Batman

by Brian K. Vaughan, Scott Kolins (Artist), Rick Burchett (Artist)

In these tales by superstar writer Brian K. Vaughan, Bruce Wayne adopts the guise of Matches Malone to infiltrate the Gotham underworld. But when Matches is seemingly shot, it’s up to Batman to determine what really happened...and discover how Scarface is involved! Plus, Batman takes on the Mad Hatter, and Wonder Woman and Donna Troy square off against Clayface! Collects BATMAN #588-590, DETECTIVE COMICS #787, WONDER WOMAN #160-161 and BATMAN: GOTHAM CITY SECRET FILES #1!

Genres: Comics, Superheroes, Graphic Novels, Batman, Dc Comics, Sequential Art

160 pages, Paperback

Published March 22, 2017

About the author

Brian K. Vaughan is the writer and co-creator of comic-book series including SAGA, PAPER GIRLS, Y THE LAST MAN, RUNAWAYS, and most recently, BARRIER, a digital comic with artist Marcos Martin about immigration, available from their pay-what-you-want site www.PanelSyndicate.com

BKV's work has been recognized at the Eisner, Harvey, Hugo, Shuster, Eagle, and British Fantasy Awards. He sometimes writes for film and television in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family and their dogs Hamburger and Milkshake.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely adore Vaughan, but this is far from his best work.

First off, one of these stories is just a straight up Wonder Woman arc so I have no idea how it got in a Batman collection. It's also pretty lame.

At one point Batman dissociates and starts to lose himself in his undercover criminal alter ego, Matches Malone. It's stupid, to be totally honest.

The Mad Hatter arc is probably the best and the art is fun. Not much depth to it, but a cool albeit brief Batman story.

[Lilybeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a compilation of Batman stories that Brain K. Vaughan wrote.
Loved the Matches Malone story. Complex, a bit dark and sad...basically Batman at his best. Great story!
The rest are fun/decent although I really don't care for Mad Hatter.
Never understood why an Alice in Wonderland "villain" crossed over into DC but that's just me.
Wonder Woman story was pretty good although the whole Donna thing confused me. Can you tell I haven't read much Wonder Woman. LOL!
I am genuinely bummed that we never know who The Skeleton is. This could have been promising.

Fun read but besides Matches, nothing spectacular.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably should have done some homework and realized this was a collection of small batman/wonder woman arcs but I like brian k Vaughan and figured it could be fun. There are certainly highs and lows in this collection both in story telling and artwork. While it was interesting to read some of his earlier works and with characters that aren't his this is not my favorite stuff from Vaughan.

[Jason Holtzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this collection! It really entertained more than I thought it might, presenting a fun mix of Batman (and Wonder Woman) stories full of intrigue, action, hope, and thought provoking moments. It’s a good book for some light reading, glad I picked it up!

[Electroclan17 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Close Before Striking - 5
Mimsy Were The Borogoves - 4
A Piece Of You - 3
Skullduggery - 3.5

Started off strong then went downhill from there. I read it partially because I like the author's Paper Girls series and I prefer that to this.

[Logan Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. More interesting as an early glimpse of Vaughan's career than it is interesting as Batman and WW stories.

[Kurt Vosper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent Batman book. Best part and a 4 star would be the opening story about Matches Malone. That alone is worth your time and money if you are a Batman fan!

[Mandy Burkhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite storytellers

[Kin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love old-school comics there's nothing quite like them.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really loved the first story in here.

[ISMOTU · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some fun early superhero stories by BKV and a chorus of talented artists.

[mayleh · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️3.5

[Teagan E · Rating 3 out of 5]

#13 in reading Batman comics and this wasn’t on anybody’s top list but I’d read anything with Brian’s name on it. Loved his intro for context and a fun lil ride.

[Ushnav Shroff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent fun!

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Matches Malone story is a good early work of Brian Vaughan that foreshadows his later talent. The rest is rather mediocre filler.

[Roderick · Rating 2 out of 5]

well-written short stories (one of which gets Wonder Woman's compassionate character right, unlike the new mean-spirited comic books), but this is not my favorite collection