BATMAN AND ROBIN #3
Review by: flapjaxx
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Size: pages
Price: 2.99
This review contains spoilers, click here to read
...AAAHH! I say that as if I just got done drinking a glass of lemonade on a hot day. I finally read this issue and it was refreshing and glorious.
It was a load of fun. It was a thrill-ride.
But it didn't go by quickly. It actually had a ton of different scenes, mini-episodes and overarching story developments in it--unlike 90% of comics today, where every issue sets out to accomplish 1-2 set-pieces and nothing more. Decompressed storytelling can work sometimes, but decompressed storytelling Batman & Robin is not, and that was good to see. So many things happened in this issue: different settings all over the city, different cases that Dick and/or Damian were on, multiple villains showing up, introductions and reintroductions of characters, a character changing from victim to villain. This issue has so much in it, it's amazing.
It's strange that this ISN'T decompressed storytelling, and yet--like many decompressed comics--there aren't a lot of words on the page. Morrison makes the most out of every little word. The exchanges with Jim Gordon, for instance? In another writer's hands that scene would have went on way longer, but Morrison gives us the necessary details to let us know what the characters think of each other--without any chit-chat. And the things Damian said to Pyg while he was his prisoner? He said like two things before he broke free ("Okay, whose neck do I break first?" and "You redefine 'sick'."--I'm paraphrasing), and that was it. Perfect economy of words; these lines perfectly characterize Damian and what Damian thinks of his captor. In another writer's hands Damian and Pyg would have gotten into a whole "cute" debate about what Damian was going to do to Pyg once he got free, then Pyg would have said there was no one to save him, then a reference to the original Batman/Damian's dad might have been made. But there's no such predicable clutter here. No cliche "snappy banter". It's streamlined and yet it's weighty.
And, sorry guys, but by now you should be able to go to many different message boards and find multiple theories as to what some of Pyg's seemingly meaningless ramblings mean. They refer to stuff from Batman #666; they're religious and thus probably connected to the "Devil" Dr. Hurt. Pyg might be completely crazy...but what he says isn't meaningless.
See, when Pyg first appeared, I didn't like him much because there was no real weight there--what little we saw of him had no depth to it, and the guy seemed crazy just for the sake of thrilling readers who enjoyed seeing something inexplicably creepy. But in this issue, we really get to see a lot of Pyg, and get hints at his backstory and psychological make-up. So, okay, NOW I have a reason to like the character. Because the creepiness as a traceable undertone of allusive meaning, meaning that as a reader I can think about beyond the initial "ThisGuyIsCreeeeeeeppyyyyyy..." reaction.
Relatedly, in this issue more than the first two, the sort of the strange, secretive stuff we got from RIP that some readers thought was too esoteric...that sorta material is still being referred to, and it's building momentum. It's just that Morrison hasn't foregrounded it yet. And he's placed some of this material in the mouth of a new villain that the casual reader is willing to dismiss as crazy.
But, oh lord, if you want to...there's actually well-researched stuff about Freud's Oedipus Complex going on, in regard to Pyg and his mommy issues. If you want to, go ahead and dig into what some people on message boards have gleaned from the nutso things Morrison's had this guy say, and the hints he's dropped as to where this overall story is going. The psychological groundwork, the world-religion references--it's all there.
...
A few months ago I was really getting bored with comics. There wasn't much on the stands that I REALLY liked. But I decided to stick around, because Morrison was coming back on Batman. I'm glad I did. I'm here for the duration now. I'll be a reader of new comics...as long as Grant Morrison's writing Batman.
The F'ed up thing about that? The fact that in this issue I liked Quitely's art even more than Morrison's script. Yeah, I liked the writing, but I prefer Morrison to be MORE allusive, dense, crazy, sneaky and cagey. Quitely's art was just stu-fucking-pendous, though. And I'm usually a guy who thinks, "I don't really care about the art. I don't care if people say it's 'cinematic' or whatever"--but then THIS art makes me shut my pompous yap. I studied every squiggly little line Quitely drew and loved every one. (It doesn't impress me as much as JH Williams' work on Detective Comics, but in a way it's more unique or something. I'd say that Williams hits higher highs on some pages, but lower lows than Quitely on others. Overall, I think Williams' art is a little more polished and innovative...but Quitely is a better storyteller, and a better capture-er of movement, by a loongshot.)
So bring on the Red Hood! Then bring back Dr. Hurt! I can see it now, the somewhat mixed emotions so many readers are going to express when Batman & Robin enters it's fourth (and possibly final arc), when Quitely returns...and so does the villain from the fan-infuriating RIP. I'll probably be in the minority then, anticipating both the art AND the puzzling storyline.
