Fashion Beast #10 – Review

By: Alan Moore (script), Moore & Malcolm McLaren (story), Antony Johnston (sequential adaptation), Facundo Percio (art)

The Story: Can the fashion house survive the death of its founder?

Review (with SPOILERS): Hmm…  Now that Fashion Beast is over, I’m not really sure what the ending meant.  This has been a very deep and thought-provoking series, so I’m unclear whether there was a deep meaning that kinda went over my head OR perhaps the story simply doesn’t have a powerful ending (explaining why this story sat undeveloped for ~30 years).

The issue basically follows the events as the fashion house created by Celestine tries to continue past Celestine’s death.  There is a difference of opinion in the House.  The two old women want to continue the House using Celestine’s discarded designs; they have LOTS of those and it is enough to keep the House running for years.  It might not have the bolt of inspiration that Celestine’s best work had, but it would pay the bills and keep the lights on.  Celestine’s plan was to leave the House to one of his lowest workers.  This young man has been a supporting character throughout the series, but I honestly cannot remember his name.  Anyway, this young man wants to have the House feature designs of his own creation.  He doesn’t do the same style of classic fashion that Celestine did – his style is more punk/urban – but it his own and it comes from an honest passion for creation.

Fashion Beast #9 – Review

By: Alan Moore (script), Moore & Malcolm McLaren (story), Antony Johnston (sequential adaptation), Facundo Percio (art), Hernan Cabrera (colors) & Jaymes Reed (letters)

The Story: After the death of a key employee, what will become of the famed house of fashion?

Review (with SPOILERS): Well, it was bound to happen.  Fashion Beast has been an interesting series all along, but it veered strongly into “incredibly thought provoking” for issues #7 and #8.  Those issues had so much depth and complexity that I really, REALLY got my hopes up for this issue.  This ninth issue isn’t poor, but it in no way approaches the craft of the last two issues.  This issue actually stands as an testament to how we should enjoy those transcendant comics while we hold them in our hands, because it is hard to predict when a combination of writer/artist/story will come along and really connect with you.  The next issue might not bring the same heat.

Fashion Beast #8 – Review

By: Alan Moore (script), Moore & Malcolm McLaren (story), Antony Johnston (sequential adaptation), Facundo Percio (art), Hernan Cabrera (colors) & Jaymes Reed (letters)

The Story: Doll returns to her crappy old neighborhood for a visit.

Review (with SPOILERS): This wasn’t quite the massive success that last issue was, but it is still a pretty complex story that keeps revealing more about itself the more you think about it.

Last issue featured both Doll and Celestine finding refuge in the same dark attic design studio.  Celestine was there because his spiteful – and deceased mother – told him he was horribly ugly, when he was actually a very lovely man.  So, he became a recluse and designed fabulous clothes that captivated a country going through an awful nuclear winter.  In contrast, Doll fled to Celestine’s attic because she was too popular.  This poor, cross-dressing and shallow boy was taken in by Celestine’s fashion house and turned into the top model in the city, until it became too much for Doll and she/he had to get away.  It was a wonderful bit of contrast: Beautiful man with spectacular talent who thinks he is ugly because his mother only allowed him a warped mirror Vs. shallow boy with no talent who is only popular because he/she has been dressed by someone else and viewed through the public’s warped mirror.  Clever, clever, clever….

Fashion Beast #7 – Review

By: Alan Moore (script), Moore & Malcolm Mclaren (story), Antony Johnston (sequential adaptation), Facundo Percio (art), Hernan Cabrera (colors) & James Reed (letters)

The Story: Now that Doll knows the true nature of Celestine, what will happen next?

Review (with some unavoidable SPOILERS from last issue): This has been an odd series.  I don’t “love it”, but it is a very high quality comic.  The story itself isn’t anything that would immediately sing to me, but it has some attraction just because it is different.  I love post-apocalypse, but that genre has been overdone.  Fashion Beast features a city suffering from a kinda nuclear winter (or at least that seems to be the problem even if they never specifically say), where the city is still functioning, but it is cold and gray all the time.  In this bleak environment, it seems the populace has turned to fashion as their obsession.  By fashion, I mean being obsessed with runway models and clothing designers, not wearing funky clothing themselves.  Enter Doll, a transvestite who has risen from being a coat-check “girl” to lead model for Celestine, the city’s most elite fashion designer.  Celestine is a recluse to lives in a tower and designs clothes.  The assumption is that he is a hideous beast, but as we learned last issue, he is actually beautiful, but nobody will tell him that because otherwise he wouldn’t stay in his tower designing clothes.

