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Grant Morrison's Batman

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15:56 / 28.08.07

Papers, you and Tim have done an excellent job of describing just why I love this issue.

I think the "Club of Heroes" will be remembered as one of the Batman highlights of the decade.

That's looking likely, at least as far as my humble subjectivity is concerned.

15:21 / 30.08.07

Good point - after all, Sherlock Holmes is fiction's greatest detective, but a lot of his pseudo-forensic crime-solving methods are actually pretty contrived, implausible, and unsatisfying.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

15:25 / 30.08.07

At least Batman--at times--simply comes right out and uses unrealistic sci-fi technologies (or, you know, calls J'onn and inquires about a quick mind-scan). Not all the time and certainly he mainly plays by the narrative rules that govern Gotham, but the "black casebook" and all that weird science acknowledge the greater world and it's habit for convenient contrivance.

Shiny: Well Over Thirty

13:14 / 01.09.07

Here's a clue: It starts with a "P" and rhymes with "Eater Milligan"!

I've just read the Batman annual and I have to say - oh dear. I suppose it wasn't mind-bendingly bad or anything, just extremely bloody dull. None of Milligan's usual sparkle at all. In fact the best way i can sum up what I thought was wrong with it is that if it had been credited to say Tony Bedard or Adam Beechan I don't think I'd have been able to tell it was miscredited. I'm suddenly far less excited about the Robin issues.

20:27 / 08.09.07

interesting... Dan DiDio just said at Baltimore's ComicCon that:

>> The prose story that Grant Morrison wrote in Batman starring the Joker was an aspect of the Joker, and a story and presentation that Morrison wanted to show, DiDio said, and it’s not related to the coming Dark Knight movie, or will necessarily be seen in frequent use in the DCU.

So I guess we won't be seeing 'Ichi the Killer' Joker much in the rest of DC's books...

A beautiful tunnel of ghosts

14:50 / 09.09.07

Boboss: And why is he wearing a face as his cowl? Did that little detail have any importance other than being importantly gross?

He's wearing a billionaire playboy's face as a mask. If the other club members emulated Batman, perhaps Mayhew emulated Bruce Wayne? Perhaps it's also an allusion to the concept of Batman wearing 'Bruce Wayne' as a mask.

Cowboy Scientist

02:33 / 18.09.07

From Newsarama:

"BATMAN #672

Written by Grant Morrison, art by Tony Daniel and Jonthan Glapion, cover by Daniel.

The Gotham Police HQ is taken over by the mysterious Third Batman who begins to kill cops, working his way towards Jim Gordon as he tells his tale and waits for his prize: the life of the Dark Knight, in exchange for the lives of the precinct cops. What dark secret from Batman's past lies behind the creation of the Impostor Batmen? Guest starring Bat-Mite!"

Holy buckets!

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

03:51 / 18.09.07

Someone (I think it was Jog but I could be wrong) observed recently that GM's run on Batman is a doppleganger for All-Star Superman in that they're both constantly encountering copies and derivative replacements but that the approach to finding a solution or dealing with the situation is always reversed or at the very least, Batman always has to take his lumps in "resolving" the situation. I've been lingering on the idea for the past couple days.

Bat-Mite should be pretty interesting, and a reason for me to keep picking this up after the "Club of Heroes" debacle concludes. What's the ETA for that comic?

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

02:23 / 25.09.07

Note-worthy that the third part of the Black Glove fiasco, Batman #669, comes out this Wednesday. Including heroic kegel beads on the cover and the flair of JHW3's art deco dreams. Heroes, Club of.

09:10 / 25.09.07

there's a preview up at newsarama. annoying though - it looks as though the pages are up there out of order, and it includes what looks like a pretty big spoiler, so tread carefully.

Phex: Dorset Doom

15:50 / 25.09.07

PPP- the Bat-mite issue should drop, like da proverbial bomb, in December.

14:24 / 26.09.07

It's here! In the Philippines! (not Batmite--the latest issue of Batman!)

It was ultra-pretty and I'm glad I was right! The resolution was a bit confusing, but overall, it was a satisfying 3-issue story! And I now love Man-of-Bats because he is so much more awesome than I thought.

People read it!

13:56 / 27.09.07

True. Solid issue, slightly confusion resolution, and the bad guy 'gets it' (apparently) in the end. More brilliant art by JHWiii. I loved the deathtrap with Robin and the Squire. No slashfic romance between them, though, nor even the hintings at one. Sad.

14:27 / 27.09.07

I would just like to humbly point out that I told you so.

