Holy Franchise Batman! documents the entire screen history of The Caped Crusader, from his first appearance in the '40s tv serial right up to Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises - and even his many animated appearances too.
It begins by delving into the creation of the character by Bob Kane and goes in-depth on every single screen incarnation since, even Halle Berry's
Catwoman gets a mention. Each movie/tv show/cartoon is covered under various headings such as "Cast", "Story", "Reception", "Bat-Facts" etc to ensure no stone is left unturned, and believe me, it is not. Hands down this is by far the most comprehensive guide to Batman on screen available.
The sheer wealth of information actually makes it a bit daunting at first but once you start reading you won't be able to put it down. My plan was to scan over a few chapters and get a fair idea of it but I honestly ended up almost finishing the whole thing in a few days. I consider myself a big Bat-fan and knew (so I thought anyway) quite a bit about the movies and shows covered here, but I came across many little bits of information and trivia in pretty much every section that I wasn't aware of - particularly in the chapter entitled "Batman On Hiatus" which deals with the backlash from
Batman And Robin leading to plans for the next installment,
Batman Triumphant, being scrapped. Did you know Playboy model-turned-presenter Jenny McCarthy was mentioned in connection with the role of Harley Quinn? Because I didn't! If I had to fault the book in any way I would say that photographs are a little scarce. They pop up now and again but a few more would have been nice. That being said, I can also see why they chose to keep them to a minimum - being so stuffed with txt there simply isn't room.
I really could go on and on about this book but to delve any deeper into it would mean I wouldn't stop writing. Even if you are just a casual Batman fan I would highly recommend it, but if you love The Dark Knight then it is essential.
Holy Franchise Batman! goes on sale June 29th, and is priced at £12.99 ($19.99 USD). Ruby Bamber from publishers Hale Books will be at the
London Film & Comic Con for both days of the weekend 7th & 8th of July, with author Gary Collinson joining her on the Saturday, signing books at the stand.