Another sumptuous must-have reference for Batman fans.
The exhaustive oral history of Batman in animation continues.
In this hefty fifth volume of the ongoing interview series covering the famous comics character Batman through one animated series after another (starting in 1992 with the critically praised Batman: The Animated Series), Miller traces the character’s appearances in animated media after the cancellation of Batman Beyond in 2001. This installment follows the pattern of earlier volumes by framing its narrative via a series of interviews with virtually everybody connected with the projects discussed, from artists and storyboarders to writers, directors, producers, and the voice actors who brought all the characters of the extended Batman mythos to life (the most famous being the late Kevin Conroy as Batman). Once again, Miller has filled virtually every page with photos and color stills, from raw storyboards to pics of convention appearances by stars and showrunners over the years, making these volumes a unique visual resource on this subject. In addition to the interviews, the text also includes detailed episode guides for Batman’s appearances after Batman Beyond in shows such as Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and several straight-to-video feature productions. As with all the previous volumes, Miller presents the perfect blend of fan appreciation and industry-insider details. Animator Bruce Timm, for instance, reflects on the work-intensive nature of the two-part 2003 Justice League episode “Wild Cards” (which featured Mark Hamill reprising his role as the Joker): “We probably spent more man-hours in the editing bay on that particular show than any other JL episode. It seemed like practically every single shot needed some kind of trim or ‘speed-up’ or ‘slow-down’ or re-take.” Throughout the work, Miller’s respect and affection for the character and his animated incarnations are evident in many of the interviews, such as when executive producer Michael Uslan sums things up with, “So, that’s I think where it begins and ends. It’s story. It’s quality.”
Another sumptuous must-have reference for Batman fans.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9798887710990
Page Count: 742
Publisher: BearManor Media
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.
An insider’s chronicle of a pivotal presidential campaign.
Several months into the mounting political upheaval of Donald Trump’s second term and following a wave of bestselling political exposés, most notably Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s Original Sin on Joe Biden’s health and late decision to step down, former Vice President Harris offers her own account of the consequential months surrounding Biden’s withdrawal and her swift campaign for the presidency. Structured as brief chapters with countdown headers from 107 days to Election Day, the book recounts the campaign’s daily rigors: vetting a running mate, navigating back-to-back rallies, preparing for the convention and the debate with Trump, and deflecting obstacles in the form of both Trump’s camp and Biden’s faltering team. Harris aims to set the record straight on issues that have remained hotly debated. While acknowledging Biden’s advancing decline, she also highlights his foreign-policy steadiness: “His years of experience in foreign policy clearly showed….He was always focused, always commander in chief in that room.” More blame is placed on his inner circle, especially Jill Biden, whom Harris faults for pushing him beyond his limits—“the people who knew him best, should have realized that any campaign was a bridge too far.” Throughout, she highlights her own qualifications and dismisses suggestions that an open contest might have better served the party: “If they thought I was down with a mini primary or some other half-baked procedure, I was quick to disabuse them.” Facing Trump’s increasingly unhinged behavior, Harris never openly doubts her ability to confront him. Yet she doesn’t fully persuade the reader that she had the capacity to counter his dominance, suggesting instead that her defeat stemmed from a lack of time—a theme underscored by the urgency of the book’s title. If not entirely sanguine about the future, she maintains a clear-eyed view of the damage already done: “Perhaps so much damage that we will have to re-create our government…something leaner, swifter, and much more efficient.”
A determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781668211656
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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