Batman & Son to R.I.P (2006-2009) / Read through and Opinions

[DT Winslow]

Its really a phenomenal story. Solid 5. Three ghosts of Batman, Batman at Bethlehem, the Black frakin Glove, super-sane Joker.
The clown at midnight is brilliantly wonderful. It sets up so much of RIP as well as B&R that its quite the essential read. JHWIII makes the Black Glove a treasure to read. Drawing all the Batmen of Many Nations in a slightly different style was inspired.
RIP had the trouble is having a terrible artist. Its a brilliant examination of Batman and his unwillingness to surrender, even in the face is several types of defeat.
Last Rites, tying into the astonishing Final Crisis, is probably the best of the run. Distilling everything about Batman down into 44 pages. Showing that despite everything that has happened to him, he has never and will never break. His experiences broke the Gods! Astounding.

Brilliant all around.

[ispacehead]

It was f'n amazing.

Particularly for those of us that read it as it was released.

I'll admit, I wasn't floored from the getgo. I wasn't really familiar with Grant's work prior to his Batman run, so I really came in with no preconceptions. I thought it started off okay, and then just got succeedingly better.

By the time we got to RIP, the wait between issues became excruciating, and still fascinating, as the board discussion at the time was almost as good as the issues themselves.

Morrison's Batman set discussions ablaze. There was so much to talk about. So much to dissect and interpret. So much to see. So much to look for. So much to go back and look for again...

Morrison's Batman is to me a pinnacle achievement and the last great Batman story from the original volume of Batman comics. It did something to bring the entire history of Batman together, while still taking it forward into strange new exciting territory.

While Final Crisis wasn't, for me, the greatest story ever, the removal of Bruce Wayne allowed for the introduction the New Batman and Robin and one of the most amazing periods in Batman comics ever.

Grant Morrison did so much with his arc. He left so many little tidbits to be picked up and explored by other writers. And despite the reboot, we're seeing this happen now.

What he did was too big to be erased by the reboot.

It was one of the best periods ever to be a fan of Batman comics.

[nepenthes]

It is indeed no less than brilliant.

Callahan, the transition from RIP to Batman Reborn can be very jarring considering that Batman exits the storyline due to events in Final Crisis in between, so I'd suggest grabbing just one issue from Comixology to helped bridge that gap, Superman/Batman #76. This covers the Bruce and Darkseid confrontation, the moment Dick and Alfred learn of his disappearance, his funeral, the Battle of the Cowl and an argument between Dick and Superman over the future of the legacy. It provides the emotional catharsis and fallout that is somewhat missing from the main event (one a flaw of the Morrisons run). I'd wouldn't suggest you grab Final Crisis if you're simply wanting to keep up with the Bartman run, it's a beast of its own and Bruce appears on maybe ten pages across the entire trade. The Final Crisis bits are also recapped in a later Morrison trade, Time and the Batman.

[t hedge coke]

Batman and Son was hella fun. Ninja Manbats at a charity show of Lichtensteins and Piss Godzilla!

The Three Ghosts of Batman were all, by turns, chilling and absurd, and great funhouse mirrors showing batmen gone wrong.

Ellie's a dear and her "rescue" is one of Batman's finest.

I love the Clown and Midnight issue, and never did see what was wrong about having a text feature here and there in comics, and find the illustrations to fill in nice gaps in the story and bring something of their own, while the treatment of Bruce, Joker, and Harley is amazing. Even better, it's a story written by Batman for Alfred "in that hardboiled style he likes."

RIP was just an insane burst of wonder and anxiety. Talking RIP with my nieces and nephew, rereading it with them and seeing it through there eyes are some of my favorite shared-experience comics-reading memories.

And, Last Rites has some bits that are so sad they make me embarrassed for Bruce, sad for him, make me feel him as a genuine guy so much more than the average bat-tale.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

R.I.P. was how I started collecting comics on a regular basis, and I immediately had to double back to see what he had written thus far because holy crap this is the best. This whole thing (counting what would come after) is easily my favorite mainstream comic run of all time. It genuinely kind of fascinates me that this whole section of his mega-arc was as close as Morrison's ever done (outside of "Gothic") to a post-Miller traditional Batman, and it still involved ninja man-bats and mind control and Bat-Mite and Batman vs. the Devil.