Nemo: Heart of Ice – Review

By: Alan Moore (Review), Kevin O’Neill, Todd Klein (Artists), Ben Dimagmaliw (Colorist)

The Review: Boy, this is a tough one to review. Analyzing a book written by Alan Moore is tricky, as the man shows true expertise in his craft, be it in the pacing, the themes, the characters and the plot itself of his books. For someone who reviews what some people used to call ‘’funny books’’, reviewing a title like Nemo: Heart of Ice is a real challenge as this book, as short as it is, cannot be resumed in as low a number of words as 500 or 700. It needs to be carefully explained and analyzed before giving it a grade, so here goes.

Fashion Beast #2 – Review

By: Alan Moore and Malcolm McLaren (story), Alan Moore (script), Antony Johnston (sequential adaptation), Facundo Percio (art) and Hernan Cabrera (colors)

The Story: A young lady (?) gets a choice modeling gig.

Review: This is a tough issue to review because it says “Alan Moore” on the cover.  Even though it is not a traditional Alan Moore comic (for reasons I described in the review of issue #1), it still has that golden halo of quality about it that makes me view the comic in a “glass half full” sort of way.  What I can’t tell you is whether I’d still view the comic in that way if it didn’t say “Moore” on the cover because, well, let’s just say that you can’t “unring the bell”.

Fashion Beast #1 – Review

By: Alan Moore (script), Moore & Malcolm McLaren (story), Antony Johnston (sequential adaptation), Facundo Percio (art) & Hernan Cabrera (colors)

The Story: An old script from the great Alan Moore comes to life.

Review: For starters, this comic has a non-traditional background.  Supposedly, this is a story that Alan Moore and Malcolm McLaren (manager of the Sex Pistols) wrote as a movie screen play back in the mid-1980s.  That’s the same era when Moore was writing Watchmen, Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta and a few others.  Then, I guess this screen play lay idle for ~25 years before someone (Avatar??) decided to dust it off and have Antony Johnston adapt it sequentially.

Before Watchmen: Minutemen #1 – Review

by Darwyn Cooke (writer & artist), Phil Noto (colorist), and Jared K. Fletcher (letterer)

The Story: Getting to know the Minutemen…

The Review:  Well, it’s finally here, the moment you’ve either been looking forward to or dreading but are, most likely, at least highly curious about.
After reading this first issue, I’m left feeling that a Watchmen prequel, or more Watchmen comics in general, actually isn’t a bad idea.  It’s not so much the characters that necessitate returning to so much as the Watchmen universe.  Cooke’s artwork really hammered this point home.  Not only is it gorgeous in Cooke’s usual stylish, retro way, but it’s really immersive and creates and establishes a unique world that is evocative and characterful in its own way.  Cooke legitimately gives us a world that feels like a different time and, well, just flat out different.  Minutemen is a book that is, more than anything else, an escape, or a trip, to another world and another time.  In that sense, Minutemen #1 is an easy book to get lost in, in the best way possible.

Cooke devotes almost the entirety of the issue to introducing each member of the team individually.  Overall, it’s extremely well-executed.  In 2-3 pages, we get a firm handle on the core essence of each of these characters, that is, their personalities, their backgrounds, their motivations, and their physical presences.  Speaking on this last point, I loved how Cooke distinguished each member’s unique fighting style; each battles the baddies in an entirely different way, even if it always involves fisticuffs.  Each also has an entirely different persona and by the end of the issue, you feel like you know each of them and can see each as a distinct piece that slots into the team in its own way.  Guiding this all along is narration by Hollis Mason from his book “Under the Hood,” which gives the book a controlled, structured feel that also makes everything seem significant.

