grant morrison | the m0vie blog

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 1, 2009 by Darren

I guess… I guess I always knew that this was how it was going to end. That we didn’t have him forever. That one day someone would say, ‘Hey, Jim. Whatever happened to the Caped Crusader?’ I’d tell them. ‘Pretty much what you’d expect. He’s dead.’

I just didn’t think it would be today.

– Commissioner James Gordon

I actually quite enjoyed Neil Gaiman’s Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, even if I wasn’t overly in love with it. The prospect of doing a final, definitive Batman story – one not anchored in a particular event, but designed to encapsulate the history of the Dark Knight – must be daunting. Even Alan Moore’s sensational Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? served as a fond farewell to one particular iteration of the Man of Steel. Gaiman’s “last ever” Batman story is a tad more ambitious, bidding goodbye to alliterations of the character. I’m not entirely convinced that it succeeds, although it makes a more than valiant effort.

Clowning around!

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: alan moore, andy kubert, batman, batman r.i.p., batman rip, comic books, Comics, dc comics, grant morrison, joker, Martha Wayne, neil gaiman, review, riddler, superman, the riddler, whatever happened to the caped crusader | 8 Comments »

Grant Morrison’s Run on Batman – Batman & Son, The Black Glove & Batman RIP (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 1, 2009 by Darren

I want to love Grant Morrison’s run on Batman. I really do. And I quite possibly would if I didn’t feel like I wasn’t particularly welcome at this massive gala birthday bash. I’ve decided to review all of Morrison’s run on Batman – collected in the hardback editions of Batman & Son, The Black Glove, two chapters of The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul and Batman R.I.P. – as one, because it is all one story. In fact, I’m sure it’ll turn out to be the opening salvo of a gigantic story that Morrison is weaving where it all ties together, but it might be so massive it’s impossible to review all at once. So, how do I feel after the first act?

Who says parenting isn't tough?

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: arts, batman, batman & son, batman and son, batman r.i.p., batman rip, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, Batmen of All Nations, bruce wayne, comic books, Comics, damian wayne, dark knight, dc comics, grant morrison, Grantmorrison, joker, morrison, retrospective, review, the black glove | 4 Comments »

I’m a Grinner, I’m a Lover, I’m a Sinner…

Posted on July 14, 2009 by Darren

… I’m a Joker, I’m a Smoker, I’m a Midnight Toker

What is it about the Joker that makes him such a great villain. He’s appeared in just about every media form where Batman has appeared since Batman #1 way back in 1940. He is one of only two villains to appear in both of the more recent Batman film franchises and he seems to be the only character in the history of the Batman family who has survived every era of the character unblemished. Be it the light comic relief of the Dick Sprang era reflected in the Adam West show (where Ceasar Romero is clearly wearing a mustache under his makeup), the darker sense of humour of the animated Joker voiced by Mark Hamill in The Animated Series through to the anarchist/nihilist terrorist portrayed by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight – none of these incarnations are any less in character than any of the others. What is it about the Joker that makes him one of the great villains of our time?

The world's leading cause of coulrophobia...

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Filed under: Movies, Opinion, Television | Tagged: batman, Christopher Nolan, Comics, grant morrison, heath ledger, jack nicholson, joker, The Dark Knight | 5 Comments »

Why Bruce Wayne as Batman Should Rest in Peace

Posted on June 7, 2009 by Darren

I’m not a comic book fan, I must admit. I own a few Absolute editions (Watchmen, Sandman, The Long Halloween) and a rare few prestige format books (The Green Lantern Archives and The Killing Joke), and I’m planning on bulk-buying Grant Morrison’s run on Batman in those nice hardcover editions to tide me over on my holiday this summer. So, what I’m about to say must be tempered with that little caveat. I’ve read relatively little of Batman lore, save what my parents would pick me up from the grocery store in Ghana when I was small (and – to further outline the differences between myself and your comics fan – I remember them merely for what they contained rather than by issue and series number; I fondly recall “the one where Swamp Thing meets Killer Croc” or “the retelling of The Riddler’s origin”). Still, on reading the coverage and preparing to jump headfirst into Grant Morrison’s magnum opus, one thought is running through my head: If they are threatening to end Bruce Wayne’s run as Batman, they should do it.