Reilly2040's Blog

So, with week 2 of the reboot/relaunch, I have to admit, as someone who was quite sceptical about the whole thing, there’s a lot to recommend it here.

Its really no surprise that Action Comics was excellent. A Superman whose powers aren’t quite up there yet, and a nice reference to Smallville early on (at least, I have to assume it was intentional ). Its interesting to see Clark pushed more into a Green Arrow esque role here, but it works, especially with the idea that this is Superman starting out. He’s not at the level of cosmic threats yet (although Luthor’s dialogue hints towards something coming). Morrison’s on good form here, and Rags Morale’s artwork is great. I do wish artists would stop overusing the Superman with glowing red eyes thing, but that’s just a personal peeve.  To be honest, given that this is the premier Superman title, and is probably the earliest set of the superhero books in the new 52, I think they could’ve easily used this as the launch title instead of Justice League.  Really strong first issue that shows Clark as much more of a Superboy than a Superman, and also a nice showcase of Luthor.  Very interested to see how this book develops.

Batgirl, also lived up to the hype.  Its no secret I had  a lot of misgivings about the book.  Barbara’s role as Oracle had been a big part of the DCU for years, and the character of Batgirl had gone on to enjoy success first with Cassie, and then more recently with Steph.  To be honest, pre-reboot the Steph Batgirl series by Bryan Millar was one of the best books DC was putting out, so I really disliked the way it had the rug pulled out from under it.  However, then DC put Gail Simone on the book, who was possibly the only writer that could’ve convinced me to pick it up.  And Gail came through brilliantly.

Instead of being ignored or rebooted, the story nicely uses Barbara’s disability throughout the book. I did have a nagging wish for more of a bridge between this and the previous series, which is a peril of not rebooting as cleanly as Superman has – but I do find myself itching to know what happened with Steph and why Barabara’s walking – only one of those questions is likely to be answered in the near future though.

The way Gail used the fact that Barbara was new to being back out as Batgirl worked brilliantly, and her characterisation using The Killing Joke is built up to the point where Barbara freezes when a gun is pointed at her, causing her rescue of someone to go badly wrong.  Its powerful stuff, and despite really being against Barbara’s reinstatement as Batgirl, I now can’t recommend it enough.  Between this and Action Comics, DC couldn’t have asked for a better couple of books for this first proper week of the reboot.

JLI was fun, but entirely setup. Dan Jurgens definitely convinced me he can pull off this team book though after writing Booster Gold’s solo adventures for so many years, but I was quite surprised just how quickly Guy exited the title. Frankly putting him on the cover was a bit cheeky (makes me wonder if he was sticking around longer in the initial plans?). For me, it seemed to carry on the tone of the recent Generation Lost series I enjoyed, so I’m happy.   It was nice to see Booster brought in from the beginning as the team leader, and it feels like the dialogue between the team is just right to capture that lighter hearted JLI feeling.  I’m also a big fan of the friendly relationship between Booster and Batman, something that in this rebooted universe is pretty unexpected. I assume there’s a story there that’s going to be revealed at somepoint (I’m not going to be surprised if this is the original timeline Booster who went to the DCNu’s Bruce for help after finding himself stuck here – we know Bruce found out about the timeline changes from Barry).

Animal Man was a nice surprise too. Really well written and intriguing. I had been going to skip it, but I was glad I didn’t. There’s some nice balancing of the superheroics, Buddie’s domestic life, and the horror elements.

The two books that didn’t blow me away were Detective Comics (enjoyable, but didn’t feel as fresh as the other books to me – I have to wonder if not rebooting Batman and Green Lantern in a similar way is going to make them stick out in all this), and Stormwatch, which I’d expected really good things from but didn’t really grab me (And good lord, Midnighter’s new costume is bloody awful – although that’s not a complaint restricted to him in this new DCU). I have to wonder if Stormwatch was just juggling too many characters in its first issue. And the fact that part of the setup seems to hang off of a Superman issue that’s not out for a couple of weeks seems a weird decision.

So overall, as someone who wasn’t entirely convinced of the reboot, this first proper week of books did a lot to convince me.  Action Comics, Batgirl, JLI and Animal Man are all books I’m definitely going to keep picking up.

