Books: The Passing of Pow! and Blam!

Comics grow up, get ambitious and turn into graphic novels

You may still recognize him. He remains solid for a guy of advancing middle age, even if there is a little thickening around the middle, some slackening under the firm jawline. Sartorially, as ever, his daywear is conservative, the evening wear outrageous: long flowing cape, high midnight-blue boots, tights that fit closer than epidermis and, across his chest, the shadow of a black bat, ascendant.

Batman may look the same, but he has never acted quite this way before. Grimly going after wrongdoers, he is part avenger and part vigilante. While some citizens cheer, others denounce him as the Bernhard Goetz...

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