THINGS TO CLICK

Frank Quitely page from Batman and Robin #2

Tim Sievert page from That Salty Air

Darwyn Cooke page from Batman Black and White

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Batman 681

Please examine this page.

Saturday, Dec 20, 2008

"You blinked. I switched the cups..."

Review: Batman #681
"Hearts in Darkness" written by Grant Morrison
Tony Daniel Pencils, Sandu Florea Inker, Guy Major Colors
Cover Date December 2008 (actually released Nov 26, 2008)
44 pages (32 page story)
Cover price $3.99 USD
Published by DC Comics

There's not a lot of surprises here. Writer Grant Morrison has been telegraphing that Bruce Wayne's girlfriend "Jezebel" (bit of a hint, that name, wouldn't you say?) was the mole used by The Black Mask club to gain control of Wayne/Batman's emotional and psychological state (well, sort've got control: it didn't last long, evaporating with this issue).

Morrison's tale actually did have me guessing how Bats will get out of it, but with this issue the writer wiggles free by a very iffy method, one that is particularly ridiculous: Bruce Wayne switches the poisoned cups between him and a suddenly revealed enemy whilst the guy is blinking...

Click to enlarge page.

In Batman #677, the "Black Hood" confided to his henchmen his plan for destroying Batman:

Black Hood: "What we are about to do will be a work of art. Nothing less than the complete ruination of a noble human spirit.

Henchman who looks a bit like Lon Chaney from Hunchback of Notre Dame: "You honestly believe you can do what not even the Joker and Two-Face or any of the others have been able to do all these years, Doctor Hurt?"

Black Hood: "No one knows him better than I do. The extreme lengths to which our boy has gone to make himself strong are powerful indicators of the weakness he feels he must overcome. That weakness is still there, inside. The fracture that will break the man..."

I was surprised: Wayne's penchant for wearing a black bat outfit isn't addressed in this luney psychological analysis? Maybe that's just too normal in a superhero comic to stand out anymore?

Conclusion to Batman R.I.P.
Writer Grant Morrison is more or less tying up a few strings, though the actual tale continues forward into some other arc - another DC style fragmented "epic." Why can't these tales have actual end points? Does that cost extra?

Her mascara is dribbling... is it really hot around her eyes?

What's going on with this poor gal's bosom?

Click to enlarge

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