Why am I reading Batman & Robin? No, seriously.
- DAIGO kissing AKIHIDE (along with the hilarious gif a few comments down) and there is not enough DO WANT YES PLZ in the world. I hardly even had to read the article, I was too busy staring at the PICTURE OF THEM KISSING.
- Whoa, AMC has already ordered a second season of The Walking Dead and I'm delighted! WEEKLY ZOMBIE ACTION ON MY TEEVEE. I mean, setting aside that it's a really fantastic show, too. I'm glad AMC is putting some faith in the show, but even more glad that it's apparently doing really well! ♥
- One Piece volume 60 sells 2 million copies ON ITS FIRST DAY. ANOTHER NEW RECORD, HOLY CRAP. Holy hell, One Piece, that's amazing. The series really has been unstoppable lately. *___* Even the databook was in third place this week! (I'm also glad to see Beelzebub placing pretty high. ♥)
- Oguri Shun possibly cheating on Yamada Yuu? I don't know how I feel about this! On the one hand, cheating is obviously bad and nobody likes their idols to be imperfect. On the other hand... IN A BATHROOM, forever lolling. Part of me almost can't even be mad about it because it's so hilariously cliche. (Didn't they break up awhile back? This is what you get for listening to gossip mags, though. XD)
(There's also this post, but it's kind of super gross and the comments made me want to light things on fire, so.)
- This whole post (about now Nino is a sexual powerhouse) is AMAZING. It is my new favorite post on aramatheydidn't pretty much ever. Well, aside from the Daigo boykissing pictures. Apparently, Nino is now THE NEW KING OF ARAMA. AWESOME.
(I am in love with so many of the macros and gifs on that thread. But this one probably has to be my favorite.)
- Less fun is the deceased AV actress post about how she'd been with four of the five Arashi guys. I don't care so much about them all having sex with women (in fact, if it makes them happy, I hope they do, even if I'd like them to keep it quiet, they should enjoy their fame, since they've worked hard for it) but more about using the deceased actress like that. Gross.
Okay, back to comic blogging. SPOILERS for anything listed!
Batman and Robin #06: And onwards I trek. So, "Death comes to Gotham" in the form of Eduardo Flamingo, a guy that was apparently an upstanding guy who fought the mob or whatever until they cut his brain apart, took away everything human, made him kill his wife and children, and everything he ever loved, and then he became Death.
Who, apparently, wears a HOT PINK MATADOR'S JACKET and rides a hot pink motorcycle with a flamingo on it while carrying a whip.
I know the point is that it's supposed to be crazy over the top, but. I am laughing at you, guys, not with you.
I do find it almost a little endearing that Jason distracted Flamingo (FLAMINGO, oh, Morrison) when he was beating the hell out of Scarlet, saying that he was the Red Hood and the one Flamingo wanted. After the whole thing with "the one millionth call activates the webcam to see who Batman and Robin really are, unmasked!" thing, which... okay, I was going to bitch about, about how, what is Jason now, the Joker?, when I realized, oh. Well. Not that I'm sure Morrison did it deliberately or that it even makes any fucking sense--he's saying that there needs to be a new type of crimefighter in Gotham, so he... acts like the Joker to do it? ....I guess that could sort of make sense if Jason were in a place where he felt like the Joker had "won" at this point. Why not emulate him, it's not like anyone ever stops him.
Not that I believe that's what's actually going on here, but I'll read that into it for now.
Also, I appreciate that Dick and Damian get out of the knots because, apparently, even if Jason has fought aliens and been to parallel worlds and you shouldn't underestimate him, he still sucks at tying knots. So, they get out of there and Damian spots a shiny new BFG and is quietly picking it up in the background, while Dick is scanning their exits and says, "Put it away, Robin." To Damians, "--tt--" response that, okay. Is still the most hilarious thing ever.
Jason screaming at Flamingo to SHOOT HIM, DO IT! HE'LL COME BACK! was actually one of the better bits from Morrison and kind of says a lot about what's going on with him and how he's gone off the deep end. You die and come back to life, when you're not all that emotionally stable to begin with, I imagine it does make you feel like life and death don't actually matter.
As for the big fight and the big confrontation... well, I'm not sure. Part of my problem is that I have a real interest in the Dick and Jason dynamic and Morrison played into it in the way I really wanted to see. Dick got to be badass in the fight, Damian got to be badass in his own way but not a perfect little killing machine much as he might otherwise think of himself, Jason showed that he still had protective instincts even if he's seriously fucked up right now, and I actually like that it was Scarlet who ultimately killed Flamingo.
Then Dick's furious because of the danger Jason brought to Gotham and his reckless ways that increasingly look like suicide runs. Jason unleashes a lot of his own anger, how Dick's not able to protect his (Bruce's) city, and he can take him down any day! But Dick isn't having any of that, it's blatantly not true and Jason is a mess. He offers to help Jason one more time, to just stop and let them help.
