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Batman: Odyssey #1-13
Batman: Odyssey
Neal Adams (GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW), one of the most acclaimed Batman artists, has defined the Caped Crusader for decades and fans have long been clamoring to see him draw the Dark Knight once more. Now, from the legendary creator comes a Batman tale like you’ve never seen before!
When a series of seemingly unconnected events brings Batman close to killing a man for the first time, Bruce Wayne must embark on a journey of self-discovery… which also reveals shocking secrets about Batman’s enemies and allies alike.
From a secret chamber in Arkham Asylum to a hidden world below our own, this weird, wild journey will answer once and for all the question, “Can a Batman who kills still be Batman?”
ODYSSEY, a singular and epic Batman tale, collects ODYSSEY #1-6 (VOL. 1) and #1-7 (VOL. 2).
When a series of seemingly unconnected events brings Batman close to killing a man for the first time, Bruce Wayne must embark on a journey of self-discovery… which also reveals shocking secrets about Batman’s enemies and allies alike.
From a secret chamber in Arkham Asylum to a hidden world below our own, this weird, wild journey will answer once and for all the question, “Can a Batman who kills still be Batman?”
ODYSSEY, a singular and epic Batman tale, collects ODYSSEY #1-6 (VOL. 1) and #1-7 (VOL. 2).
368 pages, Hardcover
First published October 16, 2012
15 people are currently reading
258 people want to read
About the author
Neal Adams
1,052 books83 followersNeal Adams was an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Adams was inducted into the Eisner Award's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Harvey Awards' Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1999.
Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Adams was inducted into the Eisner Award's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Harvey Awards' Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1999.
Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews
July 27, 2021
I will not be defeated by furry Batman.
And that has been my mantra for close to a month while I tried to make sense of what I was seeing in this comic. I don't know what the hell happened here, but I don't think DC should ever let Neal Adams do words again. Ever. This was so nonsensical in fact, that I'm calling bullshit on anyone who claims that they understood what was going on with this dumpster fire.
BULLSHIT!
You wanna know why I can say that with confidence?
Because Batman literally rides a T-Rex, and THAT is nowhere close to being the most insane part of this story.
Now, from the legendary creator comes a Batman tale like you’ve never seen before! - from the blurb
Yeah. That's the understatement of the year. I don't even... There are so many things in this that just defy all logic that I'm not even sure where to start.
Ok.
For those of you who don't know, every issue starts with Bruce talking to someone while he's finishing his breakfast. And until the very end, when he starts sporting a Green Lantern t-shirt, he's just sitting there in all his disturbingly hairy glory.
Ugh. This sets the tone for the entire Odyssey...
Plot? Plot, plot, plot...um, no.
There's a lot of stuff that happens, and you do eventually get to an ending of sorts, but there's nothing here that points to any sort of script that was being followed. It's as though Neal Adams got the bright idea to brainstorm with a bunch of 2nd graders about how best to put together a super-duper awesome Batman story.
Proof? Robin fights a tribe of gnomes. GNOMES.
Then there's a neanderthal hero called Bat-Man whose sidekick (the blonde with a buzz cut and an unhinged jaw) comes from a race of evolved dinosaurs.
Oh, yeah! You read that sentence right!
Or how about a murderous (for no apparent reason) Aquaman who looks like an 80's Ric Flair!?
Admittedly, this is a visually stunning comic, just not always in a good way.
I mean, what the fuck are you doing, Alfred?!
Don't answer that.
And this? If you google Odyssey, this will be one of the images that pops up over and over, and for good reason!
Those eyes! That mouth!
It looks like the kind of face you'd find on a blow-up doll for folks with an anger fetish.
Even if you can manage to ignore the (at times quite literal) babble that's being written, the images are hauntingly...haunting.
And, yes. The image below IS of Robin having a bit of a mental freak out while riding a giant bat in some sort of a Land Before Time-pocket dimension that can be accessed from the Batcave. For some unknown reason!
So you're still probably wondering what this is about, right?
Bahahahahahahaha!
I think it's about words. Words that were just farted out like verbal diarrhea.
So. Many. Clunky. Sentences. Everywhere.
There's simply no introspection too stupid, no idea too odd, no line too corny, or no vocal antic too silly. You get the feeling that he just wrote down every single thought that popped into his head because he was somehow assured the rest of the world would be dazzled by the inner workings of his genius dialogue.
OhMyGodWhatAFuckingChoreToReadThisWas!
If there was a point to this thing it was lost on me, and I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone else try to wade through this nightmare. So, unless you (like me) were just curious to see if it was really as bad as they said it was? AVOID!
And that has been my mantra for close to a month while I tried to make sense of what I was seeing in this comic. I don't know what the hell happened here, but I don't think DC should ever let Neal Adams do words again. Ever. This was so nonsensical in fact, that I'm calling bullshit on anyone who claims that they understood what was going on with this dumpster fire.
BULLSHIT!
You wanna know why I can say that with confidence?
Because Batman literally rides a T-Rex, and THAT is nowhere close to being the most insane part of this story.
Now, from the legendary creator comes a Batman tale like you’ve never seen before! - from the blurb
Yeah. That's the understatement of the year. I don't even... There are so many things in this that just defy all logic that I'm not even sure where to start.
Ok.
For those of you who don't know, every issue starts with Bruce talking to someone while he's finishing his breakfast. And until the very end, when he starts sporting a Green Lantern t-shirt, he's just sitting there in all his disturbingly hairy glory.
Ugh. This sets the tone for the entire Odyssey...
Plot? Plot, plot, plot...um, no.
There's a lot of stuff that happens, and you do eventually get to an ending of sorts, but there's nothing here that points to any sort of script that was being followed. It's as though Neal Adams got the bright idea to brainstorm with a bunch of 2nd graders about how best to put together a super-duper awesome Batman story.
Proof? Robin fights a tribe of gnomes. GNOMES.
Then there's a neanderthal hero called Bat-Man whose sidekick (the blonde with a buzz cut and an unhinged jaw) comes from a race of evolved dinosaurs.
Oh, yeah! You read that sentence right!
Or how about a murderous (for no apparent reason) Aquaman who looks like an 80's Ric Flair!?