Overall, the best I can say about this comic is that throughout, it’s amazing well-crafted.  More than most comics I read, it felt like a tremendous amount of thought, and labour, went into each individual textbox and each individual panel.  Everything is well-considered and you can tell that Cooke, and his editors, presumably, have put a lot of time into making the best comic they can.  The end result is an issue that feels tremendously polished, one that feels a cut above the usual weekly morass.  It feels well-crafted, with an effort to make everything just right.  This also leads to a comic that is very structured with a clear, methodical pace and plan in mind.  You can tell that a lot of work went into preliminary outlines and such long before Cooke ever wrote a single line or drew a single panel of it.

Neonomicon #4 – Review

By: Alan Moore (writer), Jacen Burrows (art), Juanmar (colors)

The Story: Neonomicon wraps up with an ending that indicates more story is yet to come.

What’s Good: It is really a shame that Alan Moore doesn’t write more comics.  Neonomicon isn’t his strongest work; and this issue isn’t even the best of this miniseries (issues 2 & 3 were better), but even Moore’s “B-list” is pretty darn good. That’s something that is easy to lose track of while the guy is giving unusual interviews expressing his continued displeasure over Watchmen and the royalties Dave Gibbons has collected; or when he’s saying that he doesn’t think any current comic creators are very good.  Personal oddities and hobo beards aside, the guy is a truly gifted writer.

Moore’s gifts hit you right in the face in this very understated issue.  There is no awful, weeklong rape scene to distract you in this issue.  It’s mostly just a postmortem on the events of the first three issues that features a lot of talking.  From a lesser writer, this could be a really tedious issue, but under Moore’s pen, the words just flow like butter.  It is almost a shame that Moore is so good at these sorts of issues, because lesser creators continually try to emulate him and they just come off like talentless chumps when they do.

That’s not to say that the issue is devoid of action.  The star of this issue is the masterful building of tension as the FBI raids the cult with cuts back-and-forth between Agent Brears getting a partial debrief outside the cult headquarters and the FBI agents storming the facility, shooting it out with the remaining cultists and getting closer and closer to you-know-who.  Moore always knows that we really want to be watching the shootout scenes, but he keeps pulling us away at just the key moment to build the tension. Bravo!

Weird Worlds #1 – Review

By Kevin VanHook (1^st feature writer), Jerry Oroway (1^st feature artist), Pete Pantazis (1^st feature colorist), Aaron Lopresti (2^nd feature writer/penciller), Matt Ryan (2^nd feature inker), Dave McCaig (2^nd feature colorist), Kevin Maguire (3^rd feature writer/artist), Rosemary Cheetham (3^rd feature colorist)

The Story: In the first feature, Lobo once again rises from the dead to prove how badass he is.  In the second, Garbage Man’s origins prove he’s definitely no Captain America in the super-soldier department.  In the third, Tanga, the bubbly purple alien, seeks to discover if true companionship exists in this great wide universe.

The Review: Weird Worlds is an interesting bag in the world of comics.  It brings to mind the annual format in its use of multiple short features.  It also bears traces of DC’s experiment with Wednesday Comics, since its features aren’t self-contained, but continue their stories from month to month (at least until the miniseries’ sixth, and last, issue).  Weird Worlds faces the obstacle of generating enough activity in each of its story chunks to keep the readers interested, but the efforts so far have a lot of potential.

The weakest feature stars the biggest-name character, sadly enough.  Lobo as an over-the-top caricature of Wolverine got him some inexplicable popularity in the nineties.  Post new millennium, his appearances have been restricted to guest shots in DC’s space titles, which is for the best, I have to say.  What else can you do other than riddle him with a multitude of gaping holes which no one should be able to survive, but which he inevitably always does?  Then he rains some major-league fragging on his opponents, touched by some always charming trash talk, and that’s about it.  Unless Kevin VanHook can give him a serious challenge in upcoming issues, you’re bound to get more of what you expect from Lobo, and not much else.  Jerry Oroway supports the feature with some appropriately gory art and packed action, but there’s nothing here to especially praise.

The tale of Garbage Man’s origins sells a lot better, and most of that is due to Aaron Lopresti’s storytelling choices.  Instead of forcing his characters to talk about what’s happened, he uses a flashback of events to fill you in.  Lopresti also uses some very bold dialogue to give personality to his characters, especially the flippantly amoral Doctor Clive.  Garbage Man’s voice reeks of the eighties style of stating the obvious (“Did that guy just run me over with his car?  I hardly felt anything.  It’s just not possible.”), but it works here, since the character pays tribute to that era’s horror tales, particularly Alan Moore’s work on Swamp Thing.  Lopresti’s own art is a huge boon to the feature’s value; his lines are clean and detailed and his paneling paces his storytelling perfectly.  Matt Ryan’s inks add depth, but never muddy Lopresti’s pencils, while Dave McCaig’s colors make lively scenes pop and moody scenes subdued.

