Posted on November 23, 2009 by Darren
“Never underestimate the sentimentality of a Scotsman, Clark.”
– Batman knows how much Morrison likes comics
‘Tis the season for ever-so-slightly oversized hardback editions, what with DC reissuing the entire run of Starman and this re-release of the relaunch of the original superteam. The fact that they can put creator extraordinaire Grant Morrison’s name on the cover surely isn’t a problem either. Nor is the fact that the book (under his stewardship) was one of the best selling comic books of the nineties. So, what aren’t I getting here? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a perfectly adequate book (that isn’t necessarily as smart as it thinks it is), but it’s not gold. It moves at the speed of the Flash and seems intent to throw ideas at the reader at headache-inducing speed. It’s solid, reliable and it manages to recreate the zany madness that defined the group, but it never seems to completely transcend it. And it just keeps trying.
Rocking your world...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, comic books, darkseid, dc comics, dc universe, deluxe edition, elseworlds, flash, grant morrison, green lantern, imaginary stories, invaders from mars, jla, jla: deluxe edition, jla: secret origin, justice league, justice league of america, morrison, rock of ages, secret origin, superman, the day the earth stood still, them! | 6 Comments »
Posted on November 19, 2009 by Darren
It began simply enough. “You like Batman better than Superman,” my girlfriend asserted over dinner a few weeks ago. I couldn’t dipute the claim, but mounted a fairly swift defense of the character as “misunderstood”. That prompted an incredulous response which suggested that I “like Batman better because he’s darker”. That’s an interesting assertion. I don’t believe it’s true – certainly not in my case at any rate. I think the public’s perception of Batman as a more enduring, more fascinating and all round ‘cooler’ pop culture icon that the Man of Steel stems from a whole host of factors, that can’t be succinctly summed up with an observation that one is dark and gritty and the other is light and fluffy. So, why are we fonder of the Caped Crusader that the big blue boy scout?
Notice how Superman is trying to look half as badass as Batman...
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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: batman, batman vs. superman, dark, darker and edgier, dc comics, fear, hope, light, opposites, superman | 2 Comments »
Posted on November 17, 2009 by Darren
I adore Batman Returns. It tends to be a rather polarising film, and certainly a polarising Batman adaptation. It was famously too dark and too weird for mainstream audiences, with too much creepy and freaky stuff serving to distress the parents of children who gobbled up Batman-themed Happy Meals. I think it holds up the best of the four Burton and Schumacher Batman films, because it finds a way to balance Burton’s unique approach and style with that of the Caped Crusader. While Burton’s Batman occasionally struggled to balance the director’s vision with a relatively conventional plot (to the point where Vicki Vale stuck out like a sore thumb, and the movie wasn’t the most coherently plotted of films), here there’s a much greater sense of balance at play, and a feeling that Burton isn’t compromising, and yet is working with the characters.
Shine a light…
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: batman, batman returns, Bruce, bruce wayne, burton, catwoman, christmas, christopher walken, danny devito, michael keaton, michelle pfeiffer, non-review review, Penguin, review, the penguin, tim burton | 3 Comments »
Posted on November 17, 2009 by Darren
What makes a hero? Is it a cosmic rod and a kick-ass pair of glare-reducing goggles? Is it being a “grim avenger full of hate for the bad” (one of Robinson’s more subtle jabs at Batman during this run)? Or is it simply “doing what’s right because it is”? Is it the honest desire to make the world a better place with “no vengeful motivation” or “nothing ulterior”? We may be getting ahead of ourselves here, but James Robinson really digs into what constitutes a ‘true’ hero here, looking at the classic simplistic conception of the superhero, rejecting the violence of the anti-hero or the deconstruction which has crept into comics over the past few years (mostly in lieu of character development or to seem darker and edgier). Is that what a hero is?
I don’t know, but I find myself agreeing with Batman. No matter how you cut it, Jack Knight is a hero.
A Knight in shining armour...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, Black Canary, dc comics, green lantern, jack knight, james robinson, review, Shade, starman, starman omnibus, starman omnibus: volume 3, ted knight, tony harris, Woody Allen | Leave a comment »
Posted on October 29, 2009 by Darren
This is probably on a shortlist for the best Batman story of all time, alongside Frank Miller’s other definitive work on the character, The Dark Knight Returns. Whereas Millar focused on the eventual end of the character’s crusade against crime, here he focuses on the origin of the character. Expanding from the one-page origin which accompanied Batman #1, Miller brings his keen eye to Batman’s psychology, but also the world in which Batman functions. This isn’t the gothic construction of Tim Burton, but a grimy urban cesspool like Christopher Nolan’s. In the world that Miller carves out for the hero, he greatest opponents aren’t the disfigured freaks who would become his adversaries, but the architecture of greed and corruption that defines Gotham.
