What I’m reading: Batman Snow
August 20th, 2008
I would like you to put that horrible disaster of a film Batman and Robin out of your mind, there now doesn’t that feel better?
You have to put it out of your mind otherwise you won’t for a second consider what I’m saying to be reasonable. Mister Freeze could be a great villain for the next Batman film.
Eh! Remember we’ve put Batman and Robin out of our minds for the time being, yes I know some things just can’t be unseen but you said you’d try.
You see today I randomly picked up a copy of Batman: Snow in my local library. Only really because I hadn’t seen the cover before and was in the mood for a bit of a Batman read. I currently prefer reading his stories in trade paperback simply because I’ve got no idea what is going on with Batman RIP.
So I read Snow which features the origin of Mr. Freeze and to a lessor degree paves the way for Robin, this story is set the first year or so of Batman’s career. The story and the depiction of Freeze in this has me convinced that he would be an ideal candidate for a Nolan villain on the big screen.
The character is really well portrayed in this book, he is a tragic figure who simply snaps after the death of his wife at the hands of stupid office politics (it makes sense if you read the book but I assure you it’s not a simple case of setting someone’s stapler in jelly). His decent into paranoid madness is completely believable.
The thing about Freeze though is that he can bridge the gap between organised crime and super villain as the story involves organised crime families trying to get their hands on weaponized versions of his research. And of course he is a much larger than your normal villain in terms of visual power.
No bloody ‘everybody chill out’ lines.
Sorry, we’re not talking about that film are we.
So if you get a chance to read Snow (frankly I think it’s a little obscure anyway, I’d never heard of it and this is the first I’ve seen it - published in 2007 I believe) give it look and let me know what you think. The artwork I can take or leave, it’s fine I just don’t find this version of Batman very menacing. There is a great secondary story about how the Batman enlists civilians to help him in his fight against crime which is very compelling and as I mentioned above lends itself to paving the way for Robin.
Now you can go back to thinking about Batman and Robin…
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Categories: Comics | Tags: Batman, batman and robin, Batman: Snow, comic book, comic books, mister freeze, super villain, trade paperback, What I'm reading
I don’t like the cover, but I’ll take your word that it’s worth a read.
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By Lee on August 20th, 2008 | Reply
The cover is a pretty good indicator for the art that follows within actually, I was more impressed with the story I think rather than the art although it does certainly have its moments and Mr. Freeze is drawn quite well.
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See I don’t have a problem imagining Freeze as a credible bad guy, but then the aforementioned movie isn’t my only impression of him as a character. My young fella has some of the animated cartoon series of Batman which Freeze is portrayed in and, yeah, I’ll agree with you on this.
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By Lee on August 20th, 2008 | Reply
I’ve got that Sub Zero animated movie on DVD around here somewhere that I’ve been meaning to watch. I just think that he’s the easiest character to realistically be a ’super’ villain.
Maybe even Firefly although he is really just a pyromaniac.
So yeah Freeze is my man for the next Batman.
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as far as the art goes, you either liked Seth Fisher or you didn’t (a bit like Geoff Darrow). It must be said that he had a singular style, though it could be a bit stiff at times. I’ve liked his work since his work in Heavy Metal in the ’90s and it’s still a shame he died so young.
Also, you make it sound so easy to get Batman and Robin out of one’s head. I’ve only seen snippets on YouTube and I cannot purge the cheesiness that would make Adam West cringe.
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By Lee on August 20th, 2008 | Reply
Dude! You haven’t seen the train wreck!? You should so check it out for the cringe factor alone.
Upon reflection I think I actually liked the artwork as it was in the book, I would not have been so keen to see it on a monthly basis - then again I really disliked Kelley Jones for a while there too.
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Yeah, Freeze would work. I can’t believe I forgot about him… I must have set up the “Batman and Robin” block a little too efficiently.
I really like the Freeze character in The Animated Series. Very well done, IMO, and you’re right, he would translate pretty well into Nolan’s world with very few tweaks. Change the “cold ray” into a liquid nitrogen gun of some relatively believable kind and you’ve got something to work with there.
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