I was going to wait until the end of "Final Crisis" to review it but they've gone and killed Batman today so I have to speak up.
For years there's been the idea of how Batman knows he could die any day, "It could be the Joker, or Two-Face, or some punk who gets lucky...", well it turns out that Batman, who fights evil in the alleys of Gotham has been killed by an evil God from an alternate dimension who has taken over Earth. "Darkseid" lives after all the New Gods were killed and have seemingly been resurrected in human form here on Earth. And he killed Batman with is laser vision, for lack of a better term.
Batman R.I.P. - after the horribly confusing "Batman RIP" storyline, marketed as the end of Bruce Wayne as Batman, I didn't think they could screw up any worse. But here we have Batman surviving an exploding helicopter, only to have been captured by a couple of these New Gods and tortured. Nightwing, Alfred, Robin et al think Bruce is dead and have no idea he's fighting for his life in some underground lair. Or at least he was. After shooting Darkseid with a radion bullet (the only thing that can harm the New Gods) Bats gets exploded, we even get to see his body, held by the until-this-moment-absent Superman (who bursts back into our time after an adventure in the future, just as Bats gets offed).
Confused yet? I've been reading comics for 20 years and even I'm put off by this silliness.
Grant Morrison is the writer and he writes as if everyone knows what he's thinking, like the story is just the cliff notes and we're supposed to know what he meant. Well, "Final Crisis" has one more issue to go and after 6 issues (plus tie-in/crossover books), I have very little idea of what the hell is going on. The only way I find out what the hell I just spent my money on and read, is to go on blogs and message boards and find someone's synopsis because there is always a billion other people also asking "What the hell did I just read?".
Now we have to read "Battle for the Cowl" as Dick, Tim and who knows who else has to decide who's going to fill Bruce's shoes. The boring part is that everyone knows that, somehow, Batman didn't actually die today and Bruce will be back within the year. Captain America got killed over at Marvel and it made sense, he's still dead a year later and his book is one of the best on the shelves. It wasn't announced or marketed, he just got assassinated and we all went "WTF!?" and though we know he'll most likely return, at least there's a damn good story being told in the meantime. DC needs to watch Marvel and do as they do, you damn monkeys.
11 comments:
I haven't read Batman comics for years so i am out of the loop. Part of the appeal of Batman for me was that he was a real guy fighting realish bad guys. The possiblity was there that he could get "off'd" at anytime. Knowing this did make the parel he incountered much more exciting for me. By the sounds of this "New Gods" thing i don't think i'd be all that into it. Hm I'm not sure what else to say
Precisely, it's stupid. If anyone's going to pick up comics as a newbie, right now I would steer people away from "DC" and suggest "Marvel" books.
Well first doesn't this take us back to when they killed superman. It was marketed as this huge big thing so they could sell tons and tons of comics. I'm a chump who bought into it just like most. If they are gonna bring batman back how do you think they will do it. I imagine it will be just as poopie as they killed him??????
Oh and plus when they had all the "new" supermen and were deciding who was gonna be the new Superman. I actually stopped reading comics right around that time. So please tell me they aren't doing the same crap with batman
They are damn-near doing just that in a crossover called Battle for the Cowl. Here is the official write-up for the 3-issue series:
With the destruction of Arkham Asylum and dozens of Gotham City's most lethal villains rioting through the streets, it would seem that Nightwing, Robin and their allies have their hands full. But they hadn't counted on the return of Batman himself! But is it really The Dark Knight? If so, why is he acting so strangely? And if not, is this a threat that could mean the destruction of Gotham?
This 3-issue series continues to shock and surprise as the battle shifts to the next level with a face-off and ending that will have everybody talking. Who has earned the right to be Batman? Who thinks they deserve it? Robin? Nightwing? Jason Todd? Who will ultimately win the BATTLE FOR THE COWL?
Well that's like a repeat isn't it. didn't they learn to stop this non sense (killing off hero's) to sell a couple "special" issues rather then focus on good, believable, rivoting stories. Sorry I know there are tons of good series out there but i would expect more from soemone writing for a Batman series. I guess at some point we have seen it all before with some one like Superman who has been around for as long as he has.
OH SHIT! jason and todd!?
No Russ! You don't understand! His name is Jason Todd, all one name! Phew! Got that settled.
Anyhoo, Graham, since you complained I never continued our talk, I'll pick it up here: I've notified the comic shop (Hourglass Comics in Port Moody since you were all wondering) that I will be sitting the Battle for the Cowl story out and therefore will not be purchasing any Batman comics until this nonsense is over.
I am so proud of you Jeff. Take that stand. Hopefully this will teach them a lesson. I know their sales will drop right off if you aren't backing them. Sorry Batman. Ship up or ship out.
"Ship" up?
seriously... jason todd? who?
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