But Jason says it's too late for him, that it was always too late. He tried so hard to be what Bruce wanted him to be--which was to be Dick--but he was never good enough and life had other plans for him. Then the moment of calm is over and he loses his shit again because Bruce is still dead and don't tell him that that kid's mom (meaning Talia) doesn't have a Lazarus pit they could use, that Dick didn't bring him back only because Dick couldn't stand being in his shadow and it's just.
You're not really sure if Jason doesn't get it or if he's just saying what he knows will hurt the most or if it's somewhere in between the two, which is what I think. And this is the Morrison I remember liking, the one who digs into the painful issues and shows how raw these people really are. He gets into what makes these characters furious, he's really good at getting at the hidden anger in them, when he wants to. It's just that he gets wrapped up in his Vertigo schtick too often that he doesn't write something as direct and genuine as this.
Not that it was perfect, there was still a lot of Vertigo in there (and that is totally my new go-to phrase for Morrison) and I think there's a very strong element of having read this whole arc while being WTF THAT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE WITH THEIR CHARACTERIZATION, so when something finally makes sense, I'm like WHOA HELLO THERE MORRISON I USED TO REMEMBER.
Also, I'm just a sucker for Dick vs Jason, it's one of the very few things I like about Jason.
.....so, wait, did that issue just end with Dick going to visit Bruce's skeleton? ...........oh, Morrison. ~_~
Batman and Robin #07: ....I have no idea what the hell was going on in this issue. I don't think it's entirely Morrison, I suspect my lack of being up to date with the current DC events is leaving me out of the loop, and sometimes it's the art. There's a panel where Dick is talking to Kate, where it looks like they've suddenly swapped personalities, like he's wondering why he's here and Kate's saying you're concussed and confused and I'm the new Batman. I stared at this panel for a good minute before I realized, OH, THE WORD BUBBLES ARE WEIRDLY PLACED. For once, it's not a dialogue thing, it's an art thing!
I have no idea what's up with Kate these days, so I have no idea why she suddenly popped up in the story, but I'm willing to give this issue the benefit of the doubt and say it's just that I'm missing something. Even if the beginning with Dick in England with Squire was a, "....wait, what am I reading here?" moment for quite some time.
It's an okay scene... and then Dick's going on about how he and Batman had an arrangement. If he was in trouble, Dick got him out, if there was a death trap he couldn't handle alone, Dick helped, he could count on Dick. He was my brother, my best friend.
.............................................wat.
no seriously what is this I don't even--
I am honest to god having trouble wrapping my mind around this. His brother? Look, I can give you best friend, maaaaaybe, even though that's a pile of horseshit. But brother? Are you fucking kidding me? How do you--
How do you--
*hands*
How do you say brother and mean it?
I-- I am kind of frothing over this! FATHER, THE WORD YOU'RE LOOKING FOR IS FATHER, HE WAS DICK'S FATHER. Granted, he wasn't really and Dick is very firm about how John Grayson was his father, but he also acknowledges Bruce as his dad and OH MY GOD DID YOU MISS THE WHOLE TEENAGE REBELLION THING THAT WAS CLASSIC REBELLIOUS SON DYNAMIC AND, OH, EVERY FUCKING INTERACTION WITH THEM FUCKING EVER?
Also, why the hell is Dick suddenly willing to dip Bruce in a Lazarus Pit? Christ, that almost makes me as frothy. Dick loves Bruce as much as anyone, but Dick also knows that THE DEAD STAY DEAD. And that Bruce REALLY WOULD NOT WANT TO BE BROUGHT BACK and he knows that the Lazarus Pits are bad bad bad, LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED WITH JASON and there was a reason Bruce was going around DESTROYING THE LAZARUS PITS and a;sldkfjal;skj DICK WOULD NOT BRING HIM BACK OKAY.
(........................I realize this is extreeeeeeemely hypocritical of me as I co-wrote an entire fanfic that was about Dick dunking Bruce in the Lazarus Pit, but whatever. That was TAS Dick, who had a whole different set of circumstances, and has a hell of a lot more anger than comics Dick does. So, whatever. I can still bitch about this.)
Just. Fuck you, Morrison.
Batman and Robin #08: ..................is that Darkseid with an army of insane Batman clones? Telling his mad scientist to dispose of all but one of them because they were insane? ........why would Darkseid even care about some human dude? Wouldn't he be more interested in Kryptonians or whatever? Seriously, a normal human being without any powers at all? Seriously?
Of course it all goes to hell, the not!Bruce gets out and is apparently sane enough to fly a plane back to Gotham, where Damian has just gotten out of his spinal surgery and all, while Kate supposedly died in Dick's arms, but I doubt that because there's no way they'd kill even a second-string character like that and, also, there was the whole "I have an idea." line and just.
Ugh, whatever. Moving on.
Though, I do think it's an interesting way for the skeleton that Darkseid supposedly blasted to have Bruce's DNA markers that Superman examined himself. Which was ridiculous as it was, but, whatever.
Moving. On.
