read 12/01/2017 This was a fun mashup/team-up. I was already a fan of Batman but hadn't read any Shadow books before this one. Definitely worth a read if you like detective/mystery stories.

This was my first time reading a Batman/Shadow comic so I am not sure if I came in at the best entry point. The first issue within this graphic novel had some white on white text which was difficult to read, but luckily that did not persist throughout the rest of the book. I found certain elements of the story interesting, but ultimately felt like I was missing something at times as well. My guess is I should have started this with a stronger background.

Liked this e-galley from NetGalley enough, but my background of The Shadow is very dated. Otherwise, this works nicely as a Batman trade and a homage to the source material/inspiration. The art is alright (reaction faces start to look similar - more so The Shadow than Batman), but I feel so spoiled by Greg Capullo's Batman art.

I honestly fail to see the hype this book has gotten from other reviewers. The story is a confusing and convoluted mess, something about The Shadow being alive even though he died 50 years earlier. The Joker makes an appearance, allied to another villain. That is what brings The Shadow and Batman to work together. However, this is one of those wordless comics; it had no dialogue, and all you had to go on was the art (either that, or DC just supplied a defective galley copy, but that does not appear to be the case). The result is more often than not the reader has no idea what is going on in the comic.


If anything can save this comic is the art, which suits the noir setting quite well. But art can only carry you so far, and it does not get you far here. That is disappointing given this crossover idea could have been so much more. Snyder truly missed the boat on this one; then again, after the Court of Owls plot in Batman, his run of Batman has veered into the ridiculous. That whole run with Jim Gordon as the new Batman is just embarrassing (Batman, Volume 8: Superheavy; link to my review). If you want to read good The Shadow comics, pick up one of the recent runs from Dynamite Comics. Dynamite even did a nice crossover between The Shadow and The Green Hornet that is actually pretty good (see The Shadow/Green Hornet: Dark Nights; link to my review). You can also seek out the old The Shadow classic comics.


Overall, this is one to skip. There are much better Batman comics out there and much better The Shadow comics out there. Go find those instead. For libraries, this is one you can safely skip. I am not ordering it for my library. If nothing else, I read it and reviewed it so you do not have to.

I'm not usually a big fan of crossover titles, but this one was a good fit for once.
Art compliments the story, but it's Snyder's depiction of Batman (and more importantly Bruce) that is the real standout here.
A quick, fun read.

This was an incredible story. The idea of pitting two great detectives against each other worked so well, especially when the two parties involved are familiar with operating in the shadows and truly know the evils that lurk in the hearts of men.

I love the Shadow! I have original pulp novels, and the old radio broadcasts. I simply couldn't pass up a chance to read this and I loved it. Just perfect!

A promising start but a dull villain, nice hook up to the Shadow though.

'Batman/The Shadow: The Murder Geniuses' by Scott Snyder and Steve Orlando is a crossover title with two vengeance filled heroes, and in a rare turn, Batman comes across as the less violent one.

Batman investigates a murder in Gotham City and it turns out to be Lamont Cranston. Following the trail leads him to the Shadow. Batman has never heard of the Shadow, but he learns that this mysterious person may have been a part of his life for a long time. The Shadow is hunting a mysterious being known as the Stag. Soon the Stag is teaming up with Batman's enemies, forcing Batman and the Shadow into an uneasy alliance.

I liked the story quite a bit. They managed to figure out a way for the Shadow to exist in modern day Gotham City and in the Batman universe in a very clever way. Alfred's past also has a bearing on this story, which I found interesting. I wasn't as crazy about the art, but the story was well written and kept me turning pages.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

This is a strange combo - Batman and The Shadow - since one generally kills the wrongdoer while the other does not believe in killing ever! The duo works at cross purposes for most of the book while looking for The Stag that is killing people in Gotham in order to open a door to Shamba-La. The question has to be asked will the Stag succeed or will Batman and The Shadow stop fighting long enough to prevail? And what does victory look like?

This is a really good mash up of Batman and the Shadow . Good story well done . Art fits perfectly with the story . . In this version of the story The shadow was Was training Batman to replace him . It highlights the differences between the two but clearly The shadow was a big influence on Batman

Batman/The Shadow: The Murder Geniuses by Scott Snyder is further proof that Snyder is perhaps the best Batman storyteller of our generation. Not only does he bring us The Batman, but in this series he brings to life the iconic character of comic and radio; The Shadow.

In the course of investigating a murder in Gotham, the Batman identifies the killer as Lamont Cranston. The problem with this is that Cranston is actually the master detective known as the Shadow. An even larger problem to this is that the Shadow died over half a century ago.

While investigating the murder of a Gothamite, Batman identifies his prime suspect as Lamont Cranston... but there are two problems with that. One, Batman is not aware Lamont's alter ego is the master detective known as the Shadow. Two, and more importantly, Cranston seems to have died over half a century ago!

