Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Loving Grant

Ordinarily, I share with you the things that made me happy in all the comics I bought for the week. But this week, I will focus exclusively on Grant Morrison's first issue of Batman.

As regular readers know, my admiration for Morrison's work is not without qualifications. In fact, I've called quite a lot of what he's written total crap, incoherent ravings passing themselves off as profundities. So, suffice it to say, I'm not given to praising Morrison as some kind of reflex action, as many readers seem to be.

That said ... I LOVED his first issue of Batman this week, including:

  • The Joker's sense of theatrics.
  • The Joker's pumps; where does he get those wonderful shoes?
  • The Commissioner's sense of humor.
  • Alfred saying all the things that only Alfred can say.
  • A Talia that actually, finally, seems evil.
  • Kirk Langstrom finally remembering how to dress.
  • Upside-down dinosaur statues encased in green lucite as art.
  • Alfred's taste in literature.

14 comments:

Devon Sanders said...

My favorite bit was Alfred standing in the art gallery and excusing himslf from the exhibit because he couldn't appreciate the "Lichtenstein-esque" sound effect art.

Scipio said...

"Zowie!" "Ka-pow!"

Scipio said...

Batman should have art just like that ALL OVER the Batcave.

Anonymous said...

Or even better, framed scenes from the 60's Batman movie with the action bubbles still in them. Especially when The Riddler falls in the ocean.

Anonymous said...

I guess I was expecting more, so was very disappointed with this issue. It seemed more like a series of events than an actual story. I'm sure it'll improve, but I didn't find it that compelling.

CalvinPitt said...

I'll admit I wasn't hugely impressed by it, but a lot of Morrison's stuff fliees right over my head anyway, so that doesn't mean much.

That being said, I am in total agreement about Kirk Langstrom's outfit. Very snazzy.

Anonymous said...

I still can't believe that he stuck the Batpoles in the Batcave.

Chance said...

Hold on, naysayers! A lot of Morrison's stuff comes together over time. It seems at first just a bunch of disconnected vignettes, but then you see where he's going with it all, and can only gaze in wonder as he juggles the pieces.

I say this given that I'm about as much a fan of Grant as Scipio is; I call bullshit on a lot of his stuff, but when it works, you can see he's a master of the adventure comics genre.

Mark Cook said...

Me? I'm not the biggest fan of Batman. I'm not sticking with Detective Comics. However... this has me coming back at least one more time, if for no other reason than
"Next in...
BATMAN #656
It's the Dark Knight vs the League of Assassins' Ninja Man-Bats, courtesy of Grant, andy & Jesse!"

I mean, Dude. Ninja Man-Bats.

Marc Burkhardt said...

As is the case with most Morrison stories, there were tons of cool moments.

The only thing that caused me some consternation was the scene where Batman apparently tossed a badly injured Joker into a garbage can - or did I misread that scene?

Anonymous said...

That was not the real Batman. As mentioned later, the Batman we see in the first pages is actually a cop who has gone nuts. This is why he's willing to shoot Joker with a gun, then toss him in the garbage.

Anonymous said...

Er, no. The cop did shoot the Joker, but it WAS Batman who threw him in the garbage. You can see the cop's corpse on a stretcher in that same page.

Anonymous said...

Well handcuffing villains to fire hydrants is totally passe

Bill Reed said...

Heh. I am the biggest Grant Morrison fanatic on the planet, and this was my least-favorite comic he's done in... ten or twenty years.

I'm going to assume it gets better. Maybe it's just the art. I hate the art.