Rate: 3/5

Medium: Audiobook

Overview (No Spoilers):

Thus far the DC Icons series has been a fun reimagining of classic hero/heroine stories retold as modern teens/young adults. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed both the Wonder Woman and Catwoman stories, however I decided to bypass the Batman installment on two accounts. First, I was holding a literary grudge due to my frustration with Lu’s Legend series and secondly, Batman has never held much of an interest for me in comparison to other comic based series. Sure, Christian Bale embodied a fantastic adaption of the Dark Knight, however I couldn’t muster excitement for a modern take on a story I’ve seen replayed on the big screen many, many times.  Although, after Catwoman, my curiosity was piqued and this title added to my TBR list as I was sure I missed out on a key aspects of the backstory by bypassing the second book in this DC Icons series.  That being said, so far, the three books could be a stand alone with Batman not directly tying into the Catwoman novel, as despite being set in the same literary universe.  In Batman, we find young Master Wayne coming into adulthood and graduating high school.  It was an interesting take compared to the broken man often conveyed in the movies.  Of note, we find a few names that are familiar within the Batman realm in unexpected places, with the mystery lingering the path lying in their future to bring them to their eventual roles. Some of the changes were dripping in young adult drama resulting in several huffs and eye rolls from the perspective of the reader, however these lapses did not deter from the story as a whole.  Overall, Batman was unexpectedly entertaining with a novel take on a tried and true story previously heard at least a handful of times.

Additional Insight (Spoilers Abound):

• How will Harvey become Two-Face?
• Will Madeline come back into Bruce’s story?
• How does Bruce complete the leap into becoming Batman? How much time passes between this story and Catwoman?
• Will the Mayor’s son keep Bruce’s secret?