What follows is a tale of two heroes and two master villains as the Joker joins forces to help kill the spirit of the Shadow and Batman as well. Like Snyder's Batman run, this is an intricately woven tale of good and evil and the grey areas that tie the two together. The Batman is tested on his oath to not kill by not only the Joker but by the Shadow himself, who sees killing as the only option of ridding the world of the evil they battle.

The clash between the two heroes is what makes this series work. Cranston and Wayne. The Shadow and the Batman. Another fun and smart tale by Scott Snyder and company.

Collects BATMAN/THE SHADOW #1-6 and stories from BATMAN ANNUAL #1.

Well... that wasn't what I was expecting..

Batman and the Shadow are similar creations of the pulp era, disguised crime fighters with alternate identities as rich and powerful pillars of society. I thought we'd get something that compared and contrasted the characters and their styles in a pulp era story.

What we get instead is a modern day Batman story with a guest starring Shadow who is pretty significantly different in many ways from the classic version of the character. For some, this will be a fresh and interesting take, but I'm more interested in the Shadow than in Batman, so this being first and foremost a Batman tale limited my interest.

I should point out that the story's not bad, though there's more Batman continuity involved than I expected. The art is good. I don't doubt that a lot or readers will enjoy this. It's just not what I was hoping for.

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Batman knows!




Scott Snyder returns (Kind of....) to Batman with the DC/Dynamite crossover epic BATMAN/THE SHADOW: THE MURDER GENIUSES. I say "Kind of..." because this is one of those cases where the book was "Co-authored", which jaded fans like me know means that the name author said "Batman meets The Shadow!", and the lesser-known author does all of the heavy lifting. In this instance, I was fine with that, because I think that Scott Snyder is a vastly overrated hack, whose Batman run was average, at best, and ridiculously overblown at worst. I may or may not have read something that co-author Steve Orlando wrote at some point (MIDNIGHTER....?), and I remember not finishing it, whatever it was, because I didn't like it.


The good news here is that Orlando does a good job, and the book, while bearing many of Snyder's little tics that drive me nuts (Batman's over-reliance on his tech, Batman suffering mortal wounds that barely cause him to miss a step, robotic Bat-suits, stupid new villains, etc.), is very readable.


I've read a lot of comics that star The Shadow, yet I really have little to no understanding of his origins or his basic character, aside from what was shown in the (Excellent!) Alec Baldwin movie. So I'm not the one to say if his portrayal here is authentic or not. (I've read a lot of complaints online, though.) That said, he is a total douchebag in this book. The plot revolves around a seemingly immortal murderer called The Stag, who needs to complete five thousand and some odd ritual murders in order to gain entrance to Shamba-La, the mystic land that gave birth to The Shadow. There's loads of fighting, as Batman and The Shadow argue amongst themselves while trying to track down The Stag, encountering a gaggle of Batman's rogues along the way, leading to a bizarro showdown in Shamba-La that seems to have been conceived in a drug-induced fever. I have no idea if this weird shit that happens in the end is Shadow canon or what, but it was, probably, the wildest stuff I've read in a modern mainstream comic in a long time. I wish I knew a Shadow expert whose brain I could pick....


Orlando writes a kinder, gentler Batman, which goes a long way to offset the prickish Shadow presented here. The art, by Riley Rossmo, is reminiscent of Michael William Kaluta, which is a good thing.


BATMAN/THE SHADOW: THE MURDER GENIUSES collects the six-issue mini-series of the same name, complete with covers and variants, as well as the prologue from BATMAN ANNUAL #1.


The weed of crime bears bitter fruit, but BATMAN/THE SHADOW: THE MURDER GENIUSES earns seven out of ten of those bitter little suckers:

🍏🍏🍏🍏🍏🍏🍏


DC Comics provided a review copy. DC, you REALLY missed the boat by not including some of the great 1970's Batman/Shadow crossovers in this collection. It wouldn't have added too many more pages, but it would have added a ton of value to the overall package. A real missed opportunity.

BATMAN/THE SHADOW-MURDER GENIUSES

My introduction to comics was in the early sixties and I was a DC kid. Batman and then Superman followed by the various members of the Justice League were what I was weaned on as a child. So when I see a Batman book it takes me back to those days.

As a teen I became aware of old radio programs and then DC began publishing comics based on The Shadow. That introduction then progressed to books coming out at the time on the character. Like Batman he stayed in the shadows and fought the good fight against evil. It was inevitable that the two would team up.

From what I could read this collection of the comic series was pretty good. Again, using Adobe Digital Editions made it difficult to read and the dialogue boxes were indecipherable in some places. But I could read enough to digest what was taking place. Once more, DC, trust us with a version that we can read better.

