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Morrison's Batman and Robin getting an extended run

Started by Colin YNWA, 09 December, 2009, 04:24:28 PM

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I, Cosh

Well #16 was fun, but I haven't really got much of a clue what was going on or who Hurt is. I guess a reread is in order once the last issue of Return of Bruce Wayne lands.

I don't think I shall be buying any more Batman comics though as there's about forty thousand in the shop today.
We never really die.

Christov

Io9 spoiled the end of #16 for me. Arsefuck.

Oh well. I haven't been reading it or Return of Bruce Wayne because of monetary hoo-hah, so I suppose I'll just read through it all when the hardbacks release. 

Tiplodocus

I'm reading Batman and Robin plus Return of Bruce Wayne so I'm hoping that carries teh majority of the story.  But you definitely get the feeling a lot is going on that you don't know about; whether it is or whether that's Morrison's typical style, I just don't know.

But cripes, the shelves of Forbidden Planet are groaning with Bat titles...
Be excellent to each other. And party on!

Colin YNWA

Quote from: Christov on 05 November, 2010, 12:32:12 AM
Io9 spoiled the end of #16 for me. Arsefuck.


Its been pretty hard to avoid spoilers on this one. The minute something gets national press you've had it.

Christov

Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 05 November, 2010, 02:36:01 PM
Quote from: Christov on 05 November, 2010, 12:32:12 AM
Io9 spoiled the end of #16 for me. Arsefuck.


Its been pretty hard to avoid spoilers on this one. The minute something gets national press you've had it.

Pretty much.

All things considered, I took it fairly well. I enjoyed the ending, even if I saw almost none of the build up.

Professor Bear

Quote from: Tiplodocus on 05 November, 2010, 01:40:37 PMthe shelves of Forbidden Planet are groaning with Bat titles...

DC are hoping to make him the new Wolverine.

PreacherCain

Really enjoyed Batman & Robin initially but from issue 5 or 6, it stopped being self-contained and fun and got dragged into continuity-heavy, narrative-sapping dullness. I liked Dick Grayson as Batman (we've had over 20 years of dark, introverted, morose Bruce Wayne, Grayson was having fun). I liked Robin. I liked the new Batman with the new Robin. The first arc was great fun with this new dynamic, then it just centered around the search for Bruce Wayne and became a plodding, boring read with a varying quality of art.

You'd think with all those Bat titles on the stands, they could have at least one comic for the demographic that don't give a shit about Brightest Infinity Crises.

Colin YNWA

I've said it before here this complaint always surprises me when it comes to 'Batman and Robin'. There's certainly a lot of stuff going on around the series but I always felt none of it was required to understand the story within this particualr series. Sure it adds to it but even with the Thomas Wayne stuff I felt it was all in there?

Mind to be fair I might not be the best qualified person to make that judgement as I'm pretty immersed in the DCU as a whole.

PreacherCain

All I read is Batman & Robin and I never really knew what was happening, particularly with Thomas Wayne/Hurt/whatever.  And Bruce coming back was confusing, I've actually gone and read the not-very-good Return of Bruce Wayne to try and understand what's going on but the last issue isn't out yet.  The first arc was fun and crazy and made sense, everything after that was poisoned with DCU continuity.

And Morrisson seems to fluff a lot of the big reveals, like Wayne 'financing' Batman, it was almost an aside and yet it should have ramifications for years to come (I'm sure it'll reset the status quo just like all superhero comics). It's something I noticed throughout his regular Batman run (another comic that increasingly made less sense to me because I don't follow the minutiae of their continuity)

Personally, I'd really like to pick up a regular Batman comic that has a strong, consistent creative team (Azzarello/Risso please!) and is free of detailed continuity. I don't mind contextualising, like mentioning Superman's gone for a walk or Wonder Woman's costume is in the wash, but it's frustrating to spend a couple of quid on a comic who's main point seems to be to get you to buy a bunch more to make sense of things.  It's like buying a jigsaw puzzle that's missing half the pieces.

Colin YNWA

Quote from: PreacherCain on 08 November, 2010, 03:19:55 PM
Personally, I'd really like to pick up a regular Batman comic that has a strong, consistent creative team (Azzarello/Risso please!) and is free of detailed continuity.

As an aside did you read their Batman story in 'Wednesday Comics' that was a beaut!

PreacherCain

I did indeed, it was one of the best things in it!  Risso doesn't get used enough if you ask me!

Speaking of Wednesday comics, I was really hoping DC might give certain of those creative teams a run at a regular monthly. Azzarello/Risso on Batman, Karl Kesel on The Flash (my favourite Wednesday Comics strip), and I quite liked Supergirl and Wonder Woman (not initially, but it was at least different and interesting) too. Obviously people like Paul Pope and Dave Gibbons might not be willing to commit to such an undertaking.

Even Strange Tales from Marvel features creators who not only understand the basics of these characters but celebrate them, as opposed to trying to make everything all dark and edgy like Dark Knight Returns. I thought Evan Dorkin hit the nail on the head recently ---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkA0-qsm0MA  It's about 4 mins in but the whole thing is worth watching!

I don't know why DC are so bogged down with continuity concerns (saying that, I'd probably have liked all that stuff when I was a teenager!), there must be room (and demand) for just straightforward, self-contained storytelling. At least one of those Bat titles could be used to pick up new/lapsed readers.

Rant over, sorry :-X

I, Cosh

I've just finished a reread of the whole Batman & Robin/Return of Bruce Wayne. The early issues remain self-contained fun while the later Thomas Wayne stuff is a lot clearer when you read the two series together like this. There's still a fair bit missing (the references to "The Black Glove", the relationship between Thomas and Joker, Hurt, some rubbish about Batman's dad killing his mum) but everything you need to know about Thomas is explained or implied across the two titles, although not always at exactly the right time.

I finished off with Batman: The Return which was alright but appears to be mostly about setting up the overarching plotlines for the new Batman Incorporated series which I can't be arsed reading. Lovely art from David Finch, who I'd never heard of before.

There's one very interesting detail I spotted in RoBW which I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else. We all know Morrison likes to fill his comics with little clues about what's coming up and references to obscure corners of the DC Universe, so I've got to assume this is deliberate. When Jonah Hex first appears in the Wild West issue, he's playing with a deck of cards and flourishes a Joker as the villain's hapless henchmen make their entrance. However, in the preceding panel we see the rest of the cards he has dealt: Eight, Ace, Eight, Ace.

Clearly, the groundwork is being laid for the Batman/Viz crossover we've all been demanding.
We never really die.

GordonR

Aces and eights in poker is the famous Dead Man's Hand, so-called because it's supposed to be the hand Wild Bill Hickock had when he was shot dead at the card table.

I, Cosh

Quote from: GordonR on 23 January, 2011, 02:50:50 PM
Aces and eights in poker is the famous Dead Man's Hand, so-called because it's supposed to be the hand Wild Bill Hickock had when he was shot dead at the card table.
Ah. Cheers. I still prefer my explanation.
We never really die.

satchmo