what's going on folks welcome to the bar and I know what you're thinking yes this is a long form video I figure since it's the Night Before Christmas why not give everyone a special Christmas treat and finally give everyone what they all want a long form video and today we're going to be talking about my favorite Batman story to read during the holidays Batman noel and if you're not familiar with the story it's an adaptation of Charles dickens's A Christmas Carol except this time it's set in Gotham City the artist and the writer of this
book is liberio and as we go through Noel I'd like everyone to keep this thought in the back of their head cuz for this story to make sense you have to believe in anything you have to believe in just something and above all you have to believe that people can change so pour yourself a drink spark one up if you got to cuz it's about to get cold in Gotham City the Night Before Christmas now let's open up the bar [Music] all right folks welcome to the bar so Batman noel which in my opinion is
the quintessential Batman story for the holidays because this Batman story is most notably known for being based after Charles dickens's classic A Christmas Carol and let me tell you right now the way that this story weaves dickens's themes into the world of Gotham City is nothing short of brilliant you could tell that the writer and artist liberio has a deep respect for dickens's work and as a result he created created a tale that is haunting heartfelt and just visually stunning and without further Ado let's dust off the wall and talk about this entire [Music] comic
all right so Batman noel starts off with a narrator whose identity that you'll discover later on in the story walking us through the setup and the narrator introduces us to Bob cratchet or well the Gotham City version of him and Bob here is a smalltime crook working for the Joker who's just trying to scrape by for the sake of his kid but Batman he's having absolutely none of it tonight he's actually trailing Bob like a predator looking to actually use him as bait to lure the joker out and I'll tell you right off the Jump
this is not the Batman that you're used to this Batman is colder than the [ __ ] Gotham snow he's bitter Relentless and he's just downright cruel sometimes he sees the world is black and white and Bob is just another criminal in his eyes which in turn sets the stage for Batman's Journey that mirrors Ebony or Scrooge's transformation in A Christmas Carol and after Batman scares the wrath of God into Bob he returns to the Batcave and then that's when Alfred points out that that Bruce is starting to get sick like really sick to the
point of where he actually hallucinates Jason Todd and when Jason Todd appears that's when A Christmas Carol truly begins because Jason Todd represents Jacob Marley which if you don't know from A Christmas Carol Jacob Marley is Ebenezer Scrooge's business partner that recently died and when he appears to Scrooge in the middle of the night he's the one that tells him that he's going to be visited by the three ghosts of Christmas which means first up is the Ghost of Christmas Past who better to fill this role than Catwoman Selena Kyle takes Batman back to the
early days of his Crusade reminding him of the anger and Vengeance that drove him and through the flashbacks we see a younger and more idealistic Bruce Wayne and then it kind of sets in for the reader because now we're just being reminded of the humanity that Batman has slowly lost throughout the years and the appearance of Catwoman isn't just a walk down memory lane it's supposed to be a wakeup call cuz she challenges Batman's rigid worldview planting the seed for his eventual transformation you know as he falls into an Alleyway and when Batman slams and
hits the ground he breaks out into a coughing fit which prompts the Ghost of Christmas present to appear and it's none other than Superman and he heard Bruce's coughing from Metropolis so when he rolls up he immediately uses his x-ray vision on Bruce and discovers that he has pneumonia and of course that's when Superman pleads with Batman to just go home but it's Batman so he tells Superman that he will but first he has to go check up on Bob and his son and that is when things get interesting because that's when Superman finds out
that Batman is using Bob cratchet and his son as bait for the Joker and that's when the story takes an interesting turn because there's this heartfelt moment where Superman and Batman have a conversation about their weight and responsib abilities Superman who's ever The Optimist has to remind Batman that hope and compassion are just as important as justice but it really doesn't stop there because then Superman takes Batman to go see Commissioner Gordon who's at home unwinding after another long day and in that quiet moment Batman over hears Gordon reflecting on how much darker Batman has
become over the years and to be quite honest Gordon's disappointment is palpable as he thinks about the man that Batman used to be versus who he's becoming and it's abundantly clear that even Batman's stest Ally is starting to worry about the direction of his Crusade cuz Superman's visit isn't just about showing Batman the consequences of his actions it's about reminding him of the humanity that he's trying to protect and it really is a touching moment because at the end of everything Superman still sees him as his best friend and wants to make sure that he's
okay and after Superman leaves Batman at the Batmobile you're kind of left there wondering whether or not Superman was actually there at all because the minute that Batman steps towards the Batmobile it explodes enter the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come Now this part is actually up for interpretation but rather than being the Joker himself this ghost man EST itself through a vision orchestrated by the Joker's chaos as the fever dream that Batman experiences when he's knocked out is a Gotham City without Batman but also it's a Gotham City where Batman went too far so
we see gangs of people that are bat themed fighting people that are Joker themed on top of people like Commissioner Gordon getting 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole for aiding and abetting a known fugitive but that is when Batman wakes up and punches out of the Grave that the Joker buried him inside of because if you had the chance to change to get it right would you fight for it and that's when Batman learns that sometimes it takes dying to teach a fella how to live cuz even in Scrooge's case it took
a real doozy of a night to make him realize that and as the narrator says you could call it a near-death experience but I call it a wakeup call and now that Batman's journey is complete there's still one more loose end Bob cratchet and his kid because now the Joker has come to collect and when he busts open the door he scares the [ __ ] out of Tiny Tim and pulls a gun on Bob but like always the Joker never expected Batman to show up and when Batman kicks the gun out of Joker's hand
Bob picks it up and points it at the Joker's face which becomes the defining moment in this story because early on Batman would have just cracked Bob in the face and scared the everloving [ __ ] out of Tiny Tim to make sure that he never walked down the same path that his father did but instead he shouts from the bottom of his soul no you are not a criminal show your son the kind of man that you are the kind of man they could respect without fear someone they could believe in and above all
Batman wants Bob to show Tim what a hero is and as Bob lowers his gun The Joker Is apprehended by the gcpd which allows Tim and Bob to be together on Christmas and for Batman to return to the Batcave and finally get some sleep but that's not where A Christmas Carol ends nor Batman noel cuz the next morning Bob and Tim hear a knock at the door while they're cleaning up broken glass cuz it's time for old Scrooge to make his rounds cuz remember the reason why Bob was so down on his luck was because
his boss refused to give him any form with back pay raise benefits PTO the works and on top of raising Tim who's chronically sick he had to make a deal with the joker to make some side cash because it turns out that when Bruce woke up he found out what company that Bob worked for Wayne Industries so Bruce made sure to make good on everything sending Bob a tree all of his back pay and someone to fix the window as well because in my opinion Batman noel is a reminder that even in the darkest of
times there's always a chance for Redemption this story is a story of Hope forgiveness and the power of change and after all isn't that kind of what the holidays are about and look if you haven't read Batman noel yet do yourself a favor and pick this one up it's not just a great Batman story it's a great story period whether you're a DieHard fan or just someone looking for a fresh take on a holiday Classic this book does deliver and there's something about this story that always has me coming back to it on Christmas Eve
and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did so thanks for stopping by the bar stay safe stay warm and remember even in the darkest of nights there's always a little bit of light so until next time happy holidays cheers