Admittedly, this is a visually stunning comic, just not always in a good way.
I mean, what the fuck are you doing, Alfred?!
Don't answer that.
And this? If you google Odyssey, this will be one of the images that pops up over and over, and for good reason!
Those eyes! That mouth!
It looks like the kind of face you'd find on a blow-up doll for folks with an anger fetish.
Even if you can manage to ignore the (at times quite literal) babble that's being written, the images are hauntingly...haunting.
And, yes. The image below IS of Robin having a bit of a mental freak out while riding a giant bat in some sort of a Land Before Time-pocket dimension that can be accessed from the Batcave. For some unknown reason!
So you're still probably wondering what this is about, right?
Bahahahahahahaha!
I think it's about words. Words that were just farted out like verbal diarrhea.
So. Many. Clunky. Sentences. Everywhere.
There's simply no introspection too stupid, no idea too odd, no line too corny, or no vocal antic too silly. You get the feeling that he just wrote down every single thought that popped into his head because he was somehow assured the rest of the world would be dazzled by the inner workings of his genius dialogue.
OhMyGodWhatAFuckingChoreToReadThisWas!
If there was a point to this thing it was lost on me, and I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone else try to wade through this nightmare. So, unless you (like me) were just curious to see if it was really as bad as they said it was? AVOID!
April 18, 2023
Hilarious and boring at the same time. Needs to be read to be believed.
Reads as if it's written by someone who has never read a comic and so doesn't have any grip on the visual language of comics. Also reads as if it's written by someone who has only ever vaguely heard of this character called Batman.. and something about never killing people or something..? Anyway, here's a couple of guns, Batman!!
I gave it one star, but reading the book has merit; as a singularly baffling experience.
And there is the art - Mr Adams certainly knew how to draw his batshit crazy Batman.
Reads as if it's written by someone who has never read a comic and so doesn't have any grip on the visual language of comics. Also reads as if it's written by someone who has only ever vaguely heard of this character called Batman.. and something about never killing people or something..? Anyway, here's a couple of guns, Batman!!
I gave it one star, but reading the book has merit; as a singularly baffling experience.
And there is the art - Mr Adams certainly knew how to draw his batshit crazy Batman.
April 1, 2014
This is the first Batman book to defeat me.
And I’ve read some stinkers in my time - Year Two and The Cult spring to mind as among the worst - but I did manage to finish them. I’ve tried reading Batman Odyssey three times now and I’ve only managed to get 30-odd pages in with 340 more pages to go, and I can’t do it.
The art is fine but the writing is so goddamn awful - I’ve noticed this about artists who turn their hand to writing late in their careers, like George Perez, and they PACK the panels with superfluous words and keep doing it page after page. Neal Adams is exactly the same way. The dude can’t write a decent sentence and he won’t stop writing them.
The story so far as I’ve made it in is a gun-toting Batman has failed to stop a train from blowing up before battering a junkie-esque Manbat for some reason, and later getting shot at, nearly to death, by goons. Batman gets shot in the arm in the same place three times - the exact same place every time - and then he takes his shirt off (very hairy chest if you’re wondering) and complains directly to the reader about Alfred.
I realise this is an “early days” Batman story so the guns are there to show his inexperience and that he hasn’t learnt how to be the great Batman he will become, but still, I always thought the no-guns rule was embedded in Bruce’s psyche the night of his parents’ deaths. The writing is an utter chore to wade through, the story just stinks and I’m told it doesn’t get better, so that doesn’t really help either.
So after weeks of seeing it on my to-read pile and shuddering at the thought of picking it up and wasting valuable reading time on it, I’m throwing in the towel - someone else can read this tripe, but not me!
I’ll see you in hell, Batman Odyssey!
And I’ve read some stinkers in my time - Year Two and The Cult spring to mind as among the worst - but I did manage to finish them. I’ve tried reading Batman Odyssey three times now and I’ve only managed to get 30-odd pages in with 340 more pages to go, and I can’t do it.
The art is fine but the writing is so goddamn awful - I’ve noticed this about artists who turn their hand to writing late in their careers, like George Perez, and they PACK the panels with superfluous words and keep doing it page after page. Neal Adams is exactly the same way. The dude can’t write a decent sentence and he won’t stop writing them.
The story so far as I’ve made it in is a gun-toting Batman has failed to stop a train from blowing up before battering a junkie-esque Manbat for some reason, and later getting shot at, nearly to death, by goons. Batman gets shot in the arm in the same place three times - the exact same place every time - and then he takes his shirt off (very hairy chest if you’re wondering) and complains directly to the reader about Alfred.
I realise this is an “early days” Batman story so the guns are there to show his inexperience and that he hasn’t learnt how to be the great Batman he will become, but still, I always thought the no-guns rule was embedded in Bruce’s psyche the night of his parents’ deaths. The writing is an utter chore to wade through, the story just stinks and I’m told it doesn’t get better, so that doesn’t really help either.
So after weeks of seeing it on my to-read pile and shuddering at the thought of picking it up and wasting valuable reading time on it, I’m throwing in the towel - someone else can read this tripe, but not me!
I’ll see you in hell, Batman Odyssey!
April 18, 2023
Perhaps the world's first psychotronic superhero story: If Grant Morrison had epic fever dreams after reading hundreds of silver age Batman comics, they might look something like this. As others have noted, it's all over the place, and often utterly ridiculous, but sometimes visionary as well - Adams deserves credit for sheer chutzpah, if nought else; two and a half stars, if conventional ratings can apply.
October 1, 2013
It's as if Neal Adams was walking down the street with this novel, tripped and fell, the pages went flying everywhere, he picked them up as best he could, delivered the novel to DC, and no one at DC had the courage to ask Neal if they were printing this thing in the correct order.
April 24, 2016
WOW. Was this a chore to read. I didn't think I'd get through it all and would have to give up, but I don't like leaving books halfway through and really wanted to finish it.
Quite simply: it's not very good.
It's too heavy on words, both dialogue and caption. For the majority of the story, Bruce is telling the story itself to someone. Most of the issues start with Bruce talking, seemingly to the reader at first, about his 'Odyssey', or whatever this thing is about.