I’ve been really getting behind on my blogging lately, but out of everything I’m reading at the moment, there’s one franchise that’s grabbing me like no other.  Batman.

Now, the Return of Bruce Wayne series really did suffer.  Its release schedule ended up all over the place, and it felt like every issue was a hodge podge of art.  I don’t really know what went on behind the scenes, but its a shame that this aspect of Grant Morrison’s run seemed to fall apart a bit.

But then we neared the final issue.  Bruce was returning back to the present, while over in Batman and Robin, Doctor Hurt (from the Batman RIP storyline) had resurfaced and was causing major problems for Dick and Damian, attempting to complete his satanic ritual, shooting Dick and attempting to open the box Bruce encountered during his time jumping.

The reveal though of the mysterious box’s contents were a fantastic punch-the-air moment.  At the height of Doctor Hurt’s success, the box is opened to reveal a simple note: “Gotcha”.  And then the scene shifts to show Bruce, back in his Batman costume, behind them ready to face Hurt.  Despite the delays that seemed to blight Bruce’s return, the brilliance of this moment shifted them into insignificance.

The conclusion to Return of Bruce Wayne was then a real treat, especially for those that had enjoyed Final Crisis, as everything is revealed that neatly pulls together Batman RIP, Final Crisis, the Return of Bruce Wayne and the entire Doctor Hurt saga.  Its a masterpiece of a comics run as far as I’m concerned, and one of the few that I’d love to own in its entirety in trade form just so I could read it all through properly and fully appreciate the detail.

Even the satellite tie-ins that turned up prior to the final issues, The Road Back, I found to be great reads.  Granted, I never picked up all of them (the Outsiders for instance held little interest to me), but I did buy the majority, and while they had the slight whiff of an editorial mandate to boost the interest and profit in Bruce’s return,  they were all really enjoyable books.

Featuring Bruce taking on a new identity, operating from the shadows while silently catching up with everything he’d missed while he was gone, evaluating Dick and Damian’s partnership, checking in on the new Batgirl (a character Bruce never had a brilliant relationship with, so his acceptance of her made for a nice scene) all while an underlying storyline of Vicki Vale’s attempts to expose the Bat-family’s identities ties everything together, these issues provided a great accompaniment to the main books.

The continuity with Grant Morrison’s books might’ve be a little shaky, but none-the-less it was a really enjoyable part of Bruce’s return and very well written, and these titles all showed off an aspect that’s a big part of Grant’s newly-returned Bruce Wayne.  He’s realised just how big a family he now has surrounding him.  How he’s not alone.  There’s a clear move away from the overly-brooding, anti-social Batman of the past, and while its been tried before (Bruce Wayne: Fugitive) there’s a real feeling that this time its going to stick.

And just when you think Grant Morrison would be saying “ok, I’ve told my giant Bat-epic, time to move on”, instead he’s thrown himself headlong into the next chapter of the Bat-family, launching Batman Incorporated, which features Bruce travelling the globe, training other heroes in his skills to take his war on crime global.  Its a really nice play on the usual part of Bruce’s backstory of him making a similar journey in the past to learn those skills.   Plus, much like with the return of Steve Rogers over at Marvel, it serves to make the status quo upon his return less predictable.  In the case of Captain America, Steve happily surrendered the role to Bucky who he’d seen as having earned it (Steve now heading the latest equivalent to S.H.I.E.L.D.).  In the case of Batman, this new direction has allowed DC to leave Dick and Damian as the Batman and Robin of Gotham, with Bruce pleased that his city is under their care.  Plus Grant is laying some elements for the future of the storyline, as its being hinted that during his time travel, Bruce has seen a specific threat that he’s quietly preparing for (so perhaps still that hint of the old secret-keeping Bruce is left after all).

All in all, I can’t praise this epic run more, and I really encourage people to check it out.  There’s various trades of the run available, starting with Batman and Son, that saw Talia Al Ghul reveal Damian’s existance to Bruce.

As it says in the solicits, “The Return of Bruce Wayne starts here!”.  And boy, does it.