However, as much as I appreciate the art from a purely aesthetic standpoint, I have to say I think it falls short of its mark on the narrative side of things. I actually had to reread the comic to understand some of what happened, simply because the novel layout got in the way.

The first few pages are absolutely ace, but as the issue went on the story got obscured by the collage of oddly-shaped and off-kilter panels, to the point where even the countdown was hard to follow (ironic, perhaps, given DC's current weekly series.) This particular story, being a rather old-fashioned murder mystery, would have been better served by a more old-fashioned layout; there are times when new and innovative layouts suit the feel of the story quite well, but there are times when it's just distracting. This, unfortunately, was one of the latter.

20:55 / 27.09.07

This particular story, being a rather old-fashioned murder mystery, would have been better served by a more old-fashioned layout...

Rather too much so of the former, in the end, following the Christie template almost to the letter but acceding to the necessities of the serial somewhat and not a little bit frustratingly. Redeemed mostly by the gorgeousness and eccentric panelwork, which was not to my mind any less accessible than the previous two issues. It's probably better constructed, the three-parter, than a couple reads of the conclusion would allow one to think - 'Dark Ranger' does pop off a few times and so on, but really kind of unsatisfactory conclusion, I thought. I imagine the Black Glove is going to be this anti-Batman, either Universe B Damian or tulpa Damian (or maybe more accurately the flux state of A/B, goody/baddy that duelled in #666,) probably, in the end but I can't help but feel a wee bit sorry for anyone who popped in just for this arc (e.g. Papers) because it's... incomplete.

It really looked fucking great, though, and I suppose the red herrings were well enough littered about, coming with increasing frequency toward the conclusion (didn't think for one moment Man of Bats was going to eviscerate the Knight, mind.)

21:55 / 27.09.07

but I can't help but feel a wee bit sorry for anyone who popped in just for this arc (e.g. Papers)

I'm in the same boat as Papers, albeit with the addition of #666.

You're right, Falcon, it could be argued the other way around -- the innovative artwork let down by the less innovative story. It depends on your perspective, I suppose. Certainly, the art on its own is very pretty to look at.

I had problems with parsing the art throughout the previous two issues, as well; I'm finding more and more that I'm woefully illiterate when it comes to the current visual language of comics. It's strange; I can parse most older comics without a problem, and I have no problem reading and understanding the sequential art of manga -- but I'm finding a lot of today's Western comics leave me befuddled.

As for the third batman, I wonder if it'll be Tim Drake, the current Robin. It seems he's going to be tempted by the dark side in the coming months.

01:23 / 28.09.07

I thought this was rather smashing comics. A wonderful arc. A Morrison/JH Williams ongoing Batman world is one of the nicest fantasy runs a longtime comics lover could hope in vain for, and I'm glad I bothered to go back to a store to grab these.

For me these three issues were some of the simplest, most enjoyable superheroics I've read all year. The art is uniformly tremendous and hugely thoughtful, and the story is solid, well constructed, pulpy fun - like most of GM's run.

"The Black Glove closes around YOU, Batman, while I... I REMAIN UNTOUCHABLE!"

Batman in a jetpack and villains escaping in trick ejector seats while the heroes fly away in an old seaplane and a skull-shaped island explodes in the background - this is wonderful, classic Batman storytelling made with huge amounts of love and style. The constant stream of good-natured red herrings, the continuing parallels to GM's themes about aging in 7S and ASS...

This is good comics. Great comics. I don't know what people find to be disappointed in here. It doesn't aspire to much, it's just fucking smashing. Is it the lack of food for analysis hounds hungry for encoded meaning? It's not as if the action is nonsensical or this run has been devoid of subtext, surely.

I'm glad Morrison's staying on after the Ra's Al Ghul story for a bit. It's refreshing to get great, unpretentious work out like this from the direct market industry, despite some pretty brutal delays. It's all too rare.

Fun. Unpretentious. Hilarious. It's great.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

03:36 / 28.09.07

Falcon: but I can't help but feel a wee bit sorry for anyone who popped in just for this arc (e.g. Papers)

Don't cry for me, Argentina...

I mean...

Well, it's not as though this arc was devoid of fun, and it was enjoyable for a lot of reasons and I don't regret popping in to have a look. That said, Part 3 was, well, disappointing, as people said. Maybe it was me-- pretty much every book outside of the Showcase Presents: The Metal Men that I walked away with this week disappointed me. On a blog, someone said of this issue (possibly prior to reading it...I can't quite remember) that GM does really great endings...well. This one fell down on the job.

LDones: This is good comics. Great comics. I don't know what people find to be disappointed in here. It doesn't aspire to much, it's just fucking smashing. Is it the lack of food for analysis hounds hungry for encoded meaning? It's not as if the action is nonsensical or this run has been devoid of subtext, surely.

