Aside from all the Secret Invasion, this week also brought the latest issue of Batman RIP.

I’ve always been a fan of the Bat-books, however due to budget concerns, I tend to avoid picking them up.   I prefer to simply trade-buy arcs that looked interesting.

However, all the hype about Batman RIP got to me, and so I thought I’d pick it up.  It started off promisingly, with Bruce’s secret being revealed to his latest girlfriend, while the shadowy Black Glove plots his downfall.

There’s a lot of interesting stuff going on, regarding the Waynes, and how Bruce’s vision of them may be rose-tinted.  There’s certainly a lot of deconstruction of Bruce’s character going on, with major hints that the trauma of his parents death affected him far more deeply than he realised.

Its all pretty interesting stuff, however this latest issue was just weird.  And not in a good way.  It certainly takes Bruce to a low point.  Following the activation of some sub-concious, post-hypnotic command, Bruce seems to have lost his memory, and is a down-and-out while the Black Glove takes over the Batcave and takes Alfred prisoner.  Nightwing is captured and imprisoned in Arkham (interesting, since this has been rumoured to be Bruce’s fate) and Robins on the run from a group of attackers.

The problem is that the post-hypnotic stuff seems a bit vague, and isn’t really making sense at this point.  And the ending of the issue was just really odd.   I’ve got a lot of faith in Morrison though, so I’m hoping it all makes sense as the story goes on.  I’m not convinced the integration of silver-age parts of the mythos is working as well as it does with Superman however.

Bit of a mixed bag this week comics-wise.

First up, and possibly the biggest release of the week for DC fans is the Final Crisis sketchbook.

As a tease of what’s upcoming I think it works well.  We get a look at the redesigns instore for some of the New Gods as well as a look at some of the new superhero teams Morrison has lined up.

As I’ve said before, I’m not a big fan of the New Gods, but I liked the look of these redesigns, and the concepts behind them (although I’m still unsure about the Darkseid having trouble moving thing).   We get a really interesting tease in terms of the “Multiverse Machine” (perhaps a sign that there’s a larger plan for the multiverse which will definitely see it sticking around?  I hope so), and a look at some of the new Japanese super teams (I love the Super Young Team a crazy Japanese version of the JLA).

Less successful for me, was Titans #2.   I’m not a dyed-in-the-wool Titans fan, although I enjoyed Geoff’s relaunch of the Teen Titans, and I like the characters well enough.   I thought I’d give this series a couple of issues, but to be honest, its not grabbing me.  Some of the characterisations felt a bit off to me, and I’m not big on the art.   The three crossovers going on that I’m picking up, I’m going to have to get brutal on titles that I don’t love, so I can’t see me picking up the next issue.

The first part of Batman RIP though, I enjoyed.  While it very much felt like a first part, with not a huge amount happening, and more introducing things, I’m definitely intrigued enough to be sticking with this crossover for now.  I have to say though, as someone who’s not been buying Morrison’s Batman, I loved the interaction between Bruce, Tim and Alfred.

From the non-DC side of things, I had Knights of the Old Republic #28.  Although not a series I talk about a lot on the blog, its one I’ve enjoyed immensely, possibly ranking alongside GL in terms of my pull list.

I have to say though, that the much-vaunted Vector crossover has done nothing for me.   I disliked the fact that most of the main cast were missing for the last 4 issues, and I found the art badly off-putting.   I can’t say I’ve been left with any real desire to pick up the rest of the crossover, and I’m really hoping that now its over, the series will get back to telling stories I more enjoy.    I will say though, that I did appreciate the writer trying to fit the crossover around his ongoing story of Zhane being on the run from the Jedi Masters.

From Marvel, I picked up Captain Britain #1.   Now being written by Paul Cornell (of Dr Who fame), and with “Secret Invasion” stamped on the top, I couldn’t resist.

I really enjoyed this book.  It was probably the surprise hit of the week for me, as something I ended up enjoying a lot more than I thought I would.  Its really grabbed me, and its really nice to be reading about a British hero, and set in Britain as well.   In that regard, I think Marvel have probably done a very wise thing in getting a British writer on board.   However, I’m going to stop saying “Britain” now, lest I end up sounding like an episode of League of Gentlemen.

I do love the setup though, with Captain Britain resolving to be more like a proper counterpart to Captain America, and the Skrull disguised as John Lennon who’s working with MI 13 (the agency Cap works for) to help find other Skrull infiltrators.  I’m definitely onboard for the next issue.

I’m not really going to talk much about last week’s comics, as to be honest, I didn’t really pick up anything that floated my boat.

