I recently bought Batman: Year 100 #2 by Paul Pope and Jose Villarrubia, and I'm surprised there's been no real mention of it here (excluding that old thread about Pope's political opinions). It's such a fantastic comic: there is something very nice about it being Batman, and published by DC, and yet with this really cool and gorgeus art and vision which contrasts so greatly to just about everything else DC publishes right now (not counting Vertigo, but even if I did, the point would still stand).
Certainly, it's Pope's most mainstream comic yet, but despite my usual indie kid elitism (half-joking, of course) that's not a bad thing. For the most part Villarrubia's digital coloring is great and even adds to the artwork - makes it look nice and shiny, without detracting from the greatness of the lines drawn so skillfully by Pope (with a few exceptions, but nothing serious). I thought I would say more about the plot, but possibly because Pope both draws and writes it, it's hard for me to draw a clear distinction between the writing and the art, which is how a really good comic should be, I think. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and all that.
So obviously I'm very enthusiastic about it and writing any more would just be repeating the same positive opinions, only formulated somewhat differently, so instead I'll just note that I found it amusing that Pope managed to fit teenagers staring moodily through car windows into a Batman comic. Greatly recommended; has anybody else read it? |