Batman and Robin #09: I don't know why I'm still reading this instead of, like, Batman or Tec or even finishing up Blackest Night. But I trudge ever onward! And Dick says he gave Kate morphine to overdose on and I'm still hoping that it's bullshit, that she's still alive and they can't tell Squire and Knight for some reason, but I suppose it wouldn't surprise me that Morrison would think that might be in character for Dick, either.
...................................................wat. He really did help her overdose because they were sitting on top of a Lazarus Pit and that could regenerate her?
And then there's Damian vs Zombie!Bruce where he spoke in chatspeak and I just.
I don't even know, man.
Zombie Batman vs Damian was weird, mostly for the whole "I knew you were here to replace me, you're my greatest mistake" that I'm not sure how to take. I was a little "...." that there was none of that when he was fighting Dick, no broken words for him, but he was on his last legs by then.
And then Morrison gives me Dick's parting words to Batwoman, with the whole, I have a thing for crimefighting redheads, if you want to do this again....
And I just.
I don't even know.
I guess it's an interesting way for them to realize that it wasn't Bruce's body at all, that Tim was right, thus kicking off the whole search for Bruce, but... man. Dick using the Lazarus Pits. Alfred does say that Dick previous cautioned against them, but Dick's rationale is that, after all Bruce had done, he owed it to the world to give it a shot to bring him back.
Which I say is bullshit. If Bruce is dead, he deserves the chance at some fucking peace. The world needs heroes, yes, but that is why Dick stepped up in the first place and why he has friends and allies all over the world and beyond. It's why Bruce always trusts him to be the next Batman when it comes down to it.
So, yeah, I don't buy that.
Batman and Robin #10: To some degree, I have given up caring about this book because, whatever, Damian taking charge of Wayne Corp? Sure, why not. This book is in its own little world as far as I'm concerned, so, la la la~ whatever~ I don't care~. They're searching for clues with Bruce now figured to be lost in time and they're looking at the portraits and discovering clues and whatnot.
One moment I did like was Damian saying, well, if his father is still alive and comes back, then that meant they couldn't be Batman and Robin anymore, could they? Probably not, Dick says, but it's a small price to pay for getting him back.
"What will I do? Do you think my father will let me stay on as Robin?"
"You honestly think he'd put up with you the way I do?" Dick answers. And then, "....Damian, I'm joking." but Damian's not buying it.
It is an interesting question. One I already know the (for the near future) answer to already, but it's nice to see that Damian has grown attached to this life and I think he's attached to Dick in some ways, too. Which is kind of what I really love about his character--he needs people to care about him as Damian, not about who he'll become or what he represents. And seeing Damian turn against Talia, because he actually cares about Dick and this life now, it's actually kind of satisfying.
Batman and Robin #11: I don't know if it's because I'm going faster now (instead of trying to actually analyze them, I'm just reading them) or if I've hit a breaking point where I just don't give a fuck or if it's actually kind of an interesting plot. Whatever the reason, this issue went by really quickly!
All that really happened was Damian started acting weird and we see that Talia is controlling him through the spinal replacement he had previously (oh, whatever, I don't care how ridiculous this is anymore) and has brought in Death Stroke to do the actual controlling, so it'll be a Dick vs Death Stroke fight and I guess he knows that it's Dick, since doesn't he know about Dick anyway?
I can't say I care much about the plot, but the fight scenes were decent. And I am actually enjoying Damian's part of the story here, I'm coming to be guinely fond of the little snot.
Batman and Robin #12: If nothing else, I enjoyed this issue for Slade getting his ass handed to him and for the Dick and Damian semi-bonding. Well, that's not quite it. But the showing of how Dick actually likes the little shit sometimes and there's no question that he's willing to go to bat for the kid.
And I appreciated Dick basically tearing the place apart where the machines that assumed control of Damian were. Though, I did sort of go "....." at Dick's snapping back at Talia that he was "raised by a man who taught me to use my full potential to help others" and yet Morrison had him say Bruce was a brother? Okay, okay, letting it go, letting it go, letting it go....
Because, really, it's a tiny quibble in an issue where there's not a lot of Vertigo and not too much purple prose and even if Talia is an Evil Mother that I'm not sure I'm buying, I'm not here for that. I'm here for Damian choosing this life, for asking if she'll love him for who he is, rather than who she wants him to be, and knowing that Dick is coming to love the kid for that very reason.
......and, shit, I have to give him that I didn't see the ending coming. He set up in advance that Sexton wasn't who he said he was, that he was connected to all that Black Glove nonsense, and I never really put it together... but it makes sense that it's the Joker! And the reveal was actually pretty good!
Batman and Robin #13: Wait, what? Did I miss something? Suddenly Thomas Wayne is alive? Was I supposed to recognize him in the previous issue? Or... *checks wiki* Oh, I'd completely blocked out Dr. Simon Hurt and all that nonsense. Okay, whatever. Could have been explained way better, but maybe that's my fault for not picking up on things or remembering Morrison's crap from previous storylines/other books.
