October 15, 2017
Young Bruce Wayne has a pre-Batman adventure. Famed boy billionaire Bruce Wayne has just turned 18, officially inheriting his deceased parents' vast fortune. But Bruce doesn't have time to give his coming-of-age much thought: a gang calling itself the Nightwalkers is terrorizing the elite citizens of Gotham City, and Bruce is determined to shut them down. Bruce's antics earn him a community-service sentence in Arkham Asylum, where he cross paths with Asian-American Madeleine Wallace, an accused murderer with ties to the Nightwalkers. Madeleine remains silent when the cops are around but speaks privately to Bruce. As the two grow closer Bruce works to shine a light on the mysterious gang and perhaps get a possibly innocent Madeleine released. Lu effectively mixes familiar Batman characters and locations with the new Nightwalkers and Madeleine, avoiding overstuffing the narrative with future villains and excessive Batman foreshadowing. The trickiest aspect of any Batman narrative is getting into Bruce Wayne's head, and she doesn't miss a beat. Bruce is headstrong, haunted but not overwhelmed, and capable of improvisation, but he isn't yet the fully formed Caped Crusader. The building blocks are there, but the author doesn't rush to assemble them too quickly. Bruce's terrible, self-destructive taste in women travels from the comics to this novel, making his relationship with Madeleine suitably complex and a bit frustrating at the same time. An engaging character piece with enough Batman allusions to intrigue fans and newcomers alike. (Fantasy. 12-16)
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December 1, 2017
Gr 8 Up-Bruce Wayne faces off against the Nightwalkers in this prose novel based on Batman. Bruce has just turned 18 and is now in full control of his family fortune. Graduation is around the corner, but interfering in a police matter gets him a community service sentence cleaning floors at the Arkham Asylum. There he meets the Madeleine, a member of the Nightwalkers, locked away in solitary. When Madeleine, who refuses to talk to the police, begins talking to Bruce about her gang, the police enlist his help in the investigation. Bruce is intrigued by the beautiful yet dangerous Madeleine. The Nightwalkers are taking out the city's rich and famous, and Bruce has just been added to their list. With the help of his friends, his company's technology, and a strong desire for justice, Bruce must save Gotham from the Nightwalkers. This work can be enjoyed by fans of Batman looking for more backstory as well as those unfamiliar with the Caped Crusader. The Nightwalkers, who use violence to spread their message, fit well as a villain group within the Gotham City universe. It is through his interaction with the Nightwalkers that Bruce realizes that he and his technology may be able to help the city in ways the police cannot. A fast-paced story line, action-packed fight sequences, and hi-tech gadgetry expected from any Batman story make this a fun read with wide appeal. VERDICT A first purchase for young adult collections.-Marissa Lieberman, East Orange Public Library, NJ
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 23, 2019
This satisfactory adaptation of Lu’s eponymous novel by Eisner Award-winner Moore (Captain Ginger) presents the moral dilemmas of a young Bruce Wayne battling crime without the aid of his bat-themed costume and gadgetry. Just as Bruce turns 18 and inherits his fortune, a new gang, the “Nightwalkers,” begins to kill and steal from Gotham’s wealthiest citizens. When Bruce’s interference in a police chase ends in a car crash, he is charged with several crimes and sentenced to community service at Arkham Asylum. This rather inappropriate placement allows Lu and Moore to depict Bruce on the receiving end of objectification by the inmates, and sets up a meeting between him and Madeleine Wallace, a beautiful 18-year-old Nightwalker inmate. After a breakout from Arkham, Bruce dons a prototype armor suit to take down the baddies, adding more action sequences to the story’s early focus on interpersonal relationships. The art by Wildgoose (Batgirl) shows expressive, sharply featured characters in neon yellow-accented grayscale. While some may wonder where the batarangs and Batmobile are, readers should enjoy watching the proto-hero learn what is required to fight crime. Ages 13–17.
November 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 Lu (The Young Elites, 2014) continues the DC Icons series with this second installment; this time, the focus is on Bruce Wayne before he became Batman. Lu's take on the caped superhero imagines him as a restless high-school senior who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when he witnesses criminals escaping a crime scene and gives chase himself. Following his reckless (but ultimately successful) vigilantism, Bruce is sentenced to community service atwhere else?the infamous Arkham Asylum. Housed there among Gotham's roughest criminals is brilliant but troubled Madeleine, who makes Bruce question everything he thinks he knows about the nature of evil. Familiar faces will be welcome to Batman fans, but none stand out save for Madeleine. Even Bruce, from whose perspective the story is told, is somewhat bland. However, Lu excels at making action sequences come alive and feel immediate, and this latest is no exception. An action-packed thriller from one of YA's preeminent voices. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Lu's a blockbuster in her own right; when combined with this high-interest series, she's unstoppable.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)
January 1, 2019
Eighteen-year-old do-gooder Bruce Wayne lands in community service mopping Arkham Asylum and becomes obsessed with a young female inmate (Batman). Selina Kyle steals from Gotham City's rich and powerful, encountering other female criminal powerhouses as well as steamy Luke Fox, a.k.a. Batwing (Catwoman). These classic dark superhero tales are full of the expected action, intrigue, and tangled romance. Maas's characters are especially woke.
(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)