The Comic Book Club: Batman & Robin #16 and Strange Tales II #2

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This is what happens when Techland goes to the comic book store: we end up discussing what we picked up. This week, Douglas Wolk, Graeme McMillan, Mike Williams and Evan Narcisse discuss Grant Morrison’s final issue of Batman & Robin and Strange Tales II #2. WARNING: Bat-spoilers lurk below.

DOUGLAS: The more I think about the Big Reveal at the end of Batman & Robin #16–which I was genuinely not expecting, even given all the advance press about the forthcoming Bat-titles–the more I like it. I don’t object automatically to changes in the premise of a long-running franchise, as long as they open up more story possibilities than they close off. And really, this one does exactly that–I actually can’t think of any Batman stories from the past few decades that it would’ve made impossible (other than the “Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive” business, which I didn’t love), and it totally makes sense as a springboard for more stories.

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MIKE: This, of course, makes me think of “I am Iron Man” straight away. If this is all handled–well, I agree, there are a good deal of stories to be told about a Batman franchise system. However, I have been opposed to the widening network of Bat-people for some time. It seems to go against the strengths of Batman. I suppose he has held many roles over the years, intimidator, JLA tactician, detective, legend, leader of men. This incorporation is taking Batman as a symbol and pushing it too far. If I’m committing crime in Gotham I’m scared of a giant guy dressed like a bat that’s going to break my arm. I don’t think I’m scared of copyrighted corporate Bat logo and what it represents. This all sounds like something Booster Gold would think up.

DOUGLAS: I don’t know, there’s been a big ol’ Bat-network for a very long time–remember, there was a Batman Family series in the ’70s!

GRAEME: I like the idea of Batman, Inc. in theory – And you’re right, Mike, the last scene is very reminiscent of the end of the Iron Man movie. I wonder if it’s intentional? – but the more I think about it, the less sense it makes. If Bruce Wayne wants to take the war on crime global, why doesn’t he just shift from being Batman to funding the JLA or the JSA or the Global Guardians or whatever? Why make it all about the Batman brand, instead of the, you know, ACTUAL war on crime? Maybe this is some larger point about Bruce Wayne’s egotism at play, but right now, it feels like a smart idea that’s come about to justify Grant’s new Bat-Status Quo. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, just that I’m not sure it’s strong enough to withstand more than a couple of years’ worth of stories before becoming another suspension of disbelief thing that readers have to work around.

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EVAN: Y’know, that scene feels like closure to me. Both for Morrison and for Bruce. Bruce saying that he’s been funding Batman approaches the idea of an emotionally healthy disclosure. Of course, he could never say outright that he’s Batman, but the press conference is still a way for him to publicly acknowledge his legacy. The dude’s been “dead,” bounced around through time, had the memory of his dad sullied and come back to find his sons carrying on in his footsteps.

So, it seems, I dunno, natural and well-adjusted (at least in Bat-psychology) to take a step back and declare “I made this. It may not always be pretty but it does what I want and I’m proud of it.” Again, you could apply that to both Bruce and Grant. But, I don’t think the scene is perfect in any way. To add my gripe to the rest of yours: could anyone in Gotham look at three athletically-built guys and a snarly kid standing on a Bat-podium with Bat-signals flying overhead and NOT peg them as members in good standing of the Bat-family? Batsolutely not, I say.

DOUGLAS: Also noteworthy: Bruce uses the phrase “a man like Batman” twice in his speech–still implying that it’s only been one person so far, when we know from Gordon’s dialogue in the last few issue that the cops know otherwise perfectly well. And at some point this is going to have to connect up with Hush posing as Bruce over in the currently/formerly Paul Dini-written Bat-titles.

For an issue that seems to have been rushed through production and has three different artists trading off scenes, this is really good-looking. Frazer Irving kicks ass again, Cameron Stewart kicks ass again too (that fight scene with all the tiny panels is incredibly well-staged–I particularly love vicious little Damian immolating the Fiend with the flamethrower and setting off the sprinkler), and I hadn’t seen Chris Burnham’s work before, but now I have to go dig up Officer Downe and Nixon’s Pals–I really like the Frank Quitely/Paul Pope vibe of his pages.

MIKE: I picked up Officer Downe this summer and it was a terrific read. It came off a lot like Hard Boiled, but the amount of detail just packed into every page is amazing. I wonder how fast Burnham can work?

As far as the three artists in one issue go, I was impressed with how Bruce and Dick are effectively wearing identical costumes and all three artists did a good job of making both of them unique. Be it muscle mass, fighting style, or gruff tone, these two Batmen are unique and it showed through.

