This was a really cool story of a writer saved by his creations. I saw it as a tale of the power of creativity and the drive to create.

Unfortunately, I couldn't access this book. It wouldn't download to my Kindle or as a pdf on the computer. It's too bad, because it sounds interesting.

There’s such potential in Dark Night: A True Batman Story. Fans of superhero characters are already prepped to want to know more about the author, Paul Dini, who was so instrumental in making Batman: The Animated Series. The idea of exploring how working on a fictional superhero changes after the artist has been severely mugged is a fascinating one. Unfortunately, I found the execution superficial and self-indulgent.

A reader needs to trust an autobiographer to be honest, and I don’t feel that. There are hints of issues — as when we jump from Dad saying, “I’d like to know what kind of job you can get by watching cartoons,” to Dini saying he worked at Warner Bros. Animation, with the parents only getting mentions in passing in the rest of the book — but the difficult questions are barely raised and rarely answered. There’s an indication early on that Dini, as a child, is lying to his psychologist in order to avoid being diagnosed with something serious. I get the same feeling later on, that’s he’s glossing over anything that would be too disturbing.

The art, however, is outstanding. Eduardo Risso does an amazing job both with the real-world people and the fantasy characters overlaid as figments of Dini’s imagination. The coloring is wonderful, indicating through tone shifts which characters are real and which aren’t, and which have more importance to Dini at the time.

I think, based on the cover, I was expecting a scary Batman story. Instead, I got an interesting take on a traumatic experience and the way we get over it. For Dini, he communicated with characters from Batman. Different and cool.

A very personal, behind the scenes look into a horrible/wonderful time in Paul Dini's personal life. It also has illustrations with Batman characters intertwined into Dini's personal struggles, because he was one of the people behind the hit "Batman: The Animated Series." Really deals with the aftermath of a horrendous assault, that leaves Dini questioning himself, his life and all the choices he's been making. A powerful, personal read -- be warned though, it is a bit graphic because of the content.