So, it's the Joker behind all of this and they question him and everything goes back to what Morrison has been planning all along and I find that I don't really care so much about that. I am interested in the scenes where Dick realizes Damian's been left alone with the Joker and says, DAMN, WE HAVE TO GO NOW, HE COULD KILL HIM! and Gordon is worried that, yeah, the Joker is really dangerous, especially around a kid. I had to blink for a minute because I was like, ....wha...? and then realized, OH, JIM MEANT DAMIAN WAS IN DANGER when Dick meant the Joker was in danger from Damian and lolololol I was onboard with Dick from the moment he said it. It's the Joker who's in danger there.
Then we see Damian not falling for the Joker's schtick and proceeds to call him a wimp basically and then beat him in the head with a crowbar.
Interestingly, Noel and I talked a lot about how Damian and Jason would get along if Jason ever properly joined the Bat-family again (and how very difficult Dick's life would be then, even if he'd be happy to have Jason back on the sane train and back in the fold), whether they'd be two cats in a sack like oil and water or if they'd get along sometimes. We basically decided, most of the time? Two cats in a sack. But every so often, especially if Dick was being all Mr. Moral, they'd share a ~*moment*~.
Then I get to this issue and Damian takes a crowbar to the Joker's head with real intent and I think Jason could appreciate that.
But then the episode ends with chaos exploding everywhere and the return of Professor Pyg and ugh. Do not want.
Batman and Robin #14: Of course I noticed the new artist in the previous issue (Frazer Irving, whom I feel I should know from somewhere) and I'm not precisely sure how I feel about them. It's a little funky and the coloring is weird, but I don't dislike it. This issue had some actually really cool, stylized panels with Alfred walking through Wayne Manor in those lovely blues and white and grays.
So, this issue has Gordon under the influence of that new viral addiction crap and Professor Pyg coming back and Simon Hurt trying to orchestrate all of this and, bleh, whatever. I'm so not caring that Gordon tricked Batman into looking away so he could knock him out and get a fix because whatever. This takes place in some alterna reality anyway, la la la~. I did enjoy the fight scenes pretty well, though!
And I think I'm vaguely onboard with his take on the Joker? It probably helps that I haven't seen him in ages, but also the parallels to what he's done to past Robins is surprisingly well-handled here. And I think a villain like the Joker really suits Morrison's style.
As a side note, apparently Morrison is only staying on the title until issue #16? Ooh, I wonder who's going to take it over! *Googles* Looks like it'll be Paul Cornell for #17-19. *Googles more* After that? It's Tomasi? OMG YAAAAAY! \o/
And then Noel made me read Superman/Batman #77 because it was the Kara/Damian team-up and that promised awesome. Spoilers for that, too.
Superman/Batman #77: When I knew I was going to love this issue? About three pages in, Croc has Damian strung upside down and tied up, screaming, YOU'RE NOT BATMAN!! Damian just casually answers, "Not yet." asd;lfkjasl;kjas it shouldn't work, but I love that obnoxious little shit so much. And he didn't walk into Croc's trap. Croc walked into his.
Seriously, that obnoxious little shit is the best thing to happen to the Batfamily in ages.
After he says, what do you want, alien, Kara's like, I'm looking for Batman. Damian says, ch', he's off doing stuff with the Justice League.
Oh, how about Tim then? Don't know, don't care. Different team, same story.
Oh, well. She'll just be going then.
Damian's evil grin as he says this is about the mass grave in Metropolis, right? (Which it is, yes.)
HOW DID YOU KNOW?
Glare.
Son. Of. Batman.
;asdlkfj;alskj why does this work so well??
And he treats her like a tool in his utility belt! And why not? My father did it to Superman all the time. Now scan, alien. Bawling. (It works because the tone of the issue makes it very clear that Damian is an obnoxious little shit and she's the mature adult here by not making a smear of him on the pavement. Also, Kara has shorts on under her skirt! BLESS YOU, GARZA.)
And then they go to a Halloween party! WHERE DAMIAN PICKED THE COSTUMES.
There's really not a plot here, it's basically them running around until they find the Scarecrow at the party, then Kara gets dosed with fear toxin and it works on her, but she snaps out of it not long after, Damian punches out Scarecrow... and that's kind of it?
But that doesn't matter. It's a beautiful issue and the team-up is beautiful and, oh, I wish we could have stuff like this every month.
Especially the last page. Dick sees Supergirl dropping him off and teases Damian about it and "Do you have a crush on her?"
"Drop it."
"You do! Wait until Alfred hears about this!"
"I know thousands of ways to kill you. Thousands, Grayson."
And she was an adequate partner, nothing more! HE DOES NOT HAVE A CRUSH.
Beautiful.
I love Damian always crushing on girls who could make paste out of him and Dick teasing him about it and Damian actually almost sort of connecting with people and the hint that maybe he's feeling a little left out when everyone else is on a team thing but him. And Kara was her usual awesome self, I loved her visions with the fear toxin, of not being up to Superman's standards, that he called her weak, that she saw the dead people from Blackest Night, that she snapped herself out of it.
