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Batuman #1
posted January 18, 2011
 

Creator: Mari Ahokoivu
Publishing Information: Daada, mini-comic/comic book, 16 pages, 2010
Ordering Numbers: 9789526710235 (ISBN13)

This is another entry in the Bootleg Batman phenomenon whose major distinguishing characteristics are its overall look and the skillful manner in which its jokes and central premise are executed. That's the long way of saying that you've probably read something like before, even if you're never reading anything like this before. Batuman sulks, complains about the Bat Signal, sneers at hipsters, has a long and unsatisfying conversation with Catwoman and is unable to raise Robin on the phone. The End. We also get a short digression featuring Ahokoivu's excellent, beaming Joker, who's not nuts because he's more severely addled than our Batman-stand-in, he's nuts because he's not nuts at all. That's about it. Even though all of the gags are snappily performed -- there's not a wasted bit of motion, there, it's like watching all once of those Second City reunion specials where all the performers suddenly become taut and focused and serious -- it's hard to be surprised by any of them. In fact, I'm leaving out my two additional scans from this review just because there's so little there to enjoy in the first place. Still, it's solid. You know how a reviewer will sometimes say, "if you like this sort of thing, you'll like this one"? Well, you'll really like this one, even if it has the same problem as 16 pages of the material it parodies: like Batuman, we've seen it all before.