DAILY MANIFESTO

Book Review: The Dark Knight Manual

Posted on Monday, June 25 @ 12:50:57 Eastern by Daniel Bischoff

In the lead up to highly-anticipated movie, you get all kinds of crap flooding the shelves, aiming for your hard-earned hype-dollars. Action figures, party supplies, tighty-whities, the list goes on and on. If people can sell it, you can bet it'll get branded.

Super hero movies are no different. I'm sure you can remember the Avengers and their attack on everything from pizzas to purses (except video games, no Avengers video games). It seems like Batman will be getting the same treatment in the lead up to The Dark Knight Rises, but how can you wade through the mountains of crap and come out on the other side with something that lets you celebrate your fandom, instead of bemoan it.

Enter The Dark Knight Manual from Insight Editions.

Remember when you were a kid and you'd get those pop-up books with the Ninja Turtles in them? This is a grownup's pop-up book. Every inch of this book is covered in bits of information and awesome fold-outs, pull-outs, and... well, just take a look at the video above to see what I mean.

Utilizing stills and production materials from Christopher Nolan's movies, The Dark Kinght Manual is a deep dive into the real world application of Batman and his rogue's gallery. What makes Nolan's films so enticing and entrancing is put to paper here.

Starting with the Wayne double murder and ending with The Joker, the Manual is a tome of all things Batman and the way Nolan and company have attacked the mythos in a way that brings the characters to life in the real world.

As a fan, I couldn't really expect more from an excellent coffee table book. Written in Bruce Wayne's inner monologue, each page is covered with notes on the subject at hand. On The Cave, Wayne writes:

Functioning optimally required a base of operations from which key methods and technologies could be developed. Each aspect of the operation demanded space: a workshop, a sophisticated computer station, and room for storage. The first challenge was to find a location able to support all of those needs safely, easily, and with a high level of secrecy. Something close to home—an expanse of land entirely inaccessible to those without clearance.

Perhaps more important than the text is the way gadgets are broken down and detailed at every inch. Wayne Enterprises Applied Science Division markups are littered throughout the book. Each showcases another item in Batman's arsenal.

The Tumbler alone gets a dedicated 12 pages. A sticky note on one pages lists the specifications: 2.5 tons, ~200MPH top speed, 0-60MPH in 2.9 seconds....

I could go on, but as someone who actually owns a coffee table at this point his life, The Dark Kinght Manual has booted long-standing staple The Sounds of Science to the book shelf. It's incredibly extensive, detailed, and even future-proofed with details on gadgets and villains from The Dark Knight Rises.

The Dark Knight Manual is 112 pages, hardcover, and available now. There are more than 35 removable inserts and dossiers. The list price is $40.00, but you can head to Amazon right now and get it for just $25.60. If you're as excited as I am for The Dark Knight Rises, you'd better jump on that.

Tags: review, Batman

Comments

thedarkstar
Joined: Feb 2011

Posted: Jun 25th, 2012 at 1:15 pm
Who the heck is "The Dark Kinght"?

I kid, because I care. Lol.

0 0

danielrbischoff
Joined: Nov 2009

Posted: Jun 25th, 2012 at 1:51 pm
Holy ****, you have no idea how many times I spelled it that way in writing this article... and I miss the biggest one. Thanks.

0 0

UghRochester
Joined: Jun 2006

Posted: Jun 25th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
This does sound awesome, but living on my own with a tight budget, I need to be Scrooge with my money.

0 0

MasterRabbi
Joined: May 2007

Posted: Jun 25th, 2012 at 1:48 pm
Sounds awesome, love the movies. While not related as much to the movies, I recommend Becoming Batman by E. Paul Zehr. It basically analyzes what Batman is capable of and how one would go about training for it.

0 0

danielrbischoff
Joined: Nov 2009

Posted: Jun 25th, 2012 at 2:09 pm
I'll check that out!

0 0

NecroWolf
Joined: Oct 2005

Posted: Jun 25th, 2012 at 3:51 pm
Eh, I prefer the comic book Batman style to the Christopher Nolan films, but they're still great films. Cool book, thanks for pointing this out!
Actually right now we're running a tabletop roleplay campaign centered around the cartoon Young Justice, it takes place between seasons 1 and 2, with all-original characters who fight beside Young Justice as a new team.

0 0

InsightEditions
Joined: Jun 2012

Posted: Jun 25th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Great review - and when we first purchased the URL for the book site - we spelled it wrong too!

0 2

tinymhg
Joined: Jun 2011

Posted: Jun 25th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
This is the first time, I remember, a publisher leaving a comment. Cool.

0 0

danielrbischoff
Joined: Nov 2009

Posted: Jun 25th, 2012 at 4:50 pm
Thanks Insight! Agreed tiny.

0 0

UghRochester
Joined: Jun 2006

Posted: Jun 27th, 2012 at 4:07 am
Haha! So awesome!

0 0

dirty_f
Joined: Nov 2010

Posted: Jun 25th, 2012 at 7:52 pm
read Batman: Knightfall Vol 1 and Vol 2, Knightquest. they're the inspiration for all of the Nolan movies.

0 0

UghRochester
Joined: Jun 2006

Posted: Jun 27th, 2012 at 4:08 am
Pretty sure The Killing Joke was Nolan's inspiration for The Joker.

0 0

Jobin_Wendy
Joined: Mar 2012

Posted: Jun 26th, 2012 at 10:52 am
This is all well and good, but it doesn't really interest me because

I. Am. BATMAN!

0 0

tinymhg
Joined: Jun 2011

Posted: Jun 26th, 2012 at 11:14 am
NO!

I! AM! BATMAN!

0 0