File this one under "C" for "Crazy Grant Morrison." I have a lot of friends who don't like Morrison's work because he leaves out explanations and scenes that seem vital to the story. I can see that, but I often find the brilliance of his ideas to more than offset that complaint (see Batman & Robin or Batman Inc. for some examples). This series is an argument in their favor. The book is filled with mad (but cool) sounding ideas like the "All-Over" and Batman as a living Omega bomb, but it never totally makes sense to me.
Things start off pretty great with Batman as a skin-wearing caveman facing down some more savage competitors. Chris Sprouse does a great job setting up the bat-people and laying the foundation of Gotham City.
Frazer Irving's puritan take is wonderful too (although that guy is getting typecast after Klarion, isn't he?) I started losing track of the overall plot here, with all those weird Time Masters scenes at Vanishing Point.
Yanick Paquette's pirates are solid, too. I know Blackbeard, but I don't know if any of these other guys are existing DC characters or not. I appreciated Morrison's efforts to make Blackbeard more than a stereotype.
Georges' Jeantty's wild west is ok, but there were a lot of characters involved in a story that didn't need to be so complicated. At this point, I can admit I'm lost. I don't know what the creatures chasing Batman is doing, I don't understand the Vanishing Point problems, and I'm unclear what the girl is supposed to remember/predict.
The gangster-era story is a bit more fun, due to the many ties to Morrison's Black Glove and Batman RIP stories. This fills in some nice gaps in those stories and actually stands up nicely on its own.
The closing chapter deals with Batman's actual return. It's not as emotional an affair as I'd predicted, even with Red Robin centrally involved. I don't totally understand Darkseid's plan and I'm not exactly sure what Batman did, merging with that weird robot. And is it me, or did the Time Masters do pretty much nothing to help out old Bruce?
Confusing story. Great art. That makes this a
Fair
3 comments:
When I reviewed it on my blog as part of my May 27th birthday extravaganza of Batman-related comics I liked it a good deal more, 4 out 5 stars more, to be exact. This could be due to the fact I turned to the internet to explain all the confusing stuff, and I just love Morrison and his crazy concepts.
Whoops, meant 4.5 stars. A small typo, but I hate them.
I often love Morrison's weirdness, it's just this one had a few too many gaps for me!
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