Batman and Robin #16 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Cameron Stewart, Chris Burnham, Frazer Irving (artists), Alex Sinclair and Frazer Irving (colorists), Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: We see Thomas Wayne in 1765 summoning the demon Barbatos. We then shift forward to now, where Dr. Hurt is facing Batman, Robin, and DC’s spoiler for the whole Return of Batman miniseries. Problem is, Hurt’s got a lot of help, Dick has been shot in the head and the Joker is the wild card (so to speak).

Publishing Issues: I gotta get this out of the way before I do the rest of the review. On my way to my LCS, I was thinking of what a great thing it was that DC had taken its time to fully explore the implications of the death of Bruce Wayne and how I liked how they were taking their time to bring him back right. I thought the same thing contentedly as I read this issue, until I got to page 15, where suddenly I see two Batmans, one of whom is Bruce Wayne. I rubbed my eyes, flipped back a couple of pages, and find that the build up and explanation offered is….”You came through the fireplace.” WTF? OK, I don’t read most of the message boards for a reason. I want to be able to read each comic on its own terms, creator to reader, no intermediary. I think that’s honest. It took me a while to connect some of the whisperings I’d heard about publication schedules and finally realized that this issue occurs *at least* later than The Return of Bruce Wayne #6, if not later. So, I’m not going to get into my frustration, but needless to say, I felt a bit like someone had told me who the killer was before I’d finished my popcorn in the movie. Totally, totally not cool on DC’s part. I don’t care what their editorial/creative problems are. If some fraction of DC’s comics routinely get delayed for one reason or another, DC should build that into their business plan, especially on something as coordinated as an event. Now I don’t even want to read ROBW #6. Nice work, DC.

What’s Good: First part of the book (Thomas Wayne in 1765), was very moody and cool, classic Morrison. And visually impressive, even if that artist’s style isn’t 100% to my taste. The fight between Batman, Batman, Robin and the 99 Fiends was dynamic, but I never felt like anyone but the fiends were in real danger. It felt a bit like filler. Despite this, Damian certainly stole the show. Check out the visuals and the outcome of his fight with the guy with the flame thrower! The Hurt/Batman conflict in the Bat Cave continued the fun, and Pyg was twisted and depraved in central Gotham. The ending with the Joker was unexpected, tone-perfect and satisfying.

Batman and Robin #15 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Frazer Irving (artist), Janelle Seigel (assistant editor), Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: Batman and Robin Must Die, Part 3: The Joker has Robin in his insane clutches, but he must convince the boy wonder to go after Thomas Wayne instead of giving the Joker his comeuppance. Damian isn’t known for his ability to persuade, though. Batman is in the clutches of Thomas Wayne, who is also a raving lunatic. And Gotham is in the clutches of an addiction-withdrawl infection. All in, a crappy day to be in a cape and tights.

What’s Good: Irving’s art blows the doors off the barn. His attention to detail, deft use of color, and style suited to the moodiness of the psychologically-unhinged, make him my premiere choice for drawing Batman and Robin (even over Quitely). The Joker in the first three pages (well, any pages where he appears, really) is hypnotic. I had to drag my eyes from one panel to the next, because they didn’t want to leave where they were. The layouts were intriguing, with unexpected open white spaces on some pages, and panels to set symbolism and mood, some having classical roots, others having more dystopian 24-hour-TV-news roots. The action sequences, especially of Robin, were really, really good (check out Damian with his boot to the Joker’s throat and the part where he leaps at all of Pyg’s piggies). Brilliant art.

Morrison has been putting in pretty flawless performances in the last few months on BM&R and the Return of Bruce Wayne. This issue is no exception. Each character has his own, vivid voice. Morrison’s choice of words and cadences make the Joker sound unhinged, Thomas Wayne sound British and slimy, Pyg insane, Damian arrogant and frustrated, and Alfred….I’m not sure…was it disdainful or fearful? Doesn’t matter. He sounded different from every other character in the book. Morrison gave each one a feel, so that the art was free to characterize in the areas it does so best: expression, body language, setting, etc. Fine writing all around.