Neonomicon #3 – Review

By: Alan Moore (writer), Jacen Burrows (art), Juanmar (colors) & William Christensen (editor)

The Story: After a horrible scene to end the last issue, what will become of Agent Brears who had been kidnapped by some Lovecraftian cult and offered up as a sex toy to some water monster/god-thing.

What’s Good: It is pretty hard to get an emotional rise out of me.  I’ve consumed enough media in my life that it is really hard to make me get skeeved out or horrified by fictional subject matter, but the ending of Neonomicon #2 where our heroine, Agent Brears, was kidnapped and gang raped by some weird Lovecraft-inspired cult in a bizarre underground bath/grotto before being offered up as a sex toy to some monster from the deep really freaked me out.  It was “freaked out in a good way”, but it was one of those rare comics that stuck with me as I plowed through my 60+ long pull list for a few months since the last issue came out.  What would happen to Brears?

If anything, the last issue steeled your emotions for what was to come in this issue.  What happens is still horrid and you just cannot imagine being stuck in a situation as terrible as where Brears finds herself in this issue: locked in the grotto with a randy sea monster for days on end.  The whole thing is just vile and no punches are pulled in depicting the horror that she endures.  But, no one normal wants to read rape-comics and Alan Moore understands this, so he ends this comic with [SPOILERS] Brears and the monster forming some kind of bond and the monster taking her (willingly) out into the ocean and (we would assume) his lair.  I really can’t wait to see what happens next.

As all of this is going on, we see that the FBI is looking high and low for their missing agents.  And, between these scenes and a hallucination that Brears has, we see Moore noodling with the concept that there is truth in Lovecraft and even if he didn’t appreciate it as he wrote his works, he was channeling something bigger into his writings.  Lovecraft fans will have a field day with this, I am sure.

If Moore is pitching this story, Burrows is the one knocking the visuals out of the park.  It isn’t so much that you look at the page and say, “Wow, that is nice art.”  This is more of a triumph of storytelling in terms of what to show and what not to show or when things should be revealed to the reader.  It is just nice to see creators using the medium of comics to its fullest extent.

Neonomicon #2 – Review

By: Alan Moore (writer), Jacen Burrows (art) & Juanmar (colors)

The Story: The FBI’s investigation into a seeming cult takes a weird twist for the worse.

What’s Good: Alan Moore is just a master of the medium.  The man has nine Eisner Awards for Best Writer.  NINE!  The next closest writers are two folks tied with three each (answer below).*  His writing is just flowing and effortless and his dialog is just comfortable without resorting to gaggy jokes to pull off the banter.  With some comic writers, you read the comic and can actually envision that you could probably take a hack at writing a comic book.  You don’t get that feeling reading this comic as Moore continues this tale of two FBI agents attempting to get to the bottom of a cult that has been carving people up.

One of the things that makes Moore so gifted is that he can tell a story at multiple levels.  There is considerable background material for Neonomicon as the story is a direct continuation from The Courtyard which is a prose story written by Moore almost 20 years ago.  Further, as the FBI agents dig deeper into their investigation, it becomes clear that the cult is (possibly) inspired by the writings of HP Lovecraft and Moore’s script has many goodies for Lovecraft fans.  All that being said, if you have never read The Courtyard or a single sentence of Lovecraft, Moore has still created a comic that you can enjoy as he sends the FBI agents on an undercover mission that you KNOW is going to end horribly.

Perhaps “enjoy” isn’t quite the correct word because this issue goes to some extremely dark and uncomfortable places that run one of our main characters through quite a ringer that is especially poignant give this character’s past.  Even if you don’t bat an eye at sexuality or violence in comics, this issue may make you a little squirmy.  Let’s just say that Moore is clearly a filthy old man (and that is meant as a compliment).

