FREELEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT: NORM BREYFOGLE: VOLUME 1 EBOOK Norm Breyfogle,Alan Grant | 520 pages | 04 Aug 2015 | DC Comics | 9781401258986 | English | United States Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle #1 - Volume 1 (Issue) Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Alan Grant. John Wagner. Mike W. Barr. Jo Duffy. Robert Greenberger Goodreads Author. Batman AnnualDetective Comics, Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. More Details Other Editions 4. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Legends of the Dark Knightplease sign up. Be the first to ask a question about Legends of the Dark Knight. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Mar 28, Keith rated it really liked it. So man, I have been waiting for this collection to exist for over 20 years. Batman which isn't collected here, but should be in subsequent volumes was my first-ever Batman comic, and I reread it so many times in the intervening years I'm pretty sure I have it memorized. From that book forward, I was absolutely addicted to Norm Breyfogle's Batman -- the harsh angles, the incredible page layouts, the mix of narrative storytelling ability and an aggressive dynamism that I just don't even kno So man, I have been waiting for this collection to exist for over 20 years. From that book forward, I was absolutely addicted to Norm Breyfogle's Batman -- the harsh angles, the incredible page layouts, the mix of narrative Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle: Volume 1 ability and an aggressive dynamism that I just don't even know how to describe. Breyfogle didn't just draw characters and settings -- he drew the idea of movementa meshing of style and tone that ensured every single penstroke was building Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle: Volume 1 an aesthetic ideal that was more than just a rendering of objects in space. There's nothing like a Breyfogle Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle: Volume 1 page. You see one and you realize just how many artists out there are missing an entire half of their illustration toolbox, Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle: Volume 1 which layout and content are brought together so completely and irrevocably that the page, the line, and the panel Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle: Volume 1 a single unit. It's impossible, obviously, for me to talk about Norm Breyfogle without waxing poetic. But I'm telling you, man -- the dude understood how to find a page's sheer oneness in ways I've really never seen anywhere else. I tracked down the single issues in my 20s, but this is the first time I'd seen his work on high-grade paper, without ads and lettercolumns. And I'll admit, my four-star review on this volume is wholly due to the intensity of my nostalgia. There was a pulpiness, a serial-of-the-week feel to Breyfogle's work with Alan Grant on these stories -- they understood how to make the monthly medium workwith single-issue tales that zinged and two or three-parters so dense with plot and character that just reading a few issues felt like a full meal. The stark simplicity of Breyfogle's inks were also uniquely suited to the terrible newsprint on which they were printed -- the striking blacks and bold shapes jumped off those yellowed pages. There's something mildly less electric about seeing these incredible stories put together in a clean and perfect package. It doesn't help that Todd Klein's impeccable lettering clearly had to be re-traced for much of this volume, nor that some of Breyfogle's inks haven't reproduced as sharply and precisely as the originals. The book also suffers from a lack of any kind of introduction or backmatter, which should be standard for a retrospective like this. But these are quibbles that Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle: Volume 1 people who are not psycho for Breyfogle won't even pick up on. What you will find, instead, is the beginning of a seminal period of Batman comics. These aren't continuity-heavy stories in the larger sense, but within their own sandbox they lay the groundwork for an intricate cast of characters and criminals in a fully-realized Gotham that Breyfogle and Grant were able to explore to their heart's content during the late 80's and early 90's. The volume begins with a collection of early Batman backup stories with a range of writers, several of which I've never even heard of before. Some characters, like Scarface and Ultimate Clayface, became major players throughout the Batman mythos. Other baddies, like the Ratcatcher, Kadaver, and the Corrosive Man, were minor nogoodniks that played to the angularity and supernatural-tinged drama of Breyfogle's art. These stories also have an overly-nuanced political stance that is unheard of in modern superhero comics -- from Batman learning about Western bigotry through fighting against Middle Eastern "terrorists," to lessons in colonialism through the characterization of an Aboriginal warrior bent on revenge. But there is still a small-time, low-stakes feel here -- a naturalness and groundedness to Batman's day-to-day crimesolving that has little to do with epic storytelling, and more to do with satisfying storytelling. This sort of day-to-day adventuring humanizes Batman like nothing I've ever read. And while there's a somewhat preachy diatribe against drug use that hangs over these stories in an outdated way, this thread never gets in the way of the story. Norm suffered a debilitating stroke this past year that left him unable to draw -- in fact, the stroke is the reason that DC saw fit to fast-track this retrospective perhaps at the expense of some of the book's aesthetic details. Aside from buying this book because it's the right thing to do for your comic-lovin' heart, proceeds are going to Breyfogle's medical bills, which are sizeable. So look -- do yourself Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle: Volume 1 favor, and Norm a favor, by buying the crap out of this gorgeous thing. View all 7 comments. Dec 27, Matt rated it it was amazing. A beautiful collection of Norm Breyfogle's early Batman work. The majority of the stories are his collaborations with Alan Grant, which is one of the greatest creative teams the character's ever had. It was great go back and read these classic tales after so many years. I can't wait for Volume Two! Apr 02, Mike rated it really liked it Shelves: completed-series. Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle: Volume 1 Detective Comics, and stories from Batman Annual credits to Wikipedia which, in publication order, puts it roughly around Batmanabout a year after Batman: Year One. Chronologically, according to the same Wikipedia page since edited to remove these artist-centric volumes from the chronology Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle: Volume 1 the Batman: Fortunate Son graphic novel and Batman: Second Chances Batmanand Batman Annual Oct 27, Nate added it. It might be blasphemy, but I think Norm Breyfogle's interior art is ugly. Maybe the inking and coloring makes it look worse. Either way, his covers are far better, with some iconic ones reprinted here Detective, But honestly, the interiors look rushed and lazy compared to the covers. That's par the course for comics during this time period. Predictable crime fighting, dull dialogue, dumb over-the-top sequences. Batman has little personality here. Dec 30, David marked it as to-read Shelves: comic-books. A total blind spot in my comics history. Never knew about this stuff. Think I'm really going to like this when I sit down Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle: Volume 1 read it. Art looks really great - nice follow up to the Aparo era. Jul 22, Jesse Richards rated it it was amazing. Wish this had an introduction, but the content is perfect. View 1 comment. Apr 09, anthony e. THIS is Batman to me. I appreciate especially the initiative these creators take to make new bat-villains, even if a few of them are little more than cool visuals. Wagner and Grant are obsessed with drugs, as they feature heavily in nearly every story. They also love to tell the reader that Batman "hates crime", which is a bit on the nose. Still, they are stories of a bygone age, when comic books simply functioned differently than they do now. Breyfogle is the real draw here. His Batman is lean and coiled, his fights choreographed and swift. His form vacillates between abstract and rendered, and his cape has a life of it's own. All of that serves to make the art extremely evocative, especially for a kid, which is when I first read these stories. Great stuff, if a little weird and dated. Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle Vol. 2 by Various | Penguin Random House Canada Legends of the Dark Knight - Be the first to write a review. Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle: Volume 1 another volume of Batman tales illustrated by top comics artist Norm Breyfogle, featuring the Dark Knight's conflicts with Anarky, The Joker and the Scarecrow and the seeming death of the Penguin.