In this post I'm going to throw out a few thoughts/feelings about what will/could/should happen to Batman in the post Final Crisis DC Universe. Now, I'm going to reference some of the events that took place in Final Crisis #6, so if you don't want to read spoilers about FC #6, you should stop reading right now.
Still here? Good. It APPEARS that DC is going to go through with killing off Bruce Wayne, as evident in FC #6. The cynic inside of me is screaming that Bruce isn't really dead, but after reading FC #6, we are obviously supposed to believe that Darkseid has killed the Dark Knight. So, if DC really did kill off Bruce Wayne, the question becomes who will inherit the mantle of Batman. There are a few choices, but in this post I'm going to talk about the most likely person to become the next Batman, Nightwing(Dick Grayson).
Dick started his career as the first of 4 Robins, and has been a costumed hero since he was about 12 years old, which amounts to more than half his life. So, the crime fighting credentials are there. Dick has worked in Gotham, and is known and trusted by Bruce's inner circle, so there's another plus on his behalf. To be perfectly honest, Dick would be the PERFECT replacement except for 2 glaring facts. The first one would be that he really isn't anything like the Bruce Wayne Batman. Dick is shorter, fights a MUCH more acrobatic style, and tends to wisecrack alot during his fights. I've always likened Nightwing to Spider-Man, in that they both like to crack jokes at the expense of their foes. That's not to say that Dick couldn't pull off the Batman act, but I've never really seen Dick as the same type of personality as Bruce Wayne.
What I mean is that deep down, Bruce Wayne IS Batman. Batman isn't really an act Bruce puts on when he pulls on the cowl, Batman and Bruce Wayne are practically one and the same. This is most evident when you see Bruce interact with people who know him as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. It isn't Bruce who speaks, it's always Batman. On the other hand, deep down at his core, Dick Grayson is still Robin. You can change his outfit, but he is still the fun-loving, thrill-seeking, wisecracking Robin. Nightwing is an act that Dick puts on when he pulls on his mask. Dick Grayson interacts with people in a different way than Nightwing interacts with people. That's the main reason I don't think Dick could pull off a convincing Batman for an extended period of time. At his core, he just isn't the same type of person Bruce Wayne is. While both men are obviously addicted to the thrill of fighting crime, Bruce Wayne fights crime because it is his life's mission, while I feel that Dick fights crime for fun/thrills.
The other reason for me not wanting to see Dick become Batman is a lot more simplistic. Whoever DC/Grant Morrison decides to replace Bruce Wayne with is doomed to fail. Simply put, Bruce Wayne CAN'T be replaced. Eventually, Bruce WILL come back and reclaim the Batman mantle, I can guarantee that. DC has a history of knee-jerk reactions when it comes to Batman, and I think if DC does decide to replace Bruce Wayne, it won't last long. In the 70(?)year history of Batman, there have been very few changes made to the book.
The first major change would be Dick Grayson leaving the Robin mantle behind, and Jason Todd becoming the second Robin. I wasn't even reading comics back then, but a little research into the subject will reveal that Batman fans almost universally HATED Jason Todd. Batfans connected Dick Grayson to Robin, and anyone else in that role was sacrilegious. The fan outrage reached such a fever pitch that DC actually left the fate of Jason Todd in the hands of the Batfans, and the Batfans voted to kill off the Jason Todd Robin in a telephone poll. After that, the more subdued Tim Drake was slowly brought along to become the third Robin. I think the shock of Jason Todd's brutal death(I don't know how that comic was approved by the Comics Code Authority), plus the fact that Tim was more like Dick Grayson is why Tim was embraced by the Batfans, and is still Robin to this day.
Another example of the Batfans steadfast refusal to accept change can be seen when you look back at the Knightfall event of the 1990's. I don't know that DC ever really intended to permanently replace Bruce Wayne with Jean-Paul Valley during this event, but I do remember the outrage of the fans, since by this time I was a regular comic book collector, and read "Wizard" and other comic industry publications on a monthly basis. Looking back on the whole Knightfall story, I think DC was setting Jean-Paul up for a fall from the start, but still, the Batfans were VERY vocal about their objections to anyone other than Bruce Wayne being Batman.
Then there is the saga of Stephanie Brown, AKA Spoiler... Don't even get me started on that. As far as I'm concerned, she was the forth Robin, even though some at DC(Dan DiDio, DC's Executive Editor)have stated that she was never officially Robin, even though she was trained and went out with Bruce dressed in Robin's outfit. Needless to say, a female Robin didn't sit well with many fans, and Stephanie was brutally beaten to death(although she has since returned). The bottom line here is that if Bruce Wayne is replaced as Batman, DC is going to face a mountain of fan outrage and criticism. It's for this reason that I really hope Dick DOESN'T become the next Batman. Whatever character inherits the Batman mantle from Bruce is almost bound to meet an unfortunate end. It's a proven fact that replacements in the Bat Universe don't work(Jason Todd, Spoiler, Jean-Paul Valley), the fans prefer the original.
Now, before I end this post, I'm going to temper everything I just wrote by stating that I REALLY don't think Bruce is going to wind up dead. The fact that DC keeps resurrecting Silver Age heroes(Hal Jordan, Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, etc.)would make killing off Bruce Wayne kind of senseless. How do you explain bringing back Barry Allen to reclaim the Flash mantle, and then replace Bruce Wayne? In the current climate of the DC Universe, where resurrections seem to be the latest craze, killing off Bruce Wayne just wouldn't make much sense. That's why I personally don't think DC will go through with killing off Bruce Wayne. Not only that, but I'd bet good money that by the end of this year, Bruce is once again fighting crime as Batman. I think the most likely scenario is that DC will keep Bruce around in a non-Batman role and allow several pretenders to run around claiming to be the one true Batman(ala the Reign of Supermen storyline from the 90's). I'd guess that in the end, the fake Batmen will do Gotham City more harm than good, and Bruce will step back in and take out the phony Batmen. I could see Bruce asking Dick to step up and fill in for him temporarily, and Dick accepting, but not for long. Eventually, my guess is that when Bruce reclaims the Batman mantle, Dick will don a new costume, since it looks like DC is giving the Nightwing name to some Kryptonian hero over in the Superman books.