Neonomicon #1 – Review

By: Alan Moore (writer), Jacen Burrows (art) & Juanmar (colors)

The Story: Two FBI agents tracking a serial killer enlist the aid of an institutionalized killer who had the same M.O.

What’s Good: It’s an Alan Moore written comic, so this comic has a much higher certainty of “not sucking” than just about any other comic book you can grab off the shelf.  At worst, you’re going to get something like Tom Strong and at best, you could get something like Promethea or Watchmen.  So, I’ll admit to being a little baffled in a few weeks when I’ll see from the sales charts that this only sold ~5K issues or so.

Moore does a very fine job of establishing his story in this first issue.  There’s no screwing around, no forays into the meaning of life/religion/the universe… None of that stuff.  He just lays out the story.  Two FBI agents (including a hot female agent who is a recovering sex addict) are tracking a serial killer who doesn’t just kill folks…. He cuts off their arms and heads and “carves them like tulips”.  It is heavily implied that this carving isn’t just figurative… The guy is actually making something like an ice sculpture, but one of the very nice things is that they do not show us anything.   A lot of lesser creators would have just jumped into showing the gore, but here it is implied and I appreciate that.

Detective Comics #853 – Review

Neil Gaiman (writer), Andy Kubert (artist), Alex Sinclair (colorist)

Before the Review: If you haven’t already picked up Batman #686 (the first part of “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?”) it is strongly urged that you do so. STRONGLY…

The Story: It is a rare privilege to be present at one’s own funeral.

Bruce Wayne, accompanied by a strange female voice, is a voyeur at a gathering of friends and enemies alike. They all speak in his memory, and they all say the same thing: I saw him die, and I know how he lived.

The Batman has one last mystery to solve – and when he does, what will he find out?

The Good: “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?” is one of the rare comics that brings a literary sensibility to the medium, in addition to outstanding, iconic art. As with their earlier team-up on Marvel’s 1602 (the very comic responsible for bringing me into the fold), the result of pairing Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert is nothing short of breathtaking. It makes you wish they could do more than just two issues.

It’s inevitable that comparisons should be drawn between this and Alan Moore’s “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” – a source of inspiration. Instead, I’d propose that closer kindred would be found in Grant Morrison’s “All-Star Superman” run. Granted, this is much, much grimmer, but the purpose and outcome are the same; death is inevitable, and while we mourn the eventual loss of our heroes, we realize that death is a chance for rebirth. “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?” is a fitting eulogy to Grant Morrison’s “Batman R.I.P” arc, and were it to serve as an end for the series, it’d be much the same.

This isn’t just Batman’s wake, though; this is a semiotic celebration of the Batman. Gaiman, Kubert, and Co. are the only ones that could’ve done this, and it shows – The issues are strong individually, but when put together, they create a magical moment in comics.

The Bad:

Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert have justified their $3.99 price point. I weep for our wallets.

Grade: A

Grade: E when read together

-Brian Lynch

Second Opinion

Thoughts before the Review: Although I’ve been loathing the fact that DC’s been trying to convince everyone that Bruce Wayne (who is– and who can only be Batman) has “died,” I can’t help but say the story of “Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader” so far is an interesting read that is both, good and bad. On one hand, you have the deep character study that takes you through a nostalgic ride; honoring the life and times of the Caped Crusader. On the other, you have the muddled collage of Bat-tales that offer no insight, just the obvious and repetitive sense of Batman’s tenacity.

The Good: Neil Gaiman proves to be the appropriate writer for this kind of story as he provides a plot-less narrative that reminds us of Batman’s tenacity and how he’ll always live on, regardless of any tragedy. Just like in the previous chapter, this story continues to show how Batman’s actions have afected all of his friends and ennemies so deeply, he can never die. Gaiman shows how each person in attendance of the funeral, carries on a part of Batman, thus making him live on in memory for the time being. Also, Andy Kubert’s beautiful artwork accompanies each Bat-tragedy effectivly. Starting from the cover that echoes back to #27, to the Bolland-esqe Joker telling his side of Batman’s death, Kubert effectively captures the various Caped Crusaders from each respective era.

