Batman : The Cult. An appreciation

[AnthonyO'Brien]

This may not be the greatest batman story to some but I liked it. I wonder if maybe the price of the prestige format made fans a bit critical of it. The Monster truck batmobile was a bit much! I love Bernie's art and Deacon Blackfire broke Batsy long before Bane ever did. Definitely one of Batman's more UNDER-rated villians.

YOUR thought and opinions on this?

[Batman Begins 2005]

This may not be the greatest batman story to some but I liked it. I wonder if maybe the price of the prestige format made fans a bit critical of it. The Monster truck batmobile was a bit much! I love Bernie's art and Deacon Blackfire broke Batsy long before Bane ever did. Definitely one of Batman's more UNDER-rated villians.

YOUR thought and opinions on this?

Read it last year. Liked it though preferring the first half to the second. Bats mentally gone.

[dancj]

I think it's the only good Batman story Jim Starlin ever wrote.

[Chubistian]

I like it a lot, and is one of my favorite Batman stories (though I have a lot of favorites Batman stories hahaha). I think alongside Ten night of the Beast, it's some of Starlin's finest writing with the character. Both are much better than Death in the Family, which I think has some cool moments, but overall is an average story.

[cgh]

I found The Cult to be unintentionally hilarious.

[Buried Alien]

It wasn't Batman's finest hour, but it might have been Jason Todd's. Jason/Robin seemed to emerge the hero of this story.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Zaresh]

It wasn't Batman's finest hour, but it might have been Jason Todd's. Jason/Robin seemed to emerge the hero of this story.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Definitely.
One of the cases in which you see how Robin actually helps Batman to be himself. And damn if he wasn't a brave kid.

[Batknight]

It's really great. There are a lot of 'breaking Batman psychologically and mentally' stories out there. But this one did it the best in my mind. Also one of the few great Jason Todd Robin stories and Bernie Wrightson artwork in incrediable.

[Darkseid Is]

Definitely.
One of the cases in which you see how Robin actually helps Batman to be himself. And damn if he wasn't a brave kid.

This is very interesting. I have never read The Cult (but coincidentally enough I was just looking at it on Amazon, I'm a huge Starlin fan). Starlin has said he hates Robin and the idea of Robin which is kind of bizarre. Then not so long after he kills Robin off. Maybe he was trying to make the death more impactful?

[Zaresh]

This is very interesting. I have never read The Cult (but coincidentally enough I was just looking at it on Amazon, I'm a huge Starlin fan). Starlin has said he hates Robin and the idea of Robin which is kind of bizarre. Then not so long after he kills Robin off. Maybe he was trying to make the death more impactful?

No idea. This mini ended its release just a month before AditF, if I recall correctly. And it was released separatedly from the comic, I think. It's weird. I wonder if he really hated the idea of Robin as much as people tend to say (I've read that all over the Internet in comments, but I guess there is some quote somewhere), or if he intended for the readers to dislike him and his role and it came the other way in the end.

[Darkseid Is]

No idea. This mini ended its release just a month before AditF, if I recall correctly. And it was released separatedly from the comic, I think. It's weird. I wonder if he really hated the idea of Robin as much as people tend to say (I've read that all over the Internet in comments, but I guess there is some quote somewhere), or if he intended for the readers to dislike him and his role and it came the other way in the end.

I'll give you the link to the interview I saw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGzUnhvcROs

5:43 he starts talking about Robin.

"When I started writing Batman I avoided using Robin...

"DC had an idea to do an AIDS book for AIDS education so they put a box out and wanted everybody to put out suggestions of who should contract AIDS and perish in the comic books. I stuffed it with Robin..."

Pretty ridiculous but pretty funny too.

[Gurz]

Can we be negative in an appreciation thread ? if we can't, erase my message. I didn't like it, Batman is not easy to break and he hanged out with the derelicts and all Blackfire's people and Blackfire himself and not one of them removed Batman's mask.... lol really not my coup of tea. Jason acted like Dick and i'm jaded towards breaking the bat, every villain is like, i will break Batman ! lol just put a bullet in his head for f%&#s sake.

[Zaresh]

I'll give you the link to the interview I saw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGzUnhvcROs

5:43 he starts talking about Robin.

"When I started writing Batman I avoided using Robin...

"DC had an idea to do an AIDS book for AIDS education so they put a box out and wanted everybody to put out suggestions of who should contract AIDS and perish in the comic books. I stuffed it with Robin..."

Pretty ridiculous but pretty funny too.

Well, I didn't know that.
Sounds like the mood the entertainment media felt at the time.

[TheJudge95]

You can really see the influence this had on The Dark Knight Rises and Scott Snyder's run. Snyder said this is one of his favorite Batman comics, and it shows: mentally breaking Batman down, secret organizations striking from sewers and backrooms, endings where Batman goes to war with heavy weaponry (monster truck/tank, thrasher suit). I actually liked the second half of The Cult more, especially Batman and Robin going to all-out war with the cultists, even though it was shock and awe, over-the-top violence (against poor people, no less). The scene where Robin finds Batman on top of the pile of corpses is also striking. Homeless people were definitely made out to be boogeymen in this. Starlin was trying to make a statement on how religion can manipulate the vulnerable but none of the cultists were portrayed in a sympathetic light. We don't really get to see Blackfire hypnotize them and they appear to be in complete control of their senses so it doesn't feel like religious fanatics or zombies committing these heinous crimes as much as homeless people itching to get back at society.

I agree that Batman was broken down too easily, despite the drugs+food deprivation+hypnosis - and it became worse when he didn't recover quickly from it and almost let Robin die twice due to him still being in shock. Robin even saves him at the end by tranquilizing the guy who was about to shoot him.

Bill Wray makes this book for me with his psychedelic and abstract coloring. He bathes scenes in red, purple, and lime green where other colorists would favor a more realistic approach at the expense of mood. Too bad he hasn't worked for DC more.

[Zaresh]

Bill Wray makes this book for me with his psychedelic and abstract coloring. He bathes scenes in red, purple, and lime green where other colorists would favor a more realistic approach at the expense of mood. Too bad he hasn't worked for DC more.

The colour is superb indeed.