BATMAN RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #5 (OF 6)
What did the
iFanboy
community think?
Pulls
Art by RYAN SOOK & PERE PEREZ
Cover by ANDY KUBERT
Variant cover by RYAN SOOK
Size: 40 pages
Price: 3.99
So yeah…..this wait isn’t worth it.
I really just want this mini to end now. Seriously, it’s a chore to read and the endless layers of mystery Morrison keeps giving even at this stage late in the mini, is getting annothing. I just don’t even care anymore what Bruce is gonna do once he finally hits present time. We all know what happens to him, not because of the advance previews/solicts, but because comics have come out this week showing us everything is okay. Totally ruining any type of suspense thanks to the extreme lateness.
It is funny though how the odd number of issues are better then the even. (Which makes the final 6th issue a tad worrying) But the story here is readable, at least more so then the last. Morrison does have a good knack with the Noir, 1920’s dialogue and I particularly like the opening narration by Bruce. Overall though it’s not as though Morrison can keep this going for 32 odd pages. There are times where everything feels like it’s in the present and he loses the feel of this being a Noir issue. The ever growing reveals of Bruce’s parents and the return of the scientist from Batman #700 keeps me somewhat interested. But with no real sense of full explanation, the ongoing ‘Who is who’ is getting tiring. By the end I just felt myself thinking ‘So what?’ and that is never good.
It’s really frustrating too that there really is no reason for Sook to be this late and not finishing the issue in general. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good pages in this. I definitely like the title page with Marsha holding the Bat costume. Also the lighting is handled pretty well and I do like the color choices by Villarrubia with blue’s and green’s. However, a good amount of these panels look stiff and everything is kinda simple in that it’s mostly talking head. I can understand if Sook had to take a long time with huge fight sequences and extreme ideas by Morrison. But how can Sook not finish this issue when most of this is character’s either standing, sitting, or slightly walking around the setting? Even when a fight happens in the beginning Sook decides not to show it; so it baffles me even more. When Pere Perez comes in towards the end, that’s when I got really angry. Perez’s style is not even close to be similar to Sook’s. Look at Bruce throughout Perez’s pages to Sook’s; they don’t even come close to looking the same. It tries to look the same with the coloring; but with a different inker as well doing these sequences it almost looks like a completely different comic. So frustrating.
There is a good comic book in here somewhere. Some pages are done very well and when Morrison tries to keep the Noir dialogue going he does it perfectly. With the lackluster art, the ever continuing non-answering of questions (what is this, Lost?), and a frustrating narrative as a whole…..I just can’t recommend this issue in any way. I so wish this series turned out better then it did. But DC, Morrison, and all of the contributing artists dropped the ball on this. They really did.
Art: 2 - Average
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You seriously have alot of nerve saying "there is no reason for Sook to be this late and not finish the issue." Who the hell do you think you are, saying things like that? Who are you to judge what’s going on with Sook’s life that came in between him and being on time with the art? This bitching about lateness has now crossed a line. Yeah, it sucks that there are delays. But once the comic is out, it’s out. No need to cry about it after you read the issue. If you seriously let the fact that an issue is late impede your enjoyment of a story even alittle in the way you have been, I sincerely doubt that you’re truly getting your worth out of this entertainment.
@comicbookchris: All I saw was a very simple looking comic book considering it was mostly talking heads the entire time. There is no reason for this lateness and until I hear proof of why Sook had to be so late then that will be a criticism.
I go on to explain why else I didn’t enjoy the book other then the lateness. Don’t need to get so angry about it.
Pot calling the kettle black!
Sook owes you no proof or explanation, and you’re ridiculous for thinking that he does.
I seriously don’t know where to start. Lets just say that I disagree with everything you said.
Yea, it seems to be a lost cause with you TNC, no offense, but even after having a discussion with you about how some artists are just different in the way they work, that you can’t really force creative integrity with deadlines and such, no matter how much they try to be practical from a business endpoint, you don’t seem to get it. Will havta agree with cBchris there, it is a bit self-righteous of you to demand an explanation for his lateness….I mean maybe he’s a slow worker, maybe he’s more deliberate and meticulous, because for me, seeing his work is well worth it, because it is his unique style that I enjoy, it is not for me to demand he hurry up in giving it to us, because it is a privilege for us to enjoy his work, but if you are so unforgiving in appreciating his artistic integrity, then really, don’t buy his stuff and just follow those artists that fulfill your what seem to be stringent expectations on timeliness.