The Not-so-Good: Although Neil Gaiman did give us an interesting tale where Batman’s friends and foes come together to tell multiple stories of how he died, the true heart in this tale was nothing new. Throughout this whole story, I couldn’t help up but get sick and tired of reading about Batman’s tenacity and how he never quits. Rereading over and over how Batman never gives up, not only got redundant, but it was as if that is some important aspect that readers forget. It’s ridiculous how obvious the subtext was for this tale. Batman never gives up. We already knew that. From the moment we learned that a man decided to wage an ongoing war on crime, we knew that it was a man that would never surrender.

Furthermore, the writing overall is half-assed. Some may consider this a prime example of Gaiman’s signature literary style, where his uniqiue way of showcasing character and through the use of a door (oh Neil, you and your doors…) offers some human story; but realistically it’s lazy, and perhaps even rushed (considering the late release date…). From the goodbye rambles (which will pass off as a literary nod to the famous children’s book) to the rehashing of how Batman never gives up, you can’t help but feel that maybe two issues aren’t enough to tell this tale.

Conclusion: Just as I mentioned in my review for part one in Batman #686, “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?” is a mere imaginary story.  A tale that you are going to forget and fast forward through, and never really consider as a legitimate part of the Batman folklore. Furthermore, it’s also just a reminder of how stupid DC is for trying to pass off that Batman is dead or can be killed. My suggestion, enjoy the Neil Gaiman tale, and I guess forgive DC when the dead rise on the Blackest Night.

Grade: C+

-Raymond Hilario

Watchmen – Movie Review

Let’s get this straight, THIS IS NOT ALAN MOORE’S WATCHMEN.  With that said, this movie– this story, cannot be “Alan Moore good.”  And we all knew this once word got out that there were changes made.  However, Zack Snyder still does a pretty good job staying faithful to the book by capturing the dystopia that Moore presented and by focusing and developing the complex story of each hero.  Aside from the drastic change in the ending, the Watchmen movie is a decent adaptation of Alan Moore’s book.

When I first heard that Watchmen was being made into a film, I reverted back to the common idea of the book being un-filmable.  I mean, how exactly were they going to include all the dossiers and all the other unique elements in the movie? Plus with the majority of stupid moviegoers that give film studios reasons to produce intellectually devoid “spoof movies,” how can “the general public” “enjoy” such a story as rich and epic as Watchmen?  Luckily, Snyder manages to produce something that is nowhere near a Michael Bay piece of shit work.  Aside from all the gratuitous slow motion (and that awkwardly long sex scene between Nite Owl and Silk Spectre) and the altered ending, the “Visionary Director of 300” successfully gives us a movie that provides a very faithful character study of each hero.  Thankfully, the film doesn’t hold back in being a character drama.  The true Watchmen fan won’t be disappointed in witnessing how and why each hero comes to perceive the world and the people that live in it.  Jackie Earle Haley perfectly captures Rorschach’s voice, and Patrick Wilson convinces us with Dan Dreiberg’s helplessness and general impotenece.  As for the other characters, the chick from “Harold and Kumar” is a forgettable Silk Spectre, Billy Cruddup does a good job being detached from humanity (but still sounds like a gentle vulcan), and as for the Comedian, I still can’t help but think how much he looks like a chubby version of Tony Stark; nonetheless he still does a good job portraying the ruthless and nihilistic cynic.

Furthermore, Snyder is on point in capturing the political and dystopian theme depicted in Moore’s book.  Given the fact that this story doesn’t truthfully translate the comic book, this movie ultimately serves as an “Alan Moore-esque” Watchmen.  The way Snyder’s movie ends is not exactly like Moore’s story.  Instead, Snyder’s Watchmen is as shocking and as over the top as the one everyone read in Moore’s book.  The confrontational and haunting ending in the film captures the general purpose in what Moore wrote in his novel, in which the focus is in the pursuit of making a grand and haunting point about humanity and where that specific time in history was headed.  With the focus on the characters and their origin stories rather than the complex and outrageous plot, the Watchmen movie can definitely still be as entertaining and thought provoking as the book.  However, since this movie is not a loyal translation of Alan Moore’s work, its altered parts changes the original tale on paper; thus forcing the fans to mull over how this ending works.  Nevertheless, the Watchmen movie and its re-imagined aspects still echo the original work of Alan Moore and David Gibbons.