Just. So much love for this issue. ♥
- Whoa, AMC has already ordered a second season of The Walking Dead and I'm delighted! WEEKLY ZOMBIE ACTION ON MY TEEVEE. I mean, setting aside that it's a really fantastic show, too. I'm glad AMC is putting some faith in the show, but even more glad that it's apparently doing really well! ♥
- One Piece volume 60 sells 2 million copies ON ITS FIRST DAY. ANOTHER NEW RECORD, HOLY CRAP. Holy hell, One Piece, that's amazing. The series really has been unstoppable lately. *___* Even the databook was in third place this week! (I'm also glad to see Beelzebub placing pretty high. ♥)
- Oguri Shun possibly cheating on Yamada Yuu? I don't know how I feel about this! On the one hand, cheating is obviously bad and nobody likes their idols to be imperfect. On the other hand... IN A BATHROOM, forever lolling. Part of me almost can't even be mad about it because it's so hilariously cliche. (Didn't they break up awhile back? This is what you get for listening to gossip mags, though. XD)
(There's also this post, but it's kind of super gross and the comments made me want to light things on fire, so.)
- This whole post (about now Nino is a sexual powerhouse) is AMAZING. It is my new favorite post on aramatheydidn't pretty much ever. Well, aside from the Daigo boykissing pictures. Apparently, Nino is now THE NEW KING OF ARAMA. AWESOME.
(I am in love with so many of the macros and gifs on that thread. But this one probably has to be my favorite.)
- Less fun is the deceased AV actress post about how she'd been with four of the five Arashi guys. I don't care so much about them all having sex with women (in fact, if it makes them happy, I hope they do, even if I'd like them to keep it quiet, they should enjoy their fame, since they've worked hard for it) but more about using the deceased actress like that. Gross.
Okay, back to comic blogging. SPOILERS for anything listed!
Batman and Robin #06: And onwards I trek. So, "Death comes to Gotham" in the form of Eduardo Flamingo, a guy that was apparently an upstanding guy who fought the mob or whatever until they cut his brain apart, took away everything human, made him kill his wife and children, and everything he ever loved, and then he became Death.
Who, apparently, wears a HOT PINK MATADOR'S JACKET and rides a hot pink motorcycle with a flamingo on it while carrying a whip.
I know the point is that it's supposed to be crazy over the top, but. I am laughing at you, guys, not with you.
I do find it almost a little endearing that Jason distracted Flamingo (FLAMINGO, oh, Morrison) when he was beating the hell out of Scarlet, saying that he was the Red Hood and the one Flamingo wanted. After the whole thing with "the one millionth call activates the webcam to see who Batman and Robin really are, unmasked!" thing, which... okay, I was going to bitch about, about how, what is Jason now, the Joker?, when I realized, oh. Well. Not that I'm sure Morrison did it deliberately or that it even makes any fucking sense--he's saying that there needs to be a new type of crimefighter in Gotham, so he... acts like the Joker to do it? ....I guess that could sort of make sense if Jason were in a place where he felt like the Joker had "won" at this point. Why not emulate him, it's not like anyone ever stops him.
Not that I believe that's what's actually going on here, but I'll read that into it for now.
Also, I appreciate that Dick and Damian get out of the knots because, apparently, even if Jason has fought aliens and been to parallel worlds and you shouldn't underestimate him, he still sucks at tying knots. So, they get out of there and Damian spots a shiny new BFG and is quietly picking it up in the background, while Dick is scanning their exits and says, "Put it away, Robin." To Damians, "--tt--" response that, okay. Is still the most hilarious thing ever.
Jason screaming at Flamingo to SHOOT HIM, DO IT! HE'LL COME BACK! was actually one of the better bits from Morrison and kind of says a lot about what's going on with him and how he's gone off the deep end. You die and come back to life, when you're not all that emotionally stable to begin with, I imagine it does make you feel like life and death don't actually matter.
As for the big fight and the big confrontation... well, I'm not sure. Part of my problem is that I have a real interest in the Dick and Jason dynamic and Morrison played into it in the way I really wanted to see. Dick got to be badass in the fight, Damian got to be badass in his own way but not a perfect little killing machine much as he might otherwise think of himself, Jason showed that he still had protective instincts even if he's seriously fucked up right now, and I actually like that it was Scarlet who ultimately killed Flamingo.
Then Dick's furious because of the danger Jason brought to Gotham and his reckless ways that increasingly look like suicide runs. Jason unleashes a lot of his own anger, how Dick's not able to protect his (Bruce's) city, and he can take him down any day! But Dick isn't having any of that, it's blatantly not true and Jason is a mess. He offers to help Jason one more time, to just stop and let them help.
But Jason says it's too late for him, that it was always too late. He tried so hard to be what Bruce wanted him to be--which was to be Dick--but he was never good enough and life had other plans for him. Then the moment of calm is over and he loses his shit again because Bruce is still dead and don't tell him that that kid's mom (meaning Talia) doesn't have a Lazarus pit they could use, that Dick didn't bring him back only because Dick couldn't stand being in his shadow and it's just.