That's also another problem the book has: it's hard to follow. The high word count doesn't mean the book is explained very well, and makes the book a chore to read.
The book also has this need to force in elements from Adams previous work on batman. Man-bat, Deadman and Ra's are all in the story, but why?
I couldn't follow. I just wanted to get to the end.
I read this as part of the Neal Adams omnibus, and there's a definite distinction between his art from the 60s and 70s to what he's producing now. I don't know what happened, but there's a complete drop in quality.
I'm thinking this is only in the omnibus because it wasn't selling very well on its own. Which is kinda a shame, because the rest of the omnibus has been great.
Quite simply: it's not very good.
It's too heavy on words, both dialogue and caption. For the majority of the story, Bruce is telling the story itself to someone. Most of the issues start with Bruce talking, seemingly to the reader at first, about his 'Odyssey', or whatever this thing is about.
That's also another problem the book has: it's hard to follow. The high word count doesn't mean the book is explained very well, and makes the book a chore to read.
The book also has this need to force in elements from Adams previous work on batman. Man-bat, Deadman and Ra's are all in the story, but why?
I couldn't follow. I just wanted to get to the end.
I read this as part of the Neal Adams omnibus, and there's a definite distinction between his art from the 60s and 70s to what he's producing now. I don't know what happened, but there's a complete drop in quality.
I'm thinking this is only in the omnibus because it wasn't selling very well on its own. Which is kinda a shame, because the rest of the omnibus has been great.
March 29, 2017
Five Stars!
I know right? I was surprised too, but the cards were pretty much stacked in favor of me really liking this.
First off, I don't mind hairy men in comics, so long as its not grotesque beard stubble.
Here I am sitting in front of Bruce Wayne, shirtless. What's the phrase? Shirtless and glistening? Ok, so I have spent way too much time wondering what would happen if Belle had married Gaston lately, so shirtless hairy guys have kind of been on my mind already.
Anyway, here I am trying to read the book and next thing I know Bruce Wayne is talking to me in the batcave while shirtless. It did initially throw me off at first but I warmed up quick. Did I mention that I actually like Neal Adams art style?
While this is the picture that seems to be circulating the most... which apparently wont post. Here's the link.
http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450...
And yes it is kind of off putting... the rest of the art I actually find quite good. About midway through the book I had to stop and really look at Batman and I realized something. The way Neal Adams was drawing Batman seemed reminiscent of my personal favorite style, the 70's Batman. Then I did a little research and realized that Neal Adams was one of the quintessential artists of the 70's. I was like What!!?? No Way!!! Yes!!!
This is my Batman!
The story itself is a bit more iffy to start off with. I had a hard time following the story at first, but I think that was intentional. Adams made me laugh enough times and put enough characters in here that you just don't see enough of in comics (Man-Bat, Dead Man) that I found myself really enjoying it despite the foggy plotline. He even made me cry in issue four.
This also had a bit of the 70's and early 80's, I don't care if its not gritty and realistic this is a comic book lets have some fun with the story, feel to it.
This is what I read folks. They are climbing in a giants hair. To be honest I don't think riding bats and evolved dinosaurs is going to a problem for me.
It was the ending that cinched it for me. Everything really came together, at least as far as I'm concerned. Everything solidified and made sense to me. This was wrapped very nicely into what I would call a neat package.
I can easily see why so many people didn't like this, its one of those love it or hate it books. The majority of people it seems hate it, but there is only about 270 people who have reviewed it on good reads and I just don't think it's found its audience yet.
If you can't get through the first half of the book, then yeah, don't read the rest of it, it probably won't wrap up nicely enough for you to make it worth it. But if your on the edge, do finish it, it might surprise and not be as bad as you think.
I really enjoyed this. Thanks for the dare Anne!
I know right? I was surprised too, but the cards were pretty much stacked in favor of me really liking this.
First off, I don't mind hairy men in comics, so long as its not grotesque beard stubble.
Here I am sitting in front of Bruce Wayne, shirtless. What's the phrase? Shirtless and glistening? Ok, so I have spent way too much time wondering what would happen if Belle had married Gaston lately, so shirtless hairy guys have kind of been on my mind already.
Anyway, here I am trying to read the book and next thing I know Bruce Wayne is talking to me in the batcave while shirtless. It did initially throw me off at first but I warmed up quick. Did I mention that I actually like Neal Adams art style?
While this is the picture that seems to be circulating the most... which apparently wont post. Here's the link.
http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450...
And yes it is kind of off putting... the rest of the art I actually find quite good. About midway through the book I had to stop and really look at Batman and I realized something. The way Neal Adams was drawing Batman seemed reminiscent of my personal favorite style, the 70's Batman. Then I did a little research and realized that Neal Adams was one of the quintessential artists of the 70's. I was like What!!?? No Way!!! Yes!!!
This is my Batman!
The story itself is a bit more iffy to start off with. I had a hard time following the story at first, but I think that was intentional. Adams made me laugh enough times and put enough characters in here that you just don't see enough of in comics (Man-Bat, Dead Man) that I found myself really enjoying it despite the foggy plotline. He even made me cry in issue four.
This also had a bit of the 70's and early 80's, I don't care if its not gritty and realistic this is a comic book lets have some fun with the story, feel to it.
This is what I read folks. They are climbing in a giants hair. To be honest I don't think riding bats and evolved dinosaurs is going to a problem for me.
It was the ending that cinched it for me. Everything really came together, at least as far as I'm concerned. Everything solidified and made sense to me. This was wrapped very nicely into what I would call a neat package.
I can easily see why so many people didn't like this, its one of those love it or hate it books. The majority of people it seems hate it, but there is only about 270 people who have reviewed it on good reads and I just don't think it's found its audience yet.
If you can't get through the first half of the book, then yeah, don't read the rest of it, it probably won't wrap up nicely enough for you to make it worth it. But if your on the edge, do finish it, it might surprise and not be as bad as you think.
I really enjoyed this. Thanks for the dare Anne!