Grade: B

– Raymond Hilario

Batman #686 – Review

By Neil Gaiman (writer), Andy Kubert (artist), Scott Williams (inks), Alex Sinclair (colors), Jared K. Fletcher (letters)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: He’s fucking dead?! Well no, not exactly. We’re dealing with Grant Morrison here after all, so we can’t exactly buy the fact that Bruce Wayne/ Batman is dead. Plus the last time we saw the Dark Knight, he was topless and doing cave paintings. So after the past year of Morrison’s wacky mysteries and references you can care less about, let’s hope that a writer of Alan Moore’s status can deliver. Neil Gaiman, I’m banking on you to really give us a more appropriate “final tale” for the beloved Dark Knight.

The Story: The book opens with Batman’s friends and enemies coming together to pay their respects. The Batman’s service is an open casket, and lots of familiar faces appear throughout the issue. After a brief showing of who’s showing up, two of the most important people in Bruce Wayne’s/ Batman’s life deliver their eulogies, and reveal just exactly how the Caped Crusader died.        

The Good: Neil Gaiman’s writing is as sharp as ever in this tale, as he carefully examines and captures all the quirks and the voice of each character throughout the Batman lore. It’s interesting and actually quite entertaining how Gaiman slowly pans through the event, showcasing numerous characters to guide the story. He finds a way to pay tribute to Batman and really examine the whole mythos of the Dark Knight.  Furthermore, it’s nice to have Andy Kubert back. He reminds everyone that not only can he capture Batman from different eras and different interpretations (as shown in each eulogy), he can also perfectly display the necessary raw emotion shown and conveyed throughout this time of crisis.

The Not So Good: When I picked up this book, I was expecting some sort of proper closure. If DC really was going to “kill off” Batman, then it’s only fitting that he’s sent off right by a legendary writer. An iconic writer for an iconic character. However that’s not the case, as Gaiman’s story carries on in a similar way to Morrison’s, where the characters you thought you knew, weren’t who they were after all, and that story of Batman dying is either exactly what did happen or what could’ve happened. You simply don’t know who or what to believe, as you hear two stories that reveal how Batman died.

Furthermore, I can’t help but remember how stupid this whole “Batman R.I.P” ordeal is in the first place. Aside from all the unbelievable/ bizarre situations taking place, an off-screen conversation between Bruce Wayne and an unidentified character is also happening. As revealed in their dialogue, Bruce Wayne has yet to solve another mystery. Therefore, he isn’t exactly dead.  And with “The Battle For The Cowl” around the corner, then the “Batman” can never exactly die. If this is supposed to be the Batman version of “Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow,” then we can expect to find Bruce Wayne/ Batman living and winking at us at the end of this whole mess. Hence proving that the idea of “Batman R.I.P.” was flawed from the beginning.

Conclusion: “Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader” is off to a not so memorable start. The portrayal and “revelation” of certain characters will never be remembered, as their depiction tampers with history; making you wonder if this is some “What If” story. Also the focus on the multiple perceptions of the Dark Knight isn’t a memorial of the past’s numerous renditions of Batman. It’s a rehashed concept all packed neatly in one book. We’ve seen this done before in Warren Ellis’ “Planetary/ Batman: Night on Earth,” but I guess we can see how Neil Gaiman does it. So expect to hear more eulogies and more stories that summon the Batman from different eras. However as of right now, this book is not measuring up to Moore’s notable tale, which makes the title undeserving. This tale is rather starting to look more like a mere “imaginary story;” an account that fans DON’T HAVE TO exactly consider canonical with the Batman lore.

Grade:  C+

-Raymond Hilario

Watchmen Hype

NBS Nightly News with Ted Philips Presents…

BREAKING: Watchmen Trailer Online!

Empire Online has the exclusive trailer for Watchmen now online. Go see it now. Like Zach Snyder’s previous effort, 300, this movie mimics a lot of the scenes from the comic book.

Go check it out now and come back here and let us know what you think? Personally? I think Alan Moore might actually be proud of this one…

UPDATE (3:09 PM PDT):

Trailer at YouTube (DEAD NOW) But this one works! (NOT ANYMORE)

Flash Versions (higher res) here and here and here

More mirrors will be posted as they come in.

UPDATE (7:45 PM PDT):

The trailer is now up at Apple.com in HD!