The Black Glove shows its Hand

Book: The Black Glove
Pen: Grant Morrison
Pencil: J. H. Williams III, Tony S Daniel, Ryan Benjamin

Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul was fun and all that. Now Mr Morrison has to get back to his day job. We have to start bringing the main villain into the story. And that is the Black Glove. But who is the Black Glove?

Time to go back to the Black Casebook. Batman and Robin get an invitation to visit a Club of Heroes reunion at a faraway island owned by the millionaire John Mayhew. Things did not go exactly like a college reunion. The awkward mood was there, of course. But then people started getting killed. And it is left to the World’s Greatest Detective to solve the case.

The Black Glove is a curiosity. The graphic novel, I mean. There are hints of what Morrison has up his sleeve, but there are also hints that he is trying to fill up the pages with random stuff. Not all which are necessary or would be tied up eventually. The first three issues were drawn by J.H. Williams III. And I can’t say I am a fan. He may be the co-creator of Promethea, but here he is on some acid trip. And bludgeons our sensibilities with some heavy-handed imagery. Images within a black glove? Really?

After a brief intermission for the Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul issues, we are back. With explanation for the three ghosts of Batman and the eye-candy art of Tony S Daniel. There is a seemingly unnecessary episode concerning Joe Chill, the guy who shot Thomas and Martha Wayne. But the cliff-hanger at the end is one for the ages – "How lucky do you feel right now, Batman?

Tony S Daniel ends his brief soiree with the resolution of above-said cliff-hanger. The money shot of Batman getting out of his predicament is awesome, even though it bends anatomy and physics! But who am I to complain. For the final issue Ryan Benjamin takes the pencil and it is angry Bruce all the way. The Black Glove comes to an epic last page with another person finding out Batman’s identity.

Now, re-reading what I have written, it doesn’t seem like The Black Glove is all that bad. There are a lot of interesting bits and one really has to pay attention. But the Mayhew section seems more and more unnecessary. Like Morrison wants to put in the Club of Heroes but has no idea how. So he makes stuff up. But then he did seven-years-worth of Batman. There are bound to be ups and downs. But now it is time to be worried, really worried. Because the next one is Batman RIP.

Loeb and Lee: The Art of a Coffee-Table Book

Title: Hush
Pen: Jeph Loeb
Pencil: Jim Lee

Oh, hush!

Rare is the day when I can let the silly side out. Can float over the floorboards instead of aiming for the rafters. Can do with the LCM instead of the HCF. Can attempt to be a wordsmith instead of a Wordsworth. Rare is a title named thus and my mood is thus. Later I will blush over this mush and try to flush it away.

But, for now, hush!

Operation Baldie is still on. But the learned geeks insist that I have to read Heart of Hush in between. And, so, I brush up on my Hush first.

Flush. With baddies. The Caped Crusader has a new antagonist. One that is playing the long, convoluted game from the shadows. It all began when Killer Croc orchestrated a kidnapping. Yup, the irony of that is not lost on Batman either. The next one was Catwoman, and Poison Ivy and the Riddler and the Joker. You get the picture. Someone somewhere is pulling big strings. The Rogues gallery of Bat-villains have come out to play and then some more. Even Superman gets a push. But who is this Hush?

Bush. Not beaten around. Before Jeph Loeb became the name in the credits of Marvel TV programs, next to the unforgettable Stan Lee, he was a name in comics. And, strangely enough his most famous works was in DC. Hush may not have the fame of a Last Halloween or a Superman for All Seasons, but it is still a book that can ambush you with its audacity. Loeb gets to play in the Bat gallery again and does he run amok. The frenetic action stops only for some steamy moments with the Cat and the Bat.

Plush. Interiors. Loeb does not have his regular contributor, Tim Sale, this time around. But Jim Lee does not want to be second best. He creates a book that is so gorgeous that one would buy it even without a story to go along with it. Of course, it is all muscles and curves, but what muscles and curves! And also…

Tush. This is not here for wordplay. But Lee does have an ass-fixation. Everyone, including Batman, has moments with their backsides facing the reader. Good thing the story is more in the swashbuckling vein, or else it would have been extremely distracting.

Mush. It does not end up being. Rarely, if ever, has the romance between Batman and Catwoman been explored this interestingly. In fact, despite the procession of bad guys, one waits for the next encounter between these two. Yet, Loeb pushes it forward with the seriousness of a marriage, rather than a one-night stand. He may be content to let Lee’s artwork take centre stage, but for 12 issues, he has enough twists for us to keep up with. Right till the last few pages.