Read
April 12, 2014This evening, I shall be watching noted cinematic farrago The Room. And yet, I cannot believe it will be the most incompetent, incoherent cultural artefact of the day, let alone ever, for I have just finished this...thing. Batshit in two senses, it reads at times like someone has been detourning old comics again - except a) there's no original context or dialogue which could make these scenes any more sensible and b) "That bear was my father!" or "Fappo!" would in fact make more sense than much of this. For instance: "Blast you, boy...you scared the string out of my knees!" The plot is a quadruple-cross affair which I don't think would have made any sense even had someone competent taken over the scripting, and during the course of it we get hippy wizards! A hippo with a crew cut! Deadman hitting a gnome in the face with a frying pan! About the only thing missing, oddly, is Batman riding a pterosaur as per the cover (though he does ride a T.rex and a giant bat, obviously). And yet, for such a parade of ridiculousness, the overall effect is strangely dull. The really crazy thing is, this isn't even the worst Batman book DC have put out in the last couple of years.
April 13, 2016
I made it about a 1/3 of the way through and just couldn't bring myself to continue.
Nothing about this book made sense to me. The characterization of Robin and Alfred and especially Batman, was incredibly strange and their dialogue was clumsy and difficult to read.
In fact, everything about this story was difficult to read, the first person past-tense narration which would also jump around from story to story was an odd and unnecessary choice especially because it was so inconsistent.
You know that game where you see two people talking and you imagine what they are saying? That is this entire book! Very often the artwork seems to have little to nothing to do with the dialog. For example, at one point Robin is being attacked by Man-bat, and he and Batman just carry on with their normal discussion while Robin is flying though the air fighting. WTF?
Batman seemed like a real asshole and there was something unsettling about Robin.
Basically I had little to no idea as to what was happening, and its probably better that I never find out.
Nothing about this book made sense to me. The characterization of Robin and Alfred and especially Batman, was incredibly strange and their dialogue was clumsy and difficult to read.
In fact, everything about this story was difficult to read, the first person past-tense narration which would also jump around from story to story was an odd and unnecessary choice especially because it was so inconsistent.
You know that game where you see two people talking and you imagine what they are saying? That is this entire book! Very often the artwork seems to have little to nothing to do with the dialog. For example, at one point Robin is being attacked by Man-bat, and he and Batman just carry on with their normal discussion while Robin is flying though the air fighting. WTF?
Batman seemed like a real asshole and there was something unsettling about Robin.
Basically I had little to no idea as to what was happening, and its probably better that I never find out.
August 16, 2016
For the first time in over 30 years of reading comics, I couldn't finish a story.
WTF?!??!
This is absolutely terrible. Four issues and I still didn't understand what was going on. Panels just come out of nowhere, introducing other ideas, characters, with no explanation. And the dialogue! Patterns of speech vary, words like "maniac" repeated 3 or 4 times per issue. Nobody, and I mean nobody, sounds like they are supposed to, especially Batman and Robin. After reading hundreds of Batman stories, I think I have a pretty good idea of what he should "sound" like whether speaking to someone or thinking in his head. As far as I'm concerned, this isn't Batman.
At one point Batman is beyond rage, actively beating someone literally to death. You know this because he has stated it three or four times and during this rage he says "You won't kill anything ever again you venomous pusillanimous scum." What? Who talks that way? And during a fit of rage?
I am so flabbergasted at how bad this is. I know this is Neal Adams but come on! Didn't anyone read it first?
He also brings him a few characters that he cut his teeth on, Man-Bat for example which he drew the original issues. But why are they in there. Same for Deadman?
As far as his art, I know and appreciated Mr. Adams' art from the past, but his modern stuff is way too sketchy for my tastes. His anatomy isn't quite as spot on as it used to be and he still has his creative panel shapes, characters breaking frame etc.
Maybe someday I'll try and continue reading, just to see if it all comes together, but I doubt it. There just isn't time left in my left to waste it on terrible books.
WTF?!??!
This is absolutely terrible. Four issues and I still didn't understand what was going on. Panels just come out of nowhere, introducing other ideas, characters, with no explanation. And the dialogue! Patterns of speech vary, words like "maniac" repeated 3 or 4 times per issue. Nobody, and I mean nobody, sounds like they are supposed to, especially Batman and Robin. After reading hundreds of Batman stories, I think I have a pretty good idea of what he should "sound" like whether speaking to someone or thinking in his head. As far as I'm concerned, this isn't Batman.
At one point Batman is beyond rage, actively beating someone literally to death. You know this because he has stated it three or four times and during this rage he says "You won't kill anything ever again you venomous pusillanimous scum." What? Who talks that way? And during a fit of rage?
I am so flabbergasted at how bad this is. I know this is Neal Adams but come on! Didn't anyone read it first?
He also brings him a few characters that he cut his teeth on, Man-Bat for example which he drew the original issues. But why are they in there. Same for Deadman?
As far as his art, I know and appreciated Mr. Adams' art from the past, but his modern stuff is way too sketchy for my tastes. His anatomy isn't quite as spot on as it used to be and he still has his creative panel shapes, characters breaking frame etc.
Maybe someday I'll try and continue reading, just to see if it all comes together, but I doubt it. There just isn't time left in my left to waste it on terrible books.
March 6, 2014
It's the best Batman story ever. Sure, it's insane, stupid and silly... but when was the last time we ever saw a Batman comic where Batman was quite clearly enjoying life and not the brooding dark avenger we've had spoon-fed since the 80s.
Alternatively, this is actually a Batman story written by Lego Batman from The Lego Movie.
October 28, 2017
Online reviews of Neal Adams' Batman Odyssey were so negative as to be borderline hysterical. Readers taken aback by dinosaurs. Readers taken aback by Bruce Wayne's arm hair. Readers taken aback by a panel with a close-up of an angry face.
Ignore them. While flawed in some minor ways, and also nutty in a good way, Batman Odyssey is an epic journey, opening new worlds for Batman writers to use. With prime Adams art (he hasn't lost a trick), it features the greatest literal train-wreck since Cecil B. Demille, early scenes of Batman using a gun, comedy, a sustained, issue-long action sequence of Tarantino-esque proportions, a new spin on Robin's origin, Deadman, a journey under the earth, a caveman Batman, a beatnik magician, and much more in this nearly 400-page book. There's gorgeous inking by Michael Golden, Bill Sienkiewicz and Adams himself. Odyssey dares to take sidetracks and fun meanderings and seems sometimes improvisational. If you like jazz, you'll probably enjoy Batman Odyssey. If you like over-the-top fun comics, you'll probably enjoy Batman Odyssey. If you only like predictable, utilitarian, very serious, committee-created corporate product, stay away.
