Return of Bruce Wayne #2
By Grant Morrison
Art by Frazer Irving
Rating: 7.5/10
For anyone not reading this, here's a quick summary: Bruce Wayne is now in Puritan times. He thinks he is someone sent form the church to help track down witches, but really he helps solve crimes. The woman who found him in the woods, Annie, is thought to be a witch, and he tries to protect her from the townspeople, especially the fanatical Brother Malleaus, a witch hunter.
Wow! This was definitely an improvement over issue #1, although still not without flaws. Morrison's plot skills really shine here, especially with the character of Annie. She is very well portrayed, and works within the story.
I love how Bruce's detective skills are put to work here. Its just a fantastic showcasing of why Bruce is Batman, and its for more than just the martial arts. The character of Brother Malleaus is great (and I'm not going to spoil for you as to why). The last pages, at Annie's "trial" are just so powerful and fantastic.
Still, for all my gushing, this issue does have problems. First off is the art. It's not bad, don't get me wrong, but there are some panels (and its more than a couple) where the characters look really...weird. I can't explain it. Their facial expressions just look strange in context.
Secondly, I have no clue what the heck is going on with this whole Superman/Time Masters subplot. I honestly don't get the whole thing. Yeah, I understand the Darkseid-destruction device thing implanted in Bruce, but why in the world is his head on a 61st century bioengineered historian-thing? And how the heck does that even make sense, if Bruce is supposed to destroy the world when he gets to the TWENTY-first century? and yet somehow he's in the SIXTY-first?
Great plot, but it just doesn't make enough sense.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Review: Return of Bruce Wayne #1
Return of Bruce Wayne #1
By Grant Morrison
Art by Chris Sprouse
Rating: 5/10
As the first issue of a miniseries, I'm going to cut this issue a little slack, especially since its probably hard to make a coherent story out of Batman-fights-cavemen.
Unfortunately, once the coolness-factor wears off (about page three) that's what we're left with: a semi-mute tale about an amnesiac Batman fighting a caveman. It's okay, I guess but there's a lot of mindless punching with not very much motivation or plot. Morrison can do a lot better than this.
Also, why is Batman the only character in the story not speaking English as we know it? I guess its supposed to be because of his screwed-up mental state, but I think its just because Grant Morrison enjoys writing that sort of dialogue, as seen in RIP and issues 8-9 of Batman & Robin.
All in all, this issue did what it was meant to do (set up the miniseries) but apparently not much more. The high point was the last three pages, where we get Bruce saving a small boy, getting thrust into the next time, and then a group of time travelers showing up minutes too late. But these last pages weren't enough to save the issue.
The only thing keeping this from a below-average rating is the fact that it's the first issue, and the art by Chris Sprouse. The art is very good: clean and almost silver-age in tone (although still not excellent). I expect more from this miniseries, and hopefully we'll get it in the next issue.
By Grant Morrison
Art by Chris Sprouse
Rating: 5/10
As the first issue of a miniseries, I'm going to cut this issue a little slack, especially since its probably hard to make a coherent story out of Batman-fights-cavemen.
Unfortunately, once the coolness-factor wears off (about page three) that's what we're left with: a semi-mute tale about an amnesiac Batman fighting a caveman. It's okay, I guess but there's a lot of mindless punching with not very much motivation or plot. Morrison can do a lot better than this.
Also, why is Batman the only character in the story not speaking English as we know it? I guess its supposed to be because of his screwed-up mental state, but I think its just because Grant Morrison enjoys writing that sort of dialogue, as seen in RIP and issues 8-9 of Batman & Robin.
All in all, this issue did what it was meant to do (set up the miniseries) but apparently not much more. The high point was the last three pages, where we get Bruce saving a small boy, getting thrust into the next time, and then a group of time travelers showing up minutes too late. But these last pages weren't enough to save the issue.
The only thing keeping this from a below-average rating is the fact that it's the first issue, and the art by Chris Sprouse. The art is very good: clean and almost silver-age in tone (although still not excellent). I expect more from this miniseries, and hopefully we'll get it in the next issue.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
I Can't Believe its Not the Justice League!
...or maybe I can.
DC just announced that, come late August (and the return of Bruce Wayne to present time), they will not be changing the Justice League lineup.
For those of you unfamiliar with the current Justice Leaguers, its Batman (Dick Grayson), Donna Troy, Mon-el, Starfire, Cyborg, Green Arrow, the Atom, Hal Jordan, Dr. Light (who may or may not have quit the team), the Gaurdian, and Congorilla.
If you don't have a clue who some of these people are, you aren't alone. I did pick up the first couple of issues of "Cry for Justice" (what this lineup seems to be based on). They were decent, but not good enough to escape being dropped in favor of another Bat-title.
