Batman: Kings of Fear — a Coming of Age story?

Yet another list of overrated books came out a while back and to the surprise of absolutely no one who's ever paid attention to any of these things, J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye was on it because of course it was. Catcher in the Rye is the Comics Sans of literature these days: it's the easiest of targets. Think it's overrated? Think it should be replaced by something written by someone who's not a dead white male? I won't necessarily object to the former and will almost certainly cheer the latter.

But even if those things are true, I find most of the criticisms of Catcher (and Comics Sans, for that matter) to be easy, obvious and trite. Now, admittedly, I'm not sure I've read the novel in its entirety this century. But when people complain about poor spoiled rich Holden Caufield, it gives me pause. Because while I bow to few in my kneejerk dislike of those born with a silver spoon in mouth, when I think of Catcher in the Rye, I think of its protagonist who, over and over, literally from the very first page, is begging for help...and no one will listen to him or take him seriously. And it's not like it's hidden: Holden calls himself a madman in the first paragraph of the first chapter. And then again and again throughout the novel, he's trying to tell people he's losing it:

I’m crazy. I swear to God I am.
I swear to God I’m crazy. I admit it.
I’m crazy. I swear to God I am.
I swear to God I’m a madman.

Those second and third examples? They're on the same page.

And no one takes him seriously. Child of privilege or not, you have to feel for the kid.

It reminds me of what John Lennon later said about the title song for their second film:

When “Help!” came out, I was actually crying out for help. Most people think it’s just a fast rock ‘n’ roll song. I didn’t realize it at the time; I just wrote the song because I was commissioned to write it for the movie. But later, I knew I really was crying out for help.

I mean, how much more obvious could it be? And yet no one listened. 

Which brings me to this review of Batman: Kings of Fear, and why I'm so pleased by it:

Batman: Kings of Fear is a series of 6 mini-issues focusing on The Dark Knight’s innermost fears and motivations… An almost Catcher in the Rye mission split with several references to A Christmas Carol: The Scarecrow takes Batman on a tour through what has happened and what might have been.  

[I]t’s a simple premise, but things get complicated when Batman has to reflect upon his life as a crime fighter. The dialogue hums nicely as does the flow from issue to issue. (I always worry about that when reading these types of mini-comics.)  

A seriously fun ride that may be a bit deeper view of Scarecrow and Batman than I’ve ever seen. One I’ll be recommending to many.

I mean. Salinger and Dickens? I'll take it.