So what exactly did we learn from this post? #1, I really devote WAY too much time thinking/posting about comic books and their characters, #2, I REALLY don't want Dick Grayson to claim the Batman mantle, and #3, by this time next year, Bruce Wayne will still be cracking heads as Batman. That's my ideas on the Batman subject, what do you think?
Showing posts with label Batman R.I.P.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Batman R.I.P.. Show all posts
Monday, January 19, 2009
Quick thoughts on Batman #684
This actually continues the story that began in Detective Comics #851... Why? I have no real clue. Since this is a 2 part story, why not continue it in, oh I don't know, Detective Comics??? Anyway, here's my take.
Overall- I liked this story. That's it. It would be kind of funny if I just left things at that, but being a windbag, I'll expand a bit more on that. This was a good story. It was pretty forgettable, but it served the purpose of killing 10 minutes or so. The one glaring negative I will say is that in this 2 part story, Nightwing has come across looking pretty weak. He admits as much to Alfred, and Alfred gives him a pep talk, basically saying that Batman made plenty of mistakes at the start of his crime fighting career as well. Um, but hasn't Dick Grayson been a hero for the better part of his LIFE? I mean, sure, Dick isn't Bruce Wayne, but he's sure as hell not some fresh faced amateur!
Besides that, like I said this story was OK. The mystery of Millicent Mayne wasn't really explained here, which was a little frustrating. She had acid thrown into her face by a thug pretending to be Two-Face and now wanders the streets of Gotham with some sort of apparent telepathic abilities. Where her powers come from is never explained, and the cops and Nightwing kind of seem to write her off as a nutcase. I guess she could be a ghost or something, but this comic really downplayed the supernatural feeling coming off of Millicent that I was feeling after Detective #851. So, who knows.
The bottom line is that these Last Rites stories that are running through the Bat-titles really seem to be placing Dick in position to inherit the Batman mantle. I think I'll actually dedicate a post to this possibility, because I am starting to develop some pretty strong feelings with regard to Dick becoming Batman. As for this comic, I'll give it a score of 6 1/2 out of 10.
Overall- I liked this story. That's it. It would be kind of funny if I just left things at that, but being a windbag, I'll expand a bit more on that. This was a good story. It was pretty forgettable, but it served the purpose of killing 10 minutes or so. The one glaring negative I will say is that in this 2 part story, Nightwing has come across looking pretty weak. He admits as much to Alfred, and Alfred gives him a pep talk, basically saying that Batman made plenty of mistakes at the start of his crime fighting career as well. Um, but hasn't Dick Grayson been a hero for the better part of his LIFE? I mean, sure, Dick isn't Bruce Wayne, but he's sure as hell not some fresh faced amateur!
Besides that, like I said this story was OK. The mystery of Millicent Mayne wasn't really explained here, which was a little frustrating. She had acid thrown into her face by a thug pretending to be Two-Face and now wanders the streets of Gotham with some sort of apparent telepathic abilities. Where her powers come from is never explained, and the cops and Nightwing kind of seem to write her off as a nutcase. I guess she could be a ghost or something, but this comic really downplayed the supernatural feeling coming off of Millicent that I was feeling after Detective #851. So, who knows.
The bottom line is that these Last Rites stories that are running through the Bat-titles really seem to be placing Dick in position to inherit the Batman mantle. I think I'll actually dedicate a post to this possibility, because I am starting to develop some pretty strong feelings with regard to Dick becoming Batman. As for this comic, I'll give it a score of 6 1/2 out of 10.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Quick thoughts on Detective Comics #852
Overall- Before I say one word about this comic book, let me tell you, as far as Bat-Villains go, besides Ra's Al Ghul, Hush is my favorite. In general, I've always found myself drawn more to the smart villains, as opposed to the outlandish ones. That's why right now, Lex Luthor is probably my favorite villain in all of comicdom. The thing I like about characters like Ra's, Lex or Hush is that they truly don't believe that their actions are evil. Lex Luthor truly believes that Superman is an alien menace who is holding down humanity. Although a terrorist, Ra's believes his actions to be necessary, as well as holding a deep respect for "The Detective". And Hush honestly hates Bruce Wayne, due to Bruce's parents dying, while Hush's mother lived on, denying him of his "rightful" family inheritance.
With that out of the way, I'll dig into this comic. After failing to commit suicide after the events of the "Heart of Hush" storyline, Hush uses his resemblance to Bruce Wayne(Hush had himself cosmetically altered to look like Bruce)to try to rebuild his fortunes. You see, Hush lost all of his money(over $200 million)to Catwoman, who stole the money as revenge for Hush attempting to kill her. The entire issue shows us the lengths Hush goes to in order to steal money(little by little)from Bruce Wayne, to re-amass a fortune. This is made easier since Batman is missing after the events of Batman R.I.P. No Batman means no Bruce Wayne, so Hush can sneak around pretending to be Bruce while stealing money from Wayne enterprises.
Hush makes his way around the globe to various Wayne owned properties, taking a million here and there before moving to his next venture. However, Hush's luck runs out in Vietnam, where he gets captured by Catwoman. Needless to say, Catwoman is still pissed at Hush since he cut out her heart, in an attempt to strike at Batman. The next issue should be interesting as we see Catwoman getting her claws on Hush. For a score, I'll give this issue an 8 1/2 out of 10. This story was an interesting look into the life/thought process of Hush. Paul Dini(writer)did a good job here.