You're not really sure if Jason doesn't get it or if he's just saying what he knows will hurt the most or if it's somewhere in between the two, which is what I think. And this is the Morrison I remember liking, the one who digs into the painful issues and shows how raw these people really are. He gets into what makes these characters furious, he's really good at getting at the hidden anger in them, when he wants to. It's just that he gets wrapped up in his Vertigo schtick too often that he doesn't write something as direct and genuine as this.
Not that it was perfect, there was still a lot of Vertigo in there (and that is totally my new go-to phrase for Morrison) and I think there's a very strong element of having read this whole arc while being WTF THAT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE WITH THEIR CHARACTERIZATION, so when something finally makes sense, I'm like WHOA HELLO THERE MORRISON I USED TO REMEMBER.
Also, I'm just a sucker for Dick vs Jason, it's one of the very few things I like about Jason.
.....so, wait, did that issue just end with Dick going to visit Bruce's skeleton? ...........oh, Morrison. ~_~
Batman and Robin #07: ....I have no idea what the hell was going on in this issue. I don't think it's entirely Morrison, I suspect my lack of being up to date with the current DC events is leaving me out of the loop, and sometimes it's the art. There's a panel where Dick is talking to Kate, where it looks like they've suddenly swapped personalities, like he's wondering why he's here and Kate's saying you're concussed and confused and I'm the new Batman. I stared at this panel for a good minute before I realized, OH, THE WORD BUBBLES ARE WEIRDLY PLACED. For once, it's not a dialogue thing, it's an art thing!
I have no idea what's up with Kate these days, so I have no idea why she suddenly popped up in the story, but I'm willing to give this issue the benefit of the doubt and say it's just that I'm missing something. Even if the beginning with Dick in England with Squire was a, "....wait, what am I reading here?" moment for quite some time.
It's an okay scene... and then Dick's going on about how he and Batman had an arrangement. If he was in trouble, Dick got him out, if there was a death trap he couldn't handle alone, Dick helped, he could count on Dick. He was my brother, my best friend.
.............................................wat.
no seriously what is this I don't even--
I am honest to god having trouble wrapping my mind around this. His brother? Look, I can give you best friend, maaaaaybe, even though that's a pile of horseshit. But brother? Are you fucking kidding me? How do you--
How do you--
*hands*
How do you say brother and mean it?
I-- I am kind of frothing over this! FATHER, THE WORD YOU'RE LOOKING FOR IS FATHER, HE WAS DICK'S FATHER. Granted, he wasn't really and Dick is very firm about how John Grayson was his father, but he also acknowledges Bruce as his dad and OH MY GOD DID YOU MISS THE WHOLE TEENAGE REBELLION THING THAT WAS CLASSIC REBELLIOUS SON DYNAMIC AND, OH, EVERY FUCKING INTERACTION WITH THEM FUCKING EVER?
Also, why the hell is Dick suddenly willing to dip Bruce in a Lazarus Pit? Christ, that almost makes me as frothy. Dick loves Bruce as much as anyone, but Dick also knows that THE DEAD STAY DEAD. And that Bruce REALLY WOULD NOT WANT TO BE BROUGHT BACK and he knows that the Lazarus Pits are bad bad bad, LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED WITH JASON and there was a reason Bruce was going around DESTROYING THE LAZARUS PITS and a;sldkfjal;skj DICK WOULD NOT BRING HIM BACK OKAY.
(........................I realize this is extreeeeeeemely hypocritical of me as I co-wrote an entire fanfic that was about Dick dunking Bruce in the Lazarus Pit, but whatever. That was TAS Dick, who had a whole different set of circumstances, and has a hell of a lot more anger than comics Dick does. So, whatever. I can still bitch about this.)
Just. Fuck you, Morrison.
Batman and Robin #08: ..................is that Darkseid with an army of insane Batman clones? Telling his mad scientist to dispose of all but one of them because they were insane? ........why would Darkseid even care about some human dude? Wouldn't he be more interested in Kryptonians or whatever? Seriously, a normal human being without any powers at all? Seriously?
Of course it all goes to hell, the not!Bruce gets out and is apparently sane enough to fly a plane back to Gotham, where Damian has just gotten out of his spinal surgery and all, while Kate supposedly died in Dick's arms, but I doubt that because there's no way they'd kill even a second-string character like that and, also, there was the whole "I have an idea." line and just.
Ugh, whatever. Moving on.
Though, I do think it's an interesting way for the skeleton that Darkseid supposedly blasted to have Bruce's DNA markers that Superman examined himself. Which was ridiculous as it was, but, whatever.
Moving. On.