It's not the lack of meaning, L. It's the lack of clarity (art that was too dynamic to properly convey a convoluted set of information) and the lack of properly explained resolution -- this was framed as a bit of a mystery, but there were a boatload of questions that weren't answered, most of them asked without anyone realizing...

I'll use spoiler code for the sake of spelunkers who haven't read yet, but...

[+] [-] Spoiler

I think, ultimately, this arc could have been improved quite a lot by giving it a fourth part and expanding the role of the Tim/Beryl action twins (triplets with Raven) to emphasize their skills, as well as toning down the art to make the solution seem more clear and showing more deduction on the part of Batman.

Haus of Mystery

11:14 / 28.09.07

The 'Black Glove' was death. I thought it was great the way the real villain was the panel border, shaped like a glove. Fun stuff. A little bit of a hurried ending, but it had that 70's Batman vibe, where stories always seemed to jump to the end quite suddenly. And usually end with a plane flying through a stormy night...I'm not forgiving what may be shoddy storytelling, merely saying it still worked for me.
JHW's art was, n'est pas, fucking aces. I just can't get excited about Tony whatsisface after being so spoiled by this.

12:05 / 28.09.07

LDones: I don't know what people find to be disappointed in here. It doesn't aspire to much...

I think that's a fair summary of exactly what is disappointing - on your terms, certainly, it is a really good superhero comic, and i'truth not enough writers in that game can even do that - but to have, imo, the most exceptional one lower Himself into that median... is something of a letdown? Most of Batman, on the fair-bit-better-than-average (for the title, the genre) basis, is a triumph but that doesn't really carry over into unmitigated success as a comic, you know? Some of it is even distinctly average, couple issues, which I'd contend is disastrous form for George. Maybe we, or I, expect too much.

Papers - I don't think Mayhew = Black Glove, because someone is speaking to the former through his seaplane radio purporting to be the latter. I mean, okay, Xorn wrote that letter of lies, but this'd be stretching narrative credibility that much further. Also, first page of #667, is that just how Mayhew gets a consult with TBG?

(...there's something innately fascistic and horrible about the act of slipping on leather gloves; think Dario Argento, the captain in Pan's Labyrinth - it is a great supervillain name, certainly.)

13:18 / 28.09.07

>> Blah! I wanted to see sidekicks kicking back-side after that part 2 final note.

Agreed.

Haus of Mystery

15:03 / 28.09.07

I liked the protective streak that ran both ways between the various hero/sidekick teams in this issue. Touching stuff.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

15:43 / 28.09.07

Papers - I don't think Mayhew = Black Glove, because someone is speaking to the former through his seaplane radio purporting to be the latter. I mean, okay, Xorn wrote that letter of lies, but this'd be stretching narrative credibility that much further. Also, first page of #667, is that just how Mayhew gets a consult with TBG?

I think this works pretty well, the Glove is someone else entirely, but I think this is another reason to have made this story four parts instead of three--the idea of the Black Glove wasn't developed enough. He's clearly left a mystery so that someone can pick him up later and use them again, but I don't think GM set up the mystery of the Black Glove (his motivations, potential hints to his background, et cetera) enough. What is his connection to Mayhew, exactly? Did Mayhew have to get an audience with the Glove, as suggested by the first scene, or did Mayhew create the Glove in some manner similar to his creation of the Club? Because the presence of the movie poster pointing to him as the director of "The Black Glove" suggests that he himself created the identity, even if he's not wearing it.

This isn't so much that I'm confused by the Glove, per se, but I don't think enough development went into making him as much of a presence as he could have been, and I didn't walk away from this comic feeling like he was a potentially recurring idea.

The Natural Way

16:51 / 28.09.07

As usual I have to play the apologist for Grant's bat-run, but I don't mind: as usual, I loved this. I wasn't disappointed at all. The Glove doesn't need fleshing out yet - in fact he'd be a whole lot less creepy if he was. It was great that he's so evil, he doesn't give two shits about good vs evil and has very little investment in the outcome, so long as someone gets it. Death? Yep.

19:28 / 28.09.07

Well, I was little disappointed (only a little), but I completely disagree that the Black Glove didn't have enough of a presence. As Mac has already pointed out the fucker was the gutter - he was everywhere.

And, yeah, Death sums it up nicely.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

21:16 / 28.09.07

Oh, I think the Black Glove had presence...in the first two parts. The third part dropped the ball for me and his presence shrivelled. Prior to that he was Cary Grant, baby. Cary Grant with torture gloves and taste for sweet, sweet blood.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

03:03 / 30.09.07

While glancing over the last few pages a couple of time sorted things out there for me, what the hell happened with the tiny bomb? The black and white panel said 'blink' and the first panel of the next page looks like a room exploding.