You might say, well the $3.99 price tag makes it my right to have it come out on time, well that’s a valid argument, but it still isn’t understanding what makes artists tick, esp those of Sook’s caliber, because for me, the opportunity to see his stuff, which must be created by him, is a like a moment in time to savor and enjoy, because that opportunity will come and go by the end of the book, and who knows when Sook will create again for us to have that opportunity in life once more.
How you can call the writing or the art on this "average" is beyond me.
On the one hand, I’m just as frustrated with you about the delays. Maybe more frustrated. I buy fewer comics than you seem to. Morrison’s Batman is literally the only comic I really, really care about. No other comic really "excites" me nearly the way Morrison’s Batman does. But even I can put my frustrations aside and examine a work of art for what it is. The delays cause me to give Mike Marts, the artists, and probably Morrison himself all "F"s in how they’ve managed this from a PUBLISHING aspect. But the actual work is something different entirely. The fill-in artist was actually pretty good this time around.
Nor do I feel like this comic should be penalized because "Road Home" tie-ins have been published. We’ve all known Bruce was going to be okay since the last page of Final Crisis, really. And really, going back to RIP it should be obvious that if you’re reading Morrison’s Batman for simple explanations of "Who is who", then you’re missing the point: it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. Marsha Lamarr was in this issue and we found out that Bruce was the detective hired to investigate Martha’s death. All of that stuff plays off of things that have been suggested earlier in the run. It’s not a question of Morrison leading us on and stringing things out: no, we don’t get definitive answers to big questions (Why should we? the story isn’t over), but the whole depth of the entire story keeps expanding and expanding and deepening.
Is it perfect? Not even close. But it’s all so very unique and interesting. It includes so much intricate data; once you puzzle over it for a while a million new neurons will fire in your brain and your appreciation of the whole run will deepen even more. To toss that all aside and blurt out a shock review right after reading the book in evident frustration right after you pick it up on Wednesday…it seems to me that someone in that mindset wouldn’t have a chance to appreciate the work anyway. Sorry.
it is a bit unfair to blame Sook for the lateness on this issue. He wouldn’t have been hired if he took 3 months to draw one issue, he’s not rockstar enough for that…its obvious there were lots of elements that contributed to this series delay.
THANK YOU TNC! If, in your opinion the story has too many divergent paths (in its NEXT to LAST issue!), the art did not live up to the long anticipated wait, I VALUE ALL criticism, especially those that are brutally honest! If Ifanboy had reviews that all said " ehh, it was ok" I would just stop visiting this site alltogether.
Lateness, having the main story being resolved,revealed or come to a conclusion in OTHER titles, while you’re trying to enjoy a mini would disappoint me greatly as well.
@comicbookchris, drakedangerz, et all ….if you dissagree I would LOVE to read your REVIEW!!(and I’m waiting). Tell me in your OWN penned recap why this issue is better than AVERAGE. For the record, I’m trade waiting on this mini and on the fence about getting it!
I totally disagree wrt Sook’s lateness. If you’ve been reading Morrison’s other titles it’s fairly obviously that the problem lies with him and not the artists. ROBW, B&R and Joe the Barbarian have all had substantial delays recently, I think that Grant has got behind.
It’s fairly common with Morrison books tbh whch is s shame considering he’s my favourite writer. It happened on Seven Soldiers and I’m willing to bet it was his fault Final Crisis was so delayed. I think he has a kind of bi-polar attitude towards work, he is incredibly creative at the start but then peters out 2/3rds through, and then picks up at the end. The offshot is this is that IMO it leads to some unpredictable twists at the end where he has literally changed his mind or thought of a new idea eg Kamandi’s role in FC. Sometimes it works, other times not so much, it’s not really a judgement on my part so much of an observation on his output.
I will be continually mystified by how a 2 is "average" out of 5. 😉