Also, the Clown At Midnight is probably my favorite Joker story ever.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

It is indeed no less than brilliant.

Callahan, the transition from RIP to Batman Reborn can be very jarring considering that Batman exits the storyline due to events in Final Crisis in between, so I'd suggest grabbing just one issue from Comixology to helped bridge that gap, Superman/Batman #76. This covers the Bruce and Darkseid confrontation, the moment Dick and Alfred learn of his disappearance, his funeral, the Battle of the Cowl and an argument between Dick and Superman over the future of the legacy. It provides the emotional catharsis and fallout that is somewhat missing from the main event (one a flaw of the Morrisons run). I'd wouldn't suggest you grab Final Crisis if you're simply wanting to keep up with the Bartman run, it's a beast of its own and Bruce appears on maybe ten pages across the entire trade. The Final Crisis bits are also recapped in a later Morrison trade, Time and the Batman.

I'd recommend Winnick's Batman #687 instead--it covers the same beats, but A. Zeroed in on Dick, and B. The S/B issue has some serious flaws (Superman's kind of a jerk, it presents the weirdest idea I've ever heard regarding Bruce's motivation).

[nepenthes]

I'd recommend Winnick's Batman #687 instead--it covers the same beats, but A. Zeroed in on Dick, and B. The S/B issue has some serious flaws (Superman's kind of a jerk, it presents the weirdest idea I've ever heard regarding Bruce's motivation).

Interesting that you mention this - I only read that issue once on the day it was released and all I member is a profound disappointment towards it. Since it's now in deep storage I'll (annoyingly) have to buy it again on Comixology in order to revisit it. Thanks for that

[PyroSikTh]

The first third was all right, but it was pretty much all just set-up. The whole run is one of the best runs in comics, but it really hit it's stride with the second third with Dick as Batman and Bruce cascading through time. That was the high point and the defining moment.

- Batman and Son is pretty good
- Clown at Midnight is okay, but terrible artwork and no bearing on the overall story means I'll probably never read it again (also, if I wanted to read straight text, I wouldn't pick up a comic).
- 666 is pretty good, but again it's set up for what comes later
- Three ghosts of Batman is fairly lacklustre in my opinion
- The only good thing about Black Glove is the artwork.
- RIP is the best part of this first third.
- Last Rites is pretty great, but reads better as part of Final Crisis than the Batman run.

Callahan, the transition from RIP to Batman Reborn can be very jarring considering that Batman exits the storyline due to events in Final Crisis in between, so I'd suggest grabbing just one issue from Comixology to helped bridge that gap, Superman/Batman #76. This covers the Bruce and Darkseid confrontation, the moment Dick and Alfred learn of his disappearance, his funeral, the Battle of the Cowl and an argument between Dick and Superman over the future of the legacy. It provides the emotional catharsis and fallout that is somewhat missing from the main event (one a flaw of the Morrisons run). I'd wouldn't suggest you grab Final Crisis if you're simply wanting to keep up with the Bartman run, it's a beast of its own and Bruce appears on maybe ten pages across the entire trade. The Final Crisis bits are also recapped in a later Morrison trade, Time and the Batman.

Or RIP Missing Chapters in Batman 701 and 702. As this was written by Morrison, I'd say this is the best way to fill in the gap.

[Batman Begins 2005]

The best is yet to come. Wait till you get to Grant's Batman & Robin.

This. The highlight of the entire run.

As for the topic question, I rated it a five. Best stories from it were Batman #666 and The Island of Mr. Mayhew. Two of the best stories from the entire run. The Three Ghosts of Batman also deserve mention.

[Kingcrimsonprog]

Experimental. As with every experiment, there are hits and misses. Its kind of like seeing The Mars Volta in concert.

I think that there are pannels and even issues that I actively dislike, but overall it was broad and ambitious and impressive.

I'd say if you broke it down into three bits 1. Before Batman & Robin Reborn 2. Batman & Robin Reborn trilogy 3. After Batman & Robin Reborn
then the middle is way stronger than the other two. I also think that once you re-read it as a whole, its a lot better than your first reading.

I initially hated the tone/style of it, and the mere concept of Batman Inc., but once I acquired the taste, I think its a pretty good and pretty entertaining ride overall. Its very entertaining in and of itself (even if I'm the kind of fan who prefers thinks to be more boring and less wacky usually).

