Reception
The book was described as a "slim, vivid novel" with a "very simple" and "fast paced" plot line. A review in the The Washington Times was positive: "With a plot that takes Batman very seriously — and makes him very human — and a dismaying amount of information on the sexual exploitation of children for profit, this novel makes an ineradicable impression". Likewise, another reviewer found it "an engaging and disturbing one-night read that's all the more astonishing because Vachss manages to explore and make his points about a wholly depressing topic without driving your moods into the sewer." Roger Catlin in the Hartford Courant said "Vachss' bold, simple prose is well suited to his story. He's good at making Batman's various devices — the Batmobile, computers, flying gizmos — come to life with his cool description."
A review in the New York Times noted that basic premise is a good idea, but "studded as it is with undigested chunks of scientific jargon, sociology-speak and polemical rhetoric Batman: The Ultimate Evil misses out almost completely on the pure pulp thrills that lie at the heart of its title character's appeal." In the St. Petersburg Times, Adam Begley also noted the use of what he called "techno-babble". In The Washington Post, Jack Womack wrote that Vachss describes the Batmobile "lovingly yet gnomically, as if a Motor Trend review had been translated into Slovakian by someone more familiar with Czech" and concluded that the novel was "as satisfying — aesthetically, ethically, morally — as a pulse-pounding yarn in which pulp-fiction hero Doc Savage ransacks the shantytowns of South America in a terribly successful search for Doc Mengele." In Kirkus Reviews, the story was compared to a generic "Destroy All Exploiters" video game where Batman "disposes of each lower-level pimp, then moves up to the next level". Sybil Steinberg in Publishers Weekly noted that "while no classic, this is likely the the most stylish adaptation yet of a comic-book figure, its cold stiletto prose and white-hot passions lifting it leagues above recent Spider-man and Incredible Hulk offerings. It's also Vachss' best work since Shella". Both the Library Journal and Booklist predicted heavy demand for it at public libraries.
Read more about this topic: Batman: The Ultimate Evil
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
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—Walter Pater (1839–1894)
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
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“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)