Comic Pick of the Week: July 1st, 2009

Reading List;

• Batman:Streets of Gotham #1
• Green Lantern Corps #38
• Dark Tower:Fall of Gilead #2
• Batman & Robin #2
• Irredeemable #4

Pick of the Week;

Batman & Robin #2

Written by: Grant Morrison
Pencils by: Frank Quietly
Colours by: Alex Sinclair



I'll admit it, I'm in love with Dick Grayson. I'm secure enough in masculinity to say that I think. I had never read Batman until Bruce Wayne's death... I was, of course, familiar with Batman, what living breathing human being is not? But I had never read any of the comics, other than the occasional issue I managed to find lying around wherever I happened to be killing time. But when I heard the they were going to kill Bruce, and that it would be Grant Morrison doing it, I was fully on board. At the very least, I thought, it would be an interesting story arc that I could drop afterwards. Much to my surprise though, it hasn't been the death of Bruce that's been interesting, but how the people around him have dealt with it.

For anyone who doesn't already know, Bruce is dead. Now in the reality of the comic book universe, we all know he'll be back some day. He only has to stay dead long enough for "Blackest Night" to finish. But in the meantime, we get Dick Grayson as Batman, and Damien (Bruce's asshole son) as Robin. It's been a fascinating story to follow, Dick wants anything except to be Batman, he has spent a very long time carving out a separate existence as Nightwing and this issue gives us some real insight into how much he hates the idea of giving that up to follow in his "father's" footsteps, to take several steps backwards and in so doing filling some enormous shoes. Page one is a full page of a very defeated looking Dick, sitting on the steps. In front of him is a discarded Robin symbol and Alfred asks "May I ask what happened?" We then get the story of Dick and Damien taking on an attempted prison break at Arkham, which turns out to be an assassination. After it's over, both Dick and Damien have a palpable sense of failure about them, Damien, clearly frustrated, says to Dick "Look at you! This pathetic impersonation of my father makes a mockery of his memory!" and dissapears.

The relationship between Dick and Damien is intense, and a refreshing departure from the Bruce/Dick relationship. Bruce was Dick's father, and now Dick has to rise to become Damien's father, but unlike Dick... Damien has no intention of needing a father figure. Dick is struggling with having to re-build the trust that a superhero needs, the cops suspect he's not Batman, Gordon doesn't know what's going on. There's a great scene where Alfred convinces Dick it's like performing a great character, Hamlet, Willie Loman, or even James Bond. Dick admits that the show must go on and takes off after Damien.

Everything about this book is spot on, all of the relationships are intense and convincing in every way. When Alfred admits he's not okay, I literally leaked three tears. The art is stunning, the panel layoust during the prison break is very cool and lends itself to a fight. The only other Frank Quietly I've seen is the All-Star Superman stuff, which is VERY different. That style suited that book very much, as does THIS style suit Batman.

I had every intention of dropping the book after the death of Bruce, but Dick is a much more interesting Batman than I ever imagined, and I'll keep reading this as long as it stays that way.

Getting "Weepy" with Malibu's run of DS9

In the process of sourcing out some local music for the shop I ran in Victoria, I met the proprietor of a local comic shop, Gareth. He kept recommending the same comic to me, one "The Watchmen" by Alan Moore. I finally relented and read it, devouring the epic 12 issue series in a mere two or three nights. It has become one of my favorite books and, as was intended by the creators in the early eighties, proved to me that comic books can indeed be "literature".

After reading (and enjoying so intensely) "The Watchmen" I dug out my old comic collection. I had no REAL interest in comics as a kid, but being "somewhat" of a Star Trek fan I had a large collection of Star Trek comics. Deep Space Nine premiered in 1993 when I was twelve years old, a fresh consumer unfettered on Paramounts marketing blitz. Riding the popularity of ST:TNG (now in it's sixth season) Paramount had licensed the franchise to Malibu, who released a schwack of Trek comics. The most heavily produced and longest running was DS9.

I sat down with my white cardboard box of comics, alone late one night after Jesse and Emma had gone to bed. And pulled out the first issue of Deep Space Nine... wait... it was the "special preview editions" I had forgotten about. I bought them from Peter Greaves one day on the bus for $5. I found out later he'd stolen them... I liked Richard, I suffered insufferable guilt for weeks, but wasn't going to let go of those books. I flipped through all the issues. The TNG/DS9 crossover... the one where Dax, Bashir, and O'Brian sit in Quark's with Worf presenting the various theories they've heard, about why the Klingons spontaneously developed the head ridges (my favorite being the result of a biological weapon used in a war with the Tribbles, some kind of gene re-writing virus or something). I remembered Blair (don't remember his last name... I worked with his mom at the Caprice... hmm...) stealing issue number eight from me at the old Courtenay Junior and running away with it. I'm chubby... I don't like to run. I remembered neglecting to buy the Sept, Oct, and Nov issues, so that Mom and Dad could get them for me for Christmas, and how much fun it was to read ALL of them Christmas morning...

And I got a little weepy. I'm man enough to admit it. Comic's made me cry a little.

Since then, much to Jesse's dismay, I've regained my love for comics. Thanks to Garreth and his fine staff at Legends Comics I've discovered a previously disregarded source for pungently fascinating stories, and far more beautiful art than I had ever expected. Geniuses like Allan Moore, Warren Ellis, and much to my surprise... some adaptations of one of my favorite authors Harlan Ellison.

I haven't revisited the DS9 again yet... as a "man" I am only allowed to let out one tear... WHILE I FAKE COUGH... once per quarter, so I have to wait until December before I have another look.