Hush. Is. Lush. That is the one word to describe this book.

Raising the Demon's Head

Book: The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul

Pen: Grant Morrison and others

Pencil: David Lopez and others

Too many cooks spoil the broth. It is a saying that rings true in almost every field. Except comic books. These have different writers and artists for different issues. And those who follow it religiously rarely have a problem. It is when these single issues are collected as a graphic novel that the grapes turn slightly sour.

Resurrection is more of a crossover storyline than an individual episode. That meant there were too many different moods and styles. We had the Batman, Detective Comics, Nightwing and Robin lines, all coming together for a brief period. Too many cooks.

Talia is asked to prepare her son Damian for a ceremony to resurrect her father Ra’s Al Ghul, somewhere in Australia. Unfortunately, she is not told the full story. When she finds out that Ra’s intents to be reborn in Damian’s body, she helps her son escape. Meanwhile, Batman is investigating the disappearance of two ecologists and arrives at the same place.

Damian escapes to Gotham where he has another run-in with Robin. Before things got really ugly, a horde of ninjas attack the Wayne Manor. Luckily, Batman requested former-Robin-present-Nightwing, Dick Grayson to help out. If things were not messy enough Ra’s decides to take an early flight and is reborn in his decomposing corpse.

When the globe-trotting family finally comes together, Ra’s gives Batman a choice. He can save Robin or Damian. Ra’s would move into the other’s body. Batman proposes a third alternative. Which way will things turn out? Will the Caped Crusader save both his sons? Will the Demon’s Head finally rise from wherever he is?

For most part the artwork is consistent, except a segment drawn by David Baldeon. His style is too simplistic for such a serious tale. Despite three preludes, (Three!), despite not having a complete cohesion between its chapters, despite its rushed conclusion, you cannot tear yourself from Resurrection. And the reason is it is such a rollicking tale. If only there was one cook to write and one to draw, this would have ranked right at the top of Batman stories.

Enter the Bat-son

Book: Batman and Son

Pen: Grant Morrison

Pencil: Andy Kubert

How much can one avoid spoilers with a title like that? Batman has a son and the DC Universe will never be the same again. Grant Morrison has a creation that is likely to stand the test of time.

Morrison begins his Bat-saga with a bang indeed. Starting off with the misleadingly-titled Building a Better Batmobile, the book lands you in the middle of a Joker-Batman confrontation. You are lulled into believing the Joker is the main villain and stifling a yawn when things turn drastically. Batman takes a gun and shoots the Joker, exactly when Batman leaps on the former. What? You might ask. Trust me that is a panel that needs careful attention.

Once the Joker is neutralised, as per Alfred's suggestion it's time for Bruce Wayne, billionaire playboy. Attending an exhibition in London, Bruce becomes enamoured with Jezebel Jet, an African supermodel-turned-ruler. However, it cannot last long as the place is attacked by man-bats. Yup, told you Morrison could go all weird. Despite being overpowered, Batman knows that he is being kept alive. And in walks Talia, the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul. And she introduces him to Damian, their offspring.

The dynamics between Batman and the present Robin – Tim Drake – undergoes a big change. The family situation at the Batcave is not very good. Damian turns out to be a terror and Tim is injured. But Batman also learns of Talia's plans. End of the first chapter, so to say.

Next is a long story with a few pictures. It is called The Clown at Midnight and we know that the Joker is not completely going to be away. Morrison shows his prose skills, but the art is not very accessible. We are back to comic format with the Three Ghosts of Batman, one of whom we already met – shooting the Joker. Bruce is reminded of his Black Casebook, where he kept a record of his strangest cases. Rest assured, this is not our Black Casebook graphic novel. The background of the Three Ghosts will come out later. We also see the first appearance of Zur-En-Arrh, in the form of graffiti. The book ends with a story set years in the future with a new Batman.

Damian, of course, is the big standout in this book. Would he be a wish-fulfilment for all the Bat-fans who don't like that Batman does not kill? Would he remain an annoying brat and face an end similar to Jason Todd? Would he end up being out of the canon? Grant Morrison screams a big Yes to all those questions. But we do not know yet what he has up his sleeve.

It is very hard to stop with Batman and Son. The rumblings of an epic may be distant, but it is there. But there is a cracking good story that you want to know more about. Strap on the seat belts. folks. The ride may be bumpy, but you have got to take it.

Lights, Camera, Grant Morrison!