Batman and Robin #09: I don't know why I'm still reading this instead of, like, Batman or Tec or even finishing up Blackest Night. But I trudge ever onward! And Dick says he gave Kate morphine to overdose on and I'm still hoping that it's bullshit, that she's still alive and they can't tell Squire and Knight for some reason, but I suppose it wouldn't surprise me that Morrison would think that might be in character for Dick, either.
...................................................wat. He really did help her overdose because they were sitting on top of a Lazarus Pit and that could regenerate her?
And then there's Damian vs Zombie!Bruce where he spoke in chatspeak and I just.
I don't even know, man.
Zombie Batman vs Damian was weird, mostly for the whole "I knew you were here to replace me, you're my greatest mistake" that I'm not sure how to take. I was a little "...." that there was none of that when he was fighting Dick, no broken words for him, but he was on his last legs by then.
And then Morrison gives me Dick's parting words to Batwoman, with the whole, I have a thing for crimefighting redheads, if you want to do this again....
And I just.
I don't even know.
I guess it's an interesting way for them to realize that it wasn't Bruce's body at all, that Tim was right, thus kicking off the whole search for Bruce, but... man. Dick using the Lazarus Pits. Alfred does say that Dick previous cautioned against them, but Dick's rationale is that, after all Bruce had done, he owed it to the world to give it a shot to bring him back.
Which I say is bullshit. If Bruce is dead, he deserves the chance at some fucking peace. The world needs heroes, yes, but that is why Dick stepped up in the first place and why he has friends and allies all over the world and beyond. It's why Bruce always trusts him to be the next Batman when it comes down to it.
So, yeah, I don't buy that.
Batman and Robin #10: To some degree, I have given up caring about this book because, whatever, Damian taking charge of Wayne Corp? Sure, why not. This book is in its own little world as far as I'm concerned, so, la la la~ whatever~ I don't care~. They're searching for clues with Bruce now figured to be lost in time and they're looking at the portraits and discovering clues and whatnot.
One moment I did like was Damian saying, well, if his father is still alive and comes back, then that meant they couldn't be Batman and Robin anymore, could they? Probably not, Dick says, but it's a small price to pay for getting him back.
"What will I do? Do you think my father will let me stay on as Robin?"
"You honestly think he'd put up with you the way I do?" Dick answers. And then, "....Damian, I'm joking." but Damian's not buying it.
It is an interesting question. One I already know the (for the near future) answer to already, but it's nice to see that Damian has grown attached to this life and I think he's attached to Dick in some ways, too. Which is kind of what I really love about his character--he needs people to care about him as Damian, not about who he'll become or what he represents. And seeing Damian turn against Talia, because he actually cares about Dick and this life now, it's actually kind of satisfying.
Batman and Robin #11: I don't know if it's because I'm going faster now (instead of trying to actually analyze them, I'm just reading them) or if I've hit a breaking point where I just don't give a fuck or if it's actually kind of an interesting plot. Whatever the reason, this issue went by really quickly!
All that really happened was Damian started acting weird and we see that Talia is controlling him through the spinal replacement he had previously (oh, whatever, I don't care how ridiculous this is anymore) and has brought in Death Stroke to do the actual controlling, so it'll be a Dick vs Death Stroke fight and I guess he knows that it's Dick, since doesn't he know about Dick anyway?
I can't say I care much about the plot, but the fight scenes were decent. And I am actually enjoying Damian's part of the story here, I'm coming to be guinely fond of the little snot.
Batman and Robin #12: If nothing else, I enjoyed this issue for Slade getting his ass handed to him and for the Dick and Damian semi-bonding. Well, that's not quite it. But the showing of how Dick actually likes the little shit sometimes and there's no question that he's willing to go to bat for the kid.
And I appreciated Dick basically tearing the place apart where the machines that assumed control of Damian were. Though, I did sort of go "....." at Dick's snapping back at Talia that he was "raised by a man who taught me to use my full potential to help others" and yet Morrison had him say Bruce was a brother? Okay, okay, letting it go, letting it go, letting it go....
Because, really, it's a tiny quibble in an issue where there's not a lot of Vertigo and not too much purple prose and even if Talia is an Evil Mother that I'm not sure I'm buying, I'm not here for that. I'm here for Damian choosing this life, for asking if she'll love him for who he is, rather than who she wants him to be, and knowing that Dick is coming to love the kid for that very reason.
......and, shit, I have to give him that I didn't see the ending coming. He set up in advance that Sexton wasn't who he said he was, that he was connected to all that Black Glove nonsense, and I never really put it together... but it makes sense that it's the Joker! And the reveal was actually pretty good!
Batman and Robin #13: Wait, what? Did I miss something? Suddenly Thomas Wayne is alive? Was I supposed to recognize him in the previous issue? Or... *checks wiki* Oh, I'd completely blocked out Dr. Simon Hurt and all that nonsense. Okay, whatever. Could have been explained way better, but maybe that's my fault for not picking up on things or remembering Morrison's crap from previous storylines/other books.