Ignore them. While flawed in some minor ways, and also nutty in a good way, Batman Odyssey is an epic journey, opening new worlds for Batman writers to use. With prime Adams art (he hasn't lost a trick), it features the greatest literal train-wreck since Cecil B. Demille, early scenes of Batman using a gun, comedy, a sustained, issue-long action sequence of Tarantino-esque proportions, a new spin on Robin's origin, Deadman, a journey under the earth, a caveman Batman, a beatnik magician, and much more in this nearly 400-page book. There's gorgeous inking by Michael Golden, Bill Sienkiewicz and Adams himself. Odyssey dares to take sidetracks and fun meanderings and seems sometimes improvisational. If you like jazz, you'll probably enjoy Batman Odyssey. If you like over-the-top fun comics, you'll probably enjoy Batman Odyssey. If you only like predictable, utilitarian, very serious, committee-created corporate product, stay away.
November 2, 2013
This is possibly the worst comic story arc I've ever read. The dialog is headache inducing. There are plot holes galore. Characters are inserted with no introduction or explanation, and sometimes disappear just as suddenly (in Aquaman's case, after attempting to commit murder, then changing his mind for basically no reason).
There were multiple times where I had to flip to earlier in the book to find an explanation for something, only to realize that no such explanation existed. I think just about everyone acted out of character.
It is a complete lie for the blurb about this book to say Batman must kill or be killed. There was one person he almost beat to death, but that was out of revenge, and not self-preservation. And there were a couple guys who were murdered by others, when Batman incited the crowd and then didn't try to stop them from committing murder.
There were multiple times where I had to flip to earlier in the book to find an explanation for something, only to realize that no such explanation existed. I think just about everyone acted out of character.
It is a complete lie for the blurb about this book to say Batman must kill or be killed. There was one person he almost beat to death, but that was out of revenge, and not self-preservation. And there were a couple guys who were murdered by others, when Batman incited the crowd and then didn't try to stop them from committing murder.
July 23, 2013
Star ratings do not really apply here. Gloriously and wretchedly unique. A meta-commentary on Batman musing over being Batman, a cavalcade of classic villains, and then an underworld of dinosaurs, giant bats, and proto-Batman and Robin. Simultaneously thrilling and horrible. It reminded me of Grant Morrison's similar multiple Batman eras in one story mode, but Adam's take is all its own beast: epic in Batman as a acid trip cult movie.
April 13, 2022
Éste cómic es un despropósito. Además de que el argumento es prácticamente ininteligible, Batman es un histriónico: en una viñeta está hablando tranquilamente y a la siguiente está gritando e insultando como un energúmeno, ya sea a los villanos, a la policía, a los Trolls (!), a los gnomos (!!), a neandertales (!!!) o a dinosaurios evolucionados (!!!!). Muy intensito todo todo el tiempo, no hay página en la que no se estén dando unas hostias descomunales.
Por otra parte, el objetivo de la historia es probar que Batman no mata pero personalmente preferiría que me pegue un tiro entre los ojos a escuchar la turra que da en cada pelea diciendo lo listo que es y cómo se ha adelantado a los siguientes siete movimientos del oponente. En serio, que me mate ya y no me de la brasa, que por lo menos me voy en paz.
Bonus de horripliancia: Robin llama "insectos tolkienizados" a los trolls, como insulto por alguna razón. En serio, yo ya....
Por otra parte, el objetivo de la historia es probar que Batman no mata pero personalmente preferiría que me pegue un tiro entre los ojos a escuchar la turra que da en cada pelea diciendo lo listo que es y cómo se ha adelantado a los siguientes siete movimientos del oponente. En serio, que me mate ya y no me de la brasa, que por lo menos me voy en paz.
Bonus de horripliancia: Robin llama "insectos tolkienizados" a los trolls, como insulto por alguna razón. En serio, yo ya....
July 23, 2016
Let me start by saying Neal Adams is probably my favorite comic artist of all time. (It's either Adams or Berni Wrightson, it's hard for me to decide.) The art in this volume is still top notch, as Adams doesn't seem to have lost anything in his illustration skills. He's also my all time favorite Batman artist, another plus.
However, the story is incomprehensible. It reads like Grant Morrison at his most confusing. I rarely leave a book unfinished, but I found myself skimming the second half of this one. I slogged through the first half, determined to finish but there was no way. Not only was the story impossible to follow, it was incredibly dense and wordy. As I mentioned earlier, the art was great, but there were so many words it actually started to interfere with the art. When you have so many word balloons it begins to obscure the artwork, something's wrong somewhere.
The story was a crazy mishmash of many characters. Most of the rogues gallery shows up including Joker, Man-Bat, Riddler, Ra's Al Ghul, Talia, and most of the other Arkham inmates. Some heroes show up, most notably Deadman, Aquaman, even Superman has a cameo. But the story itself was nuts. Dinosaurs? Batman using guns? And the dialogue was totally out of character. The people just weren't talking like themselves. Batman was mumbling and using slang, Talia was talking like a mental patient, Alfred was senile...it was like a weird dream sequence, but it was taking place in real time. Um, at least, I think it was. Honestly I got so lost maybe I was the one in the dream sequence.
I really wanted to like this one because Neal Adams put in a TON of work on it. So many pages of art, so many words of dialogue. I can't imagine his time investment. But it was just too long, too wordy and too confusing.
The only thing that kept this one from 1 star was the art, as the art is still great. But overall, this was unreadable. If you like to just flip through comics and admire the art, then by all means pick this one up. If you want to actually read a coherent story, however, you should look elsewhere.
However, the story is incomprehensible. It reads like Grant Morrison at his most confusing. I rarely leave a book unfinished, but I found myself skimming the second half of this one. I slogged through the first half, determined to finish but there was no way. Not only was the story impossible to follow, it was incredibly dense and wordy. As I mentioned earlier, the art was great, but there were so many words it actually started to interfere with the art. When you have so many word balloons it begins to obscure the artwork, something's wrong somewhere.