With that out of the way, I'll dig into this comic. After failing to commit suicide after the events of the "Heart of Hush" storyline, Hush uses his resemblance to Bruce Wayne(Hush had himself cosmetically altered to look like Bruce)to try to rebuild his fortunes. You see, Hush lost all of his money(over $200 million)to Catwoman, who stole the money as revenge for Hush attempting to kill her. The entire issue shows us the lengths Hush goes to in order to steal money(little by little)from Bruce Wayne, to re-amass a fortune. This is made easier since Batman is missing after the events of Batman R.I.P. No Batman means no Bruce Wayne, so Hush can sneak around pretending to be Bruce while stealing money from Wayne enterprises.
Hush makes his way around the globe to various Wayne owned properties, taking a million here and there before moving to his next venture. However, Hush's luck runs out in Vietnam, where he gets captured by Catwoman. Needless to say, Catwoman is still pissed at Hush since he cut out her heart, in an attempt to strike at Batman. The next issue should be interesting as we see Catwoman getting her claws on Hush. For a score, I'll give this issue an 8 1/2 out of 10. This story was an interesting look into the life/thought process of Hush. Paul Dini(writer)did a good job here.
Quick thoughts on Nightwing #152
Overall- This comic was yet another in a line of satisfying comic books I've been lucky enough to read lately. Dealing with the aftermath of Batman's apparent death at the end of the Batman R.I.P. storyline, Dick Grayson is walking through the Batcave, thinking back on his life with the Batman. A horde of ninja assassins attack with orders to bring Dick to Ra's Al Ghul, who wants a face to face meeting with Dick. Dick beats every one of the ninjas, and decides to meet with Al Ghul. Dick and Al Ghul have an awesome talk about several issues, but mainly about the death of Batman.
Al Ghul says that he can read in Dick's face that Batman is truly no more, and Al Ghul goes on a rant about how Batman deserved a better death, an honorable death at the hands of Al Ghul himself. Ra's then challenges Dick to a sword fight, which seems to customary when you meet Ra's. You meet Ra's, he tells you his evil plot and then you sword fight him. Dick manages to actually defeat Ra's in battle, and then tells Ra's that he's just upset about the fact that Ra's can now never prove himself to be superior to Batman. Dick tells Ra's that no matter what would have happened down the road, Bruce would have defeated Ra's, as always. Ra's, being the ever respectful opponent, offers Dick the sword they fought with as a reminder of their fight, but Dick tells him to keep it and returns to the Batcave, where he sees the sword jammed into one of the computers in the Cave, Ra's way of telling Dick that the two of them will meet again.
This comic was made even stronger for me after reading Final Crisis #6. Ra's always did have a grudging respect for Batman, and I wholeheartedly believed Ra's when he told Dick that he would have been OK if Batman would have been the man who ended his centuries long life. The dialogue in this issue was TOP notch, and Peter Tomasi(writer)should be strongly commended here. Dick and Ra's acted in the EXACT ways I would have expected them to, which doesn't always happen in a comic. Peter had the PERFECT feel for exactly what each man was thinking and going through, and I would strongly recommend this issue based solely on the banter between Ra's and Dick. For a score, I think I'm going to give this comic a 10 out of 10. For a single issue, this comic's story was perfectly worded, paced and done.
Al Ghul says that he can read in Dick's face that Batman is truly no more, and Al Ghul goes on a rant about how Batman deserved a better death, an honorable death at the hands of Al Ghul himself. Ra's then challenges Dick to a sword fight, which seems to customary when you meet Ra's. You meet Ra's, he tells you his evil plot and then you sword fight him. Dick manages to actually defeat Ra's in battle, and then tells Ra's that he's just upset about the fact that Ra's can now never prove himself to be superior to Batman. Dick tells Ra's that no matter what would have happened down the road, Bruce would have defeated Ra's, as always. Ra's, being the ever respectful opponent, offers Dick the sword they fought with as a reminder of their fight, but Dick tells him to keep it and returns to the Batcave, where he sees the sword jammed into one of the computers in the Cave, Ra's way of telling Dick that the two of them will meet again.
This comic was made even stronger for me after reading Final Crisis #6. Ra's always did have a grudging respect for Batman, and I wholeheartedly believed Ra's when he told Dick that he would have been OK if Batman would have been the man who ended his centuries long life. The dialogue in this issue was TOP notch, and Peter Tomasi(writer)should be strongly commended here. Dick and Ra's acted in the EXACT ways I would have expected them to, which doesn't always happen in a comic. Peter had the PERFECT feel for exactly what each man was thinking and going through, and I would strongly recommend this issue based solely on the banter between Ra's and Dick. For a score, I think I'm going to give this comic a 10 out of 10. For a single issue, this comic's story was perfectly worded, paced and done.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Media Blackout Time!
OK, I mentioned in an earlier post that as of the end of this post, I will NOT be reading the newspaper, watching any news channels, or even going online. Yes, I am avoiding all things that could potentially spoil the events of Final Crisis #6, which is being released today, Wednesday, January 14. Supposedly, this issue is going to reveal the final fate of Batman, and NOTHING will spoil the events of this comic book for me. Now, checking out the online store I ordered FC #6 from, I'm shocked to discover that my order was shipped 6:30 pm Tuesday night, which means it's possible that I might be able to get my hands on FC #6 today(yes, I paid extra for expedited shipping!). However, until I've read FC #6, I won't be posting anything to my blog...
Yes, I'm upset about not posting anything as well, but after having the events of Captain America #25(Steve Rogers' death)spoiled for me by a news channel a few years back, I'm taking no chances of accidentally hearing or reading about what happens to Batman in FC #6. Once I read FC #6 though, I'll have a full review of it up, so if you too are avoiding spoilers in regard to FC #6, steer clear of my blog until you've read that issue, because I can guarantee, when I post my next post, it will be chock FULL of spoilers. Well, until then, so long.
Yes, I'm upset about not posting anything as well, but after having the events of Captain America #25(Steve Rogers' death)spoiled for me by a news channel a few years back, I'm taking no chances of accidentally hearing or reading about what happens to Batman in FC #6. Once I read FC #6 though, I'll have a full review of it up, so if you too are avoiding spoilers in regard to FC #6, steer clear of my blog until you've read that issue, because I can guarantee, when I post my next post, it will be chock FULL of spoilers. Well, until then, so long.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
"Batman & Son" hardcover
This hardcover collects Batman #655-658 & #663-666 and is written by Grant Morrison.