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GRAEME: The art this time around is really good. Irving initially took my attention, because he’s just that good, but the more time I spend with the book, it’s Cameron Stewart’s work I keep coming back to. I don’t know quite what he’s changed about his inking this time around, but there seems to be more depth and detail this time around, and I like it a lot.

Burnham’s work is great, as well, and like Douglas, this was the first time I was seeing it. I’ve seen people compare him to Quitely, but I think Mike’s right, I’m getting much more of a Geof Darrow vibe from the pages (which, of course, Quitely had himself in earlier days).

DOUGLAS: Tweet of the day, from the @grantmorrison account (which is apparently the man himself): “Bat-annotators! Big Mike – a special kind of banana. Doctors Ha(rry) Ha(rlow)& Johnny B. Damned (Calhoun)” Jesus. That is very high-level punning right there–various people had spotted the Harry Harlow connection to Prof. Pyg and his “mommy made of nails” and “pit of despair,” and suggested that Big Mike could also be a joke about the Archangel Michael, but the Gros Michel banana and John B. Calhoun connection… wow.

A few raggedy ends here–the mayor’s dead in that great Quitely-esque panel with Gordon bellowing orders in his minidress, alive and recovering in the wrap-up. But the great moments more than make up for them. I think my favorite is the Joker in his top hat, a grinning death’s head in his Oberon Sexton silhouette, literally being the Gravedigger and laying down the last of the “bones” (note the spots painted on the top of the coffin).

MIKE: Favorite moment? That’s easy. Later on in the issue when Bruce and Hurt face off and Hurt is bloodied and attempting to make his escape he actually fishhooks Bruce. He actually sticks a couple of fingers in Batman’s mouth and tries to claw himself away. Panel of the issue.

DOUGLAS: Yeah, Morrison is one of the few superhero comics writers right now who really make the violent moments have an emotional impact–that, the amazing “give me a sign” moment on the previous page, everything about the scene a few issues back with Damian and the Joker. I feel like a lot of mainstream comics take people hitting each other for granted; when this series does it, it’s always some kind of shock or dramatic beat.

EVAN: I would just like everyone to note that Bruce Wayne has one hell of a Kool-Aid grin when he’s holding an electric razor towards the end of this issue. Might be my favorite panel.

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I have a thing where I get easily manipulated with certain Batman stories. If we take as a given that being Batman (or around him) is a lonely, thankless, emotionally brittle existence, then stories where some semblance of emotional connection pops up all get me. “There Is No Hope in Crime Alley” (especially the animated version) mysteriously makes any room I’m in very, y’know, dusty. And the last few pages of James Robinson’s One Year Later story arc “Face the Face,” where Bruce says he’s going to adopt Tim and says everything’s going to be all right? Man, I get verklempt just thinking about it.

I always get mad at myself for these reactions–and it’s probably telling of something a little uncomfortable in my psychological make-up–but I just can’t help it.

All that said, this issue had a few of those “tender-heart Batman” moments. I love that they’re all very quick, too, uttered while loads of other stuff is happening. But, really, Batman saying “You made the right choices. I’m proud of you.” That’s just great. And I love that you can see the germ of the Batman, Inc. idea planted in Bruce’s head (“We need all the Batmen we can get, father” = Bat-inception) on that same two-page sequence.

GRAEME: What I liked most about this issue was that it felt like it really lived up to everything that’d come before. The scheduling problems kind of killed “Batman And Robin Must Die” for me, but I sat down and re-read #13-16 yesterday in one go, and it all holds together much better than I’d expected. I only wish that Return of Bruce Wayne #6 was out already, so I’d know exactly how Bruce ended up in the fireplace…

DOUGLAS: A handful of scattered thoughts on Strange Tales II #2: I always find it interesting to see when the idea of “Marvel” is locked in time for the creators of stories like this–for the Hernandez Bros., it seems to be around 1965. And I am totally cool with that.

Gilbert’s Toro looks a bit like ¡Fortunato! from Luba, doesn’t he? This is an Iron Man story by someone who’s really, really into the look and feel of early Tales of Suspense-era Iron Man. (I bought a sketch from him this summer of Iron Man with his mask half melted off by the Melter. It might be the single best drawing of Iron Man I’ve ever seen.)

That Paul Hornschemeier Colossus story is like the most Paul Hornschemeier thing Paul Hornschemeier has ever done.

David Heatley really is good at making incredibly creepy comics.

