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.
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.
