Batman: The world.

 

- Batman: The world. (Various) 

I’ve been reading several DC and Marvel anthologies this month —was planning to simply make a general overview of them at the end. This one, though, is curious enough to merit an individual blurb. 

“The world” is an anthology featuring 14 tales, each set in a different country and made by writers and artists from the country in question —herein the curiosity. Assorted cultures’ take on the iconic comic book superhero (sometimes guest-starring other famous DC characters). 

At worst this kind of international anthology but focused on a US property can feel somewhat like a tourist travel brochure —like a  continuation of Disney’s “Saludos, Amigos” and “The three caballeros” (I’ve ALSO been watching more media inspired by those two films. To be sure, there is something at once fascinating and puzzling about the very existence of the characters Jose Carioca and Panchito Pistoles —their actual impact on Latino culture, both good and bad, say). 

At best, these can serve as an invitation for readers to seek more of other cultures’ output, to expand one’s repertoire. 

Did this anthology accomplish the second? Or did people just plain saw a curiosity and moved on? That, to be honest, is up to each person. I’m more interested in what kind of stories this little experiment produced. 

So let’s go by nations: 

- An intro from the US that compares Gotham City to a wife. So-so start, but with lovely art. 

- Europe —the largest section, encompassing eight countries (France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Russia, Turkey, Poland). To different degrees they feel like their statement is “Well, THIS is what we have that you in America don’t have”. Which is not to say they are of bad quality. Some propose rather unique concepts —some are happy to just be “Batman visits X tourist town”. 

- Latin-America (Mexico and Brazil) —these are much more interested in social ills (unchecked, highly violent crime fueled by political corruption —and the way US intervention only serves to exacerbate those problems), with a certain spattering of… shall we call it ‘Magical Realism’ or just plain ‘Fantasy elements’?

- Asia (South Korea, China, Japan) —and these are much more interested in just plain having fun. Interestingly they feel almost like a response to all the previous stories: There’s social ills, discussions of technological use for criminology, and talks about censorship. But all take a rather tongue-in-cheek approach to it, peppered with a certain mix of humor and action. 

On the whole, a comic that can well serve as an introduction to… the world, as the title says. 

Not bad!

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