Omega the Unknown was my favorite Marvel comic of the last few years, so I’m really happy to see Farel Dalrymple playing in this court again. I also love the fact that one of the story’s pages is directly copped from How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. That book really did a number on a whole lot of cartoonists of a couple of generations.

MIKE: I missed Omega, but now it looks like I’ve got some trading to do. This Spider-Man and Silver Surfer story might be my favorite of the book for the art style alone. Dalrymple might have been riffing on the Marvel Way instructional book, but he is a natural with urban environments. The first three panels of New York City alone are unreal. When Spidey laments that NYC is killing him, he does so with the infamous BK Bridge in the background.

DOUGLAS: I think a lot of people missed Omega, which is very odd to me–I believe it may have been the worst-selling Marvel superhero series ever. And Jonathan Lethem wrote it! And it’s so good! It reads best as a book, but I’ve found a lot of the issues in quarter bins at cons. Might just’ve been that it didn’t look or read like a typical Marvel superhero title (and maybe the presence of full-on superhero stuff scared away people who would otherwise have been drawn to comics by Lethem and Dalrymple), but I’ve kind of had to shove it into a lot of people’s hands.

GRAEME: I liked Omega as a collection, but it REALLY didn’t work in single issues for me. I can understand why it failed as a series, especially considering the fact that it’s pretty much unlike anything else Marvel was publishing at the time. “Hey, like Bendis’ Avengers? Here’s… a comic that might make you want to never read Bendis ever again. And you might ponder some existential issues, and realize that superhero comics are much more hollow than you ever had before.”

MIKE: If Jeffrey Brown is locked in time, it’s certainly the early ’90s. (Well, maybe the late ’80s). His X-Men story, “Indecision,” gets to the root of many of the hangups that X-men still have to this day: same old enemies and the same old fighting tricks. Having said that, I may never grow tired of the Fastball Special. Also, as much as I might not like the fact that Cyclops has grown into a complete dick the last few years, I didn’t like whiny, emotional Scott either. Maybe I just don’t like Scott Summers.

DOUGLAS: Jeffrey Brown actually did a full Wolverine comic a few years ago, called “Dying Time”–and not through Marvel, either. He just drew it for the hell of it. There are copies floating around online. That’s dedication.

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EVAN: I laughed out loud on the train (twice!) while reading Brown’s X-Men story. First time was the “Oh, great” line from Professor X and the second was Wolverine getting disintegrated.

MIKE: As far as David Heatley being creepy, maybe I’m missing some undertones here in this Wolverine and the Power Pack story. Are you just referring to the fact that the Power Pack, a team of children, would be fighting a group of implied pedophiles? OK, that’s a little messed up.

DOUGLAS: It’s more the combination of Heatley’s flat “kidlike” drawing style and the kid-logic of “grown-up inflicts violence on kid, grown-up goes away for a while until the violent nature goes away, then comes back and promises never to hurt the kid again, happy sunset.” I mean, that’s kind of an abused kid’s fantasy structure he’s evoking there. (And to be clear I don’t think Heatley’s creepy as a creator, I think he’s deliberately setting up stuff as a creator to give a reader who sees the subtext the creeps.)

EVAN: I didn’t read it that way at all. To me, Wolverine was almost like a parent who accidentally hurts his child and has to deal with the regret. Not a huge metaphorical distance, I know.

GRAEME: That’s interesting – I totally didn’t see that comic as very creepy, the first time I read it. Now, of course, I will never be able to read it innocently ever again. THANKS, Douglas.

This was much more of a mixed bag for me than the first issue. That one just felt like it had a higher level of… I don’t know, quality? Purpose? Tone? than this one, for some reason. I liked the Jaime Hernandez story because, come on, it’s Jaime and all Marvel Comics should look like that for awhile, Paul Maybury’s and Farel Dalrymple’s storie looked gorgeous, but otherwise, it felt more one note and “Ah ha! I will do an obvious story about the subtext of these characters!” than last issue. Maybe I was just in a bad mood when I read it, who knows.

EVAN: Oh, Graeme, you even hatin’ on the Tony Millionaire Thor. Even if the other stuff in the story is weak, extrapolating Stan Lee’s version of “Ye Olde-Timey Shakespearean English” to the point of absurdity is 100% pure comedy gold.

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The Ghost Rider heavy metal cop story left me cold, though. Really liked the Colossus story more than I was expecting, as it reminded me of characterizations of Piotr that felt resonant to my adolescent self.

DOUGLAS: I did like that Tony Millionare Thor thing, although it somehow didn’t really play to Millionaire’s strengths–it actually seemed more like a MAD parody of Thor than like “Maakies”!

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