Comrade Courant Culture Critic

Batman: The Killing Joke (2016): A Horrifying Masterpiece That Redefined Animated Cinema "As a Batman story, it's controversial. As a film, it's a flawless, soul-chilling descent into madness that forever raised the bar for animation." — 5/5 Stars Let's be clear from the outset: Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) is not a comfortable watch. It is not a heroic power fantasy. It is a psychological horror film disguised as a superhero cartoon—a bleak, brutal, and unflinching examination of trauma, madness, and the fragile line that separates order from chaos. And while I take some issue with the story as a Batman fan, as a film, it is excellent and set the high-water mark for what an animated feature can be . Adapting Alan Moore's landmark graphic novel was a daunting task, and the film delivers its nihilistic thesis with devastating precision. The Joker, seeking t...

Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham (2023): A Lovecraftian Missed Opportunity Wrapped in Decent Animation "A cursed prophecy, a bat-shaped god, and a film that should’ve been far more terrifying." — 3/5 Stars Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham (2023) arrives with a tantalizing premise: a 1920s Batman, cosmic horror, and a Gotham City built on occult bloodlines. Based on the cult-favorite Elseworlds comic of the same name, the film leans hard into H.P. Lovecraft’s mythos—specifically echoing The Doom That Came to Sarnath —and reimagines Bruce Wayne not as a detective, but as a reluctant avatar of primordial dread. It’s certainly better than most straight-to-video animated superhero fare —more ambitious in scope, more atmospheric in tone. But let’s be clear: it doesn’t hold a candle to DC’s animated high-water marks like Batman: Under the Red Hood , The Killing Joke , or Gotham by Gaslight...