I’ve not read all of Morrison’s previous run on Batman, but I’ve read enough of the trades, and RIP itself to appreciate exactly how good this issue is.   Here we start to see Morrison’s masterplan unfurling, bringing together various plot threads from throughout his run.   We also get some interesting tidbits on Bruce’s family history that sets up the Return of Bruce Wayne series itself to be very interesting, as the question of how involved Bruce actually was in his own family history is raised.

There’s also some tantalising hints about Doctor Hurt, who terrorised Bruce throughout Batman RIP and who claimed to be Thomas Wayne, as we learn that there was a black sheep in the Wayne family, also called Thomas Wayne, who claimed to have summoned a demon.  Again, this is something I strongly suspect will feature in the Return of Bruce Wayne mini-series.  I’d be surprised if a time-lost Bruce didn’t stumble across Thomas, perhaps setting in motion Doctor Hurt’s plan against him in RIP.

It was really nice to see Dick, Damian and Alfred all working together to try and unravel the mystery of Bruce’s disappearance, looking for clues Bruce may have left throughout history in Wayne Manor and the Batcave.  The only slightly strange note here is that everyone suddenly knows that Bruce is lost in time thanks to the Omega Effect.  Its not actually clear when anyone found this out.  Granted Tim found the cave painting Bruce left behind, but that’s still a heck of a logical jump.

Damian’s development also continues to be a real draw in the series.  Here we get to see that he’s actually developed a fondness for Grayson, and his new role as Robin, as he questions what will happen to him once Bruce is back as Batman.  Dick’s ill-timed joke about the situation only makes things worse, as he doesn’t realise how much impact taking Damian under his wing has actually had on the boy.  Things only getting worse when Damian realises he’s been programmed by Talia to kill Dick, as Talia’s patience with Damian’s stint as Robin is at an end.    You really feel for what Damian’s going through, and its a testament to what an interesting and enjoyable character Morrison’s created.

And throughout the book, with all this going on, we also have the mystery of Oberon Sexton.  Who Dick turned to for information about Doctor Hurt and the Black Hand, and who later turns up at Wayne Manor in time to keep Damian safe from a group about to attack.  Who he actually is is yet another mystery in this series.   This issue would certainly make me wonder if he’s actually Bruce (and if so, pairing him and Damian in the next issue should be interesting), but I also can’t help but wonder if that’s not a bit obvious for Grant Morrison.

As you can tell, there’s a heck of a lot going on in this single issue.  Its a real testament to the writing that none of this comes across as rushed, and all starts to tie together the last few years of Batman books so beautifully.  I’ve got high expectations for the rest of this story now, and I can’t wait for the Return of Bruce Wayne, even if I do think that DC could get another year out of Dick and Damian as Batman and Robin easily.  And that’s all down to the quality of the story being told here.

After the fun, widescreen-style action in the first issue, the second issue of Grant Morrison’s new Batman and Robin series shifts the focus back to characterisation.

We see the fallout from some of the events in the first issue.  I quite enjoyed the rooftop scene between Gordon and the new Batman and Robin, with Gordon admitting its not Batman, but that he does find him familiar.   Although personally I find this a bit frustrating when you take into account the events this saga is compared to, namely Knightfall and Prodigal.

There we saw a widening gulf between Batman and Gordon, as Gordon was increasingly put out by the new Batmen turning up with no explanation, and their continued attempts to treat him like an idiot and pretend they were the originals.   While, what happens here isn’t as severe (Dick makes no real effort to claim to be the original Batman), I’d still like to see Dick show Gordon some respect and quietly have a word with him in private, explaining that the original Batman died, but he’s Nightwing and he’s taken on the role.   A little bit of honesty would go a long way with Gordon, given the characters long history together.

This leads into a great scene with Robin.  The Circus gang attack the police station, looking for Mr Toad.  Batman and Robin get separated when Robin goes after one of them alone.  Dick tries to order Damian back, but Damian won’t listen.   Dick’s outnumbered, but manages to break free with the help of GCPD, and heads off to help Damian.   However here we get a neat twist on the “Robin is in over his head and Batman bails him out scenario”.  When Dick catches up, Damian is in the process of beating the hell out of the gang member, before Dick manages to get him to stop.

