Because I am still in Batman Mode... Comics Post!
Still consuming Batman comics at an alarming rate.
Best: So far, I think Jeph Loeb is my favorite Batman writer. He's responsible for Hush and the Long Halloween (p
otentially my favorite Batman graphic novel). The Long Halloween is gorgeously stylized, the villains expertly used, the story compelling and traditionally noir. It's a murder mystery that takes place at the point when control of Gotham is beginning to change hands from the Italian mobsters over to the "freak" villains like Joker and Poison Ivy. And the mobsters aren't going quietly. The family dynamics within the mob family are fascinating. The influences TLH had on Christopher Nolan's Batman movies are obvious, and Harvey Dent's storyline in the Dark Knight was lifted directly from it. The tragedy of Harvey Dent is almost worse here because the slow deterioration and failure of Harvey, Bruce, and Gordon's friendship/hero triumvirate coincides with the loss of Gotham's (Gordon/Bruce's) innocence-- what little it ever had. Harvey was the only person Bruce, ever isolated and emotionally closed off, ever called his friend. And Harvey fell. Lost his faith in right and Gotham and subsequently his sanity only to become one of Batman's archvillains, Two-Face. Aw, tragedy.
Worst: I'm sure it's been said before, but I hate Frank Miller. Back in grad school when I took that graphic novels course, I had friendly debates with my professor all the time because he was a Frank Miller fanboy (even though he had to concede my points). I think Miller embodies everything negative that's ever been lobbied at comics in that his work tends to be brazenly misogynistic, homophobic, fascist, and racist. And this is the man hailed as being the most important, influential, and beloved Batman author of all time. Ugh. His Batman: Year One and the Dark Knight Returns are always at the top of any Batman top-whatever list. Super annoyed by that, but I can't deny that Miller has guided the interpretation and direction of Batman, for better or worse, since the '80s. If you ever wondered when Batman became such an emotionally twisted asshole, then wonder no longer: Miller. But Miller's worst crime is what he did to Dick Grayson, Robin #1, in the Dark Knight Strikes Back. Some things are sacred, and Dick Grayson is one of them, heh. I didn't enjoy seeing Catwoman as a dominatrix prostitute (fuck you, Miller) or Jim Gordon as an adulterous husband so traumatized that he's desperately hoping his wife isn't pregnant because he can't bear the thought of bringing a child into that world.
Then: Grant Morrison. Oh, Grant Morrison. He is in both the Best and Worst columns:
Best: I LOVED his Arkham Asylumm. Arkham Asylumn was cerebral and interesting. The inmates have taken control of the asylum, and they demand that Batman come into the madhouse to join them because they want Batman to face that he is one of them. Batman is just as much of a freak as they are, except he's a sanctioned freak. Here, Batman is a whole tangle of neuroses, and each inmate represents one of his issues (i.e Clayface as a walking STD vs. Batman's repressed sexuality). The deeper Batman goes, the more worried he (and we) become that he's never coming out again because the inmates are right about him.
WORST: His main continuity run on Batman is ridiculous. And GROSS. Villains who eat their victims' faces. Professor Pyg and his zombie "dolls" with their masks permanently melded to their faces. Violence taken to grotesque levels. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
First, I do owe Morrison for the introduction of the current Robin, bat-brat Damian Wayne in Batman and Son. I want to do a whole post on Damian Wayne. I love that little jerk. But I don't love that Morrison made him the product of rape. Historically, Talia was one of Bruce's great loves, but in Morrison's hands, she's a creepy monster and possibly the worst mother ever. She drugged Bruce and raped him to create a genetically perfect heir that she raised to be an assassin. And then she dumped him on Bruce's doorstep when he was ten. Have fun dealing with a sidekick you can't fire once they start to annoy you, Batman!
But Damian is a bright spot in an otherwise horrible run. Morrison has a rule that "everything is canon," but that's completely insane when one considers that Batman has a history going back to the '40s. So the end result is that Morrison makes obscure references and storyline throwbacks from God-knows-when that no one remembers but him, and then he
doesn't bother to explain them. Worse, he chooses to use things that I think most people would be happy to FORGET were ever part of Batman's mythos. Morrison takes these crazy storylines and villains from the Silver Age that no longer make sense post-Miller, and then he throws some psychadelic what-the-fuck-ery into the mix, adds a dash of occultism, and there's his Batman run. The Black Glove graphic novel is about the reunion of a former club of international heroes representing different countries. Someone is killing them off, and they should because they are ridiculous and just as sterotypical as one can get (the Italian hero is dressed like Caesar and the American heroes are dressed like Native Americans fyi). Batman was a member for like two seconds back in the day, and now that gets to stay present-day canon. Thanks, Morrison.