Overall- Since I actually read this hardcover about 8 months ago, I'm not going to do a flat out review of this entire hardcover. I can't really type up my initial feelings to the story, since I already know(for the most part)what happens. But Kello, whose blog is a great read by the way, recommended that I take another look at this hardcover in order to better understand the Batman R.I.P. storyline, as well as some insights into what Grant Morrison may have planned for the upcoming Battle for the Cowl storyline. So, without further ado, here are some of my thoughts about the Batman & Son hardcover. In bullet point format!!!
-One of the main things I gleaned from this story was that I really didn't like Damian Wayne. He is such an obnoxious little jerk. But, I think(hope)that was what Grant was aiming for when he created the character(I'll add that I am currently reading through the "Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul" hardcover, and don't dislike Damian nearly as much in that).
-Robin(Tim Drake)sure looked bad in this hardcover. I'm guessing that Grant doesn't like Tim that much, since a 12 year old basically hospitalizes Tim in the Batcave.
-Batman was kind of out of character in these comics to me. Would he really take Damian and bring him into the Batcave just on Talia Al Ghul's say so? Isn't that really irresponsible? On top of that, not only does Bats bring Damian to the Cave/Wayne Manor, he leaves the kid alone with only Alfred watching him. I know Alfred can take care of himself, but it was established that Damian was raised by the League of Assassins, and is one hell of a fighter... What if Talia was lying and Damian was only sent to Bats to disrupt his life by killing Alfred and Robin? The Batman I know is a VERY paranoid individual who I just can't see leaving this potential threat(Damian)alone with two of the few people he actually cares about.
-Talia was kind of weirdly written here as well. She gives Damian over to Bats so Damian can learn from/about his father, and then seems kind of pissed that Damian wants to stay with Bats. What did she think was going to happen? I also thought it was kind of puzzling that Talia seemed willing to almost allow Damian to perish in order to make her getaway. Wouldn't letting Damian die go counter to all of her meticulous planning in regards to creating the genetically perfect child?
-The important issue in this hardcover though was Batman #666. #666 is a self contained story which shows us Gotham City a few years in the future. Bruce Wayne is dead, and there is a new Batman in town. It is revealed that the new Batman is none other than a now grown up Damian Wayne. It also appears that there is an evil impostor Batman running around. The evil Batman seems to worship the devil and is pretty evil. As a matter of fact, the evil Batman kind of resembles the Batman crouching on the Wayne Enterprises box shown in this picture over at Yedna's great blog(wow, I'm linking to all of my favorite blogs in this post!). Now, I guess(and that's exactly what it is, a guess)the evil Batman could be Jason Todd, Azrael or possibly Tim Drake, since the evil Batman mentions that he too was a "son" of Batman(Jason and Tim are Bruce's adopted children). With a nudge, I could see either Azrael or Jason dressing as Bats and going crazy(Jason has already dressed as Nightwing and gone on a rampage, so it wouldn't be out of character). The Damian Batman ultimately kills the evil Batman, while thinking about how disappointed Bruce would have been that he took a life. Some important things I took from this issue were, #1, Tim Drake is never mentioned, so unless he is the evil Batman, he has no impact on Grant's vision of the future of Batman. #2, Damian(or the impostor Batman)apparently killed Jim Gordon, which leads to his daughter, Barbara, becoming the Gotham Police Commissioner.
However, the most important thing I got out of this comic were Damian's thoughts. At one point, Damian thinks to himself that he'll never be able to live up to the legacies of Bruce Wayne AND Dick Grayson. To me, that seems to say that Dick is deceased, but more importantly that Dick is the next in line to become Batman if Bruce Wayne were to die in Final Crisis. If this comic is an actual look into the future and not a random alternate dimension, then Dick Grayson becomes Batman after Bruce dies, and after his own death, Dick is replaced by Damian. The fact that Damian replaces Dick would lead one to think that Dick takes Damian under his wing as the new Robin.
Now, knowing Grant Morrison's style of writing, there is a good chance all of my theories are wrong, and something completely different will happen. One thing Grant is great at is misdirection. During his run on "New X-Men", Grant actually created a character whose mutant power WAS misdirection! I STILL don't know what exactly that means! The bottom line here is that after reading this hardcover, I am pretty sure that the death of Bruce Wayne will usher in Dick Grayson as the new Batman and Damian Wayne as the new Robin. One Batman during the Battle for the Cowl storyline will go completely evil and apparently make some kind of deal with the devil(or an old man or a dragon. Damn, this is confusing...). Most likely, the evil Batman is Azrael or Jason Todd, with an outside chance it is Tim Drake(my money is on Jason though). Oh, and when he is 14, Damian also sells his soul to this devil/old man/dragon... I think... For a score, I would give this entire hardcover a 7 out of 10. It was a fun, but confusing read. If anyone else has read Batman #666, I'd love to hear what exactly you were able to make of it. Tomorrow, I'll probably post the "Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul" hardcover review.
Overall- Since I actually read this hardcover about 8 months ago, I'm not going to do a flat out review of this entire hardcover. I can't really type up my initial feelings to the story, since I already know(for the most part)what happens. But Kello, whose blog is a great read by the way, recommended that I take another look at this hardcover in order to better understand the Batman R.I.P. storyline, as well as some insights into what Grant Morrison may have planned for the upcoming Battle for the Cowl storyline. So, without further ado, here are some of my thoughts about the Batman & Son hardcover. In bullet point format!!!
-One of the main things I gleaned from this story was that I really didn't like Damian Wayne. He is such an obnoxious little jerk. But, I think(hope)that was what Grant was aiming for when he created the character(I'll add that I am currently reading through the "Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul" hardcover, and don't dislike Damian nearly as much in that).
