Creative Team
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Lee Garbett
Inker: Trevor Scott
Colorist: Guy Major
Story – The Butler Did It
Review
“Last time we saw Bruce Wayne reveal he new about Black Glove all along. With the help of the original Boy Wonder he was able to defeat the Black Glove members until only Dr. Hurt was left. Dr. Hurt tries to convice he is Bruce’s father which he does not buy so Dr. Hurt makes his escape in a helicopter. Bruce not willing to let Dr. Hurt escape dives at the helicopter and knocks out Dr. Hurt as well as the pilot, the third Batman, which causes the helicopter to crash. All of Bruce’s allies gather at the pier to see the helicopter crash with only Bruce’s cape and cowl left in his wake. And now…….”
Okay that was just my lame attempt at what it would sound like if this issue had a voice over before at the start. Still for any fan expecting to get some answers for the conclusion of Batman RIP may be disappointed by this issue. Morrison does give a semi-conclusion/answer but still does not satisfy with what Morrison did through his run.
But before I rip into this issue I will say that I enjoyed all the various flashbacks in this issue of the various parts of Batman’s carrier. Morrison does a nice job tying in all of the different versions we have gotten in the past. I especially like the scene’s with the original Robin, Dick Grayson, because in those scenes we got to see Bruce doing something that he doesn’t really do anymore: smile. These scenes show that before Bruce and Dick had their fallout that Bruce enjoyed being the Dynamic Duo along with Dick. Also I liked how Dick tells Bruce his dream off what it would be like if Bruce was Hamelot and lived in that time. That small scene put a smile on my face.
Also another thing to like about this issue is that it is a quick read. Unlike ‘Batman RIP’ or ‘Final Crisis’ you don’t have to go back and read it three or fourth times to understand what is going on this issue. This is mostly attributed to this being a flashback/dream sequence issue and not the standard Morrison crazy as hell stories.
With that said I will say that I hated the final reveal that this was all in being placed in Bruce’s head by the machine he was put in by Darkseid. It is not so much that this issue may have been just an illusion that machine is causing Bruce to picture that bothers me but that Morrison seems to imply that some if not all of his stories on Batman are actually being caused by this machine. Which is kind of spits in the face of the reader especially if your like me and your on a budget were you are limited in the amount of comics you can buy only to find out what you’ve veen reading doesn’t even take place in continuity like it should. If this is the case than what Morrison has done with Batman will be very similar with what Marvel did with Spider-Man in “Brand New Day” by telling the readers that they should forget the last few years of Batman since none of the stories actual took place and were all a dream conjured up by Darkseid to torture Batman.
Let say this isn’t true and that all of Morrison’s work on Batman is still in continuity including Batman RIP that still makes this more confusing. Since, as I said in my lame attempt at a voice over, the last time we saw Bruce was when the helicopter his plane crashed with all of his allies thinking he is dead. So are we to expect that Bruce somehow miraculously not only survive, which is believable since this is comics after all, but that the next time he appeared was in the Hall of Justice before his capture at the hands of Darkseid (Final Crisis #2) with no questions asked by either someone in the Bat-Family or the Justice League. This issue may just be another example of Morrison skipping over vital information and expecting the reader to buy into this crazy ass story (sorry for the language) without any questions asked.
To stop my rambling let me just move over to the art. I have to say I was a bit disappointed that Daniel’s didn’t do the art for what is suppose to be the Batman RIP epilogue, but I guess he is busy writing and drawing “Battle for the Cowl.” Instead we get some nice artwork by Lee Garnbett. Now I am not familiar with Garnbett’s artwork but I got to say his art fit in well with Morrison story. I like the various changes Garnbett did to Batman’s apperance to show the different time periods of his career. It helps the reader know what time period each flashback is in. Overall nice job by Bernbett.
Issue Rating
Story: 6/10 – I enjoyed the various flashbacks but it does not excuse the fact Morrison did not answer any questions concerning the conclusion of Batman RIP.
Art: 7.6/10 – Bernbett provide some nice artwork that showed the various times in Batman’s career.
Overall: 6.8/10 – Overall a very disappointing issue and I would recommend readers skip this and the next Batman issue if you are not reading ‘Final Crisis.’