Saturday, July 17, 2010

Batman #701

I started to write that this issue is something of an oddity, but then I remembered that the comic was written by Grant Morrison, so who would be shocked?

This issue takes us back almost two years to that confusing time between the Batman (Bruce Wayne) "RIP" story and his "death" at the end of Final Crisis.

At the time those issues were published, fans were confused, because we saw Batman apparently die at the end of "RIP," and then in Final Crisis we saw him being kidnapped by minions of Darkseid (an event that happened after "RIP"), and we saw him escaping and apparently being killed as he, in turn, killed Darkseid. Maybe.

Confusing, I know - trust me, I was there. Now, finally, as we're going through The Return of Bruce Wayne, we're going back to fill in the gaps in the chronology.

So this issue begins with Bruce surviving the fiery explosion that ended "RIP," and we follow him on the rather mundane events that followed (though of course his actions are fraught with purpose and foreshadowing - it says here).

The art by Tony Daniels is quite good, with loads of detail and strong layouts. At this writing they've just announced he's taking over this comic later this year (writing and art). The art he has covered. The writing end has me a bit concerned.

So this issue is recommended for those who didn't really understand what happened to Batman pre-Crisis. Everyone else can give it a miss.

It's not bad - it just seems unnecessary, since Morrison already explained this, if not in so much detail.

Grade: B

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