Book: The Black Casebook
Pen: Bill Finger and others
Pencil: Sheldon Moldoff and others

Grant Morrison is not for everyone. He is incredibly talented but tends to go off-kilter when you least expect it. His seven-year run on Batman was much awaited, acclaimed and yet, alienating. He took a series that was rooted in realism, for the most part, and then added a dose of surrealism. He brought in strange characters that seemed like Easter Eggs, but turned out to be major players. For anyone who was not sleeping in the DC Comics archives, it was extremely annoying to not know where the story was going. Then there is The Black Casebook.

This is usually cited as a good-to-read-but-not-essential book in the Morrison series. Mostly because the stories are terribly dated and also because it was not written by Morrison himself. How terribly wrong. As someone who finished all the TPBs and then read Casebook, I can promise you that your appreciation of Morrison will be so much diminished without sampling this book first.

Morrison decided to take a lot of bit players from forgotten Batman stories and put them in his magnum opus. I am not sure it completely worked, but the ambition is staggering. It is very similar to what Alan Moore would do, and there is no doubt that Morrison was influenced. But then not everyone is in Moore’s league.

These are 12 of the most forgettable, outlandish and downright silly stories from the 50s and 60s. But in every one of them is something – mostly a character, sometimes a reference – that Morrison would re-introduce. Running 10 or 12 pages each, the story is not very long, but for readers used to Miller and Morrison and Snyder, this is extremely difficult to read with a straight face.

We are introduced to John Mayhew and the Club of Heroes, Zur-En-Arrh, Bat-Mite, Chief Man-of-the-Bat and Little Raven, among others. Morrison’s introduction is probably the best thing you need before reading Casebook. Whether this will turn out to be gimmicks of a less-talented writer or a complete re-telling of the Batman mythos by a genius who takes the most uncommon risks is something for each of the readers to figure out. 

Exactly three years to the date since I announced that I would be reviewing all of Morrison’s TPBs, I finally get around to it! Operation Baldie? What was I thinking?

Fearless and Fearsome

Book: The Man Without Fear
Pen: Frank Miller
Pencil: John Romita Jr.

Daredevil is a hokey character. We can easily believe a man can fly, or travel across realms with a really heavy hammer. We love the boy who got bit by a radioactive spider and can scale walls. But one who loses his sight in an accident (involving a truck carrying radioactive waste) and then has all other senses heightened to the power of d? So much so that he can run across rooftops? Nah, that’s just too silly!

It was left to the great Frank Miller to change things. Once-great, I should say. Frank has become a raving, right-wing lunatic these days. But, I digress. Miller began as an artist on Daredevil and then took over writing duties. He transformed Kingpin from one of Spiderman’s lesser villains to an immovable force in the Marvel Universe. He created Electra, possibly our favourite assassin in comics. And, along the way, he breathed life into Daredevil. A life rooted in gritty reality. 

The Man Without Fear was his last outing with good old Red. Intending it to be one-off story that even people who had never read Daredevil could enjoy, Miller begins with Matt Murdock’s childhood. A mischievous kid always getting into trouble, but rarely getting caught. The beginnings of the legend were there including the taunting nickname his friends gave him – Daredevil. 

The accident happens and then it is the introduction of Stick, the mysterious mentor. The exhilaration of finding out new skills is suddenly tempered by tragedy. Enter Matt the avenger. The brutality within him soon overcomes that around him. 

Matt is in college and he becomes aware of Elektra. Rarely has a name suited a character more. The two are so perfect for each other that it isn’t a surprise that it ends just as abruptly as it started. Matt is alone again, except for his pal Foggy Nelson.

Adult Matt is a lawyer. New York calls. And it is home. The Kingpin is the monarch of all he surveys. And their paths cross. It’s not pretty. Blood is spilt. Bones are broken. Limits are crossed. But out of the shambles something arises. Daredevil.

The Man Without Fear is not the best Miller has written. But second-best Miller is still better than the best of 99% of other writers. Make no mistake, this is a very taut story. The artwork is splendid, and Miller’s sparse dialogues fit the character to a T. The last chapter is entirely action. And it is breath-taking. 

My problem is clearly mentioned in the foreword. Frank Miller planned this as a 64-page standalone story. But the suits loved it so much they asked him to expand it to 144 pages. And that rarely ends well. The whole Electra section running to around 40 pages feels superfluous to the larger story. Of course, it is important to Matt, but not in the context of this story. 

Still, there is no way this book is not a must-have. It reinforces that we comic book lovers were lucky to have experienced the talent of a man called Frank Miller. And a character like Daredevil doesn’t need to be hokey.