I guess I’m gonna have to eat my words. Well, some of them at least.

I’m
one of those who feels mainly indifferent to this event. Things started
off rough, and I don’t go for the “In Grant We Trust” philosophy. My
opinion is that if a writer is going to do something outlandish and
unconventional, it is doubly important to give the reader a very clear
and solid center to which he/she can anchor. Otherwise you risk
confusing or worse still, boring the reader. My review of this issue is
that it’s great, but my review of the “R.I.P.” event is that its
greatness comes too late.

The greatness of the issue is
displayed in several ways. In a brilliant scene featuring an engrossing
monologue by M. Le Bossu we learn the motivation of the antagonist’s
henchmen. Also, fascinating was Batman’s awareness of and reaction to
the events happening to him. For instance, when Batman asks Bat-Mite,
“Are you really an alien (…) or just a figment of my imagination?” he
echoes the readers sentiment. It’s reassuring. Another strong point of
the issue is its pacing. This reads swiftly and rhythmically, lending
the more surreal elements some much needed grounding. The book has
several of these clever devices which also can be found in Batman #679.

But… It’s not quite enough to save “R.I.P” for me. It’s all too late.

My
problem with “R.I.P.” is that Grant had not, up until the last issue,
made me “feel” anything. To me this story was not an event happening to
a person but a retooling happening to a brand. I know many of you will
argue that this is Morrison, and it’s all coming together as faithfully
predicted. Not for me it isn’t. Though this issue was strong and does
an excellent job of bringing the larger story down to earth and making
it an actual story, I get the sense that at this point no amount of
“coming together” can mend my bored little heart.

But hey, I’m buying it. That counts for something.Well, I guess I’m gonna have to eat my words. Well, some of them at least. I’m one of those who feels mainly indifferent to this event. Things started off rough and I didn’t go in for the “In Grant We Trust” philosphy. My opinion is that if you’re going to do something outlandish and unconventional it is doubly important to give the reader a very clear and solid center to which he/she can anchor. Otherwise you risk confusing or worse still, boring the reader. Both the former but moreso the latter in my case. I digress this is not a review of the event, it’s a review of this issue and this one, in a nutshell, is great but late.

In a brilliant scene featuring an engrossing monologue by M. Le Bossu we learn the motivation of the antagonist’s henchmen. Also, fascinating was Batman’s awareness of and reaction to the events happening to him. For instance Batman asks who I now know is Bat-Mite (no thanks to the author but rather on-line forums) “Are you really an alien (…) or just a figment of my imagination?” echoing the readers sentiment. It’s reassuring. Another strong point is pacing. This reads swiftly and rhythmically lending the more surreal elements some much needed grounding. The book has several of these clever devices since alo found in #679. But… It’s not quite enough too late.

My problem with R.I.P is that Grant had not, up until the last issue made me “feel” anything. To me this story was not an event happening to a person but a retooling happening to a brand. I know many of you will argue that this is Morrison and it’s all coming together as faithfully predicted. Not for me it isn’t. Though this issue was strong and does an excellent job of bringing it down to earth and making this an actual story, I get the sense that at this point no amount of “coming together” can mend my bored little heart. You had your chance to make me care G-Mo and you blew it.

But hey, I’m buying it. That counts for something.