BOOK REVIEW: Batman: Resurrection – A Return to Burton’s Gotham
Mark Pereira
3–5 minutes
Title: Batman: Resurrection Author: John Jackson Miller Publisher: Penguin Random House Release Date: October 15, 2024 Price: MSRP: $19 (USD)
As someone whose earliest memory is watching Batman ’89 in theaters – eyes wide at the Batwing silhouetted against the moon – I approached Batman: Resurrection with a mix of nostalgia and skepticism. Superhero novels can go sideways fast, teetering into fan fiction or hollow pastiche. And after the enormously waisted attempt at bringing Michael Keaton’s Batman into the larger DCEU with the mediocre at best The Flash and the never-to-see-the-light-of-day Batgirl, I was cautious at best when I picked up this book on a whim a few weeks ago. I’m happy to say that author John Jackson Miller more than delivers something that the Snyder-verse never could: a surprisingly faithful return to Tim Burton’s shadow-drenched Gotham.
This isn’t the Batman of the comics or the Arkham games. This is Keaton’s Batman – the stoic, neck-stiff silhouette; the tragic eyes; the man who never fully came back from the edge. And Miller doesn’t just reference the Burton films – he inhabits them.
“The shadows were where he belonged. But even in the darkness, the past had a way of finding him.”
Let’s get one thing clear: this is absolutely a fan’s book. But it is also a writer’s book, in the sense that the callbacks and foreshadowing feel earned, not indulgent. Characters from both Batman and Batman Returns reappear in ways that are narratively satisfying – never just cameos for applause. And classic Bat-villains who never appeared in the original two films get their flowers here and are introduced in ways that feel natural and authentic.
Penguin’s legacy looms large, Catwoman’s presence is a whisper in the dark, and Joker… well, let’s just say Miller understands that Jack Nicholson’s chaos still echoes in Gotham’s bones.
“Gotham was a city of scars. Some healed. Some didn’t. And some, like his, just learned to hide better.”
Batman: Resurrection
Jack Nicholson’s Clown Prince of Crime from Batman ’89. (Image Credit:Warner Bros. via Quotesgram)
The plot itself is straightforward – perhaps a little too much so – but it moves at a steady clip and never forgets whose story it is. This is about a surprisingly cerebral Bruce Wayne grappling with the ghosts of Gotham, both literal and emotional.
The Voice of Gotham
What struck me most was how well the tone matched the films. The dialogue has that operatic noir flair. The world is heightened, theatrical, almost stage-like – just like Burton’s sets. It feels like watching Batman ’89 on VHS again, in the best possible way.
“He wore the city like armor. Every alley, every gargoyle, every scream in the night – it all belonged to him”
Batman: Resurrection
Still, the novel doesn’t escape all the trappings of tie-in fiction. Some of the prose can veer into exposition-heavy territory, and there’s a stiffness to certain scenes where you feel the writer working harder than the characters. But if you’re reading this book (or this review), you’re probably not here for groundbreaking literary innovation. You’re here to be back in Burton’s Gotham.
Final Score (3.5 out of 5 stars)
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Batman: Resurrection won’t win any awards – and that’s okay. It knows what it is: a love letter to a very specific version of the Caped Crusader. For fans of Burton’s films, this book is like flipping on a Bat-Signal that hasn’t lit the sky in decades.
“He wasn’t the hero they remembered. But maybe he was still the one they needed.”
Batman: Resurrection
A 7/10 from me – but if your heart still beats a little faster when you hear Danny Elfman’s masterful, iconic score, this might feel more like a 9.
Tell us what you think! Have you already read this book? If not, will you pick it up now before the sequel, Batman: Revolution releases on Oct. 21? share your thoughts in the comments below or join the conversation on Boss Rush Network’s Discord and Facebook.
Mark Pereira is a Senior Writer for Boss Rush Network. A lifelong Batman fan and bookworm, he’s passionate about storytelling across games, books, and film. When he’s not reading or writing or playing video games, you’ll find him wrangling his four kids, leveling up in life, or talking nerd culture and parenting on Twitter. You can also follow him on Instagram and Goodreads.
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