The Batman Handbook: The Ultimate Training Manual

A friend of mine recently gifted me with this nifty little book and I've pretty much worked my way through all of it at this point. So yes, I'm ready to begin my career as a crime fighter.

... Ok, maybe not. But anyway, its a lot of fun. Written by Scott Beatty, who is probably one of the pre-eminient historians of the DCU, I already have a few of his Ulitimate Guides to (Batman, Superman, the JLA) and they are really well put together. He also relied heavily on information from Chuck Dixon, who, by dint of writing Robin and Nightwing so well for so long, is one of my favourite comic book writers.

The book has wonderful stuff like 'How to use a rebreather'. 'How to avoid an acid attack.' 'How to lower your body temperature', 'How to throw a Batarang', and 'How to slide down the Batpole.' That last one had co-worker Martin and I laughing really hard, 'cause y'know, we're twelve.

My favourite section though was 'How to train a sidekick'. I've always wanted a sidekick, so at least now I'll know what to do if I ever get one. LOL.