-Robin(Tim Drake)sure looked bad in this hardcover. I'm guessing that Grant doesn't like Tim that much, since a 12 year old basically hospitalizes Tim in the Batcave.
-Batman was kind of out of character in these comics to me. Would he really take Damian and bring him into the Batcave just on Talia Al Ghul's say so? Isn't that really irresponsible? On top of that, not only does Bats bring Damian to the Cave/Wayne Manor, he leaves the kid alone with only Alfred watching him. I know Alfred can take care of himself, but it was established that Damian was raised by the League of Assassins, and is one hell of a fighter... What if Talia was lying and Damian was only sent to Bats to disrupt his life by killing Alfred and Robin? The Batman I know is a VERY paranoid individual who I just can't see leaving this potential threat(Damian)alone with two of the few people he actually cares about.
-Talia was kind of weirdly written here as well. She gives Damian over to Bats so Damian can learn from/about his father, and then seems kind of pissed that Damian wants to stay with Bats. What did she think was going to happen? I also thought it was kind of puzzling that Talia seemed willing to almost allow Damian to perish in order to make her getaway. Wouldn't letting Damian die go counter to all of her meticulous planning in regards to creating the genetically perfect child?
-The important issue in this hardcover though was Batman #666. #666 is a self contained story which shows us Gotham City a few years in the future. Bruce Wayne is dead, and there is a new Batman in town. It is revealed that the new Batman is none other than a now grown up Damian Wayne. It also appears that there is an evil impostor Batman running around. The evil Batman seems to worship the devil and is pretty evil. As a matter of fact, the evil Batman kind of resembles the Batman crouching on the Wayne Enterprises box shown in this picture over at Yedna's great blog(wow, I'm linking to all of my favorite blogs in this post!). Now, I guess(and that's exactly what it is, a guess)the evil Batman could be Jason Todd, Azrael or possibly Tim Drake, since the evil Batman mentions that he too was a "son" of Batman(Jason and Tim are Bruce's adopted children). With a nudge, I could see either Azrael or Jason dressing as Bats and going crazy(Jason has already dressed as Nightwing and gone on a rampage, so it wouldn't be out of character). The Damian Batman ultimately kills the evil Batman, while thinking about how disappointed Bruce would have been that he took a life. Some important things I took from this issue were, #1, Tim Drake is never mentioned, so unless he is the evil Batman, he has no impact on Grant's vision of the future of Batman. #2, Damian(or the impostor Batman)apparently killed Jim Gordon, which leads to his daughter, Barbara, becoming the Gotham Police Commissioner.
However, the most important thing I got out of this comic were Damian's thoughts. At one point, Damian thinks to himself that he'll never be able to live up to the legacies of Bruce Wayne AND Dick Grayson. To me, that seems to say that Dick is deceased, but more importantly that Dick is the next in line to become Batman if Bruce Wayne were to die in Final Crisis. If this comic is an actual look into the future and not a random alternate dimension, then Dick Grayson becomes Batman after Bruce dies, and after his own death, Dick is replaced by Damian. The fact that Damian replaces Dick would lead one to think that Dick takes Damian under his wing as the new Robin.
Now, knowing Grant Morrison's style of writing, there is a good chance all of my theories are wrong, and something completely different will happen. One thing Grant is great at is misdirection. During his run on "New X-Men", Grant actually created a character whose mutant power WAS misdirection! I STILL don't know what exactly that means! The bottom line here is that after reading this hardcover, I am pretty sure that the death of Bruce Wayne will usher in Dick Grayson as the new Batman and Damian Wayne as the new Robin. One Batman during the Battle for the Cowl storyline will go completely evil and apparently make some kind of deal with the devil(or an old man or a dragon. Damn, this is confusing...). Most likely, the evil Batman is Azrael or Jason Todd, with an outside chance it is Tim Drake(my money is on Jason though). Oh, and when he is 14, Damian also sells his soul to this devil/old man/dragon... I think... For a score, I would give this entire hardcover a 7 out of 10. It was a fun, but confusing read. If anyone else has read Batman #666, I'd love to hear what exactly you were able to make of it. Tomorrow, I'll probably post the "Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul" hardcover review.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
New Comic Day!
My comic order from last week arrived today(or yesterday I guess, since it's past midnight...)and I figured I'd post what I purchased, and more importantly, why I brought them.
(Marvel)What If? House of M #1- One of my favorite comic books from yesteryear would have to be What If?. Whenever Marvel puts out a new What If? comic, I always scoop it right up. I am somewhat dubious about this comic though. In my humble opinion, the end of the House of M crossover was when Marvel really took a huge step backwards in terms of quality. I'll go to my grave stating that wiping out most of the mutant population was one of the worst errors ever committed in comic books. The well established mutant population was always what made Marvel different from DC, and decimating the muties went a long way in pushing me towards collecting DC comics.
(Marvel)Secret Invasion #8(of 8)- ........I don't think there is anything to really say here. I've stated repeatedly how utterly stupid the entire Secret Invasion concept is/was, and with the reception of this comic, I'll now go back and read the entire Secret Invasion series, to take in the whole thing in one sitting. Marvel promises an "Earth-shattering" ending... I'm not holding my breath.
(DC)Justice Society of America #21- Now, this is one comic book I can't wait to read! This issue is the penultimate chapter of the Gog storyline, and I am really looking forward to what Geoff Johns has in store for the impending conclusion of this storyline.
(DC)Batman #682- It's a new Batman comic, why wouldn't I buy it? I'm highly intrigued by what DC has in store as the final fate of The Dark Knight.
(DC)Terror Titans #3(of 6)- I won't be reading this comic until I have all six parts of this mini-series, so there's really not much to say.
(Marvel)Marvel Zombies 3 #3(of 4)- The only reason I've been buying this series is for my little brother. One of the few comic books he'll still read is any Marvel Zombies comic(he's in that whole teenage rebellion stage now, you know, if I like something, he automatically hates it)so even though I probably won't read this series for months, I know he'll enjoy it.