I understand the Dick Grayson, Mon-el, and Donna Troy characters as stand-ins for the Trinity, and also to some extent Green Arrow (although he's gone now), Hal Jordan, and the Atom. But seriously, who the hell is Congorilla? And how did the Justice League become a second title for the Titans? With a random gorilla and some C-listers thrown in, of course.
My biggest problem with this is the fact that even after the Big Three come back in August, they're still going to keep the B-listers on the A-team (no pun intended). The Justice League is for the mainstays. That's just how it is--sorry to all who argue for the "natural progression" of sidekick-to-mentor. It's a comic book, and things just don't work out that well.
We've had the Titans, Teen Titans, and Outsiders. Those teams have become just as large as the Justice League. For the creators to say that they're "validating" the characters by putting them in the JLA undoes all of the work they've done to make the other teams integral parts of the DCU.
Also, why in the world would the Trinity not be given back their spots? It doesn't make sense. This is a bad decision, mark my words.
P.S. Can anyone with a larger Wonder Woman background than me tell me where the heck she went? I know about Bruce Wayne, obviously, and Superman's on New Krypton, but the details of why Wonder Woman vanished have eluded me.
DC just announced that, come late August (and the return of Bruce Wayne to present time), they will not be changing the Justice League lineup.
For those of you unfamiliar with the current Justice Leaguers, its Batman (Dick Grayson), Donna Troy, Mon-el, Starfire, Cyborg, Green Arrow, the Atom, Hal Jordan, Dr. Light (who may or may not have quit the team), the Gaurdian, and Congorilla.
If you don't have a clue who some of these people are, you aren't alone. I did pick up the first couple of issues of "Cry for Justice" (what this lineup seems to be based on). They were decent, but not good enough to escape being dropped in favor of another Bat-title.
I understand the Dick Grayson, Mon-el, and Donna Troy characters as stand-ins for the Trinity, and also to some extent Green Arrow (although he's gone now), Hal Jordan, and the Atom. But seriously, who the hell is Congorilla? And how did the Justice League become a second title for the Titans? With a random gorilla and some C-listers thrown in, of course.
My biggest problem with this is the fact that even after the Big Three come back in August, they're still going to keep the B-listers on the A-team (no pun intended). The Justice League is for the mainstays. That's just how it is--sorry to all who argue for the "natural progression" of sidekick-to-mentor. It's a comic book, and things just don't work out that well.
We've had the Titans, Teen Titans, and Outsiders. Those teams have become just as large as the Justice League. For the creators to say that they're "validating" the characters by putting them in the JLA undoes all of the work they've done to make the other teams integral parts of the DCU.
Also, why in the world would the Trinity not be given back their spots? It doesn't make sense. This is a bad decision, mark my words.
P.S. Can anyone with a larger Wonder Woman background than me tell me where the heck she went? I know about Bruce Wayne, obviously, and Superman's on New Krypton, but the details of why Wonder Woman vanished have eluded me.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Young Justice Cartoon!
It was announced a few weeks ago that a new cartoon will be coming to Cartoon Network this fall--Young Justice!
There's no word on whether this is in DCAU continuity, but the animation looks a lot similar to the DCAU style than the debated "Teen Titans Go!" series did. Personally, I didn't like the TTG style, but some people who are larger manga fans than I will ever be liked it.
The Young Justice lineup is Superboy, Miss Martian, Artemis (Arrowette), Aqualad, Kid Flash, and of course our favorite Robin (Tim Drake, by the looks of it).
What little is known about the series seems pretty good. I like the designs of the characters, and I'm glad that the producers decided to go with the more modern Robin rather than the green panties version. However, Bruce Timm isn't going to be producing it (gasp!) and I'm not sure about the attempt to shoehorn in diversity by making Aqualad African-American. I would have rather had them change Artemis' race, since she's a lesser-known character and provides more of a clean slate for them to play with continuity. I just can't see a race of underwater people being dark-skinned since there's little uV radiation down there, but heck, I'm proabably overthinking this.
Here's the art that's been released:
There's no word on whether this is in DCAU continuity, but the animation looks a lot similar to the DCAU style than the debated "Teen Titans Go!" series did. Personally, I didn't like the TTG style, but some people who are larger manga fans than I will ever be liked it.
The Young Justice lineup is Superboy, Miss Martian, Artemis (Arrowette), Aqualad, Kid Flash, and of course our favorite Robin (Tim Drake, by the looks of it).
What little is known about the series seems pretty good. I like the designs of the characters, and I'm glad that the producers decided to go with the more modern Robin rather than the green panties version. However, Bruce Timm isn't going to be producing it (gasp!) and I'm not sure about the attempt to shoehorn in diversity by making Aqualad African-American. I would have rather had them change Artemis' race, since she's a lesser-known character and provides more of a clean slate for them to play with continuity. I just can't see a race of underwater people being dark-skinned since there's little uV radiation down there, but heck, I'm proabably overthinking this.
Here's the art that's been released:
