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Writer Grant Morrison and artist Andy Kubert kicked off their run on Batman with issue #655 with a crazed cop in a Batman costume shooting the Joker point-black in the face. This issue is the follow up and it’s not what I expected.

DC’s solicitation copy for the issue proclaims, “Writer Grant Morrison continues his acclaimed run on Batman with fan-favorite artist Andy Kubert!” Except, Andy Kubert doesn’t actually provide the art for the issue; all he draws is the cover. The actual art chores for the issue are handled by John Van Fleet who serves up a handful of 3D renderings in a “comic” that is mainly a 22-page prose short story. After months of slogging through a lackluster four-issue filler arc by a different creative team, this is not what I expected, nor is it what I wanted. But let’s judge the issue on its own merits.

Batman #663 is a standalone issue which shakes up the status quo for the Clown Prince of Crime and his various henchmen, especially Harley Quinn. Morrison toys with the different personifications of the Joker over the years, positing that the Joker has no true self, and is instead a malleable jumble of “super-personalities.” It’s a fairly clever way to explain why the Joker is silly in some appearances and a flat-out murderer in others.

Morrison’s narrative style gets a little purple in places, but on the whole it provides the right tone for this dark, twisted tale. However, the art by Van Fleet is serviceable at best, with renderings that remind me more of video game screenshots than 3D art.

For me, the issue is undone because there is no reason for the story to be constructed mainly in prose form. I buy comic books because I like sequential art in the form of a narrative. Ultimately, I would have preferred to see an artist’s full renderings of the story rather than a few spot illustrations against walls of text.

Batman #663
“The Clown at Midnight”
Written by: Grant Morrison
Art by: John Van Fleet
Type Design by: Todd Klein

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