What’s it of?

A series of grunts, a bit of action, vague clues and some primitive dialogue that makes bizarro-speak read like poetry leaving this reader underwhelmed at this lackluster first chapter to a much hyped series. As someone who’s only read Morrison in collected form (and admittedly never falling in love with his work), I’m rethinking going any further with this series until I can read the whole story in one sitting. I suspect that may be the key to enjoying this series without frustration. The only reason I gave this series a chance was because I am a giant Batman fan and I’ve been eagerly waiting for Bruce Wayne to come back. I feel that I got very little for my money and left dissatisfied.

The story starts off slow and confusing with dialog that wasn’t meant to be understood (is it a code or just disposable?). Progressing through the storyline we have a very simplistic narrative that isn’t very original or special…albeit there are probably dozens of arc specific, cryptic hints sprinkled throughout that no one besides Morrison is meant to fully understand. The story sold itself on the idea of Batman vs. Cavemen but there was a missed opportunity to do something truly special and unique with that high concept. The last 3 pages were a relief in that you begin to see a hint of a larger story connected to the DCU although it felt forced upon us like a required book end. There is potential for this to play out decently, but so far there is not much to go on which isn’t really good enough to entice me to keep buying this series. Each upcoming issue will be a leap of faith as it will use different artists which is something i’m never comfortable with especially with Morrison at the helm.

The art is average-high quality, not being particularly memorable. As a draftsman Sprouse is formidable, consistent and of expected, mainstream quality using many classic comic art visual devices to move us along.

DC has been heavily advertising this book as a 48 page *extra-sized book* in order to justify charging $4 for it. I didn’t realize that included a 6 page preview to boost the page count. There was nothing extra about it except for the price and as a comic reader on a budget, I don’t appreciate paying extra for previews.

There was a lot of hype, around this title and as someone who doesn’t allow the creator names on the front of the book to be an automatic free pass, i’m left underwhelmed.