Review by Karl Verhoven

Enrico Marini’s name isn’t greatly familiar to English language audiences, but across Europe in terms of both commercial success and critical appreciation he ranks among the elite. It’s why this is DC co-publishing with French giants Dargaud, the home of Asterix among others, and why the story was originally released in two hardcover editions before being combined in paperback.

Why Marini has such a formidable reputation is immediately obvious from the art. It’s stunning, even taking into account that almost every notable English speaking comic artist has at one time or another worked on a Batman story. Marini finds new ways to make Batman imposing, revels in cityscapes of Gotham and Batman’s technology, and turns in a quixotic and frightening Joker, for whom a highlight is a version of Gene Kelly’s Singing in the Rain routine. The Joker-themed henchmen are all excellently designed, and the polished, sometimes vivid watercolour is also Marini’s work, expertly applied for such a tricky technique.

Batman and the Joker are prominent, but Marini knows this is going to be his only Batman story, so includes other elements he obviously relishes. Harley Quinn’s birthday sets the plot in motion, and Catwoman and Killer Croc also appear. The other significant aspect is a woman claiming she’s been raising Bruce Wayne’s daughter alone for the past nine years, but now wanting money from him. A lot of it. Alina is a Batman fan and young enough to believe in fairy tales, hence the title.

The intensity of Batman determined to track down the Joker is given more personal motivation, but we’ve seen the bare bones of the plot before. What elevates it are the imaginative sequences stitched together to supply the whole. Marini spends as much time with the Joker as with Batman, and features him in inventive scenes displaying a quixotic personality, teetering between maniac and comedian (rather than clown). At one point Batman attempts to punch the Joker through a windscreen that doesn’t give. “Security glass! Custom made!”, crows the Joker. He’s a simmering, murderous menace, yet one who under all the madness genuinely cares for Harley. It’s contrasted by Batman’s relationship with Catwoman, in a different way equally fractured and flawed. Alina is well drawn to be her age, but her being so knowledgeable at times and too capable at others might make for nice story moments, but they defy credibility.

They are, though, about the only mis-steps Marini makes. The Dark Prince Charming reeks class and is one hell of a Batman story topped by a great ending.