fun and fast paced graphic novel with great illustrations, but lacked depth regarding both plot and characters.


[ARC generously provided in exchange for an honest review.]

Madison Craft

Hanes Johan

Batman: Nightwalker: The Graphic Novel Batman Day 2019 Edition #1 features an excerpt from the upcoming DC graphic novel for young adults based on the New York Times bestselling novel by Marie Lu, adapted by writer Stuart Moore with art and cover by Chris Wildgoose.

Batman: Nightwalker (The Graphic Novel)

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