The story was a crazy mishmash of many characters. Most of the rogues gallery shows up including Joker, Man-Bat, Riddler, Ra's Al Ghul, Talia, and most of the other Arkham inmates. Some heroes show up, most notably Deadman, Aquaman, even Superman has a cameo. But the story itself was nuts. Dinosaurs? Batman using guns? And the dialogue was totally out of character. The people just weren't talking like themselves. Batman was mumbling and using slang, Talia was talking like a mental patient, Alfred was senile...it was like a weird dream sequence, but it was taking place in real time. Um, at least, I think it was. Honestly I got so lost maybe I was the one in the dream sequence.
I really wanted to like this one because Neal Adams put in a TON of work on it. So many pages of art, so many words of dialogue. I can't imagine his time investment. But it was just too long, too wordy and too confusing.
The only thing that kept this one from 1 star was the art, as the art is still great. But overall, this was unreadable. If you like to just flip through comics and admire the art, then by all means pick this one up. If you want to actually read a coherent story, however, you should look elsewhere.
February 23, 2014
Wow. I had a chance to share a meal with Mr. Adams A few years ago. He talked about this book and what he was trying to do, what he ended up doing, and why the editor didn't do what should've been done.
Wow. I had heard that this was not a very good story, but after talking with Mr. Adams, I figured I would give it a shot. I have always been a fan of his work. Most people talk about his GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW work or his run on BATMAN. While I liked all of those stories, what I really liked was DEADMAN and the outstanding work he did over at Marvel on the AVENGERS and a brief stint on X-MEN.
Wow. Getting to talk with this legend, and enjoying so much of his work, how could I not pick this book up?
Wow. I bought a copy from my LCS (local comic shop), at full price. I guess that's about the best thing about this book. I helped support my local shop.
Wow. Some pages of the art are truly Outstanding! Other pages are more of a chaotic mess than I would expect from a Master of the format.
Wow. I took me over a year to finish reading this. A year.
Wow. Please enjoy the art, but don't read the story.
Wow. I'd rather have a copy with all the text removed.
Wow. Just. Wow.
Wow. I had heard that this was not a very good story, but after talking with Mr. Adams, I figured I would give it a shot. I have always been a fan of his work. Most people talk about his GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW work or his run on BATMAN. While I liked all of those stories, what I really liked was DEADMAN and the outstanding work he did over at Marvel on the AVENGERS and a brief stint on X-MEN.
Wow. Getting to talk with this legend, and enjoying so much of his work, how could I not pick this book up?
Wow. I bought a copy from my LCS (local comic shop), at full price. I guess that's about the best thing about this book. I helped support my local shop.
Wow. Some pages of the art are truly Outstanding! Other pages are more of a chaotic mess than I would expect from a Master of the format.
Wow. I took me over a year to finish reading this. A year.
Wow. Please enjoy the art, but don't read the story.
Wow. I'd rather have a copy with all the text removed.
Wow. Just. Wow.
November 24, 2012
A slog to read - to many unfamiliar characters in an outlandish story.
February 8, 2013
If Thomas Pynchon wrote a Golden Age Batman comic.
December 2, 2020
Olha, vou ser sincero. Essa é a primeira vez que largo uma história em quadrinhos de mão. Já li muitas histórias em quadrinhos ruins, mas nenhuma era tão ruim e tão longamente ruim com essa aqui. São mais de 400 páginas de uma lenga-lenga que não vai a lugar nenhum. Se no primeiro volume tínhamos o Batman enfrentando seus inimigos clássicos como o Morcego-Humano, o Charada e o Coringa, no segundo volume ele é levado para uma terra subterrânea em que se depara com um Batman Neanderthal e um Robin dinossauresco. A trama não tem pé nem cabeça e é recheada com diálogos intermináveis que PRECISAM ocupar cada quadro que Neal Adams desenha. Acho que está na hora de Adams descer do pedestal que criaram para ele e vestir as sandálias douradas da humildade, porque tá precisando, hein? Se essa não é a pior história em quadrinhos de todas que já li, com certeza é a pior história em quadrinhos do homem-morcego que já li. E pra não dizer que estou só nessa, peço que deem uma olhada nas demais avaliações aqui no GoodReads e observem como as pessoas se desagradaram com esse trabalho do excelentíssimo Neal Adams.
November 24, 2019
I picked up this comic because it looked like it couldn't fail - Batman rides a T-Rex, Batman teams up with neanderthals - if nothing else, it's sure to be fascinating! Not far into the the comic it becomes clear this is going to be demented; Batman acts manic-depressive and treats his friends and allies like crap; Aquaman shows up to almost kill a new Man-bat, blames Batman for being violent; Batman beats up on a criminal who tried to blow up a hydrogen-cell car (to cover his escape? to commit suicide?) all while ranting at him how wonderfully safe hydrogen-cell cars are. Oh, and Talia Al'ghul (highly dignified daughter of a master assassin) talks like Paula Deen ("Was the little ol' hero scared of some little ol' gangsters?" Seriously?)
So, I thought I could roll with this. That it was going to be rubbish, but that I could enjoy the nuttiness, like one might enjoy a ludicrous film spoofed by Mystery Science Theater 3ooo.
How wrong I was.
There is so much wrong with the book; Batman is mean, characters appear out of nowhere without explanation, the tone is all wrong, the dialogue is awkward (and Ras Al'ghul randomly speaks Spanish??), it's packed with forced drama (three times, or more, there's a cliff-hanger of Batman or Robin being, apparently, killed or horribly wounded, only to find out next chapter that it was a trick), and so many other things.
But, what kills this incompetent, demented comic more than anything else is the cardinal sin: it's boring. BORING. The plot is nonsensical, it's full of long, meandering, poorly written monologues, and the action scenes are fragmented and dull.
I admit, the art is good. But that's it, nothing else about this book is worth even a glance. How can a book full of batman, dinosaurs, cave-men and pitched battles be such a bore? It's actually impressive, in a terribly disappointing manner.
So, I thought I could roll with this. That it was going to be rubbish, but that I could enjoy the nuttiness, like one might enjoy a ludicrous film spoofed by Mystery Science Theater 3ooo.
