It's finally here! Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly's new book, Batman and Robin #1! Get yours before the first prints are gone gone gone! It's only $2.99 and it's a fun read. When I heard through the grapevine that Dick Grayson was going to be the new Batman, I was pleased as punch. When I heard that Batman's son Damien was going to be the new Robin, I was not nearly as excited. It's a natural progression for Dick to take over for Bruce, it was inevitable really, but the little brat Damien as Robin? He is VERY annoying, which I guess makes for some interesting dynamics between Batman and Robin/Dick and Damien. It's pretty clear they don't like each other. Alfred is still in the book, which lends some consistency to the Bat-verse, thank god. I'm interested to see where the boys take us on this romp. Quitely of course delivers a great performance as expected, in fact this is probably his most accessible approach to characterization that I have seen in recent memory. One of the major complaints I received as a retailer, about All Star Superman, was the art. Quitely, you either LOVE LOVE LOVE him or hate hate hate him. Mostly the straight-forward fan boys and fan girls were the only ones that couldn't get behind him, but that is still a good segment of the comics buying public. Sinclair, again no surprise here, did an outstanding job with the colors. I really only have one complaint about the book, it read REALLY fast, I mean lightning fast. I'm not sure if it's because I was so excited to read it that I tore through it like a crazy-woman, or if it was because there wasn't that much to read, story wise. Anyway THIS is the book that EVERYONE who walks into Amazing Fantasy this week NEEDS to buy, hands down. Very exciting changes are taking place in the Bat-verse, and this is just the beginning. Can't wait to read the rest of the new/relaunch books.
4/5 stars
Nice to see you blogging, Lori!
ReplyDeletePersonally, though, I'm not reading any Batman books until Bruce Wayne returns.
Grayson as the Dark Knight...? Not for me.
I loved this book to pieces (and it wasn't even the best Grant Morrison comic of the week, though I can understand why a whole lot of people wouldn't be into Seaguy).
ReplyDeleteI love the reversal of the usual Batman and Robin dynamic, in that this Batman is the laid-back, more care-free guy, and Robin is the dark, brooding jerk. The fact that this Robin is openly gunning for the Batman job also adds to a very interesting and fresh take on iconic characters.
I also loved Morrison's choice to go with a newly created villain for his first arc on this book. It leaves me wanting to know more about Professor Pyg and the Circus of Strange, rather than thinking "oh, Two-Face again... huh". The "coming soon" preview page was also a great idea, as it gives a nice tease to some of the things we can expect to see down the road in this title.
Quitely's work on this really exceeded my expectations as well. I generally like his stuff, but the double-page spreads, the splash pages, and the creative use of sound effects bordered on perfection. Morrison and Quitely are really the John Lennon and Paul McCartney of comics right now - they are each capable of doing good stuff on their own, but the combination really brings out the best in both their work.
I guess my final comment would be, even if you *think* it can't be a great Batman book without Bruce Wayne, you should at least give this first issue a chance.
Lennon/McCartney = Morrison/Quitley
ReplyDeleteI like that! I hope you don't mind, but I might have to use that equation, lol.
I don't mind at all - glad you liked it. It was either Lennon/McCartney or Jake/Fatman... I think I made the right decision.
ReplyDelete