Weekly Comic Book Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Cameron Stewart (artist), Alex Sinclair (colorist)

The Story: Blackest Knight, Part One: Pearly and the Pit: Last issue left Damian with five bullets in his body and no feeling anywhere. It also left us with the Red Hood’s rant that Dick was failing Bruce in not finding some Lazarus Pit to bring Bruce back to life. Now, Batman is in England, teamed up with Squire, beating up bad guys and on the hunt for a last, hidden, Lazarus Pit. There are explosive obstacles in the way and some surprise moments.

What’s Good: Morrison tackles one of the big plot holes in the whole death of Bruce Wayne event, which is: if there are a zillion ways to bring back heroes and villains from the dead, why aren’t they using one of them to bring Bruce back? The storylines of the death of Bruce Wayne and the Battle for the Cowl, to be realistic, had to ignore one of the central rules of comics, which is that no one stays dead except Bucky, Jason Todd and Uncle Ben (I’ll let you do the math). So now, Morrison is going to tackle this metaphysical and metafictional problem head-on (at the same time that Blackest Night is doing the same), so this will be a fun ride. On style, Morrison’s spare writing forces the reader to fill in parts of the story. He treats us like we’re intelligent and I like that. It also leaves a lot of room for the art to tell the story.

Cameron Stewart has some big boots to fill in this issue. Philip Tan and Frank Quitely both did superb jobs on Batman and Robin, and although the styles are different (most obviously, Stewart’s Batman appears shorter and heavier), he is up to the task. The early chase scenes are dynamic and clear as Batman surges through London traffic to meet up with Squire. Stylistically, Stewart is much less gritty than previous artists, maybe because they’re in a different city. The night action is bright and the walls and buildings and even the subway are all well-lit and clean. The coal mine was the big exception and it changed the mood for the better, getting Batman back to settings that suit him more.

What’s Not So Good: Morrison’s spare writing is a bit of a double-edged sword. With few or late explanations, this book can be a hard read for those not steeped in the all the details of Gotham. Morrison is obviously a fan, drawing on the rich Batman mythos, to create a product for other fans. If you’re new to Gotham, hold on tight and get ready for a couple of readings to get everything. Now, despite Morrison’s reputation and mastery of the craft, the emergence of Batwoman into this story made no sense to me whatsoever. I’ve been following Detective Comics and knew of the prophesy Batwoman was talking about, but her surprise appearance was less pleasant than confusing. The dialogue and arguments from that point on were equally confusing or abrupt and rushed.

Conclusion: This arc looks like it’s going to be good, but some parts of this story seemed to be real head-scratchers for me. My advice: pick it up and strap yourself in anyway. Something important is happening in the Bat-world.

Grade: C

-DS Arsenault

Filed under: DC Comics, Other Tagged: | Alex Sinclair, Batman, Batman and Robin, Batman and Robin #7, Batman and Robin #7 review, Batwoman, Blackest Knight, Bruce Wayne, Cameron Stewart, Comic Book Reviews, comic books, comic reviews, Comics, Damian Wayne, DC, DC Comics, Death, DS Arsenault, Frank Quitely, Grant Morrison, Knight, Lazarus Pit, Philip Tan, Red Hood, Reviews, Squire, WCBR, Weekly Comic Book Review