Batman: Damned

by Brian Azzarello, Lee Bermejo (Illustrator)

Overview

New York Times bestselling graphic novel!

The Joker has been murdered. His killer is a mystery. Batman is the World's Greatest Detective. But what happens when the person he is searching for is the man staring back at him in the mirror?

THE JOKER IS DEAD.

There is no doubt about that. But whether Batman finally snapped his scrawny neck or some other sinister force in Gotham City did the deed is still a mystery.

Problem is, Batman can't remember...and the more he digs into this labyrinthine case, the more he starts to doubt everything he's uncovering.

So who better to set him straight than...John Constantine?

The problem with that is as much as John loves a good mystery, he loves messing with people's heads even more. So with John's "help," the pair will delve into the sordid underbelly of Gotham as they race toward the mind-blowing truth of who murdered The Joker.

Batman: Damned is a groundbreaking supernatural horror story told by two of comics' greatest modern creators: Brian Azzarello (Dark Knight III: The Master Race, 100 Bullets) and Lee Bermejo (Hellblazer, Joker).

Collects Batman: Damned #1-3.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781779509475
Publisher:	DC Comics
Publication date:	07/06/2021
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	371,282
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Brian Azzarello has been writing comics professionally since the mid-1990s. He is the author of Jonny Double, Batman: Broken City, and the Harvey and Eisner Award-winning 100 Bullets, all created in collaboration with artist Eduardo Risso. Azzarello’s other work for DC includes Hellblazer and Loveless with Marcelo Frusin; Dark Knight III: The Master Race with Frank Miller, Andy Kubert, and Klaus Janson; Superman: For Tomorrow with Jim Lee; Joker and Luthor with Lee Bermejo; Sgt. Rock: Between Hell and A Hard Place with Joe Kubert; Filthy Rich with Victor Santos; and most recently the all-new ongoing series Wonder Woman with Cliff Chiang.

Lee Bermejo began drawing comics in 1997 for WildStorm Studios in San Diego at age 19. He collaborated with acclaimed writer Brian Azzarello on the graphic novels Joker and Luthor, and worked with writer John Arcudi on the Superman feature in Wednesday Comics. He has also worked on Hellblazer with Mike Carey and Global Frequency with Warren Ellis. Bermejo has illustrated the covers to the line of Vertigo Crime graphic novels, beginning with Filthy Rich, written by Brian Azzarello, and Dark Entries, written by Ian Rankin. Bermejo has lived in Italy since 2003.

Editorial Reviews

The story promises to be grand and cinematic, and Bermejo’s painterly, detailed art rarely disappoints.” —Paste Magazine

“Well-written, gorgeously drawn, and dark as hell.” —Geek Dad
 
“An amazing showcase for Lee Bermejo, proving once again that no one can render Batman or Gotham City quite like him." —IGN

From the Publisher

08/19/2019

This eccentric outside-of-continuity tale from DC’s newly launched mature readers label plunges deep into the angry psyche of its flagship hero. Following Batman’s umpteenth confrontation with the Joker, which seems to culminate in the psychotic clown’s demise, the stabbed hero awakens in a police ambulance. Upon escaping, he is joined by urban mystic John Constantine, who leads him on the mayhem-laden trail of an apparently not dead Joker, while simultaneously guiding him on an odyssey through memories of Batman’s childhood traumas stemming from his parents’ dysfunctional marriage. He encounters several of DC’s occult mainstays, including reimaginings of the Spectre, the Demon, and Swamp Thing, all leading toward a surprise ending. Azzarello (the 100 Bullets series) has previously written both Batman and John Constantine brilliantly in their respective milieus, but the fusion here of Batman’s costumed crime fiction and Constantine’s mystical-meets-the-mundane flavor does not quite gel. What results is a horror quest spliced with “Batman on the couch” examinations of his control-through-fear m.o. Bermejo’s painted art is moody and macabre, but ultimately serves to gloss a script that needed fine-tuning. It’s not a disaster, but it’s also not a good entry point for newbies to its universe; this volume’s recommended strictly for completists dedicated to Batman’s eight decades of tropes and enamored of DC’s roster of other magical players. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

11/01/2019

Batman finds himself embroiled in a supernatural horror-tinged mystery with his soul and sanity on the line in this adults-only adventure by Azzarello (Wonder Woman by Brian Azzarello & Cliff Chiang Omnibus) and Bermejo (Batman: Noel). After waking up in the back of an ambulance, a severely wounded Batman escapes and sets out to discover why he has no memory of the preceding evening—a quest that becomes urgent after it's discovered that the Joker has been murdered and the Dark Knight is the prime suspect. To make matters stranger, Batman find himself haunted by the Enchantress, a sinister witch with access to his most traumatic memories. Charismatic con man and sorcerer John Constantine claims our hero is being targeted by an occult conspiracy and seems eager to help but even more interested in delivering insults and cryptic clues than providing actual advice—and if the Joker's really dead, who's going around desecrating churches, dressed just like him? VERDICT Bermejo's richly painted vision of Gotham City is brilliantly gritty and terrifying, and Azzarello's script is ambitious and complex if occasionally hard to follow, as mood and tone tend to trump narrative drive.—Tom Batten, Grafton, VA

Library Journal