BATMAN AND ROBIN #1, DC Comics, August 2009
Battle for the Cowl, as a redefinition of the Batman family of books was largely a waste. Just the Big Two's usual "let's spawn as many #1s as possible" event structure instead of letting it play out in the actual books. Two-Face, Penguin and Black Mask have a gang war, which I've already forgotten the ending to. That's business as usual in the Batman books. Jason Todd dresses as Batman for a while, and then falls into the river, sadly probably to return at some point (to me, he's a convoluted character as pitiful as Cable). Man-Bat is given control over his transformations, but since when is he a key player in Gotham? There's a new Azrael in town, and while I like him better than the old one, we're basically promised a series further down the road. What was the hurry? Worst of all was Oracle: The Cure, which just jerked us around by leading us to believe Barbara Gordon would return to Batgirl's role, while it hardly had anything to do with Battle for the Cowl at all, much less any kind of "cure".
Yes, sure, by the end of the event, Dick Grayson has become Batman and Damian is the new Robin, but the damning evidence is that the Bat-books could have gone from the death of Batman to Batman and Robin #1 without the intervening specials and minis. It's clear what happened without any of it.
This is a Morrison Monday and isn't it great when he's paired up with Frank Quitely? The duo can now add another awesome series to Flex Mentallo, We3 and All-Star Superman. I'm only worried that Quitely's renowned lack of speed will land this book in fill-in crap artists' hands sooner than later. But for now, enjoying the ride!
Everything old is new again. Dick has his own (flying) batmobile, his own (arrogant) Robin, his own Batcave (under the Wayne Enterprise Building) and his own reason to visit the cemetery:
Hey, he just lost a parent too.
Morrison really sells the new dynamic and makes these characters ones you want to read about. It feels a little like when Wally West took over as the Flash. Not that Bruce Wayne wasn't a big seller, but there was a tendency with having seen it all before. Just check how many Batman stories are more about the villains than the heroes. But there are villains here too. In Terrible Trio fashion, there seems to be an animal theme going, including Mr. Toad and...
...Pyg, who melts masks onto victims to make them controllable "dolls". It's creepy as hell, and classically Batman. An old, underused favorite, Dr. Phosphorus, is also hanging around [apparently not - just my wishful thinking]. Throw in a mystery that involves dominoes, and you've got the makings of a Silver Agey classic.
The last page advertises the future of the title, giving us some fun hints of what's to come.
So it looks like strife between our two heroes (expected); the Red Hood with a new female sidekick (not to sure about that though); Batwoman guest stars as Bruce Wayne rises from the Lazarus Pit (I predict a fake-out); and is that the Black Glove guy with the keys to the house?
You know what's sad? Batman R.I.P. could have looked like this. But this is a lot more mainstream than R.I.P. and a lot more enjoyable. Fresh and HOT!
Battle for the Cowl, as a redefinition of the Batman family of books was largely a waste. Just the Big Two's usual "let's spawn as many #1s as possible" event structure instead of letting it play out in the actual books. Two-Face, Penguin and Black Mask have a gang war, which I've already forgotten the ending to. That's business as usual in the Batman books. Jason Todd dresses as Batman for a while, and then falls into the river, sadly probably to return at some point (to me, he's a convoluted character as pitiful as Cable). Man-Bat is given control over his transformations, but since when is he a key player in Gotham? There's a new Azrael in town, and while I like him better than the old one, we're basically promised a series further down the road. What was the hurry? Worst of all was Oracle: The Cure, which just jerked us around by leading us to believe Barbara Gordon would return to Batgirl's role, while it hardly had anything to do with Battle for the Cowl at all, much less any kind of "cure".Yes, sure, by the end of the event, Dick Grayson has become Batman and Damian is the new Robin, but the damning evidence is that the Bat-books could have gone from the death of Batman to Batman and Robin #1 without the intervening specials and minis. It's clear what happened without any of it.
This is a Morrison Monday and isn't it great when he's paired up with Frank Quitely? The duo can now add another awesome series to Flex Mentallo, We3 and All-Star Superman. I'm only worried that Quitely's renowned lack of speed will land this book in fill-in crap artists' hands sooner than later. But for now, enjoying the ride!
Everything old is new again. Dick has his own (flying) batmobile, his own (arrogant) Robin, his own Batcave (under the Wayne Enterprise Building) and his own reason to visit the cemetery:
Hey, he just lost a parent too.Morrison really sells the new dynamic and makes these characters ones you want to read about. It feels a little like when Wally West took over as the Flash. Not that Bruce Wayne wasn't a big seller, but there was a tendency with having seen it all before. Just check how many Batman stories are more about the villains than the heroes. But there are villains here too. In Terrible Trio fashion, there seems to be an animal theme going, including Mr. Toad and...
...Pyg, who melts masks onto victims to make them controllable "dolls". It's creepy as hell, and classically Batman. An old, underused favorite, Dr. Phosphorus, is also hanging around [apparently not - just my wishful thinking]. Throw in a mystery that involves dominoes, and you've got the makings of a Silver Agey classic.
The last page advertises the future of the title, giving us some fun hints of what's to come.
So it looks like strife between our two heroes (expected); the Red Hood with a new female sidekick (not to sure about that though); Batwoman guest stars as Bruce Wayne rises from the Lazarus Pit (I predict a fake-out); and is that the Black Glove guy with the keys to the house?You know what's sad? Batman R.I.P. could have looked like this. But this is a lot more mainstream than R.I.P. and a lot more enjoyable. Fresh and HOT!
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