Dark Night – Paul Dini's chilling autobiographical Batman tale

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

Dark Night: A True Batman Story
by Paul Dini (author) and Eduardo Risso (illustrator)
Vertigo
2016, 128 pages, 6.9 x 10.4 x 0.5 inches
$14 Buy a copy on Amazon

Batman the Animated Series was perhaps the cartoon of my childhood. I remember watching it when it premiered, and followed it through its entire run. While I've loved the movies, and the comics, Batman for me will always be the voice of Kevin Conroy, and the Joker will always be Mark Hamill. I owe my love for Batman to this wonderful show that Paul Dini helped create, which is why I was so struck to read his chilling autobiographical Batman tale.

Like myself and many others, Dini too was hugely influenced by Batman through his childhood. The beginning of the book establishes how comics became a coping mechanism for Dini as he navigated through the world with social anxiety. His lonely but successful life is thrown upside down one night when he was mugged and beaten within an inch of his life.

Dini's story is all about coming to grips with a world that can be cruel, dealing with demons, and finding a way to overcome. It's a Batman story that doesn't take place in the Batman universe. I found it tremendously moving, the artwork beautiful, and I highty recommend it.- JP LeRoux