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.
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