(DC)Birds of Prey #21- I've been looking to buy this back issue for a while now, as it concludes the "Hunt for Oracle" storyline I had enjoyed while reading my "Nightwing" back issues.
So, that's what I'll be reading/posting about over the course of the next several days. I can almost promise you that my posts about the "Secret Invasion" crossover will be pretty brutal, that is if I don't go insane after reading them!
(Marvel)What If? House of M #1- One of my favorite comic books from yesteryear would have to be What If?. Whenever Marvel puts out a new What If? comic, I always scoop it right up. I am somewhat dubious about this comic though. In my humble opinion, the end of the House of M crossover was when Marvel really took a huge step backwards in terms of quality. I'll go to my grave stating that wiping out most of the mutant population was one of the worst errors ever committed in comic books. The well established mutant population was always what made Marvel different from DC, and decimating the muties went a long way in pushing me towards collecting DC comics.
(Marvel)Secret Invasion #8(of 8)- ........I don't think there is anything to really say here. I've stated repeatedly how utterly stupid the entire Secret Invasion concept is/was, and with the reception of this comic, I'll now go back and read the entire Secret Invasion series, to take in the whole thing in one sitting. Marvel promises an "Earth-shattering" ending... I'm not holding my breath.
(DC)Justice Society of America #21- Now, this is one comic book I can't wait to read! This issue is the penultimate chapter of the Gog storyline, and I am really looking forward to what Geoff Johns has in store for the impending conclusion of this storyline.
(DC)Batman #682- It's a new Batman comic, why wouldn't I buy it? I'm highly intrigued by what DC has in store as the final fate of The Dark Knight.
(DC)Terror Titans #3(of 6)- I won't be reading this comic until I have all six parts of this mini-series, so there's really not much to say.
(Marvel)Marvel Zombies 3 #3(of 4)- The only reason I've been buying this series is for my little brother. One of the few comic books he'll still read is any Marvel Zombies comic(he's in that whole teenage rebellion stage now, you know, if I like something, he automatically hates it)so even though I probably won't read this series for months, I know he'll enjoy it.
(DC)Birds of Prey #21- I've been looking to buy this back issue for a while now, as it concludes the "Hunt for Oracle" storyline I had enjoyed while reading my "Nightwing" back issues.
So, that's what I'll be reading/posting about over the course of the next several days. I can almost promise you that my posts about the "Secret Invasion" crossover will be pretty brutal, that is if I don't go insane after reading them!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Batman #681: Batman R.I.P. Conclusion.
For the record, I haven't read any of the past Batman R.I.P. comics, so I can't claim to be an expert on what I am about to read. With that said, on with the review.
Overall- I am actually a fan of most of Grant Morrison's work. I liked his work on (New)X-Men, although I am at odds with alot of my fellow X-fans over this, as many X-fans hated Grant's interpretation of the X-Universe. I also LOVED his mini-series, "Marvel Boy", which he penned for Marvel a few years ago. However, with that being said, even after stating that I am a fan of Grant Morrison, I have to admit that alot of the time I have absolutely, positively no earthly idea what the flaming hell he is writing about! This comic book was definitely one of those times. I don't even know if I can possibly recap what I just read, because I'm not sure what the f### was going on in this comic! Now, this is probably my fault, thanks to the fact that I didn't read any of the Batman comics leading up to this final chapter in the Batman R.I.P. crossover. But Grant sure didn't help, as he was his regular confusing self in this comic. I'm probably going to do a lousy job reviewing this book, but I'll give it the old college try anyway.
Batman is buried alive by members of the Black Glove, thanks to some help from the Joker. Joker figures that Batman will escape the grave, reasoning that he always does, and decides to leave. Well, that's the most sane thing I've ever seen Joker do! Joker tries to leave in an ambulance, but as he is trying to cross a bridge, he is hit head on by Damien Wayne, who was driving one of his father's Batmobiles. The crash sends Joker and the ambulance careening off the bridge and into the waters below.
The Black Glove is led by some nutcase named Doctor Hurt, and counts Jezebel Jet as one of its members. Batman ultimately does escape his grave and attacks the Glove and their cronies. Batman chases down Doctor Hurt, who claims to be Bruce Wayne's father(?), but Batman disproves this, by stating that Hurt was actually his father's double, whatever the hell that means, and Hurt tears the cape and cowl off of Batman before attempting to escape in a helicopter. The unmasked Batman lunges at the copter and catches it, causing it to begin a tail spin. Batman then punches in the window of the copter, causing it to crash in a fiery explosion into the Gotham harbor.
Robin and Nightwing arrive on the scene of the crash, but all Nightwing can find is Batman's discarded cape and cowl. Talia Al Ghul also arrives on the scene with her Manbat ninja's and tells them to get retribution on Jezebel Jet, who escaped onto an airplane. When we see Jet next, her airplane is being attacked by a swarm of Manbats. We don't actually see what fate befalls Jezebel though. The comic ends 6 months later with some criminal about to torture a member of the Gotham police force to death. Before he can act though, a familiar bat signal illuminates the room the criminal is keeping the cop in. Is this Bruce Wayne, or someone else altogether? That will be the question posed in the Bat-books over the next several months.
Much like I said earlier, I was pretty lost for most of this comic. I'll probably try to get my hands on the last couple of issues of this series(if that is even possible, since these comics have been selling like hotcakes!)to see what exactly I missed leading up to this comic book.
There were some things with Robin and Nightwing in this comic book that happened, but I neglected to mention them, because I couldn't figure out what was going on in those scenes. They didn't seem connected to the main storyline, so I figure I could get away with excluding them from my review. Other then that, my main feeling after reading this comic was one of utter confusion, but to be honest, I really did expect to be horribly confused while I read this comic book. No matter how much I enjoyed Grant Morrison's work in the Marvel Universe, he is not a very accessible writer when it comes to new readers to his work. For a score, I'll have to go with a 4 1/2 out of 10. I guess this comic will have huge ramifications throughout the DC Universe, but I think I missed way too much to fully grasp what was going on here... My loss I guess.
