Ah neron, haven't heard that name in a while. I dug him, he was a pretty good villain from what I remember. Essentially D.Cs equivalent of the devil or marvels dormammu.
To talk about knightfall for a bit, I really REALLY loved following Jean-Paul Valley's arc as batman for a lot of reasons.
One he looks like the biggest badass in the room at all times. with some of the most gorgeous art possible.
Two he's brutal as shit and makes batman look like a kitten with the amount of maiming he does
Three he really does have a wonderful arc to him. A lot of thought was put into how he acts in comparison to bruce and the evolution he undergoes as batman. I love how he starts out just wearing batman's outfit, then adds his personal gauntlets before geting his ass kicked by bane. Then he uses Bruce's resources to build some power armor and become a walking tank. From then on he fully devotes himself to the job. There's no secret identity , Paul IS BATMAN, and the very few times he's out of costume you get the sense he's vulnerable and not comfortable in his own shoes. He's also an understated catholic crusader which is great.
The problem is because he's batman 24/7 there's no filter. He sees the worst of humanity on a daily basis and gives everything back ten fold. It's a constant battle for him to not kill anyone and give into his instincts, but to his credit he manages to (mostly) keep it under control even at his worst. The tipping point is him letting a bad guy die batman begins style, which wouldn't be the end of the world except he needed his info to save a hostage.
There's no subtilty to him, no finesse but he doesn't really need it. He's all about beating everyone's ass. Pauls not a detective, if the bat computer cant figure it out, he's going to go out there and bust heads until someone starts talking. Paul constantly evolves in his combat techniques and upgrades his efficiency. making use of the underground subway tracks using neglected bat tech to cover a lot of ground. When he fights a superpowered villain and gets his armor melted off he goes full gundam and builds an even bigger and more badass suit. He's not perfect, he can get blindsided but you really do get the sense he doesn't make the same mistake twice when it comes to refining his skills.
One of the best parts of the story is seeing everyone react to him. Because Everybody who isnt part of the bat family think's he's bruce at first. It's really fun to see who figures it out and who doesn't and even more interesting to see the horrified reactions to his brutality.
Joker of course he eventually figures it out, but even he is fooled at first. Catwoman immediately realizes it because he cant handle her sexy charms, but most of the villains think it's really him and are scared shitless at his change in attitude.
The other great part is seeing him start to become more and more of an asshole to his allies and push everyone away. He really has it in for Robin and constantly gives him shit. I think part of it is the subconscious programing he had as religious warrior and part of it is a desire to be better then batman. One of the bloodline guys shows up to become his sidekick and despite being nothing but helpful, Paul tells him to fuck off. By the end of the series he's pushed everyone away and pissed off the police.
The hell of is he really is better then bruce when it comes to fighting and terror. Dude brought crime down at least 40 or 60% by the end of his run and bruce could not take him in a direct fight in the armor. He was that good, but the increasing insanity was a hair's breath from turning him into the punisher.
speaking of
Yeah the standalone crossovers were pretty badass. He's got an issue where he teams up with the 4 superman while hiding the fact he's not the original batman, and an issue where he meets resurrected superman that was fun.
Paul is a very interesting character, they kinda shafted him for a while before giving him an impressive 100 issue run of his own before he got killed off. I Really need to read it and his post 52 apprences when they bring him back. Dude joins the justice league and fights darkside, that's a pretty great glow up.
I count myself as a fan of Captain Atom and I’d kill for Nathaniel to get some respect, to this day I still stand by his greatest feat being the “big dog” to all of Wildstorm and killing those libshits in the Authority. Seriously, in Captain Atom: Armageddon he kills the queers and their daughter, it’s incredibly based.
“My name is Captain Atom, as in a-bomb…. as in nuclear fission, as in…… the end of the world.”
I like Joker being funny, I hate the “grit” or “edge” takes, I like him being colourful and taking a silly, harmless concept (clown/circus) and being joyfully sinister about it.
Tim Curry Pennywise essentially, colourful, silly, genuinely funny…….. and pure evil.
I remember Captain Atom pretty fondly from how they portrayed him in Justice league Unlimited. Put up a pretty good show against superman.
Joker for me doesnt work as a mass murdering clown. Like sure he kills people that's part of his deal, but he really should be focused on maiming people for life more then simply killing them. The Animated series had to do this because it was a a kids show, but ironically I think it fits a lot better. The joker got a thrill out of messing people up and toed the line in a mocking way that didn't stretch credibility when he escaped the electric chair for the 1000th time.