However I did pick up Grant Morrison’s latest issue of Batman, which has Bruce’s new girlfriend figuring out his secret identity.  I picked it up largely because online discussion seemed to indicate most people were taking the issue (specifically the reveal) as the lead in to Grant Morrison’s Batman RIP event.

While I’m intrigued, but not hugely hyped about Final Crisis, the interviews over the last few weeks regarding Batman RIP have really caught my interest.   I do like the Bat-franchise, but aside from Nightwing, I find the number of titles involved puts me off collecting them.

There’s not a lot of detail floating around at the moment as to what the story is actually about, but the hints seem to head towards Bruce retiring from his active role as Batman, with someone else taking on the cowl.

I’m really interested to see where this goes.   For a start, it seems to be following the “big event, contained to 1 franchise” mentality which served The Sinestro Corps War so well last year.  But I’m also interested in what form the plot will take.  Bruce being replaced as Batman has of course, been done before, with first Azrael and then Dick Grayson taking over the role during the Knightfall and Prodigal storylines (at least, in recent-ish years).   I can’t imagine we’d be facing a retread of those stories.

Of course, those stories separated Bruce from the crime fighting and Batman alter ego completely.  While Azrael was tearing up the town, Bruce was off having his own adventures during Knight Quest for example.   I wonder if Batman RIP will setup something Batman Beyond-ish with Bruce in more of a detective/support role to a new Batman on the streets?

At NYCC DC were teasing who might take over the role.  And that’s a good question in itself.    The three Robins are obvious candidates, but then I’d say Tim is currently too young to pull it off (not to mention he’s still fighting the idea of one day taking over from Bruce), Jason as a character is just poison at the moment, with DC not having a clue what to do with him.  Dick is possibly the most logical character, but they’re only just now starting to rebuild the Nightwing title.   Shunting Dick off into the Batman role would undo all that good work.

Maybe Grant could do some work on the Jason Todd character to make his taking over the role believable.  Or DC could take the hit on the Nightwing title.  Or maybe they could decide to sidestep the age issue and have Tim face his demons?

There’s Damien as well.  Bruce’s son with Talia, but to be honest, I don’t really know much about that character.

Either way, I’m increasingly intrigued by where this story could go.  So I think I’ll be picking up the titles to see what its about.

Just saw this new poster for The Dark Knight. I really like this one.

As someone who isn’t a fan of the Joker, I’m really digging this freakier interpretation.

Thanks to Lying in the Gutters, the rumours have been rife for the last couple of weeks that Batman is set to “die” in the upcoming Final Crisis. The story is that he’ll ascend (to borrow from Stargate) to become a New God as part of the DCU’s new Fifth World.

To further this story, the rumours now say that the mantle of Batman will be taken over by Jason Todd.

My reaction to this? Well, obviously its all still rumour. I’ll believe it when it happens in Final Crisis #7. I’m not sure I really see the point in it to be honest. I don’t mind shake ups like this, when its obvious they’re temporary (as this obviously would be - no matter what’s said at the time), but I’m unsure what benefit this could have to the DC’s storylines. Of course, that’s why I’m not Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison or Mark Waid

The original version of the rumour I thought was more interesting. Which would’ve seen the main pantheon of DC’s heroes (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hal Jordan, Wally West etc) all become the New Gods of the Fifth World. That sounded pretty interesting to me. They’d be put into a new environment (for a year or however long it would’ve lasted) with new cosmic challenges to face, while we could’ve had a year focusing on the backups taking up the mantle (John Stewart as the primary Earth GL, Jay Garrick as the main Flash, Donna Troy actually getting a decent shot as Wonder Woman).

Granted that would be a bit derivative of 52’s concept, but still I think it could’ve been interesting. This watered down version with just Bruce I don’t think sounds as good.

As for Jason Todd taking over the mantle? I’ve said before what I think of Jason Todd, and I still think he should go back to being the Red Hood. This just strikes me as the latest attempt to find a place in the DCU for him ever since Dick got a reprieve in Infinite Crisis. I can’t see DC fandom really taking to the idea of Jason Todd as Batman. And didn’t they already basically do that plotline in Knightfall?

Besides all of which, its just rumour at the moment, so may or may not actually happen. Its just fun to discuss

Especially while we wait for Green Lantern Corps #18, which apparently will be very Sodam Yat heavy, giving us his backstory and generally fleshing out the character (something long overdue in this story), while he and Superman Prime beat the living daylights out of each other.

Picture shamelesly nicked from here:
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=20726

Freaky as all get out. Not what I was expecting at all. I’ve never been a huge fan of the Joker, but this has definitely got my interest.