The episodes of SVU with children as the victims are the hardest to watch. Reading Batman: Night Cries is like one of those episodes. The victims in this book are children. It explores the terror of being a child currently in an abusive situation and the haunting memories of adults coping with an abusive childhood.
I felt a little better reading this book than watching SVU, knowing Batman was on the case. His justice goes beyond the technicalities or bungled testimony that lets monsters sometimes go free on SVU. We often see Batman tackling the more visible crimes of theft and murder, but rarely have I ever seen a superhero try to stop crimes like child abuse.
The story stars both Batman and Commissioner Gordon. I started to enjoy the interaction of the two characters with the recent Batman reboots and felt there was never the sense of partnership between them on the 90s animated series. Commissioner Gordon is a new commissioner in this book and must now juggle the political demands of the office along with his strong desire to continue being a cop. Someone also notices the aftereffects of a night as Batman on Bruce Wayne's body at a point in the story, which was a nice touch.
I enjoyed this book and would recommend it for Batman fans. But...go into it knowing it's about child abuse.
No comments:
Post a Comment