So, it's the Joker behind all of this and they question him and everything goes back to what Morrison has been planning all along and I find that I don't really care so much about that. I am interested in the scenes where Dick realizes Damian's been left alone with the Joker and says, DAMN, WE HAVE TO GO NOW, HE COULD KILL HIM! and Gordon is worried that, yeah, the Joker is really dangerous, especially around a kid. I had to blink for a minute because I was like, ....wha...? and then realized, OH, JIM MEANT DAMIAN WAS IN DANGER when Dick meant the Joker was in danger from Damian and lolololol I was onboard with Dick from the moment he said it. It's the Joker who's in danger there.
Then we see Damian not falling for the Joker's schtick and proceeds to call him a wimp basically and then beat him in the head with a crowbar.
Interestingly, Noel and I talked a lot about how Damian and Jason would get along if Jason ever properly joined the Bat-family again (and how very difficult Dick's life would be then, even if he'd be happy to have Jason back on the sane train and back in the fold), whether they'd be two cats in a sack like oil and water or if they'd get along sometimes. We basically decided, most of the time? Two cats in a sack. But every so often, especially if Dick was being all Mr. Moral, they'd share a ~*moment*~.
Then I get to this issue and Damian takes a crowbar to the Joker's head with real intent and I think Jason could appreciate that.
But then the episode ends with chaos exploding everywhere and the return of Professor Pyg and ugh. Do not want.
Batman and Robin #14: Of course I noticed the new artist in the previous issue (Frazer Irving, whom I feel I should know from somewhere) and I'm not precisely sure how I feel about them. It's a little funky and the coloring is weird, but I don't dislike it. This issue had some actually really cool, stylized panels with Alfred walking through Wayne Manor in those lovely blues and white and grays.
So, this issue has Gordon under the influence of that new viral addiction crap and Professor Pyg coming back and Simon Hurt trying to orchestrate all of this and, bleh, whatever. I'm so not caring that Gordon tricked Batman into looking away so he could knock him out and get a fix because whatever. This takes place in some alterna reality anyway, la la la~. I did enjoy the fight scenes pretty well, though!
And I think I'm vaguely onboard with his take on the Joker? It probably helps that I haven't seen him in ages, but also the parallels to what he's done to past Robins is surprisingly well-handled here. And I think a villain like the Joker really suits Morrison's style.
As a side note, apparently Morrison is only staying on the title until issue #16? Ooh, I wonder who's going to take it over! *Googles* Looks like it'll be Paul Cornell for #17-19. *Googles more* After that? It's Tomasi? OMG YAAAAAY! \o/
And then Noel made me read Superman/Batman #77 because it was the Kara/Damian team-up and that promised awesome. Spoilers for that, too.
Superman/Batman #77: When I knew I was going to love this issue? About three pages in, Croc has Damian strung upside down and tied up, screaming, YOU'RE NOT BATMAN!! Damian just casually answers, "Not yet." asd;lfkjasl;kjas it shouldn't work, but I love that obnoxious little shit so much. And he didn't walk into Croc's trap. Croc walked into his.
Seriously, that obnoxious little shit is the best thing to happen to the Batfamily in ages.
After he says, what do you want, alien, Kara's like, I'm looking for Batman. Damian says, ch', he's off doing stuff with the Justice League.
Oh, how about Tim then? Don't know, don't care. Different team, same story.
Oh, well. She'll just be going then.
Damian's evil grin as he says this is about the mass grave in Metropolis, right? (Which it is, yes.)
HOW DID YOU KNOW?
Glare.
Son. Of. Batman.
;asdlkfj;alskj why does this work so well??
And he treats her like a tool in his utility belt! And why not? My father did it to Superman all the time. Now scan, alien. Bawling. (It works because the tone of the issue makes it very clear that Damian is an obnoxious little shit and she's the mature adult here by not making a smear of him on the pavement. Also, Kara has shorts on under her skirt! BLESS YOU, GARZA.)
And then they go to a Halloween party! WHERE DAMIAN PICKED THE COSTUMES.
There's really not a plot here, it's basically them running around until they find the Scarecrow at the party, then Kara gets dosed with fear toxin and it works on her, but she snaps out of it not long after, Damian punches out Scarecrow... and that's kind of it?
But that doesn't matter. It's a beautiful issue and the team-up is beautiful and, oh, I wish we could have stuff like this every month.
Especially the last page. Dick sees Supergirl dropping him off and teases Damian about it and "Do you have a crush on her?"
"Drop it."
"You do! Wait until Alfred hears about this!"
"I know thousands of ways to kill you. Thousands, Grayson."
And she was an adequate partner, nothing more! HE DOES NOT HAVE A CRUSH.
Beautiful.
I love Damian always crushing on girls who could make paste out of him and Dick teasing him about it and Damian actually almost sort of connecting with people and the hint that maybe he's feeling a little left out when everyone else is on a team thing but him. And Kara was her usual awesome self, I loved her visions with the fear toxin, of not being up to Superman's standards, that he called her weak, that she saw the dead people from Blackest Night, that she snapped herself out of it.
Just. So much love for this issue. ♥