BATMAN AND ROBIN #6
What did the
iFanboy
community think?
Pulls
Size: pages
Price: 2.99
It pains me to give this book only three stars because from a storytelling perspective it was a strong issue. The Flamingo was a crazy villain and the way that he laid waste to all of the characters, he’s yet another strong addition to Batman’s cast of villains. What little dialogue was in the issue was very strong, particularly Damien’s lines as he makes fun of the villains. Like many Morrison comics that I read, I felt that there was a little bit that the reader had to work for in order to get a clear picture of the way everything fits together, and the reveal at the end is interesting only because it seems to be contradictory to what we’ve seen in other books. But that’s ok because Morrison usually delivers the goods when it comes to stuff like this.
The art in this book is so, so awful. I always feel bad criticizing something like that because I know the artist (in this case, Phillip Tan) took the time and effort to draw the book, and for all I know, it’s his best effort. But I can’t get over the muddiness of the visuals. The thick inking and smeared colors add nothing to the style or substance of the issue. The action is unclear and any sort of emotional impact is lost in the visuals department. This one of those cases where the art is a detriment to the overall quality of both the story and the comic as a whole. The completist in me is glad to have all the issues, but I really wish I would have just skipped these issues. This is just a poorly drawn comic, and while I realize a master like Quietly can’t always draw the book, I feel like the editor could have picked a more suitable artist for the title. In a way, this issue is good because it marks the end of Phillip Tan’s tenure on the title.
Art: 1 - Poor
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i agree with this review, sir. you just wrote mine for me.
I have to respectfully disagree with the scoring here. I can see why you didn’t like it and all of your points are valid. But a 1? I hardly think that’s fair, it is no where near that bad. I would say a 3 at the best, it’s good at the least.
Granted I gave it a four. I thought the action was quite easy to follow and the coloring/inking was pretty spot on. The coloring did change towards the end though, which made the issue look even better then before.
But different strokes I guess.
@TNC~ Like you said, it’s different strokes. For me personally, if Tan was continuing on the title next issue, I wouldn’t buy it. That’s how much I didn’t like the art. Normally, I can over look stuff like that, but it hindered my enjoyment so much that I wouldn’t even bother with the title. Luckily, this isn’t the case.
I’m glad you were able to find some positives for the art though as I’m sure it made the comic more enjoyable for you.
With this issue I could finally see some of the appeal of Tan’s art on this series. The style is kind of amorphous–the characters are almost always changing and off-model–a bit like old Shawn McManus or something. But it seems to be crossed with "edgy" Spawn-type stuff. With guys like McManus, the amorphousness was obviously intentional; with Tan, it’s less obviously intentional, so it looks worse than it is once you understand the style he’s going for, imo. I can see how the art is kind of okay for what it is, and in this issue I didn’t find any hideously awkward camera angles or poor panel transitions. The fight scenes went pretty well; the motion lines weren’t confusing, as I found them in the previous issue. I would give the art in this a 3, compared to the 1 and 2 I’d give the first two issues, respectively. Maybe it’s just that with each passing issue I caught on more to what the style was supposed to be going for, rather than just interpreting it as "ugly" on first viewing. I actually do think that the art kinda fit this storyline, too. I’m just glad it’s over.
so that means you actually understand what happened at the end? Can you explain it to me because I have no idea at all!! I thought the last panel of the second to last page looked more like Bruce than Grayson. Why was that Batman uniform in that vault? Why did it have a blade on it? It can’t be Bruce’s body cuz one of GL’s enemies stole his skull.
My screen name on AIM is RobbyDZwonar. Can somebody explain to me what the hell is going on in Morrison’s run? I’ve been confused since The Black Glove trade!!
@robbydzwonar~ I’m not too sure what happened at the end either. My assumption is that Dick has Bruce’s body stored somewhere, but it looked less skeletal than the one in Final Crisis. As you point out, it doesn’t quite fit into what’s currently going on in the DCU. Maybe, we’re just supposed to enjoy the story and forget how it fits?