The Revolution just hasn’t gotten into this Grotesk story arc. This has been such an uninteresting and generic story arc. Especially after following Morrison’s wild story arc about the Son of Bat. At this point, I just want this Grotesk story arc as over as soon as possible. Let’s go ahead and review Batman #661.
Creative Team
Writer: John Ostrander
Artist: Tom Mandrake
Art Rating: 4 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 4 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 4 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with Batman brawling with Perun and his thugs. Batman kicks their butts, and Perun makes a hasty retreat. Batman then talks with Dr. Franklin and tells her that the police know that Grotesk is her brother. Batman tells Dr. Franklin that she needs to tell him everything that she knows.
We cut to Batman in the Batmobile following Perun’s car. Grotesk calls Perun and tells him that he wants to work a deal. That Grotesk will have the I-Gore waiting for Perun at the old Gotham Opera House.
Perun arrives at the Gotham Opera House with Batman following behind. Perun and his thugs enter the Opera House and see Johnny Karaoke and his Geisha Grrls all ready inside. Grotesk then lowers the I-Gore down in the middle of the stage and tells Perun and Johnny Karaoke that they can fight each other for the I-Gore. And with that, we have a huge shoot out between Johnny Karaoke and the Geisha Grrls and Perun and his thugs.
Batman takes this opportunity to lock horns with Grotesk. Batman just opens up a huge can of whup ass on Grotesk. Grotesk then tells Batman that no one will be walking away from this Opera House tonight. Batman realizes that the I-Gore is a fake. That it is really a bomb. We see one of Perun’s thugs grab the I-Gore. Batman tells the thug to drop it.
Suddenly, the I-Gore blows up into a massive explosion. One of the Geisha Grrls calls out to Batman to save her. Batman chooses to save the girl and let Grotesk escape. (How original.) We see Johnny Karaoke and Perun attack each other and simultaneously kill each other. Batman then escapes the fiery Opera House with the wounded Geisha Grrl. The police arrive and Batman gives the Geisha Grrl to them.
Batman gets in the Batmobile and calls Alfred and tells him that there is no doubt that Wayne Franklin is Grotesk. Batman then says that Dr. Amina Franklin clearly knows more than she has said, but she won’t tell the Batman what that is. So, Batman says he will have to try something else to uncover the truth from Dr. Amina Franklin. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: Honestly, I don’t have much to say about Batman #661. Not because it was so terrible. Rather because it is so generic. But, I still must follow The Revolution’s rule of positivity and find something that I enjoyed about this issue. Well, we did get treated to plenty of action in this issue. And it was pretty sweet to watch Batman just unload one seriously unholy beat down on Grotesk. That was just vicious.
Also, even though I haven’t been all that impressed with Mandrake’s artwork, I definitely liked his one page splash shot of the Gotham Opera House. Mandrake captured the classic look of Gotham city in that shot. Metropolis is the shining beacon of the future with its ultra modern architecture. Gotham, on the other hand, is a dark gothic city that pays homage to the past with more classic architecture.
The Bad: This Grotesk story arc has such a “paint by numbers” feel to it that it fails to capture my interest. Grotesk himself is a standard issue villain. There is nothing unique or interesting about him. The entire I-Gore plotline is also uninteresting. Perun is nothing more than your typical mobster villain. Dr. Franklin, the sister who knows more than she is saying, is another standard plot tool. This storyline is so generic that we even get treated to the hackneyed scene of Batman having to choose between saving the girl or catching the villain. Sheesh.
Overall: I found Batman #661 to be a pedestrian read at best. This has to be a Revolution record as one of my shortest reviews, because there just really isn’t much to say about this issue. This Grotesk story arc is pure filler. And not very well done at that. Clearly, DC is just killing time and taking out money until Grant Morrison returns on Batman #663. My recommendation is to save your money and wait for Batman #663.