TITLE: Batman: Noel
AUTHOR/ARTIST: Lee Bermejo
FORMAT: Hardcover
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $22.99
RELEASED: November 8, 2011

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Is Lee Bermejo’s art getting better as time goes on? Or am I simply more inclined to appreciate it these days? It’s probably a bit of both, isn’t it?

Indeed, the man who gave us the breathtaking art in books like Lex Luthor: Man of Steel and Joker is back, this time for a new take on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in this original graphic novel. Cast in the role of Scrooge is none other than Batman, who is bound and determined to catch The Joker at the expense of Bob, down-on-his-luck single father who fouls up a job for the Harlequin of Hell. Batman knows The Joker will come after Bob for revenge, and callously decides to use him as bait. Little does The Dark Knight know he’s about to be visited by three spirits, and get a much needed glimmer of light in his world of darkness.

First and foremost, the biggest selling point for this book is the art. Bermejo’s take on the Batman world is stunning, and grounded in enough reality to make everything we’re seeing believable. His faces and acting are beautiful. The colors are vibrant and spectacular. Everything clicks, everything works, and Bermejo gives fans of great art a perfect holiday gift.

During the book, we have a narrator tell us the Dickens story in his own words, and the events unfolding in Batman’s story all more or less coincide with what he’s saying. In terms of DC Comics characters being plugged into A Christmas Carol, the book is cast very well. The characters that are plugged into the roles of the three ghosts aren’t necessarily a natural fit. But they do the job they’re supposed to do under Bermejo’s pen, and they do it quite well. Bermejo masterfully mirrors the Dickens story with his own, using takes on the characters that are fresh, but still true to all the classic elements we know and love.

One of the more masterful elements about this book is that while it does work as an alternate spin on A Christmas Carol, it’s also a definite Batman story. And because it doesn’t follow any kind of regular continuity, it’s perfectly accessible to readers only vaguely familiar with the mythology.

With a combination of out-of-this-world artwork and creative story, Lee Bermejo may very well have given us a new holiday classic. It’s the perfect stocking stuffer for the Bat-fanatic in your life.

RATING: 9.5/10

Front page image from blogcdn.com. Interior image from boxmeagain.blogspot.com.