How wrong I was.
There is so much wrong with the book; Batman is mean, characters appear out of nowhere without explanation, the tone is all wrong, the dialogue is awkward (and Ras Al'ghul randomly speaks Spanish??), it's packed with forced drama (three times, or more, there's a cliff-hanger of Batman or Robin being, apparently, killed or horribly wounded, only to find out next chapter that it was a trick), and so many other things.
But, what kills this incompetent, demented comic more than anything else is the cardinal sin: it's boring. BORING. The plot is nonsensical, it's full of long, meandering, poorly written monologues, and the action scenes are fragmented and dull.
I admit, the art is good. But that's it, nothing else about this book is worth even a glance. How can a book full of batman, dinosaurs, cave-men and pitched battles be such a bore? It's actually impressive, in a terribly disappointing manner.
March 8, 2020
Haha! You thought my next entry after the Iliad would be the Odyssey. Nope! Batman Odyssey! One of the worst Batman comics ever written!
Read
July 30, 2025truly beyond rating. peak derangement. *chef's kiss*
October 6, 2018
I never write reviews. Just star ratings, normally.
Everybody who has already left a review is pretty much spot on.
But.
I'm two volumes into reading the three volume Neal Adams Batman DC collection. These are ALL the stories that he worked on with Batman in them. No matter how far back. Neal didn't write these, although I can't imagine him not contributing to story beyond being the art robot.
But if I had found this story at the tail end of all of those issues--after all the Brave and the Bold stories, where the emphasis is on fun and excitement and Batman talks like you and me and heroes are seemingly doing things "out of character" and he's on a plane with other passengers and running around in the daytime and shit JUST HAPPENS; the Detective run where Denny and Neal drag Bruce kicking and screaming back into the dark, put hair on his chest, but he's still a hero of action and adventure, part swashbuckler, and Bruce can be overwhelmed, taken by surprise and doesn't know everything; an era that ends before The Dark Knight Returns is published, it's brilliance seducing fans turned pros into dovetailing plot points and even Bruce's personality into an inevitable future instead of only a possible one, Captain Unbeatable, Captain Prep Time, Captain Unemotional Robot--if I had, as a twelve year old, found this as the ending epic to THAT Batman, THAT style of storytelling...
It would have blown my twelve year old mind.
It is the most batshit insane Batman story I've ever read. Batman on a dinosaur AND HE FUCKING LOVES IT. Dick in Tim's costume because FUCK YOU WHY NOT ITS COOL. People appearing out of nowhere with no explanation OTHER THAN THEY WERE DRAWN THERE. Ra's chilling in the mansion and no one is alarmed. Batman flirting. The underworld HAS ITS OWN BAT MAN Y'ALL.
FUCK THAT, THE UNDERWORLD HAS A ROBIN.
Yes, it's hard to follow, yes people act and speak in ways you're not expecting, but this wasn't written for anyone out of their tweens. Just like Star Wars isn't for adults, neither is this story.
Maybe that's not fair. A better way to put it is that this story is not for the modern comic book reader of today; anal about continuity, demanding character development and lasting consequences despite the medium's policy of everyone perpetually being the middle of their existence and because of continual disappointment in those two unrealistic expectations... jaded, cynical and quick to judge.
Show a kid the prequels, and they have fun. They don't have the nostalgia to get in the way.
Give a kid this book and they will have a blast. If YOU'RE going to read it, you need a nostalgia that stretches back to when you didn't care, just wanted to enjoy the ride and let go of the fucking bar.
It's a mess, but it's the best, most ambitious Silver Age-Turning-Into-Bronze Age story you'll ever throw across the room.
Just promise me you'll throw it at a little kid who would get a kick out of trying to draw Batman on a motherfucking dinosaur.
Everybody who has already left a review is pretty much spot on.
But.
I'm two volumes into reading the three volume Neal Adams Batman DC collection. These are ALL the stories that he worked on with Batman in them. No matter how far back. Neal didn't write these, although I can't imagine him not contributing to story beyond being the art robot.
But if I had found this story at the tail end of all of those issues--after all the Brave and the Bold stories, where the emphasis is on fun and excitement and Batman talks like you and me and heroes are seemingly doing things "out of character" and he's on a plane with other passengers and running around in the daytime and shit JUST HAPPENS; the Detective run where Denny and Neal drag Bruce kicking and screaming back into the dark, put hair on his chest, but he's still a hero of action and adventure, part swashbuckler, and Bruce can be overwhelmed, taken by surprise and doesn't know everything; an era that ends before The Dark Knight Returns is published, it's brilliance seducing fans turned pros into dovetailing plot points and even Bruce's personality into an inevitable future instead of only a possible one, Captain Unbeatable, Captain Prep Time, Captain Unemotional Robot--if I had, as a twelve year old, found this as the ending epic to THAT Batman, THAT style of storytelling...
It would have blown my twelve year old mind.
It is the most batshit insane Batman story I've ever read. Batman on a dinosaur AND HE FUCKING LOVES IT. Dick in Tim's costume because FUCK YOU WHY NOT ITS COOL. People appearing out of nowhere with no explanation OTHER THAN THEY WERE DRAWN THERE. Ra's chilling in the mansion and no one is alarmed. Batman flirting. The underworld HAS ITS OWN BAT MAN Y'ALL.
FUCK THAT, THE UNDERWORLD HAS A ROBIN.
Yes, it's hard to follow, yes people act and speak in ways you're not expecting, but this wasn't written for anyone out of their tweens. Just like Star Wars isn't for adults, neither is this story.
Maybe that's not fair. A better way to put it is that this story is not for the modern comic book reader of today; anal about continuity, demanding character development and lasting consequences despite the medium's policy of everyone perpetually being the middle of their existence and because of continual disappointment in those two unrealistic expectations... jaded, cynical and quick to judge.
Show a kid the prequels, and they have fun. They don't have the nostalgia to get in the way.
Give a kid this book and they will have a blast. If YOU'RE going to read it, you need a nostalgia that stretches back to when you didn't care, just wanted to enjoy the ride and let go of the fucking bar.