Overall- I am actually a fan of most of Grant Morrison's work. I liked his work on (New)X-Men, although I am at odds with alot of my fellow X-fans over this, as many X-fans hated Grant's interpretation of the X-Universe. I also LOVED his mini-series, "Marvel Boy", which he penned for Marvel a few years ago. However, with that being said, even after stating that I am a fan of Grant Morrison, I have to admit that alot of the time I have absolutely, positively no earthly idea what the flaming hell he is writing about! This comic book was definitely one of those times. I don't even know if I can possibly recap what I just read, because I'm not sure what the f### was going on in this comic! Now, this is probably my fault, thanks to the fact that I didn't read any of the Batman comics leading up to this final chapter in the Batman R.I.P. crossover. But Grant sure didn't help, as he was his regular confusing self in this comic. I'm probably going to do a lousy job reviewing this book, but I'll give it the old college try anyway.
Batman is buried alive by members of the Black Glove, thanks to some help from the Joker. Joker figures that Batman will escape the grave, reasoning that he always does, and decides to leave. Well, that's the most sane thing I've ever seen Joker do! Joker tries to leave in an ambulance, but as he is trying to cross a bridge, he is hit head on by Damien Wayne, who was driving one of his father's Batmobiles. The crash sends Joker and the ambulance careening off the bridge and into the waters below.
The Black Glove is led by some nutcase named Doctor Hurt, and counts Jezebel Jet as one of its members. Batman ultimately does escape his grave and attacks the Glove and their cronies. Batman chases down Doctor Hurt, who claims to be Bruce Wayne's father(?), but Batman disproves this, by stating that Hurt was actually his father's double, whatever the hell that means, and Hurt tears the cape and cowl off of Batman before attempting to escape in a helicopter. The unmasked Batman lunges at the copter and catches it, causing it to begin a tail spin. Batman then punches in the window of the copter, causing it to crash in a fiery explosion into the Gotham harbor.
Robin and Nightwing arrive on the scene of the crash, but all Nightwing can find is Batman's discarded cape and cowl. Talia Al Ghul also arrives on the scene with her Manbat ninja's and tells them to get retribution on Jezebel Jet, who escaped onto an airplane. When we see Jet next, her airplane is being attacked by a swarm of Manbats. We don't actually see what fate befalls Jezebel though. The comic ends 6 months later with some criminal about to torture a member of the Gotham police force to death. Before he can act though, a familiar bat signal illuminates the room the criminal is keeping the cop in. Is this Bruce Wayne, or someone else altogether? That will be the question posed in the Bat-books over the next several months.
Much like I said earlier, I was pretty lost for most of this comic. I'll probably try to get my hands on the last couple of issues of this series(if that is even possible, since these comics have been selling like hotcakes!)to see what exactly I missed leading up to this comic book.
There were some things with Robin and Nightwing in this comic book that happened, but I neglected to mention them, because I couldn't figure out what was going on in those scenes. They didn't seem connected to the main storyline, so I figure I could get away with excluding them from my review. Other then that, my main feeling after reading this comic was one of utter confusion, but to be honest, I really did expect to be horribly confused while I read this comic book. No matter how much I enjoyed Grant Morrison's work in the Marvel Universe, he is not a very accessible writer when it comes to new readers to his work. For a score, I'll have to go with a 4 1/2 out of 10. I guess this comic will have huge ramifications throughout the DC Universe, but I think I missed way too much to fully grasp what was going on here... My loss I guess.
Detective Comics #850
First off, before I even read this comic book, allow me to say that I haven't read any of the prior parts of this storyline(Batman R.I.P.). I picked this comic book up on a lark, since I fully intend to begin to collect the Batman comic books following Batman R.I.P. So, if I seem confused during parts of this review(well, more confused than usual...), it's because I don't have the slightest clue as to what went on in this series before this issue. With that disclaimer out of the way, on to the review.
Overall- OK, before I begin to comment on the events of this issue, I should first give a brief review of exactly what happened in these pages. Batman's enemy Hush, arrives at Wayne Manor and attacks Alfred, stabbing Alfred in the arm, before deducting that the entrance to the Batcave had to be behind the grandfather clock in Bruce's study. Batman during this time was retrieving the heart of Catwoman, which had been removed and cryogenically frozen by Mr. Freeze and Hush. Hush's plot seemed to be to force Batman to watch as Catwoman's heart slowly died, since Bats has always had a thing for Catwoman. Batman naturally breaks free and beats up all of the goons Hush had watching him. Bats then contacts Mr. Terrific and Dr. Midnite, who were barely keeping Catwoman's heartless body alive. Mr. Terrific arrives and takes Catwoman's heart back to her body so Dr. Midnite could attempt to replace Catwoman's heart.
Hush makes his way down to the Batcave, and is amazed by the sheer immensity of it. By this time, Batman arrives on the scene, and attacks Hush, allowing Alfred the opportunity to get away. Hush and Batman battle throughout the Cave, while Hush recounts the story of how he murdered his mother in order to inherit his family's fortune. You know how those bad guys get during a fight, they just can't shut up!
Batman continues to dodge Hush's bullets, but Hush is distracted by the giant mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex which, thanks to Alfred, suddenly comes to life and tries to attack Hush. Hush empties both of his guns at the giant dinosaur, which is enough to "kill" it. Before Hush can catch his breath, Nightwing and Robin arrive on the scene and attack Hush. Hush manages to narrowly avoid capture by the current and former Boy Wonder and manages to get on board an antique one man helicopter, in order to fly to freedom.
However, Batman manages to cling to the bottom of the copter and hangs on in order to prevent Hush's escape. Hush begins to hack away at Batman's arms with a Batarang, but in his exuberance, he gets his facial bandages caught up in the propeller of the copter. Batman lets go of the copter and dives into the river running along the bottom of the Cave, while the bandages of Hush get all wrapped up in the propellers, causing the copter, and presumably Hush to explode. Batman, Nightwing and Robin search the river but are unable to find any trace of Hush except for his bloody bandages.
