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Ten Questions To Answer About Batman: Odyssey by Neal Adams

Ten Questions To Answer About Batman: Odyssey by Neal Adams

We're half way through Neal Adams thirteen issue maxi-series Batman: Odyssey. And much prominent internet reaction has been… well, there's been a bit of mocking.

Comics Alliance

Laura: We open on Bruce Wayne, who looks faintly like Chace Crawford of Gossip Girl, expositing the hell out of what he is doing in copious word balloons. First question: Who is he talking to?

David: It's unclear, but it seems Shirtless Batman is talking to the reader. Every issue opens this way, and it literally gets sexier every single time. It is as if the reader just had a one night stand with Bruce Wayne and wakes up to him telling a story on a monthly basis. 12 issues, 12 Sexy Nights with Bruce.

Gotham Inc
"I can't really tell you what this book is about since I really have no clue, at all, but it's completely out of character for Batman and Ra's Al Ghul is responsible for everything. That's all you need to know about this book."
Trouble Thinking
"I cannot encapsulate it, because nothing makes sense in any context whatsoever. Fights occur in the background for no reason, with no impact on any character or reaction from anyone in the room. The two combatants, bloodied and broken on the ground, will occasionally pipe in with expository dialogue about an overarching plot that is opaque to the point of parody."
Neal Adams however has been outspoken in return, claiming the retailers have been reducing orders due to this kind of commentary, rather than due to reduced sales. He replied to one concerned reader
"I can only hope you will read the whole 13 issues and agree that I have brought us all to the next step up. If I have, all of comics is going to get much more interesting. I'll tell you this, every single point will pay off, even if you didn't understand why I did it at first. Who killed Deadman? How? Who killed Robin's parents? How?"
Those are questions. But why stop there? Here are ten questions that may increase your enjoyment of Batman: Odyssey as we await the beginning of the second volume in October…

1. Who is (Bruce) talking to and why?

Clue: It's not the reader. It's a specific character in the DC Universe. And it's not a woman. Even Bruce isn't so uncouth that he'd go shirtless during such an interview.

2. If Ra's Al Ghul and Bruce's father were business associates… what was that business? And why did they sever their relationship? How does it relate to that car-among-the-dinosaurs?

3. All the way back when Ra's figured out Batman's identity… did he really "figure out his identity?"

Clue: Would anyone in his right mind suspect that a costumed crime-fighter named Batman would actually have a batcave?

4. How did Man Bat discover Batman's identity?

5. Clearly Bat-Man is a true neanderthal,… but what is Primus?

6. Did the Sensei place Reuben Irons in the place of Riddler to kill that little girl? If not, why not?

7. Did Batman intend to kill Reuben Irons and would he have if the little girl died?

8. Has Batman been manipulated his whole career to waste his time battling "clowns" while the real crimes pass by him unnoticed?

9. Where is the "underworld?"

10. How can Batman stop the Sensei and a thousand assassins from killing Ra's, Talia and himself…


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Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from Blacks on Dean Street, shops at Piranha Comics. Father of two. Political cartoonist.
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