Batman #687
I'm going to go on record as saying that Batman #687 is really, really good. Not perfect, but very good. It gives everything I could hope from the first issue of a series following Bruce's death.
Judd Winick gets the Batfamily. Yeah, none of them are acting exactly like they would in usual circumstances - but it's acknowledged, and it's the point. They're mourning, they have to make with Bruce's death, and they're adjusting. Every scene with Alfred is goddamn near perfect. There's a couple of pages with Clark and Diana coming to visit the cave... I could've teared up.
Oh, and there's Damian, but the lack of a flying Batmobile partly designed by him makes me welcome him entirely. Winick's clearly saying that Damian being Robin is going to be a lot of work, and I can't wiat to see how it's done.
And there's also - that was unavoidable - meta sprinkling the pages, and it's good meta. So yeah, Judd, I'm listening to you.
Also, I so far like the art. We'll see how long it is before the Ed Benes-ness of jerks me out of it.
ETA: one problem I do have with this issue is the absence of Babs and Cass. it's especially jarring since there's a short scene with Helena, Dinah and Ollie (and Unidentified Black-Haired Man #1, Benes, is this how your maskless Tim is going to look?). I'm giving Winick's the doubt that it's probably to do with the Batgirl kerfuffle so they weren't usable/mentionable in the first issue, but damn if it's not annoying. I hope Winick does something with them later.
Judd Winick gets the Batfamily. Yeah, none of them are acting exactly like they would in usual circumstances - but it's acknowledged, and it's the point. They're mourning, they have to make with Bruce's death, and they're adjusting. Every scene with Alfred is goddamn near perfect. There's a couple of pages with Clark and Diana coming to visit the cave... I could've teared up.
Oh, and there's Damian, but the lack of a flying Batmobile partly designed by him makes me welcome him entirely. Winick's clearly saying that Damian being Robin is going to be a lot of work, and I can't wiat to see how it's done.
And there's also - that was unavoidable - meta sprinkling the pages, and it's good meta. So yeah, Judd, I'm listening to you.
Also, I so far like the art. We'll see how long it is before the Ed Benes-ness of jerks me out of it.
ETA: one problem I do have with this issue is the absence of Babs and Cass. it's especially jarring since there's a short scene with Helena, Dinah and Ollie (and Unidentified Black-Haired Man #1, Benes, is this how your maskless Tim is going to look?). I'm giving Winick's the doubt that it's probably to do with the Batgirl kerfuffle so they weren't usable/mentionable in the first issue, but damn if it's not annoying. I hope Winick does something with them later.