Batman R.I.P. – review
You’ll have to forgive me. I have a bad cold and I’m attempting to review Batman R.I.P. so there’s a very good chance that none of this post will make sense.
What is it about Batman that makes me so sad? The whole Dark Knight, troubled soul, citizens of Gotham – just brings me down. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing, a lot of beautiful writing comes out of sadness. Elie Wiesel’s Night comes to mind and of course there’s England’s version of the Bat, Hamlet. But the level of sadness in Batman has really been cranked up hasn’t it?
Batman faces the Black Glove. He’s on the Glove’s trail when his “love” Jezebel Jet betrays him, whispering the code word that shatters his psyche. Luckily, he’s got a backup personality – I promise it’s much cooler than it sounds. Together with Robin and Nightwing (who aren’t much help but what can you do) the new Zur en Arrh Batman continues his efforts to destroy the Black Glove even at the cost of what’s left of Bruce Wayne’s life.
Batman R.I.P. isn’t so much about Bruce Wayne’s physical death or even his psychological death (that happened a while back) but his emotional end. I can’t decide if I think this is brilliant or cheap. I’ve heard people argue that Bruce Wayne had it coming. In fact, the book itself makes the point, in clue flashbacks from The Butler Did It, that Bruce Wayne has had numerous chances to take his pain and actually learn from it and doesn’t. But to break him with a rumor? Though it’s a pretty good one and I love the idea that maybe the Wayne’s aren’t the saints we thought – still…
There’s no beating Morrison’s feel for plot or timing. I loved the second personality even if it came with some kind of freaky little batkid. Actually, I became sort of attached to that Life with Louie looking sidekick. There’s also the sad truth that no one understands Batman except his worst enemy, who happens to be insane. That’s when you know it’s all gone horribly wrong, when the Joker speaks reasonably about what the rational thing to do is and of course everyone ignores him. It suggests that maybe the Joker is a twisted Cassandra, telling the sad fate of Gotham to power hungry villians and heroes.
I do have a few gripes though. First, Arkham Asylum – when is this place going to get some better security? I mean, really. It’s just irritating. Second, the artwork is too over the top. I’m sure Morrison and Daniel were intending it to be this way. A friend of mine told me the back story of the whole Zur en Arrh, explaining that Morrison is heavily influenced by past, campy Batman stories. So the artwork reflects that but I don’t know if it needs to. Joker looks too much like a monster, like Pennywise the Clown and the faces of Gotham citizens sit flat. Finally, I always find myself wondering stupid things like where the Joker finds purple pinstripes on such short notice? Does he have a special store that he stops by? Do they let him keep some in Arkham?
That may just be the cough syrup talking….
Batman Game preview
I’m not a huge gamer. I mean, I’ve been known ( on occasion) to stay up late trying to desperately level up my Final Fantasy characters in order to get past one dumb monster so I can go back into town to get more weapons. I did have a slight obsession with Paper Mario and I did enjoy Harvest Moon before it became even more boring than my regular life.
As you can tell, if I do play a game I want it to a.) be pretty and colorful, b.) not involve a whole lot of fighting and c.) have some kind of a story attached to it. Superhero games always seemed like first person shooters in a cape. If there’s one thing I hate more than a first person shooter, it’s a first person shooter in a costume I can’t change or color or do anything fun with.
But then…there this:
Batman Arkham Asylum: Invisible Predator Trailer | PopCultureShock.
Anything having to do with Arkham Asylum and I am there. It’s the best place in Gotham.
Batman some more
I have to admit, the whole concept of the “comics industry” annoys me. Buying thin, stapled pamphlets in a weekly attempt to get a convoluted story? Uh, no thanks.
But my dear friend Rod tells me there’s a “Battle of the Cowl” coming and Oh. my. god. I cannot miss anything hailed as a battle! for a cowl! Can you tell the whole prospect has got me a little bit excited? Between that and the new X-files you may actually find me ditching the pages of Shojo Beat to line up at the comic book store.
Jog the Blog reviews issue #682 and it looks like backstory, which I’ll need if I am to get all invested in this cowl business. It’s like a superhero fashion battle!! Oh I’m sure there will be brooding and ego and glaring but ultimately, I’m hoping there is an issue devoted to the contenders designing their own new batsuit. Cause if Bucky couldn’t handle wearing the Captain America costume surely the new Bat has to have his own look too.
If I could design the cowl (tee hee) I would lighten it up a bit. How come all the Gotham villains get all the color? It could still be black with an iridescent shine. Then a dark purple suit… am I taking this too far?
The Bat. Man.
The guys over at Nerdage have an update on the Batman ‘is he or isn’t he’ issue. So is Bruce Wayne really dead? Uh, of course not. But it looks like we do get a storyline written by Neil Gaiman!!!
Should Bruce Wayne die? Has he outlived his purpose? The Bat has certainly taken him over and maybe it’s time to erase that particular alter ego and start with someone new. There’s all kinds of speculation with Dick Grayson/Nightwing at the head of the pack. Which…boring. I’m not sure who I would like to see take over but one of the Birds of Prey, like Black Canary, might be interesting. Who do you want in the cape and pointy ears?