Afterwards, Batman rushes to Dr. Midnite's lab and discovers that Catwoman survived her operation, and Dr. Midnite expects her to recover. He does emphasise that he isn't sure if Catwoman will ever be the same hero/villain she was before the operation. As Catwoman lays in the hospital recovering, Bruce stops by to visit the still unconscious Catwoman, and confesses the fact that he had always loved her, even though he had difficulty admitting to it. Catwoman reveals that she heard Bruce's confession and the two share a kiss.
The story ends 2 months later with Catwoman making a video for Hush, in the event that he survived the explosion in the Batcave. In the video, Catwoman tells Hush that with the help of her friends, both good and bad, she managed to find every cent Hush owned, stealing some of it for herself, allowing some of her more corrupt friends to take some, and giving the rest to various abused women shelters and charities. As the comic concludes, we see Hush is still among the living and watching the tape in a rage, realizing that Catwoman had taken the only thing that was ever important to him, his money.
Considering that I had little idea about what was going on when I started reading this comic, I wound up thoroughly enjoying this story regardless. Series writer Paul Dini did a great job explaining what happened in the prior issues, as well as crafting an excellent story here. I couldn't help but like Hush. He was pretty much the fractured mirror reflection of Bruce Wayne. Hush, much like Bruce was a billionaire, but without Bruce's strong morals. Reading this issue really made me want to go out and see if I could find some back issues containing earlier appearances containing Hush. Unlike many of Batman's more ridiculous villains, I'm talking about you Penguin, Hush seemed to be a truly deadly threat as opposed to a comical loser. Anyway, I would recommend this issue, and I'll probably go back and collect the other issues of this storyline, that is if I can still get my hands on them. For a score, I'll go with a 8 1/2 out of 10. There were a few gaps in the logic of this story, but they are easy to overlook, as the story itself was highly enjoyable.
Overall- OK, before I begin to comment on the events of this issue, I should first give a brief review of exactly what happened in these pages. Batman's enemy Hush, arrives at Wayne Manor and attacks Alfred, stabbing Alfred in the arm, before deducting that the entrance to the Batcave had to be behind the grandfather clock in Bruce's study. Batman during this time was retrieving the heart of Catwoman, which had been removed and cryogenically frozen by Mr. Freeze and Hush. Hush's plot seemed to be to force Batman to watch as Catwoman's heart slowly died, since Bats has always had a thing for Catwoman. Batman naturally breaks free and beats up all of the goons Hush had watching him. Bats then contacts Mr. Terrific and Dr. Midnite, who were barely keeping Catwoman's heartless body alive. Mr. Terrific arrives and takes Catwoman's heart back to her body so Dr. Midnite could attempt to replace Catwoman's heart.
Hush makes his way down to the Batcave, and is amazed by the sheer immensity of it. By this time, Batman arrives on the scene, and attacks Hush, allowing Alfred the opportunity to get away. Hush and Batman battle throughout the Cave, while Hush recounts the story of how he murdered his mother in order to inherit his family's fortune. You know how those bad guys get during a fight, they just can't shut up!
Batman continues to dodge Hush's bullets, but Hush is distracted by the giant mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex which, thanks to Alfred, suddenly comes to life and tries to attack Hush. Hush empties both of his guns at the giant dinosaur, which is enough to "kill" it. Before Hush can catch his breath, Nightwing and Robin arrive on the scene and attack Hush. Hush manages to narrowly avoid capture by the current and former Boy Wonder and manages to get on board an antique one man helicopter, in order to fly to freedom.
However, Batman manages to cling to the bottom of the copter and hangs on in order to prevent Hush's escape. Hush begins to hack away at Batman's arms with a Batarang, but in his exuberance, he gets his facial bandages caught up in the propeller of the copter. Batman lets go of the copter and dives into the river running along the bottom of the Cave, while the bandages of Hush get all wrapped up in the propellers, causing the copter, and presumably Hush to explode. Batman, Nightwing and Robin search the river but are unable to find any trace of Hush except for his bloody bandages.
Afterwards, Batman rushes to Dr. Midnite's lab and discovers that Catwoman survived her operation, and Dr. Midnite expects her to recover. He does emphasise that he isn't sure if Catwoman will ever be the same hero/villain she was before the operation. As Catwoman lays in the hospital recovering, Bruce stops by to visit the still unconscious Catwoman, and confesses the fact that he had always loved her, even though he had difficulty admitting to it. Catwoman reveals that she heard Bruce's confession and the two share a kiss.
The story ends 2 months later with Catwoman making a video for Hush, in the event that he survived the explosion in the Batcave. In the video, Catwoman tells Hush that with the help of her friends, both good and bad, she managed to find every cent Hush owned, stealing some of it for herself, allowing some of her more corrupt friends to take some, and giving the rest to various abused women shelters and charities. As the comic concludes, we see Hush is still among the living and watching the tape in a rage, realizing that Catwoman had taken the only thing that was ever important to him, his money.
Considering that I had little idea about what was going on when I started reading this comic, I wound up thoroughly enjoying this story regardless. Series writer Paul Dini did a great job explaining what happened in the prior issues, as well as crafting an excellent story here. I couldn't help but like Hush. He was pretty much the fractured mirror reflection of Bruce Wayne. Hush, much like Bruce was a billionaire, but without Bruce's strong morals. Reading this issue really made me want to go out and see if I could find some back issues containing earlier appearances containing Hush. Unlike many of Batman's more ridiculous villains, I'm talking about you Penguin, Hush seemed to be a truly deadly threat as opposed to a comical loser. Anyway, I would recommend this issue, and I'll probably go back and collect the other issues of this storyline, that is if I can still get my hands on them. For a score, I'll go with a 8 1/2 out of 10. There were a few gaps in the logic of this story, but they are easy to overlook, as the story itself was highly enjoyable.
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