"The Killing Joke"? Nah, got it.
"Batman's Black Casebook"? Can't find it.
"Knightfall/-quest/-send", "Bruce Wayne:Fugitive/Murderer" or "No Mans Land"? Too long, diffuse and now practically irrelevant to the ongoing legend of the Bat-family.
What about an Elseworlds? Again, irrelevance to the ultimate path of Bats and co.
Although I have expressed a desire to ignore continuity issues, it has to be said that the source of this Batman jones is the agonisingly slow rate at which Grant Morrisons current sprawling, DC mega-epic is being squeezed out. Therfore, it made sense to buy something that at least has some faint connection with What's Happening Now. Of course, later this month(yay!)/year(Aaaargh!) there will/should be a rapid burst of Morrison connected releases and, since I get my comics fortnightly, there may even be a day coming soon when I will get my hands on two, or maybe even(dare I think it?) THREE GMo Batman comics on the same day! Until then, however, I am cursed to wander Glasgow's few remaining comic shops in the hope of finding something to fill the gap while my poor, restless and narrow mind wrestles with the questions posed in the varied Bat Books:-
Who is this Simon Hurt/Thomas Wayne/Black glove character, really?
What is this (latest)Ultimate Disaster(defo NOT a Crisis & that's Final) Bruce Wayne's return will trigger?
When will the Dynamic Duo's fragile alliance with the Joker burst into open conflict?
Can I afford all the new Batman titles coming out from November?
How will Damian's progress in the past year or so affect his relationship to Bruce?
What's happened to Cassandra Cain?
Will Vicki Vale prove.........OK That's enough.
The main rant here involves what my choice boiled down to: either, "Hush", by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee and Scott Williams or, "The Dark Knight Strikes Again", by Frank Miller and Lynne Varley. The obvious choice there would be "Hush"; in almost every respect it is simply better. However, the 1st time I read "DK2" was 3 yrs ago, on the day I returned to Bristol to live for a couple of years, thinking to get back on the DJ circuit I had hopped out of, burned out, 7 years prior. I had just re-read "Watchmen" on the overnight bus journey down and enjoyed it so much I devoted a large part of a busy day to looking for more comics to read. Sometimes, when you are looking to recapture the buzz of the night before, with comics it almost works.
I loved just about every aspect of the book, from Batman's much reduced role(in order to bring in more JLA members), and appearances from loads of characters I remembered from US comics like the Question, the Guardian and even a bizarre sort of proto-Saturn Girl, to the second confrontation between Batman and Superman. Where in "Dark Knight Returns" the fight almost killed Batman, and served as the climax to the whole tale, in "DK2" Batman dispatches Supes with almost comical ease, after which he delivers the immortal line-"I'm done talking, now get out of my cave"
Its fair to say I was tickled with the story, to the extent that I even forgave the use of Dick Grayson(The 1st Robin, and now Batman himself) as the books major villain, besides Lex Luthor and Brainiac. At the time it felt simply misjudged, but now it seems an almost unforgivable rookie mistake for a true legend of the comics medium to be making.
No amount of brainwashing, rejection, heartbreak, years of misery or whatever other negative stuff you can think of could turn Dick Grayson into a murderous shape-shifting clown. It was just bizarre, a single misstep that irrevocably altered the tone of a great read . Fortunately, while I was reading the book, I happened to find a Green Lantern ring under the bed of the backpacker's hostel I was staying in until I found a flat. Like a 10 year old, the serendipity of finding that ring, while reading a DC story, washed away all my disappointment and left me chuffed to bits, while wondering where the hell it had come from. Anyway, I soon forgot about that stuff, and found myself re-reading "Watchmen" for my comics buzz, which got me back into DC and comics in a big way. At first it was TPB's, either bought or loaned from the library. "Identity Crisis", "All Star Superman", "Earth 2", "Batman & Son", "Back In Action", "For Tomorrow", "Green lantern: Rebirth", "Green Arrow: Quiver", "52", and Geoff Johns, James Robinson, David S Goyer's "JSA", Robinson's own"Starman", Johns and Greg Rucka's superb "Superman/ Action Comics" runs, Morrison & Millar's "Aztek" and Jeph Loebs DC Universe spanning "Superman/Batman". In addition I started reading "The Authority", "Tom Strong", "Promethea", "Ultimate X-Men", "Kev", "Hellblazer", and "The Boys". I also discovered the art was getting ridiculously good. Artists like Doug Mahnke, JG Jones, Frank Quitely, Darrick Robertson, Amanda Conner, Cliff Chiang, Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis, Ed Benes, Ian Churchill, Gary Frank, JH Williams III, Fernando Pasarin and many, many, more were showing me just how much comics had changed. Cut to now, and I'm a DJ who hasn't bought vinyl in nearly two years, and now spends any disposable income in the comic shop, with over 20 standing orders and a roving eye for a good graphic novel. Which brings me, again, back to my opening dilemma, "Hush" or "DK2". You could suggest a compromise in "All Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder" by Miller & Jim Lee, which sits exactly halfway between the two, creatively speaking. Unfortunately, that contains the exact same Dick Grayson as nutter murderer themes that so marred my enjoyment of "DK2", only this volume is an overlong and unfortunate attempt to explore and somehow justify the creation of a mean spirited and despicable criminal from the broken shell of a vastly popular and well liked character. One who has been an integral part of DC's universe from the start. Fuck's sake, its so bad no-one bothered to finish it,though they have threatened to "expand" the story, and embarrassingly try to connect it to the vastly superior "Year One" and original "Dark Knight Returns", as if they have a huge epic instead of two classics and two pieces of shit. Anyway, I've already got it; in fact it is the only book in my collection I can honestly use the phrase "Ach, I only like it for the art, the art is brilliant" to describe. A phrase I have heard(and used) before, as if you shouldn't enjoy stories about masked crimefighters with incredible abilities going up against insane criminals in skin-tight suits, but just staring at pictures of them is totally fine.
"Hush", on the other hand, is first class; a 12 part story about Batman and Bruce Wayne and how they live with each other's excesses, history, associates and limitations. Encompassing their many relationships and past endeavours , the story involves Superman, Catwoman, The Riddler, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, the Al Ghuls, Harley Quinn, basically, everyone who has ever appeared in a Bat-book, yet no-one seems out of place or as though they are there for an excuse to have Jim Lee draw them. For once,a decent new villain who seems to know all about Bruce and the Batman is introduced. Pivotal characters like Leslie Thompkins, Oracle and nightwing have important things to do and the story allows for things that may be happening in Gotham, but outside of Batmans immediate purview, which is refreshing for such a high profile storyline. For example, Leslie Thompkins and Selina"Catwoman" Kyle's friendship is acknowledged without being overblown, or used as an excuse to sell the Catwoman book that was running when this tale was first published. Bruce Wayne's solitary nature is explored, while the inevitability of his inspiring other crimefighters and attracting enemies is handled well.
Strangely enough, the only misfire involves the current misdeeds of an ex-robin. Jason Todd, famously the subject of murder by fan phone poll in the late 80's , reappears in a graveyard fight sequence only to be revealed as Clayface. Later still, he is revealed to have been both Jason Todd and Clayface, but that is, literally, another story.And so, needless to say, I had the last laugh when I bought "Hush" then read it and spent close to an hour waffling about it here.
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