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“Batman R.I.P” begins here! Will it really change everything?

Grant Morrison’s run on Batman has not been the stuff of legend that we were led to believe when it started. Sure, it has had its moments of greatness: Ninja Man-Bats, the official introduction to Damian, the son of Batman and Talia, Ra’s Al Ghul’s resurrection (like we couldn’t see that coming though… he does that more than Jean Grey), and the pseudo-death and pseudo-resurrection of The Joker. But this has all been really uneven. The whole “League of Batmen” and the rehash of “Robin Dies at Dawn” stories from Batman’s Silver Age adventures have been needless, boring or both. But now, with DC’s Final Crisis upon us, it falls to Morrison to shake up The Dark Knight’s status quo once again, and with Batman #676 starting the “R.I.P” story-arc that is supposed to change everything forever.

The issue itself starts off with a single and very stunning splash page where Batman makes a declaration to… well, someone we don’t know (it may even be the reader) that “Batman and Robin will never die!” Then we cut to six months earlier where a hunchbacked dude named Le Bossu is entering the chamber of The Black Glove where Doctor Hurt and several other unusual and colorful costumed characters are about to begin the Danse Macabre. I have to interrupt here by saying that I have really enjoyed Morrison’s fun character names. They’re instantly evocative… Doctor Hurt: you just can’t get much simpler than that. Back to the issue. Then another cut to Gotham City where some freak costumed bad-guy wannabe has apparently kidnapped a family and is driving around with them in their car, whose only intention seems to be to get locked up in Arkham, and Batman and Robin are hot on their trail in the NEW Batmobile, which looks like one of those new Cadillacs (and apparently it has a CD changer,,, I’d have thought that Batman would at least have a Zune or something). They save the family, save a homeless person, arrest the bad guy and head back home. Upon arriving home, Bruce discards his costume and walks into the passionate embrace of Jezebel Jet (now aware that he is Batman). Alfred and Tim are left talking about Bruce’s issues with women who have known his true identity in the past, as well as the path that Bruce has taken recently and how it connects with their excursion into Nanda Parbat and the ideals of Tibetian Buddhism. But what’s really bothering Tim is whether or not Damian is really Bruce’s son. He really doesn’t like the idea of being the adoptive brother of the ‘Son of Satan’ as Tim puts it. Also, apparently Bruce’s idea of post-coital afterglow is spending it at his parents’ graveside. He’s got issues. But here’s where the dots begin to connect, because Jezebel has received an invitation to a ‘fundraiser’ being held by none other than The Black Glove.

But the final sequence in the issue is one that will very likely stick with you long after you’re done reading it. Somehow, The Joker’s joker-venom has become an airborne virus that is killing millions around the world and he’s got a very bloody and disturbing display of the bodies of Robin, Nightwing and Commissioner Gordon. But then we realize that he’s actually in the middle of a very Watchmen-esque Rorschach blot test, and this is all his fantasy. Then the power goes out for a short time, and Le Bossu extends Joker an invite to the Danse Macabre as well.

This issue reminded me that reading any of Grant Morrison’s work on a particular comic is very much like collecting pieces of a psychedelic jigsaw puzzle. Until you finally get something so screwed up and bizarre, you just don’t see how the pieces fit. Now, we’re starting to get there and the pieces are starting to fall into place, which is not to say that it’s not frustrating trying to get there. He’s done this a few times in his career with storylines in his status quo smashing of New X-Men and JLA. Now all the things that have come before that seemed so tedious, like the League of Batmen arc are coming to fruition. What he intends to do next with Batman and his life is really anyone’s guess. We could end up on Mars with candy-coated razor blades slicing the flesh off sentient teddy bears. With Morrison, I’d still go there, and hopefully live to come out the other side. But will it really change everything with Batman? Or are we going to have another “Knightfall” on our hands?

And also, let me take a moment to heap enormous praise on Tony Daniel’s amazing art. He’s really showing some great stuff, especially in the Joker sequence. I felt like taking out my brain and scrubbing it with a Brillo pad after looking at that stuff.

Batman #676
“Batman R.I.P. - Midnight in the House of Hurt”
Written by Grant Morrison
Pencils by Tony Daniel
Inks by Sandu Florea
Colors by Guy Major
Letters by Randy Gentile

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