i had to put up some kind of fight
I just finished Batman: No Man's Land, the novelization by Greg Rucka, and I really liked it.
It's missing several things that make the arc in the comics so compelling, e.g., most of the Two Face-Montoya arc, all of the Dick/Babs romance (but also the weird Dick/Helena kiss at the end - the book definitely reads more Dick/Helena than Dick/Babs in the subtext, though there is a moment where Dick accuses Babs of being harder on Helena because he likes her [Helena, I mean], and later Babs wonders if his attitude is rubbing off on her when she stops thinking everything Helena does is bad and wrong for a moment, all of which makes me even more curious about their hookup, and by that I mean both Dick/Helena and how Helena ends up in the Birds of Prey), which means the awesome scene where Dick tells Babs he's always had a thing for her and they start making out and then get interrupted by bad guys and have to be saved by Huntress is missing, as well as Catwoman's sadly minor part, Huntress v. Scarecrow at the church, Tim's stint as the tragic face of NML (though the plus side of that was no story about the D&D club from his high school living in the sewers and being delusional), it does really well following the main storyline from the POV of various characters.
I love Huntress even more now, and was even angrier at Batman's treatment of her. I suspected from the comics that he knew exactly what would happen when he stripped her of Batgirl's costume (um, he didn't literally strip her, that would be weird, considering), that he'd pretty much planned the whole thing, and the book confirms it, and it really pisses me off even more somehow.
Also, we still don't get any explanation of what Bruce is doing after he stops being "Bruce Wayne" and before he comes back as Batman, which was the whole reason I wanted to read the damn thing!
What the fuck, Bruce? This is another reason I am pissed at you! Because Huntress was there, and she was there both as herself and as Batgirl when Gotham needed her, and where the fuck were you? And then you had to be all, "I'm doing this my way! Even though things are different now and maybe I should take this into account!" Bah. I get lulled into liking you and then you do something to piss me off! What. the fuck. ever.
This ends the yelling at Batman portion of this post.
On the plus side, no Azrael cluttering up the arc, and I enjoyed the sections from Cass's POV, especially the bits with her father. I also liked that they personalized the baby business a little more - I don't think it's specified in the comics that two of the cops fall in love and have a baby during NML, and while it's a cliche, it works here, mostly because we don't spend a lot of time on it.
I think the thing that I missed most was the Montoya-Two Face stuff where he holds her and her family captive, because it's just so. freaking. creepy. and it makes the payoff of Jim Gordon's trial feel that much stronger. the trial still worked here, but it felt less fraught and desperate, somehow. (and also, it has an even creepier payoff in Gotham Central.)
I liked the little things that were kept (Dick and Alfred arguing over who carves the Christmas turkey) and the one big scene that seems to be verbatim from the comics (at least as I recall it) - the Jim Gordon-Batman reconciliation scene, which is just as powerful without the art (though it does lack Bruce's chastened face, which is something I like to see).
I'm not sure how I feel about his interactions with Bane. I have to think more about that.
And of course, regardless of medium, it's always fun watching him pwn Lex (and Mercy).
Mostly, though, I feel the same as I did after reading the comics: ♥Huntress♥
***
I posted a story this morning:
A system of impenetrable sighs
Young Justice (animated); Superboy/M'gann; pg; 1,030 words
Superboy doesn't understand what the big deal is about kissing.
Fumbly first kisses ftw! Thank you to the people who commented. I appreciate it. Also, I wish they'd hurry up and give Superboy a name, because referring to him solely as Superboy would have been annoying (it's one reason the story is from his POV, though also because it made more sense from his POV).
I waffled about the title - I had one that was less obscure but it was blah and on the nose and I hated it, so I went back to this, which was the original title, and which seemed to fit better - it was one of those things where I felt like if i did the practical thing and gave it the more prosaic title, I'd have regretted it later.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/290749.html.
people have commented there.
It's missing several things that make the arc in the comics so compelling, e.g., most of the Two Face-Montoya arc, all of the Dick/Babs romance (but also the weird Dick/Helena kiss at the end - the book definitely reads more Dick/Helena than Dick/Babs in the subtext, though there is a moment where Dick accuses Babs of being harder on Helena because he likes her [Helena, I mean], and later Babs wonders if his attitude is rubbing off on her when she stops thinking everything Helena does is bad and wrong for a moment, all of which makes me even more curious about their hookup, and by that I mean both Dick/Helena and how Helena ends up in the Birds of Prey), which means the awesome scene where Dick tells Babs he's always had a thing for her and they start making out and then get interrupted by bad guys and have to be saved by Huntress is missing, as well as Catwoman's sadly minor part, Huntress v. Scarecrow at the church, Tim's stint as the tragic face of NML (though the plus side of that was no story about the D&D club from his high school living in the sewers and being delusional), it does really well following the main storyline from the POV of various characters.
I love Huntress even more now, and was even angrier at Batman's treatment of her. I suspected from the comics that he knew exactly what would happen when he stripped her of Batgirl's costume (um, he didn't literally strip her, that would be weird, considering), that he'd pretty much planned the whole thing, and the book confirms it, and it really pisses me off even more somehow.
Also, we still don't get any explanation of what Bruce is doing after he stops being "Bruce Wayne" and before he comes back as Batman, which was the whole reason I wanted to read the damn thing!
What the fuck, Bruce? This is another reason I am pissed at you! Because Huntress was there, and she was there both as herself and as Batgirl when Gotham needed her, and where the fuck were you? And then you had to be all, "I'm doing this my way! Even though things are different now and maybe I should take this into account!" Bah. I get lulled into liking you and then you do something to piss me off! What. the fuck. ever.
This ends the yelling at Batman portion of this post.
On the plus side, no Azrael cluttering up the arc, and I enjoyed the sections from Cass's POV, especially the bits with her father. I also liked that they personalized the baby business a little more - I don't think it's specified in the comics that two of the cops fall in love and have a baby during NML, and while it's a cliche, it works here, mostly because we don't spend a lot of time on it.
I think the thing that I missed most was the Montoya-Two Face stuff where he holds her and her family captive, because it's just so. freaking. creepy. and it makes the payoff of Jim Gordon's trial feel that much stronger. the trial still worked here, but it felt less fraught and desperate, somehow. (and also, it has an even creepier payoff in Gotham Central.)
I liked the little things that were kept (Dick and Alfred arguing over who carves the Christmas turkey) and the one big scene that seems to be verbatim from the comics (at least as I recall it) - the Jim Gordon-Batman reconciliation scene, which is just as powerful without the art (though it does lack Bruce's chastened face, which is something I like to see).
I'm not sure how I feel about his interactions with Bane. I have to think more about that.
And of course, regardless of medium, it's always fun watching him pwn Lex (and Mercy).
Mostly, though, I feel the same as I did after reading the comics: ♥Huntress♥
***
I posted a story this morning:
A system of impenetrable sighs
Young Justice (animated); Superboy/M'gann; pg; 1,030 words
Superboy doesn't understand what the big deal is about kissing.
Fumbly first kisses ftw! Thank you to the people who commented. I appreciate it. Also, I wish they'd hurry up and give Superboy a name, because referring to him solely as Superboy would have been annoying (it's one reason the story is from his POV, though also because it made more sense from his POV).
I waffled about the title - I had one that was less obscure but it was blah and on the nose and I hated it, so I went back to this, which was the original title, and which seemed to fit better - it was one of those things where I felt like if i did the practical thing and gave it the more prosaic title, I'd have regretted it later.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/290749.html.
people have commented there.