The best citizens of Gotham are being killed off by a mysterious being. In need of help Batman returns to one of his instructors to discover that the man was part and parcel with the Shadow. Blaming the Shadow for the death of Lamont Cranston, the Shadow must use his methods and mysticism to make Batman realize he is innocent of the crime and that a much greater evil imperils the world.

The Stag is the evil adversary of the Shadow, having fought against one another for years. One is the embodiment of justice, the other of destruction. Now the Stag has his eyes set on Shamba-la, the home of the teachers that instructed the Shadow all those years ago. As he and Batman eventually join forces the Shadow reveals that he has been training Batman all along from the beginning but never quite tells him why until the end.

Along their path to stop their common enemy the Stag will recruit others to help him, mainly the Joker as well as several other notable rogues from Batman’s gallery. But will their teaming up be enough to stop the Stag? And what will Batman be forced to do to survive this endeavor?

The collection here takes all of the comics and binds them into one set. The story is good but at the same time the various catch phrases of the Shadow seem to have lost their luster after all of these years. In a world where the lowest level so called solider in a holy war can ignite a bomb strapped to himself knowing the “evil in the hearts of men” just can’t quite put an end to that evil.

At the same time the concept that the Shadow has played a part in creating the Batman from the beginning was an interesting take. And you also find yourself wondering if what he says is true or just a form of manipulation in an attempt to recruit Batman in his cause. Could Batman actually be the next intended Shadow?

The artwork was not to my liking for the most part but I’m sure others are fine with this artist. For me it seemed a bit scratchy looking and not my favorite style. This is not to say it isn’t worthy of merit but just a matter of differing tastes.

On the whole this is one of the better books DC has put out lately. It somewhat has its own world to deal with while not making the conscience decision to ditch any and all things we know about Batman to do so. I would recommend this book to fans of both characters. In the end the story works and that’s a plus for fans.

Snyder and Orlando did a really solid job of meshing the 2 characters while bringing the Shadow to the modern day. In this version, the Shadow was actually many of Batman's trainers in disguise and was actually training Bruce Wayne to replace him one day. There's also an evil version of the Shadow floating around killing altruistic people named the Stag. When Stagg and the Joker team up, Batman and the Shadow must work together to stop Stag from ascending to Shamba La.

I'm not going to jump on the hype train about this one. It's a good story with plenty of action and detective work, but I feel that BATMAN/THE SHADOW was something done more out of the sake to collaborate something than what the writers did in regards to telling a story. Yes, you have Joker losing his marbles (again) and finds a new ally as weird as himself, yes Batman and The Shadow have more than they can deal with thrown at them, and naturally there are a few surprises here and there. Perhaps I just don't appreciate it when a crossover is done in such few issues, but I would have enjoyed it if there was more character development, plot, and a bit more interaction taking place on the page so that I could have bonded more with the characters. As far as this feels, BATMAN/THE SHADOW is something written purely out of action and plot with little character dynamics taking place.

As a big fan of the Bat, DC and Dynamite's latest crossover is something I could have done without.

Hmmm... While I have never really loved any Shadow books, I was expecting a little more from this, especially when it opened quite strongly. But by the end it had got too weird, almost down to the Cthulhu levels of pointless oddity. I liked some of the retro artwork, even if that was a weird-looking Bruce Wayne, and The Joker just looked ill for the sake of it. It's the story, ultimately, that disappointed - and was an ungainly mishmash of drama and wittering in the worst ways about how the heroes are the same. Not dreadful, but nothing to really remember as valuable.

An imaginative noir comic thick with backstory and full of plot twists!

What villain is killing Gotham City's philanthropists? The Shadow knows the evil in the hearts of men but is he a hero or a villain?

Mentioning almost any part of the plot of this great noir comic would be a heartbreaking spoiler. Most of the fun in reading this multilayered story is not understanding where it is heading in advance.

Usually I read comics and even graphic novels not expecting much from the plot. Action, and awesome illustrations, are my usual expectation. This comic definitely contains both but the focus is on the story. It explains who taught Batman to be Batman. Alfred's background is also explored. While I had only seen one old black & white movie about The Shadow, his story, as shown in this book, is captivating.

Most comics take a few hours to read. This one took me days because I truly wanted it to last as long as possible. I can also see a re-read in my future. Batman/The Shadow: The Murder Geniuses is definitely my favorite comic from 2017. It is especially recommended for mystery readers who previously shunned comics as too simplistic in plotting. The plot is definitely the star here. 5 stars!

Thanks to the publisher, DC Comics, and NetGalley for an advanced review copy.

This is the first Batman comic I’ve read and I really enjoyed it.

The graphics looked older, so it looks like a classic Batman comic. This is great for such an iconic character, like Batman.

I liked the way the story arc was completed through the whole graphic novel. It was a great mystery that left a cliffhanger at the end of each issue. This made me want to keep reading.

Though I know of the Batman characters, I’ve never read a Batman comic before, but I really enjoyed this one. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. This is a great graphic novel!