Trade Tales! - Batman: The Cult

Next up on this small Dark Knight post-binge is the story that started the binge. Batman: The Cult was a four-issue miniseries that was released in 1988. It was released in prestige form, so that meant that the issues themselves could be longer. They could also go places where mainstream comics wouldn’t go. Heck, if you read the first few pages, you’ll see that in detail. I think it was even meant for mature readers when it was released.  It’s akin to stories like The Dark Knight Returns. Judging by the artwork and format, you’d think it came from that universe. It was also loosely adapted into The Dark Knight Rises and that was apparent when I read it.

I heard about this story for years but never really got around to finding it. When I saw it for cheap, I thought it was finally time to see what this thing was about. The story was written by Jim Starlin, a pretty cool writer who was already writing Batman’s main series at this point. The artwork was done by Bernie Wrightson, one of the creators for Swamp Thing. Bill Wray handled the colors. This is also another story that gets thrown on those “Greatest Batman Stories” lists. So, is it truly worth it? Do I even need to answer that question? Find out after this probably brief synopsis!

Batman: The Cult

Writer: Jim Starlin

Artist: Bernie Wrightson

Colors: Bill Wray

Letters: John Costanza

Editors: Dennis O’Neil

Graphic Novels - Batman: Death in the Family

This installment of Graphic Novels is brought to you by...a rapping Cookie Monster. 

Hello and hello! It's ARW with another tale from the 80's. This one is a bit...controversial, as you see the title of the post and the image at the right. This is the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin. I might as well spoil what happened since it's well known. There's also the fact that one of you guys/gals out there may have voted to have Jason killed or not killed, I don't know. All I know is that this is a nice, sad, messed up tale. For those who don't know who Jason Todd is, don't worry, I'll talk about him a little below...or you can look him up on Wikipedia. I first read this tpb when I got it from Giles County's library.I thought it was pretty good.  I recently found it for cheap at a book store. Now, let's get to the creative team:

Geoff Johns - Hold up! You didn't write this! Get outta here!

Jim Starlin - a well-known writer who has done some books like Infinity Gauntlet.
Jim Aparo - a well-known Batman artist. He's the one who drew the "breaking" of Batman in the 90's. 

The issues of this story are Batman #426-429. So, with that being said, let's get to it!