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Posted by Don MacPherson on May 14th, 2008
Batman #676
“Batman R.I.P. – Midnight in the House of Hurt”
Writer: Grant Morrison
Pencils: Tony Daniel
Inks: Sandu Florea
Colors: Guy Major
Letters: Randy Gentile
Cover artists: Alex Ross/Tony Daniel
Editor: Mike Marts
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99 US/CAN
Like many other readers, Grant Morrison’s stint on Batman has been running hot and cold for me. His Batmen of All Nations story — “The Island of Mister Mayhew” story arc, published in this series last year — was one of the best Batman stories in recent memory, and it’s the sort of fare we all expected from Morrison from the start. But other efforts have been awkward and confusing, showing only faint glimmers of the writer’s usual genius. The first chapter of “Batman R.I.P.” falls into the latter category. It starts off strong, but later in the issue, the plot stumbles around, trying in vain to proceed while dragging the dead weight of multiple continuity references. I get the sense that Morrison is approaching things with a big-picture perspective, and how the pieces of puzzles fit together won’t be clear for some time. I’m willing to give Morrison the benefit of the doubt for now as he blends his surreal ideas with a more traditional approach to super-hero storytelling.
A gaggle of colorfully clad, sadistic criminals gather under one roof, banding together as the Black Glove. Its current goal is the most ambitious and seemingly impossible criminal enterprise: the murder of Gotham City’s unstoppable protector, the Batman. The Dark Knight has heard whispers of the Black Glove and a potential plot against him, but his investigation is progressing slowly, as other duties, near-death experiences and a quickly developing romance with Jezebel Jet. Meanwhile, Robin tells Alfred about his concerns about his mentor’s mental health, but Alfred realizes the young hero is more concerned about his place in his adopted father’s life.
While he’s worked on one or two solidly selling super-hero titles for DC as of late, Tony Daniel still isn’t exactly a superstar artist. One wouldn’t expect a second-tier name such as his to accompany Grant Morrison’s in the creative credits of such a high-profile storyline as this one. Daniel’s work throughout the bulk of this issue embraces a fairly standard super-hero style. It’s competent, but it’s not exactly inventive or exciting either. His double-page splash revealing the new Batmobile fails to elicit much of a reaction, for example. Some of the problems with the visuals are awkward scene transitions. Part of the blame lies with the script, as it’s not clear and boasts what seems to an achronological approach to the plotting. But Daniel also fails to provide clear cues for shifts in time or events that aren’t “real.”
On the other hand, Daniel offers up a riveting and chilling vision of the Joker in Arkham Asylum in the issue’s final scene. The art is unmistakably different and more refined in tone. It’s dark, more detailed and better crafted overall to capture the disturbing atmosphere. Unfortunately, when and where the scene occurs isn’t entirely clear. It seems as though most of the scene unfolds inside the Joker’s head, but the segment dealing with contact with the story’s other antagonists is far too ambiguous. Another element that adds to the visual strength of the Joker scene is the font Randy Gentile employs to convey the psychotic killer’s intense, creepy voice.
Morrison scores a lot of points with his introduction of the various members of the Black Glove in the first scene. It’s an incredibly effective scene, and I love how the members all seem like traditional figures of villainy from the title character’s world while also boasting a little edge more in keeping with the writer’s twisted perspective. It’s a shame only a couple of the new baddies are named, but it’s clear Morrison will stagger their introductions as the storyline moves along.
The writer incorporates a lot of elements from his previous scripts into this climactic storyline. Jezebel Jet turns up (though she’s not identified at first, making for some confusing moments), and there’s a reference to Damien, the so-called “son of Batman.” We’re also told that the Batman died for a short time (I haven’t read that particular story, so again, I was lost), and there’s an unfortunate reference to his weird, illogical vision quest from 52. I get the impression these disparate elements will factor into this new storyline, but at the same time, I felt all those references to recent continuity cluttered up the script, especially since there’s little effort made to provide background on them.