.
It was a load of fun. It was a thrill-ride.
But it didn't go by quickly. It actually had a ton of different scenes, mini-episodes and overarching story developments in it--unlike 90% of comics today, where every issue sets out to accomplish 1-2 set-pieces and nothing more. Decompressed storytelling can work sometimes, but decompressed storytelling Batman & Robin is not, and that was good to see. So many things happened in this issue: different settings all over the city, different cases that Dick and/or Damian were on, multiple villains showing up, introductions and reintroductions of characters, a character changing from victim to villain. This issue has so much in it, it's amazing.
It's strange that this ISN'T decompressed storytelling, and yet--like many decompressed comics--there aren't a lot of words on the page. Morrison makes the most out of every little word. The exchanges with Jim Gordon, for instance? In another writer's hands that scene would have went on way longer, but Morrison gives us the necessary details to let us know what the characters think of each other--without any chit-chat. And the things Damian said to Pyg while he was his prisoner? He said like two things before he broke free ("Okay, whose neck do I break first?" and "You redefine 'sick'."--I'm paraphrasing), and that was it. Perfect economy of words; these lines perfectly characterize Damian and what Damian thinks of his captor. In another writer's hands Damian and Pyg would have gotten into a whole "cute" debate about what Damian was going to do to Pyg once he got free, then Pyg would have said there was no one to save him, then a reference to the original Batman/Damian's dad might have been made. But there's no such predicable clutter here. No cliche "snappy banter". It's streamlined and yet it's weighty.
And, sorry guys, but by now you should be able to go to many different message boards and find multiple theories as to what some of Pyg's seemingly meaningless ramblings mean. They refer to stuff from Batman #666; they're religious and thus probably connected to the "Devil" Dr. Hurt. Pyg might be completely crazy...but what he says isn't meaningless.
See, when Pyg first appeared, I didn't like him much because there was no real weight there--what little we saw of him had no depth to it, and the guy seemed crazy just for the sake of thrilling readers who enjoyed seeing something inexplicably creepy. But in this issue, we really get to see a lot of Pyg, and get hints at his backstory and psychological make-up. So, okay, NOW I have a reason to like the character. Because the creepiness as a traceable undertone of allusive meaning, meaning that as a reader I can think about beyond the initial "ThisGuyIsCreeeeeeeppyyyyyy..." reaction.
Relatedly, in this issue more than the first two, the sort of the strange, secretive stuff we got from RIP that some readers thought was too esoteric...that sorta material is still being referred to, and it's building momentum. It's just that Morrison hasn't foregrounded it yet. And he's placed some of this material in the mouth of a new villain that the casual reader is willing to dismiss as crazy.
But, oh lord, if you want to...there's actually well-researched stuff about Freud's Oedipus Complex going on, in regard to Pyg and his mommy issues. If you want to, go ahead and dig into what some people on message boards have gleaned from the nutso things Morrison's had this guy say, and the hints he's dropped as to where this overall story is going. The psychological groundwork, the world-religion references--it's all there.
...
A few months ago I was really getting bored with comics. There wasn't much on the stands that I REALLY liked. But I decided to stick around, because Morrison was coming back on Batman. I'm glad I did. I'm here for the duration now. I'll be a reader of new comics...as long as Grant Morrison's writing Batman.
The F'ed up thing about that? The fact that in this issue I liked Quitely's art even more than Morrison's script. Yeah, I liked the writing, but I prefer Morrison to be MORE allusive, dense, crazy, sneaky and cagey. Quitely's art was just stu-fucking-pendous, though. And I'm usually a guy who thinks, "I don't really care about the art. I don't care if people say it's 'cinematic' or whatever"--but then THIS art makes me shut my pompous yap. I studied every squiggly little line Quitely drew and loved every one. (It doesn't impress me as much as JH Williams' work on Detective Comics, but in a way it's more unique or something. I'd say that Williams hits higher highs on some pages, but lower lows than Quitely on others. Overall, I think Williams' art is a little more polished and innovative...but Quitely is a better storyteller, and a better capture-er of movement, by a loongshot.)
So bring on the Red Hood! Then bring back Dr. Hurt! I can see it now, the somewhat mixed emotions so many readers are going to express when Batman & Robin enters it's fourth (and possibly final arc), when Quitely returns...and so does the villain from the fan-infuriating RIP. I'll probably be in the minority then, anticipating both the art AND the puzzling storyline.
.
Story: 4 - Very Good
Art: 5 - Excellent
Art: 5 - Excellent
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