BREAKING BATMAN NEWS
Posted on December 10th, 2009 by ekko
I just read that Grant Morrison is writing Bruce Wayne’s return. Bruce finds him not dead after Final Crisis but actually thrown through time, and he’ll be trying to get back to his place in time. Holy Captain America rip off, Batman! Except that at one point, he’ll be a pirate. Holy Fantastic Four rip off, Batman! I just don’t get the appeal of most of Morrison’s work. Final Crisis was incomprehensible and Batman R.I.P. was mis-titled and incredibly confusing. It’s like it had good elements of a story, but no actual narrative.
Comment By: Glunders
December 11th, 2009 at 7:49 am
“Holy Captain America rip off, Batman?” Seriously? Excuse the geek-speak, but the concept of the Omega Sanction (you know, that thing that blasted Batman through time in “Final Crisis”) has been around since the New Gods comics of the 1970s, and Grant Morrison recently redefined and played with it in “Seven Soldiers of Victory.” It was always crystal clear, to a discerning reader (or anyone who couldn’t comprehend “Final Crisis” that cared to read an interview or two) *exactly* what was going to happen to Bruce Wayne as a result of Darkseid’s attack. So, you know, maybe Brubaker actually took a queue or two from Morrison or Jack Kirby in “Captain America Reborn” rather than the other way around. (Much like Marvel is kind of riffing on “Battle for the Cowl” with the upcoming “Who Will Wield the Shield,” which you would possibly know about were you to actually care enough about your research to make an apt comparison.) Also, in what ways do “Final Crisis” and “Batman R.I.P.” constitute “most of Morrison’s work?”
Comment By: Glunders
December 11th, 2009 at 7:54 am
Also, Jesus, the last page of Final Crisis has Bruce Wayne stuck back in time making a charcoal drawing on a cave wall. Why anyone would ever jump to the conclusion that he had died is absolutely beyond me.
Comment By: ekko
December 11th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Uh….The R.I.P. was supposed to indicate death. Anyway, I never said I thought he was dead. Duh! Everyone knew he was Omega Sanctioned. And by the way, Omega Sanction sends people into alternate realities, not through time. Do your research, dude. It was meant to approximate the 9 circles of hell, not time displacement.
As for needing interviews to understand a comic, I think that’s asking a little much. Glad you like obtuse writing. Me myself, I’ve never met anyone who could tolerate Grant Morrison’s unwillingness to tell a story without assuming that the reader knows everything there is to know about the 50 year history of Bats/Superman/whoever. I don’t care to do research to enjoy comics. I care to read good stories. And to have Batman jumping around through time exactly after Brubaker did the same exact thing is a little too temporally coincident.
Comment By: Dave
January 1st, 2010 at 7:39 pm
I really REALLY can’t stand Grant Morrison as a writer. His stories make no sense. Ever.
Comment By: ekko
January 2nd, 2010 at 6:05 am
So glad to hear some agreement on that. I get yelled at by nerds all the time.
Comment By: Coop
February 20th, 2010 at 10:22 pm
“It’s like it had good elements of a story, but no actual narrative.”
And that is Morrison in a nutshell. The guy has ideas but he can’t write. At his BEST his comics are a bunch of OMG! moments thrown onto the page with no regards to plot, pacing, narrative construction, character development, or believable dialouge.
It’s one thing to be an “auteur” rather than a “craftsman”. It’s another to have ideas but absolutely no skill at your craft. How he got his rep a premier comic book creator is beyond me.