The Revolution enjoyed the Club of Heroes story arc, but it certainly had that air of being a filler story arc until Morrison could set in place the new big story arc involving Ra’s al Ghul. I’m sure Morrison will have a kick off this new story arc in an entertaining fashion with Batman #670.
Tony Daniel replaces Andy Kubert as the regular artist on Batman. Andy Kubert managed to crank out a whopping 7 issues between July 2006 and July, 2007. Wow, really impressive. Seriously, the Kubert brothers were a total bust for DC with the pathetic schedules they kept on Batman and over on Action Comics. I’m thrilled that Tony Daniel is coming aboard as the regular artist on Batman. Daniel is very talented and can actually meet a monthly schedule. I’m sure that Batman #670 is going to be a quality read. Let’s hit this review.
Creative Team
Writer: Grant Morrison
Pencils: Tony Daniel
Inks: Jonathon Glapion
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with two thugs visiting I-Ching in his store in Hong Kong. One of the thugs puts on a mask from I-Ching’s store and suddenly attacks the other thug. The masked thug then demands that I-Ching tell him how to find the secret road to Nanda Parbat. I-Ching refuses to answer and suddenly Batman appears and takes down the masked thug.
I-Ching tells Batman that the masked thug was possessed by the spirit of Ra’s al Ghul. We then cut to the Sensei being informed by a messenger of the return of Ra’s al Ghul. The Sensei tells his assassins that war is coming.
We shift to Talia telling three of her newest member of the League of Assassins to get to work on their job. The three ladies are Dragon Fly, Tiger Moth and Silken Spider. The three ladies crash a party of rich high society types. Tiger Moth guns down one of the party goers while Silken Spider hypnotizes the rest of the partygoers.
Suddenly, Batman appears on the scene. Evidently, Talia wanted the three ladies to get Batman’s attention. Batman quickly takes out Tiger Moth and Dragon Fly. Batman then questions Silken Spider who reveals that Ra’s al Ghul has returned from the grave. Batman then takes out Silken Spider.
We cut to Ra’s al Ghul all wrapped up like a mummy visiting Talia. She is amazed that her father has come back to life. Damian then enters the room. Ra’s al Ghul then tells Damian to come to his grandfather.
We slide to Batman talking with I-Ching about Ra’s al Ghul being back from the dead. I-Ching comments that Sam tang, Ra’s al Ghul head of security disappeared from his hospital bed while Batman was busy. That there are other methods of resurrection. That the mind can survive beyond the death of the body.
We cut to the Sensei addressing his Seven Men of Death who are all masters in history’s greatest schools of martial arts. He tells them that Ra’s al Ghul seeks the fabled Fountain of Life Unceasing in the city of Nanda Parbat. The Sensei asks them if they are ready to slay Ra’s al Ghul.
We hop back to Ra’s al Ghul telling Talia that Tang betrayed him. That Tang was selected to provide a body for Ra’s al Ghul, but he reneged on their bargain and poisoned himself with radiation. That is why this flesh is rejecting Ra’s al Ghul’s will. That soon this body will die.
Ra’s al Ghul looks at Damian and says that he has the same DNA as Ra’s al Ghul. That Ra’s al Ghul will take Damian’s body. Damian thinks Ra’s is crazy and says no way, that he isn’t that stupid. Ra’s al Ghul angrily shouts that Damian was grown in a tank and bred to obey orders. That he expects compliance in the great design of Ra’s al Ghul and demands absolute obedience.
Damian responds that his father is going to break Ra’s al Ghul into little pieces once Damian tells him that Ra’s is back. Talia yells for Damian to run for it. The assassins disregard Talia and immediately attack Damian.
Talia tells her father not to kill Damian. Ra’s al Ghul answers that Damian is far too precious of a resource to waste. But, that he must not alert the Detective. Ra’s tells the assassins to bring Damian back alive. Damian quickly jumps out the window with some assassins hot on his tail. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: Batman #670 was a solid issue. It seems that we are getting several set-up issues this week between Batman #670, Action Comics #858, Justice Society of America #10 and Messiah Complex #1. Even though Batman #670 was better than average, it was the weakest set-up issues out of the ones The Revolution got this week.
Morrison does deliver a well paced and plotted issue. Morrison whips up a good mix of action and drama in this issue which prevents it from being a slow set-up issue. Morrison usually turns in some nicely detailed story arcs and he does his job of placing all the various characters in place before this story arc takes off.
Morrison aligns the various players so the reader has some idea what to expect in this story arc. It appears that we are going to have a three-way fight with Ra’s al Ghul and his assassins on one side, the Sensei and his assassins on another side with Batman caught in the middle. We also have the two wildcards in the form of Talia and Damian.
Now, it appears that Damian will join his father, Batman, and fight against Ra’s al Ghul. But, you never know with that little psycho. And Talia is going to have a tough choice: stand by her father or stand by her son. Talia is unpredictable, but a mother’s love for her son is almost impossible to match so I’m thinking that she will support Damian over Ra’s al Ghul.
It is great to see Ra’s al Ghul back. Morrison wastes no time bringing Ra’s back and placing him back in control of his League of Assassins. Talia suddenly and rudely finds out that she has been dethroned by the former king of the League of Assassins.
I loved Damian’s reaction to seeing his grandfather, Ra’s al Ghul. Damian is summarily unimpressed. And Damian’s reaction to Ra’s plan to kill Damian and to transplant his soul inside of Damian was perfect. Damian reacts exactly how any of us would. Damian completely scoffs at Ra’s and basically calls Ra’s a total idiot and that Ra’s al Ghul can take his plans to possess Damian’s body and shove them up his ass.
Ra’s al Ghul’s infuriated reaction was perfect. This is definitely a guy who is not used to any form of disobedience. This scene actually made me like Damian for the first time since Morrison introduced his character. Finally, Damian comes across to the reader as something beyond being a simple spoiled brat.
I like that Morrison has included the Sensei into the mix with this story arc. And I love the concept of the Sensei’s Seven Men of Death. This reminds me of something straight out of a Wuxia movie.
Tony Daniel supplied some solid artwork. Daniel certainly draws a good looking Batman.
The Bad: Now, despite the fact that I do think this story arc has the potential to be an action packed and exciting read, I wasn’t all that impressed with Batman #670. There was just something off about this issue. It wasn’t all that interesting of a read.
I don’t think Morrison crafted a particularly well plotted and paced issue. Batman #670 had a very odd flow. This issue was a choppy read as the scene cuts were clumsy and the story hopped all over the place. In general, this issue had a real sloppy feel to it.
The dialogue was also rather unimpressive. Usually Morrison cranks out some quality dialogue on this title. Not so in this issue. The dialogue was boring and generic. It seemed like Morrison was just going through the motions with this issue. Maybe Morrison was rushing to try and lay a foundation for this story arc as fast as possible and failed to focus on the little details.
Overall: Batman #670 was a typical set-up issue. I have to admit that I was expecting more than what Morrison delivered with this issue. However, I still feel that while this issue wasn’t anything amazing, but I do think that this story arc has plenty of potential to be a wild ride.