It examines the guys of who Batman is: a brilliant detective, a self-made man, a driven man. It then takes those concepts and turns them on their head. It's a story where Batman becomes addicted to a performance enhancing drug (the now famous Venom), going against his very nature of hard work and dedication. Through the book we see as the drugs rob him of his intellect and how he suffers from his addiction. It's a very human and engaging tale of the Dark Knight. This is not the urban myth version of Batman, this is a weak and vulnerable man who's trying to prevent any more families being broken.
O'Neil writes in his introduction: "Nobody ever becomes an addict to ruin his or her life. Addiction always begins with a desire to be better. Stronger. Smarter. Suaver. Richer. Braver. More. The promise is always of less pain and greater fulfillment, and the promise is always a lie. It's a lesson millions of people are learning, particularly on the streets of our cities -- an agonizing, intensely human lesson." These words are eloquent and as true now as when he wrote them.
This book proves what we knew all along: Batman's one of the toughest hombres of all time.
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