Batman And Robin #5

YES!!  Frank Quitely or no, Batman comics totally kick ass when they get their start on a typewriter that has Grant Morrison pushing the buttons on it.  Batman Begins and The Dark Knight might have been the influences that got me into reading the Batman comics again, but it was Morrison (but with a little mention of Dini also), who got me stuck on this shit.  My Batman & Son trade paperback and my The Black Glove hardcover are always right on top of my shelf.  I reread them all the time.  I need to get R.I.P. in softcover so I can stop taking my variant covers out the plastic.

I don't know if I like Morrison's Grayson as Batman as much or better then his Bruce Wayne as Batman run for pretty much one reason: it is not over yet.  I'm in no hurry to see how it ends either.  I hope Morrison stays writing Batman comics until he dies or retires.  It just fits, like Kurt Busiek on Astro City.  Nobody is really in much of a hurry to see him do too many other things neither.

Batman & Robin #5 would've been my POTW week if not for Irredeemable's very revealing issue, but that doesn't mean I don't like it any less.  Hey Nirvana knocked Michael Jackson of the number one spot on the Billboard Top 200 somewhere back there in the 1990s but there is no way in hell that Nirvana sold more records then MJ career-wise.  Shit like that just happens sometimes.  It is no big deal. 

Batman And Robin #5 starts out with Scarlet giving us a little bit of information while she smothers what is left of her father with a pillow.  Apparently she has heard just about enough of Papa's bedtime stories, especially now that she sees him as he really is.  I guess it takes evil to know evil, you know?  I am just surprised that it took her all this time to realize that her uncle had brought their family into the slave trade business.  Then again Morrison never seems to get into exactly how old Scarlet is to begin with.  Is she 16 or 26?  Is she as old as Batgirl, or is she a little more up there in years like Selina Kyle or Harley Quinn?  A little more focus on how mature, or immature, this character is could certainly bring a little more light to the story.  I haven't exactly figured out why the drone mask doesn't seem to effect Sasha like it did her Papa and the rest of the mindless freaks, but it was never explained on how a mask could make the rest of them the way they were either so we will just have to go with it for now.

Well so much for the whole mystery of who The Red Hood really is.  We were all pretty sure it was Jason Todd after The Joker was back around town (or somewhere near it I am guessing) in the pages of Gotham City Sirens just a week or two ago.  Damian was in true form in the part of the story where Todd, Grayson, and Damian Wayne are all back together again for the first time since BFTC.  "I heard you had your brains beaten out by The Joker but I had no idea you were this big of an idiot."  I think Damian is cool as hell for a 10 year old. I can't understand why so many people don't like him.  Philip Tan might not be Frank Quitely, but he still does a better job at drawing Damian Wayne as a 10 year old kid then some other examples.  I'm looking at your way, Streets Of Gotham!!

It seems as if Jason Todd is also playing for keeps at the moment.  Damian Wayne will definitely think twice before taking a strike at Todd like that again.  He is glad his neck isn't broken. 

Tan's Penguin looks kinda interesting too.  I know anybody who is reading this is probably shaking their heads right now, but I kind of like the look of evil in his eyes in the part where Batman catches up with him and safely escorts him to the Gotham City Police Station to file a report.  Of course Penguin is the only villain to survive all the turmoil that just happened upstairs, but coincidence like that always happen in the Batman comics, that is hardly something Morrison has much power over. Then again he did send Bruce Wayne back in time somewhere.

I'm a regular Batman whore but I'm not totally familiar with every character in the DCU so I'm not sure if Oberon "The Gravedigger" Sexton has ever been in comics before.  He does seem like a pretty interesting character though.  I have a feeling that we will be seeing more of this guy in the near future, even if he does feel a bit like a Kraven The Hunter rip off at the moment.  I also have a suspicion that this guy might also have a duel identity...

Another part of this issue I wanna highlight for you before I sign out is towards the middle of the book Jason Todd unmasks.  I had no idea that the dude had red hair, and he hasn't aged to well either.  He actually looks older than Dick Grayson!  I guess being dead for a while speeds up the aging process?  God only knows in the DC Universe.  The rules are always getting bent over there...

I don't want to spoil everything but Flamingo shows up to wreck havoc at the end.  I'm not exactly sure what his motives for coming to Gotham were but I think it has something to do with Red Hood and Scarlet.  Maybe I need to reread the issue one more time to suck it all into my brain but one thing is for sure, this Flamingo guy is going to be around for a while.  If my memory recalls correctly, Flaming AND Pyg were mentioned briefly in Batman #666 which is the Damian Wayne as Batman in the future of Gotham issue.  We still aren't sure if #666 is the defiant end of the beginning for the Batman mythos, or just a possible future that could be, but I sure as fuck will enjoy slowly but surely finding out.

If you have been under a rock since Wednesday, or just too busy smoking it to spare any cash for comics, then you definitely need to stop doing what you're doing so you can get caught up on Batman.  There were over 1,000 pulls for this last time I checked!!  I can't remember the last time I saw that many.  Captain America Reborn?  I don't know but who cares?  Cap sucks, Batman is THAT DUDE!!  Hope you enjoyed my review and return next month when I review #6...