Comically Challenged: Batman and Robin #9

How long has it been since we’ve seen how Dick and Damian are doing?  A while, right?  Come with me, let’s do this Charles Dickens style:

Ghost of Batmans Past:

Bruce Wayne was Batman.  I hope you knew that.  If not, you’re in for one hell of a mind-bender here.  Bruce Wayne kind of died.  Well, he is gone.  He had a run-in with Darkseid and an Omega Sanction.  There were clones involved.  (I hate clones.)  Dick Grayson was Robin.  Then he caught some Saturday Night fever and became Nightwing.  Bruce experienced that moment that no one wants to live thanks to Talia al Ghul.  “Oh, um..hi.  This is your son you didn’t know existed.  Go bond.”  Kid’s name is Damian.  He’s Robin now.  Then when Bruce died, Dick became Batman.   All caught up?  Good, you silly sheltered reader.

Ghost of Batmans Present:

So, father issues abound-we trudge on in the Batworld.  I

actually did an article a long time ago on the beginning of this whole new stage.  You can experience the magic here.  Don’t have time? Dick’s struggling, Damian’s over-compensating, Tim’s in denial and Jason’s still a douche.  That, and I jumped on the whole Blackest Night theory.  I genuinely figured Bruce’s resurrection would be a big part in it.  It wasn’t.  He showed up for a couple pages and then poof.  Gone.  It was sort of anti-climactic.

I actually wanted to do a review of Morrison’s Batman and Robin #7.  That was supposed to be the issue to end all issues.  And you know what? NOTHING happened.  Dick decides that he’s going to take Bruce’s corpse and put it into a Lazarus Pit.  Dead people go in, they come out alive and kicking.  Solid plan, Dickey Boy.  Okay, issue #8 came around and I couldn’t do that one.  Bruce came out of the pit BAT-shit crazy.  (I really wanted to use that pun.)  This week issue #9 dropped.  Winner, winner.

Why was Bruce crazy? Because it wasn’t Bruce.  It was one of those stupid, stupid clones.  What’s that mean?  It means what we already sort of knew.  The Omega Sanction doesn’t really kill you.  It lets you die over and over throughout time.  Why is that cool?  It’s not.  But it’s going to mean we get a cave man Batman, a pilgrim Batman, and other crazy renditions of the Dark Knight.  So, you know, there’s that.

Important tidbit to take away from this informative post.  Bruce Wayne is mostly dead.  But as any self-respecting movie fan knows, “There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.  Mostly dead is slightly alive.”  Sorry we doubted you Tim.

Here’s a couple of points to make on issue #9.  Dick shipping the corpse out to the pit without letting anyone know was pretty uncharacteristic.  It absolutely seemed that he was acting purely on emotion and desperation.  That sounds much more like Tim Drake than it does Dick “I-Want-To-Be-My-Own-Man” Grayson.  Fortunately, that was sort of covered in this book.  Dick presented a fairly decent argument in defense of his actions.  That was much appreciated.  I will say that this run has been relatively straight forward for Morrison.  Honestly, the only thing I struggle with is the phonetical spelling of accents and slurring.  I sound like I’m trying to decipher a personalized license plate while reading this thing.

I genuinely thought I would hate this whole switching of the artists every arc.  I typically don’t like it; I find comfort in consistency.  Thing of it is, I don’t mind it.  Each style, whether it be Quitely, Tan or Stewart has fit the story very well.  Quitely does grotesque really well (although he makes Damian look like a 40 year old with a growth defect).  Tan captures facial expressions nicely and that is great when you’re dealing with Jason Todd.  I like Stewart’s Damian a lot.  He actually makes him look like he’s ten.  Outside of that though, he was very middle of the road.  Most of his work is over-simplified; which gets the job done but leaves a bit to be desired.  I could have used a little more edge to the combat progressions.  It’ll be interesting to see Frazer Irving’s take in the next arc.

Ghost of Batmans Yet To Come:

So, like I said previously, we’re going to see some strange reinventions of Batman throughout time.  I still don’t know how I feel about that.  It seems pretty hokey.  But, hey, I read comic books for the entertainment factor-Bring it, Morrison.  Bruce is coming back.  It’s happening.  What does that mean for our men in tights?

I like Dick as Batman.  He brings a freshness to the character that I feel has been flat for far too long.  I don’t want to lose Damian.  I still love that kid.  Know what I want to see? Bruce in the role he played in Batman Beyond.  Basically Barbara Gordon’s role as Oracle only more paternal and mentor-like.  I’m not sure what dying repeatedly over time does to a man, but surely he’s going to need a rest.  Just prop the guy in front of a couple of monitors in the Batcave.  Everyone wins.

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Any other theories for the future of the cape and cowl?