Also, the end of the flashback sequence. There isn't a shot of Mayhew doing anything to the Squire, but then the woman is protecting him from something and Mayhew fires her, what was that about?

Soldier of the Green

09:31 / 30.09.07

The black and white panel is b/w except for the red light on the bomb. I think the implication is that Man-of-Bats saw the red light on the bomb "blink" and was able to toss it into the hallway or something.

As for the secretary getting fired, I believe the purpose of that was simply to show Mayhew being an ass. It's possible she's the fifth wife Mayhew had killed (or maybe a fourth wife as he was working up to killing?) but that might be stretching things a bit.

Personally, I loved the bit of dialog where Mayhew tells Batman he'll never understand how "money changes everything".

18:14 / 30.09.07

As Mac & The Boy have said, Black Glove had loads of presence. The guy was as big as the page in some scenes. I actually quite liked the economy used with him. He only shows up right before someone gets it in the face, almost going beyond being a character and into creepy motif. That might not work for everyone but I thought it was ver effective.

And, yes, this ish was pure pulp glory. Jetpacks! Boobytraps!

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

21:02 / 30.09.07

Yeah, i liked that as well Soldier, Mayhew explaining to Batman that he doesn't know what its like to be rich and bored and trying to save to world. Good stuff.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

22:35 / 30.09.07

Some further thoughts, upon rereading the entire three-parter.

"The Black Glove is a seal of absolute quality and ruthlessness. The Black Glove aims to deliver a deluxe service high stakes experience at the very highest levels of the international game. Our esteemed clinetele see no virtue in thinking small, nor do we." Regardless of the Glove's presence on a meta-level, panels clouding together to form that hand, there's a clear indication right from the get-go that the Black Glove is not one person, but an organization.

And then, the Glove (to Mayhew): "You failed to eliminate the primary target, let alone the surrogates. Batman lives." This whole weekend doesn't just feel like a bit of revenge for old Mayhew, but an audition (a casting call, if you will). Mayhew's trying to join the elite assassination guild called the Black Glove?

Wingman's two failures-- the Club of Heroes failed to achieve and fell apart, followed by his own failed audition alongside Mayhew to join the Glove (and then shot dead, of course).

Mayhew: "I climbed the highest mountains, made love to world's most beautiful women. I even tried to save the world with my own crimebusting team...but it was your disdain that killed the enthusiasm of the Club of Heroes...I tried everything until the only thing left to try was murder." If you leave aside the meta-fictive accusation (Mayhew looks at the "camera," accusing the readers of disdain at Silver Age antics--yawn), he'd already tried murder before the Club failed, when his wife was killed. But here he's trying it professionally.

The whole thing was a big stupid job interview for the Black Glove, wasn't it?

Didn't Ra's Al Ghul used to run a group called the League of Assassins?

The Natural Way

09:23 / 01.10.07

That occured to me too.

I'm very excited about the Rasstuff coming up, but the fact that the story's a crossover stings a bit. I don't know anything about the writers on the other bat-books, but, being an old grouch, I can't help but assume they suck.

10:54 / 01.10.07

If Paul Dini's doing Detective still, he doesn't really suck. He's a lot like a Johns who doesn't feel the need to have people torn in half all the time: competently told stories that appeal to a status quo (often of its own making) with cute appearances by lesser-known characters and the style of continuity which is actually just reusing old elements pretty much the same way they were used before. But seriously.

Peter Milligan's supposed to be doing something Batman. Even bad Milligan's better than... other options.

11:04 / 01.10.07

I think that's a fair assessment of the man Dini. I generally find his output a little on the dull, flat side. My biggest gripe, if I had to have one, would be his boring-arse reintroduction and subsequent destruction of the Terrible Trio. A completely wasted opportunity to add some life to some rather fun baddies. But, yeah, on the whole the guy's basically alright.

Some people around here (Diz) seem to love his run. Not sure why.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

14:06 / 01.10.07

Some people around here (Diz) seem to love his run. Not sure why.

I picked up the issue with the JHW3 artwork, and was pleasantly surprised by Bruce Wayne doing a lot of detective legwork, picking up clues and making deductions before he even bothered with the Batman gear. It was a competent little story that used more of Batman's skills than just the punching, grunting, goddamning ones. It also sported artwork which made use of dynamic panel layouts -- as we expect Mister Williams -- but never to the point of overwhelming the story and disrupting the clarity.

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