Imagine if it had been a seagull that crashed through his window that fateful night...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, batman begins, batman: year one, comic books, dc comics, frank miller, review, year one | 2 Comments »
Posted on October 27, 2009 by Darren
Just when you think there isn’t an original concept left in comic book storytelling, Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka come up this ingenious concept: what is it like to police a comic book city – and the one populated with the same sorts of loons which give Batman a headache? Brubaker and Rucka construct a truly surprisingly awesome noir police procedure that takes a gutter’s-eye view of one of the darkest cities ever to appear in comic books. It manages to combine the two aspects brilliantly, simultaneously bringing a fresh perspective to both the Batman mythos and the police procedural.
The joke's on Gotham...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, comic books, dc comics, ed brubaker, gotham, gotham central, gotham city, greg rucka, half a life, in the line of duty, motive, review, soft targets, unresolved | Leave a comment »
Posted on October 23, 2009 by Darren
Paul Dini is, for my money at least, the best writer writing Batman today. Anyone doubting that would do well to check out his run on Detective Comics. In a return to the character’s pulpy roots (where buying an issue would generally give you at least one story), Dini’s run is dominated by done-in-one stories (with the odd two-parter and then the five-issue The Heart of Hush rounding it off). It’s brave and daring experiment, and that he attempted it is almost as surprising as how brilliantly he succeeded.
Do you want to point out he should keep both hands on the wheel?
Note: Unfortunately I can’t find a library-bound copy of Death and the City for review, so I am missing the middle chunk of Dini’s standalone stories, but he does go to great pains not to lockout readers who haven’t read every issue he has written. If I find a copy anywhere, I’ll update the review.
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, collection, comic books, curtain down, dc comics, detective comics, J.H. Williams III, joker, opening night, paul dini, riddler, Slayride, stalked, The Beautiful People, The Return of Dr. Phosphorus, the suit of sorrow, the suit of sorrows | 2 Comments »
Posted on October 8, 2009 by Darren
Hush is a divisive story arc. It seems that you either love it or you hate it, there seems to be no middle ground to speak of. Depending on where you stand it’s either a compelling exploration of Batman’s insecurities featuring a worthy new opponent for his rogues’ gallery, or it’s a hackneyed and poorly-conceived mystery which relies on an overly convoluted resolution. Honestly, I can see both sides of the argument. While I won’t argue that it’s a prestigious masterpiece in the mold of Year One or The Long Halloween, I must confess that I quite enjoyed it. Teaming up veteran Batman writer Jeph Loeb with superstar artist Jim Lee, this is very much a Batman blockbuster. It’s epic in scale, spanning most of the DC universe, with more than a few interesting (if jumbled) ideas thrown into the mix.
… Don’t say a word…
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: absolute batman, absolute batman: hush, absolute edition, absolute hush, batman, batman: hush, BatmanHush, brian michael bendis, Bruce, bruce wayne, comic books, dc comics, dc universe, gotham city, graphic novel, hush, jeph loeb, jim lee, lex luthor, review, riddler, the joker, the riddler, thomas elliot | 3 Comments »
Posted on October 4, 2009 by Darren
With all the Silver Age love that Grant Morrison is giving Batman and Geoff Johns is showing Hal Jordan, it’s nice to see a little reflection back towards the Golden Age, which is generally forgotten (it helps that many of the comic book heroes that we have today only really emerged during that Silver Age, and that the writers would have grown up during it). Here we have a contemporary retelling of one of the early Batman stories, as reimagined by Matt Wagner in a follow-up to another Golden Age adaptation, Batman and the Monster Men. It’s a lovely little fun story that stands tall among the many, many early adventures in Batman’s career.
Who let the dogs out?
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, batman and the mad monk, comic books, dark moon rising, dc comics, gotham, james gordon, matt wagner, review, the monk | Leave a comment »
Posted on October 3, 2009 by Darren
Legends of the Dark Knight was an interesting concept – tell self-contained stories using different creative teams set at various points during Batman’s crime-fighting career. As such, those stories would make the title easy to pick up, without tying it excessively to continuity. It’s a simple and an interesting premise, and it did produce all manner of intriguing Batman stories. Grant Morrison’s Gothicis perhaps one of the most intriguing of those stories, taking the character well outside what readers might have expected.
It’s all upside down…
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, batman: gothic, Bruce, comic, dark knight, dark knight returns, dc comics, frank miller, gotham city, gothic, gothic horror, grant morrison, Grantmorrison, horror, klaus janson, legends of the dark knight, morrison, mr. whisper, review, the legends of the dark knight | 3 Comments »
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