Best: So far, I think Jeph Loeb is my favorite Batman writer. He's responsible for Hush and the Long Halloween (p
otentially my favorite Batman graphic novel). The Long Halloween is gorgeously stylized, the villains expertly used, the story compelling and traditionally noir. It's a murder mystery that takes place at the point when control of Gotham is beginning to change hands from the Italian mobsters over to the "freak" villains like Joker and Poison Ivy. And the mobsters aren't going quietly. The family dynamics within the mob family are fascinating. The influences TLH had on Christopher Nolan's Batman movies are obvious, and Harvey Dent's storyline in the Dark Knight was lifted directly from it. The tragedy of Harvey Dent is almost worse here because the slow deterioration and failure of Harvey, Bruce, and Gordon's friendship/hero triumvirate coincides with the loss of Gotham's (Gordon/Bruce's) innocence-- what little it ever had. Harvey was the only person Bruce, ever isolated and emotionally closed off, ever called his friend. And Harvey fell. Lost his faith in right and Gotham and subsequently his sanity only to become one of Batman's archvillains, Two-Face. Aw, tragedy.
Worst: I'm sure it's been said before, but I hate Frank Miller. Back in grad school when I took that graphic novels course, I had friendly debates with my professor all the time because he was a Frank Miller fanboy (even though he had to concede my points). I think Miller embodies everything negative that's ever been lobbied at comics in that his work tends to be brazenly misogynistic, homophobic, fascist, and racist. And this is the man hailed as being the most important, influential, and beloved Batman author of all time. Ugh. His Batman: Year One and the Dark Knight Returns are always at the top of any Batman top-whatever list. Super annoyed by that, but I can't deny that Miller has guided the interpretation and direction of Batman, for better or worse, since the '80s. If you ever wondered when Batman became such an emotionally twisted asshole, then wonder no longer: Miller. But Miller's worst crime is what he did to Dick Grayson, Robin #1, in the Dark Knight Strikes Back. Some things are sacred, and Dick Grayson is one of them, heh. I didn't enjoy seeing Catwoman as a dominatrix prostitute (fuck you, Miller) or Jim Gordon as an adulterous husband so traumatized that he's desperately hoping his wife isn't pregnant because he can't bear the thought of bringing a child into that world.
Then: Grant Morrison. Oh, Grant Morrison. He is in both the Best and Worst columns:
Best: I LOVED his Arkham Asylumm. Arkham Asylumn was cerebral and interesting. The inmates have taken control of the asylum, and they demand that Batman come into the madhouse to join them because they want Batman to face that he is one of them. Batman is just as much of a freak as they are, except he's a sanctioned freak. Here, Batman is a whole tangle of neuroses, and each inmate represents one of his issues (i.e Clayface as a walking STD vs. Batman's repressed sexuality). The deeper Batman goes, the more worried he (and we) become that he's never coming out again because the inmates are right about him.
WORST: His main continuity run on Batman is ridiculous. And GROSS. Villains who eat their victims' faces. Professor Pyg and his zombie "dolls" with their masks permanently melded to their faces. Violence taken to grotesque levels. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
First, I do owe Morrison for the introduction of the current Robin, bat-brat Damian Wayne in Batman and Son. I want to do a whole post on Damian Wayne. I love that little jerk. But I don't love that Morrison made him the product of rape. Historically, Talia was one of Bruce's great loves, but in Morrison's hands, she's a creepy monster and possibly the worst mother ever. She drugged Bruce and raped him to create a genetically perfect heir that she raised to be an assassin. And then she dumped him on Bruce's doorstep when he was ten. Have fun dealing with a sidekick you can't fire once they start to annoy you, Batman!
But Damian is a bright spot in an otherwise horrible run. Morrison has a rule that "everything is canon," but that's completely insane when one considers that Batman has a history going back to the '40s. So the end result is that Morrison makes obscure references and storyline throwbacks from God-knows-when that no one remembers but him, and then he
doesn't bother to explain them. Worse, he chooses to use things that I think most people would be happy to FORGET were ever part of Batman's mythos. Morrison takes these crazy storylines and villains from the Silver Age that no longer make sense post-Miller, and then he throws some psychadelic what-the-fuck-ery into the mix, adds a dash of occultism, and there's his Batman run. The Black Glove graphic novel is about the reunion of a former club of international heroes representing different countries. Someone is killing them off, and they should because they are ridiculous and just as sterotypical as one can get (the Italian hero is dressed like Caesar and the American heroes are dressed like Native Americans fyi). Batman was a member for like two seconds back in the day, and now that gets to stay present-day canon. Thanks, Morrison.