It's a mess, but it's the best, most ambitious Silver Age-Turning-Into-Bronze Age story you'll ever throw across the room.
Just promise me you'll throw it at a little kid who would get a kick out of trying to draw Batman on a motherfucking dinosaur.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2023
Adams takes Batman and does whatever the fuck he wants with him. This is one of the most baffling and entertaining books ever, DC gave Neal the reigns and never had the courage to tell him "no". Thank god, because this book is way way waaay more fun to read than 75% of the Batman books written by people who care about continuity or logic or cohesion or anything even resembling a story structure.
To be completely transparent, I hated this when I was in high school. Not because I had been told to hate it (as I had been with Frank Miller's equally misunderstood nightmare, The Dark Knight Strikes Again) but because it's the type of book that completely loses you the first time. Neal takes it fast and loose, so following this story is like trying to hold on to a rollercoaster with only your bare hands. The second time though, this comic really starts to set in. You can see all the little threads that Neal Adams put between all the details, and you even enjoy finding details where threads are nonexistent.
It's not skillful with it's writing, and the art has a loose quality that (while echoing the insanity of the story) kind of makes it a mess. Not doing Neal any favors is the coloring, the horribly ugly over-rendered coloring! YECCCH! But it doesn't matter, because Adams' writing will beat you into submission until you get to the end of this book begging for more. No one in this books talks like an actual human being, but at the same time the dialogue ends up making so little sense that it couldn't be said by anyone BUT human beings. Each turn of phrase supplied by Adams is a new little nugget of gold, to be cherished and polished with each reading.
In summary, this is one of the best Batman books in existence. I understand how it can be polarizing, but at the very least anyone who's read it can't deny that they'll remember it for the rest of their lives.
To be completely transparent, I hated this when I was in high school. Not because I had been told to hate it (as I had been with Frank Miller's equally misunderstood nightmare, The Dark Knight Strikes Again) but because it's the type of book that completely loses you the first time. Neal takes it fast and loose, so following this story is like trying to hold on to a rollercoaster with only your bare hands. The second time though, this comic really starts to set in. You can see all the little threads that Neal Adams put between all the details, and you even enjoy finding details where threads are nonexistent.
It's not skillful with it's writing, and the art has a loose quality that (while echoing the insanity of the story) kind of makes it a mess. Not doing Neal any favors is the coloring, the horribly ugly over-rendered coloring! YECCCH! But it doesn't matter, because Adams' writing will beat you into submission until you get to the end of this book begging for more. No one in this books talks like an actual human being, but at the same time the dialogue ends up making so little sense that it couldn't be said by anyone BUT human beings. Each turn of phrase supplied by Adams is a new little nugget of gold, to be cherished and polished with each reading.
In summary, this is one of the best Batman books in existence. I understand how it can be polarizing, but at the very least anyone who's read it can't deny that they'll remember it for the rest of their lives.
August 15, 2022
Vivid and inexplicable, equal parts amazing and terrible, a delirious rush of nonsense that brings Adams' bronze age style into the modern era in a way where it feels both perfectly in tact and yet also completely alien and new. I dunno, man. This is some weird shit. Batman tells stories nested within other stories, frequently out of order, and those stories operate by an unmistakable playground logic where they will completely change direction or even blatantly contradict themselves on a whim. A confusing conspiracy where the Riddler (who is not actually the Riddler but is an assassin named either Rueben Irons OR [character actor?!] Rueben Blades depending on the panel) stages a fake crime to distract Batman from another crime, which itself is a setup for something else entirely, all of which somehow leads Batman to travel to the center of the earth, which is hollow, where he rides dinosaurs and fights in a war between, like, trolls and wizards and shit. At one point, Batman is narrating and then different 3rd person narration starts up alongside it, and the 2 narrations give contradictory accounts of what's going on. This is either an ambitious work of modernism, or it is complete and utter nonsense. Or better yet, it might be both. I cannot in good conscience tell you this is a good comic, but I sort of loved it anyway.
B?
B?
February 18, 2013
I would give this 5 stars for the art, but only ONE for the story. I LOVE Neal Adams's artwork. I grew up on his Batman in the 1970's. But back then he was not WRITING the stories. A lot of times, Denny O'Neil was. Too bad he didn't write this one.
I read the hardcover collection. I think this came out once a month for a year-I have no idea how anyone could follow the story that way-it's hard to follow reading it as a collection. WOW. Very disapointed. A little over half-way, he lost me-I no longer cared about the story. I skimmed it from that point, and enjoyed the art-his art is still great,and it took me back to his wonderful work of the 1970's. He stll has "it", drawing wise. But not as a writer.
I read the hardcover collection. I think this came out once a month for a year-I have no idea how anyone could follow the story that way-it's hard to follow reading it as a collection. WOW. Very disapointed. A little over half-way, he lost me-I no longer cared about the story. I skimmed it from that point, and enjoyed the art-his art is still great,and it took me back to his wonderful work of the 1970's. He stll has "it", drawing wise. But not as a writer.
November 17, 2013
Batman Odyssey is a weird comic book. It features creatures which are highly unlikely to be seen in a typical Batman comic that may be off-putting to some and the story is rather complicated. Actually in the first issues none can be sure about what is going on. I found myself often turning back to understand some plot points. But it is a book that must be read to the end to make sense . Then most of it becomes clear. It is a good comic book , not great by any means, with gorgeous art , despite some weak points in some facial expressions. So i suggest reading the book in whole and don't drop it in the middle.
February 6, 2020
Well ... having recently read some of Adams' wonderful, moody 70s Batman run, I remembered that I bought this in single-issue format then left it to gather dust for eight years. So, looking forward to a treat, I finally dug it out.
O-M-G ... I can only sum this up as being totally batsh*t (geddit?) crazy, and refer you to Anne`s review - I wasted enough time reading it and won't waste any more time with even an attempt to get into everything that is so horribly wrong with this comic on so many levels.
Now I'm going for a long lie down.
O-M-G ... I can only sum this up as being totally batsh*t (geddit?) crazy, and refer you to Anne`s review - I wasted enough time reading it and won't waste any more time with even an attempt to get into everything that is so horribly wrong with this comic on so many levels.
Now I'm going for a long lie down.
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