Before the Batman is a prequel novel to Matt Reeves’ The Batman movie. The book is fairly short, and seems like its targeted at a younger audience as compared to the movie which was much darker and grittier. We are given glimpses into the past of both Bruce Wayne and Edward Nashton* and how their characters have evolved over time.

I must say I didn’t really enjoy this book. As much as I loved the version of Batman and Gotham in the movie, I was not a big fan of this iteration of Bruce Wayne. The stories in this book don’t help either. Rather than provide some background or motivation that drove Bruce to pick up the cowl we instead get a Batman – Fast and Furious crossover. The over-emphasis on this brooding reclusive Bruce Wayne that likes to work on his own, tinkering with his car and bike making them faster and stronger, while suddenly deciding to use the skills Alfred has taught him to take down criminals at night, really felt like the bored rich kid just up and decided he wanted to become a superhero. That’s it. They could have done so much better with this.

With regards to the Riddler, for some reason the author felt compelled to have the characters from the movie interact in some way over the years. We see Edward staring at the young ‘smug’ Bruce Wayne at the orphanage, Edward almost hit by a car during one of Bruce’s late night racing jaunts, I mean the Riddler’s motivation in the movie seemed solid enough that I’m not sure why the author felt the need to drum up more inane reasons for the Riddler to hate on Bruce Wayne, or the upper echelons of society in general.

All in all, this book doesn’t really add much to the movie. I’m not sure if it’s just where I was mentally while reading, or if it’s just lazy writing. Maybe I’ll revisit this in some time and I’ll feel better about it? I feel like I need a re-watch of the movie before revisiting this book. I apologize for the rant. Hopefully a normal book review to come sometime soon. Until next time!

Rating: 2/5

*For the longest time I always considered the Riddler’s name was Edward Nygma, and to an extent it is but DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths event established his birth name as Edward Nashton. TIL.

Links:

1. goodreads: Before the Batman: An Original Movie Novel