Its great, because it underlines just how dangerous Damian can be.  There’s a great scene where Dick is talking to Alfred and really questioning everything he’s done, trying to both take over as Batman and taking Damian under his wing.  Certainly Damian doesn’t respect him, seeing Dick as a poor copy of his father, an attitude that hits deeply with Dick, who really agrees with Damian, and felt happier when he was Nightwing.

The Dick/Damian relationship was always the main draw of this title for me, and Morrison’s letting it play out beautifully.  Exactly how the GCPD are going to react to what Robin did will be interesting, and partly why I think it’d be nice to have a quiet scene between Dick and Gordon.

After RIP, Final Crisis and Battle for the Cowl, we’ve finally got the first issue with the new Batman and Robin as Grant Morrison teams up once again with Frank Quitely.

This is a great first issue.  As I’ve said before, I’m very enthusiastic for the idea of Dick as Batman with Damian as Robin, and this issue bares it out.  Its fast paced and funny, while simultaneously introducing a new villain who seems suitably freaky and twisted.  

The wildness of the opening chase and the new flying Batmobile is not something that would’ve really worked with Bruce still in the cowl I suspect, and it plays nicely with the lighter feel Dick brings to Batman.   We then move on to see Dick and Alfred shutting down the Batcave, as they move to their new base at Wayne Tower (presumably the same one Bruce used during the 70s?).  I quite like the idea that they’re going to be based out of an alternative cave, as Dick already mentions that while he’s okay with being the new Batman, he still feels like he’s wearing a shroud to an extent, and from that perspective it makes sense that he’d feel more comfortably operating out of a new base of operations.

We see some nice scenes between Dick, Alfred and Damian which nicely sets up the way these characters play off of each other, and I’m looking forward to seeing them expand these relationships.   Damian still comes across as quite grudging towards the Bat-family, seeing himself as Bruce’s true heir, however you do get the feeling that its a front.  And certainly Dick and Alfred are shown offering olive branches to Damian, be it Dick taking him under his wing as Robin, or something simple like Alfred complimenting Damian’s work on the new Batmobile.  I look forward to seeing Damian mature over the next 12 months under their guidance.   

And this is something I’ll be interested to see once Bruce comes back.  Will Damian remain as Robin to his Batman?  Seeing them interact in this way would certainly be interesting, especially as by then Damian will be more used to how Dick does things.

I guess the only complaint I could make is one that I basically levelled at Battle for the Cowl the other week, in that while Damian is the new Robin, and here Dick makes mention of offering Tim his old job back, we’ve still not actually seen what prompted Tim to hand the identity over to Damian.   I’m really hoping we get a scene addressing this in the upcoming Red Robin series as its currently a bit of an oversight.  I’m not really levelling this at Batman and Robin though, since in fairness this series is aiming to be accessible and so obviously doesn’t want to get weighed down with such things.  Its just an ongoing niggle with me.

Aside from this, while introducing our heroes’ new status quo, Morrison also starts to introduce a new set of villains, clearly with circus connections (playing to the obvious history of Dick as a character – its odd how many evil circus people he encounters compared to everyone else ).  Their leader is Pyg, and his introduction is nicely contrasted with the big, bold scenes of Batman and Robin, wherein we see him catch up to someone trying to run out on him.  Pyg certainly comes across as twisted and sadistic enough to be an interesting addition to the new Batman’s rogue’s gallery.  Whereas the intro scenes of Batman and Robin are huge fun, Pyg is instantly portrayed as brutal, torturing his captive with the promise of doing the same to his daughter and I found this contrast quite effective.

This is a great first issue.  Very different in tone from what we had with Bruce as Batman, and in that regard I think this will hopefully be a shot  in the arm for the franchise, which at times got dragged down by writers making Bruce overly grim.   How the other writers approach Dick’s Batman should be interesting and I hope they manage to capture his voice well, and we don’t end up with the problems the Nightwing title had after Chuck Dixon left.  DC’s been upfront about the fact Bruce will be back in 12 months, so in the meantime I hope all the writers capitalise on the chance to do something different with Batman, rather than try and turn Dick into Bruce-lite.