Batman is a very unique character in the sense that he can be seen through many different prisms whether, you’re looking at his various comic book incarnations, the Adam West`s television show or even the recent Christopher Nolan`s movies. It was with this open attitude that I firmly held onto upon hearing the premise of Batman Noel. The Caped Crusader combined with Charles Dickens immortal holiday classic- “A Christmas Carol” So the question is can this rather queer mix work or merely just be thrown aside and be forgotten in the vast sea of interpretations on this story?
The answer is a resounding yes. Lee Bermejo in his first time writing and drawing endeavour creates a really compelling Batman story that takes the Dickens’s story as a starting point and weaves the character really well into it.
Upon reading this, I was initially reminded of the Neil Gaiman gem of a Batman story that came out a couple years ago entitled “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?” In this story, many of the Dark Knight`s allies and villains attend his funeral and all tell contradictory tales of his death while also speaking to what he meant to them. I think Batman Noel works a lot in the same way, in that it talks to a lot of essentially what the character is through the lens of Charles Dickens`s story.
Where it essentially really works is the whole set up of Dickens’s story within the context of Batman and where he is in his career. At this point after years of being Gotham`s saviour he has become quite cold, grizzled and mean in general. While at first it was very peculiar to read a character refer to Batman as Scrooge, it soon really fit with the world, tone and storytelling that Bermejo sets up.
Speaking of that, I really liked how Lee sets up the story, he presents it as a tale that the main character – Bob Cratchit is telling his son. In addition, Cratchit at the beginning I think was a character that represented sort of the sceptic reader who raised a suspicious eyebrow at the entire premise of the story. Lines from the comic that support this claim come at the beginning when the narrator says- “Let me tell ya, some WEIRD stuff happens in this story. You may find some of it hard to swallow”
But at the same time in this introduction to the story- Bermejo again through Cratchit answers the sceptical reader by outlining what the theme of the comic which is change- “For this story to make sense…for it to mean anything you have to believe in something. Something very important- you have to believe people can change”
As for how the plot is put into motion, I really liked how the person who warns Batman about the three sprits is a former Robin and unlike Marley in “A Christmas Carol” he does not talk of himself as being in chains but subtly references to Batman the notion of weight of chains and the debt he has to pay in the afterlife.
As for the ghosts, I really liked the choice of who each one was, which I will briefly discuss. For the ghost of Christmas Past- Bermejo presents Catwoman as the spectre- who I think is a perfect embodiment of the past because as an avid Batman comic reader, the Batman and Catwoman relationship has been central relationship in Batman`s story and it was good to see Bermejo acknowledge that in an interesting way in this story.
Next up we have Superman as the Ghost of Christmas present, this at first was a very odd choice but upon thinking about it and on repeated readings- it actually made a lot of sense. In various versions of “A Christmas Carol” that I have seen this ghost has been portrayed as this quite bright and jolly presence. And Superman fits the bill in this regard a lot and I really liked the dialogue of what Batman thinks of Superman during this segment- “It was the EYES that were the most troubling…too deep and kind for a man with such an impressive physical presence” Again it spoke to an important relationship within Batman comic book lore and handled it well through a new lens.
The third and final ghost was Batman`s greatest villain- The Joker, which was a genius choice. Following on from reading Bermejo`s previous work with the Joker that he did with Brian Azzarello I was really eager to see his Joker turn up and again, in that story he was slightly more grounded in reality Joker was terrifying as hell. Here we get the same feeling as it’s quite scary seeing Joker dragging an unconscious Batman across the graveyard. We do not get to see his face until that segment ends which reminded me of seeing the third ghost in previous incarnations and his silent looming prescene.
As for the art of the book, I think it is absolutely fantastic, Bermejo`s gives a great sense of the tone of his story and along with the narration creates an amazing fluidity to his tale that jumps of the page. It was also great to see Bermejo`s Batman take centre stage, art wise because in the “Joker”, he only turns up at the end for only a few panels. It was odd to see Bermejo`s take on the hero resembling a lot of Christian Bale look of the character- even having his suit from The Dark Knight in the scene where Bruce is talking to Alfred in the Bat-Cave. As for other areas, I really liked his Catwoman, Joker and Robin. The art was elevated by the wonderful colouring which was done by Barbara Clardo, the way the story permeates with strong whites and grey and contrasted with the warm glowing colours of orange and red were all expertly woven and really contrasted the grimness of this Batman and how he is now in the present as well as the nostalgia of the old days of what he used be.
Overall Batman Noel joins the ranks of great Batman graphic novels that primarily fulfils two purposes. The first is that it was an interesting self-contained Batman story that serves as a jumping off point for anyone wanting to get into comics. In addition to this the long term readers such as myself who wants a unique and fresh take on the character and in that area it was really fulfilling. Secondly like the best Batman comics out there it speaks to the character directly and tells its audience through its storytelling why he is such a great character. While at times Bermejo`s Batman can come across as too grim. This may be a turn off for long term comic readers who already innately before reading this have their own view on the hero as well as perhaps new time readers who find this too dark for their taste. I find that it serves the story and puts in motion the story of “A Christmas Carol”
Furthermore while there are some points of weak writing as such as when the narrator is talking about Tiny Tim, it comes of lazy particularly when he is saying stuff like- “Tim had a bum leg. I`m not quite sure exactly what was wrong with him” This is a bit lazy and silly seeing as the narrator is Tiny Tim`s father- surly he should know what is wrong with his son. In addition to this, some of Crocket’s dialogue at times can become a bit jarring and disconnecting.
However despite the problems I would still wholeheartedly recommend this one shot graphic novel because it is a unique take on The Dark Knight using Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” and being able to make the premise work and retain being great Batman story.