[cygnadu]

it's get better and better every time i reread it, which, to me, is the real mark of a masterpiece.

tho i must say, i did enjoy the latter part of morrison's batman run even more.

[t hedge coke]

I'm not sure The Clown at Midnight is all that irrelevant/divorced from the rest of that Batman run (or the whole big bat-novel). It's a substantial rumination on how much Joker, his behavior and psychology haunt Batman. It's the introduction, I believe, to the [b/]red and black[b] motif obsessing him. It's the Joker trying to completely clear the decks, simplify himself and his life but while he can murder the old strong arms and mentally ill subservient, he can slit Harley's throat if the job calls for it, he can't a) stop being the Joker and b) he can't lose Batman or his bat-dynamic. B&R really goes into that further, from Dick's perspective, but it's there clear and cruel in this story. So, too, it's a demonstration of how easily, consciously,. and viciously Joker can worm into people's heads, their lives and souls, and break a lot of them. Those sadsack gangsters still dressing up like him at the funeral, Sheba in her wedding dress, these are people he's broken, he's twisted and destroyed. He's broken Harley Quinn in this virtually irrevocable and traumatic way, just by being himself. He didn't break Gordon or Batman, but he haunts them regularly, he's made them ill with his sickness, even if they don't share his sickness the way his former goons do.

There's a lot about preparation, the range and reach of the prepared human body, rebirth, possession, consciously rewriting personality and identity, trauma, cruelty, love, romance, soured romance, jealousy, and the attraction of forming a family around yourself even if it will destroy them or of closing yourself off in selfish isolation. All of that plays out in different ways in other parts of the whole big bat-novel, but here it is from the skewed perspective of Batman writing about the Joker. In trying so so hard to personalize the Joker, to understand and internalize him, Bruce is really, in a big way, infusing his own life, lifestyle, and consequences into the narrative. The horrors of the Joker are there, but also the anxieties of the Batman. Batman, the scared orphan. Batman, the man who'll never give up on the mentally ill or criminally-inclined. Whose romances are unhealthy, set in deceit and impossibility, doomed to go very wrong and get people murdered. Bruce Wayne, the guy who learned he can remake himself constantly, just by putting on a mask and a funny voice, or a cape and mission, just by stamping the same emblem on enough of his possessions like a guy who obsessively monograms his towels with someone else's initials. He doesn't know the Joker is going through any grand, mythic transfiguration into his new iteration of Jokerness. He's hypothesizing and projecting.

I know a number of people like to write off Resurrection, as well (but still stick in Battle for the Cowl), but the Morrison issues of that, especially, have a lot to do with his whole run, particularly the boring out of minds/souls for occupation by other entities, the anxieties of aging, of being replaced, of being superfluous, of being your parents or perpetually not good enough to be your parents. Talia, Damian, helicopters and family. Nanda Parbat. Rebirth. The great strength and resilience of Talia, the stuff that attracts Bruce, really comes in strong in that crossover, and of course, he feels it, and then she goes bad again. The bat-team get to show off their acting skills, Tim gets to dismiss R'as' attempts at tempting/humiliating him into subservience, Damian gets a massive "I'm meant to replace the patriarch? but then I'll just be him?" arc that isn't about the mantle of the Bat, but can't help but work its way into wheels within wheels, echoes of voices that are repeating the echo.

[PyroSikTh]

I'd say if you broke it down into three bits 1. Before Batman & Robin Reborn 2. Batman & Robin Reborn trilogy 3. After Batman & Robin Reborn...

It pretty much splits itself in 3. You've got the Black Glove story in Batman, the Batman Reborn story in Batman and Robin, and the Leviathan story in Incorporated. Three different arcs in three different titles.

[Maxpower00044]

Sometimes I feel like "I didn't like Clown at Midnight" can also be said as "I don't wanna read that much".

[PyroSikTh]

Sometimes I feel like "I didn't like Clown at Midnight" can also be said as "I don't wanna read that much".

Well it's kind of a valid criticism. There's a reason these are comics and not novels...

Regardless, for me personally the reason I didn't like it wasn't because it had a lot more text, but just generally because I didn't like it. I didn't like the art, I didn't like the style of writing, I didn't like the story itself.