There’s no denying that Grant Morrison has a strong love of the super-hero genre. He’s at a point in his career where he doesn’t have to write super-hero comics, but the unique elements of the genre keep bringing him back. Unfortunately, his experimentation with the genre and its strength also bring along some of the inherent weaknesses of shared-universe mythmaking. It’s easy to see that “Batman R.I.P.” has the potential to be a great and memorable storyline. Unfortunately, it also has the potential to be merely ordinary or even poor. Time, and further chapters, will tell. 6/10
May 15th, 2008 at 10:47 am
I’m pretty sure that we know almost all of the villains’ names from the Club of Heroes arc. Big guy in scuba gear should be King Kraken, Wingman’s nemesis. Charlie Caligula, the Legionaire’s enemy, is in the green suit. El Sombrero has the luchador mask on (foe of El Gaucho). Pierrot Lunaire (the mime) is Musketeer’s arch-rival. I’m guessing the lady is Scorpiana (the ranger’s enemy? Man-of-Bats’? Gaucho seemed familiar with her too in 667-669). The guy from Monty Python and the Holy Grail must be a baddie of the Knight, although he certainly doesn’t look like he should be the Knight’s joker analogue, Spring-Heeled Jack. Who knows if Le Bossu is supposed to correspond to one of the heroes or not (I would have thought Musketeer if not for Pierrot’s mute presence).
May 15th, 2008 at 11:00 am
I can’t believe I missed out on these references; thanks, Luke,
I think you might be off on one of your identifications, though. You point to Pierrot Lunaire as a mime, but the costume is actually one for Pagliacci, an Italian opera about a clown. It seems more like he’s an enemy of the Italian Batman, the Legionary. That frees le Bossu up to be the Musketeer’s opposite number.
May 15th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
From a newsarama interview. http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=156776
Tony Daniel: I’ll give you Pierrot Lunaire as the murder mime’s name. But only because I’ve seen that some fans have him figured already. I think I can also give you “Scorpiana.” The one with the hot legs and buns of steel.
And i loved Batman. In fact, i’ve been enjoying the series more and more.
May 15th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I’m still enjoying Dini’s ‘Tec much more than Morrison’s, but that’s largely because Morrison’s thesis (that Batman has to be insane if he’s seen everything that he’s seen over the years), while insightful, isn’t something that you can actually use in a universe where every lead character has had similar experiences. Dini seems to be saying that Batman can deal with what he sees, but he needs some form of support system in order to do so.
Easy way to know when a story’s been written with trade format in mind: when the opening credits take the first five pages of the issue to be laid out. That practically screams “listen, this’ll all read better in eight months’ time.”
I wish someone would remember that Dick is *also* Bruce’s adopted son, although Tim’s anxieties are clearly more tied into the “I want to be Batman someday” part of his character that was retrofitted onto him by Johns after Dixon left.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
The chap on the far right dressed as Ned Kelly (famous 19th-century Australian outlaw who wore a home-made suit of armor very like the one in the picture) would be the Australian Batman’s (the Ranger) nemesis, then.
May 17th, 2008 at 3:37 am
I have been reading comics for about 30 years now and have never read any of the Batman comics. My 3 year old son is obsessed with batman right now and it has gotten me into batman. We have purchased and watched all 4 seasons of The Batman cartoon. I picked up Batman 676 the other day and its been sitting here by my computer since then. Tonight while reading your review, I decided to stop reading your review and read the comic. Now that I am done, I am typing this.
Since I have not been following the Batman series(s) I was really starting fresh. The story was interesting enough to make me want to read the next issue, and I really liked the artwork. And the two page spread of the new Batmobile was great!
My only complaint was that while reading the comic I saw the full page ad for the Batman R.I.P Checklist, which listed 5 different Batman titles that were tied into this current story line. I always hated the fact that Marvel this this sort of stuff – as seen with the recent Secret Invasion, and all the titles you would have to pick up to follow all of the story. I really hope that this is not the case with Batman, as I would love to add it as a title to my monthly pull list, as long as I don’t feel like I am being cheated out of a bunch of story if I don’t spend the cash to pick up all 5 Batman titles each month.
On a unrelated note, its funny that my 3 year old son is the reason for my recent obsession with comics. I have been reading comics off and on for about 30 years and never knew that they came out on a particular day. I had a subscription at a local comic shop and would show up once a month or so to pick up my comics, usually on a weekend. It has now become our ritual to visit the comic shop every Wednesday to check out the new comics. I have to say I am loving it. I get to read lots of comics and we were able to skip the whole “Wiggles” stage and move right into super heros with my son!
PS. Great blog!
Ronn
May 18th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Oh geez– even though the Black Glove was introduced in the Many Nations storyline, I still completely failed to think about these villains as the Bat-villains of Many Nations. That’s clearly right. I was looking at them as Morrison introducing a newer, even-more-intense behind-the-scenes Gotham generation of Gotham’s central villains.
May 18th, 2008 at 11:56 am
I would really like to see Morrison create his own shared universe ala Astro City or America’s Best Comics.
I’m sure it’s fun to work with Batman and the X-Men but he has to be a little miffed that none of his changes are going to stick.
Create the Batman homage. Do whatever you want with it then.