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

[exile001]

Dang, mis-read the title and gave this a 3.

For Batman and Son to R.I.P. I should have given 2 (from the available choices). 1 and a 1/2 if it were an option.

[Judge Dredd]

The early part of Morrison's Batman run is good, Black Glove stands out as the high point of the early portion of his run. Batman and Robin was the best part of the run as a whole but The Black Glove story and art are incredible. I loved the Clown at Midnight thought it was a great story and the little things like all the messed up stuff the Joker finds funny are great little additions to the story.

[Callahan]

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

I know what you mean. As I glanced through it and all I was was words, I thought "well maybe this is an extra story added since this is the DELUXE version" so I skipped it.

I do want to now go back and read it as after reading some reviews, people said it's one of the best Joker stories there is.

[InformationGeek]

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

No, not the case at all. It's not interesting to me at all and after I read it, I just forget about it. It leaves no impact on me at all with its forgettable story and god awful artwork (not nearly as bad the issue from Batman Incorporated that gave me eye strain though) and that's why I've decided to never reread in the future read through of the run.

[Callahan]

Are we talking about the story that's all text, no pictures or anything. Just like a few pages of text?

[Penguin Truth]

HATED "Clown at Midnight"

I'm not averse to reading prose stories (I write them), but when I pick up a comic, I don't want to read that. I want to read a comic. Panels. Speech bubbles. Sequential art.

Not to mention, the story was pretty forgettable.

If Morrison wanted to write a Joker novel, he should just have written a damn novel.

[oasis1313]

*Batman and Son" was just more glorification of Tim Drake. He shouldn't have even been IN the story--it should have been all about Damian.

[t hedge coke]

If Morrison wanted to write a Joker novel, he should just have written a damn novel.

At twenty pages or so, it would've been a short novel. He wanted to write a short prose story in the tradition of short often-in-comics prose Batman stories, with spot illustrations to enhance/elaborate, and well, that's what they did. They didn't try to make a novel. They didn't try to make panels and word balloons and fail. They didn't try to make a traditional comic and fail. It's fine, obviously, that you don't like it, that it wasn't your thing, but the idea that they tried to do some format and failed is silly.

[InformationGeek]

Are we talking about the story that's all text, no pictures or anything. Just like a few pages of text?

Technically it's an entire issue with artwork, though its mostly a prose story. The artwork by some guy called John Van Fleet, who I'm not remotely familiar with and hope not see anything from again if most of his artwork looks it was done in an old version of Poser 3D.

*Batman and Son" was just more glorification of Tim Drake. He shouldn't have even been IN the story--it should have been all about Damian.

How was it glorification of Tim Drake? Didn't he nearly get killed in it? If it was glorification of Drake, shouldn't he have beaten the complete snot out of Damian?

[t hedge coke]

Technically it's an entire issue with artwork, though its mostly a prose story. The artwork by some guy called John Van Fleet, who I'm not remotely familiar with and hope not see anything from again if most of his artwork looks it was done in an old version of Poser 3D.

It's definitely not the style I like most from him, and he has done some absolutely brilliant work elsewhere. Still, it does more than its job, for me, and I think it's much stronger and sicklier than the Kubert cover of the issue. He was commissioned to use the digital program and style he used, tweaking the images with paint after modeling, instead of the reverse, so in a sense it may have been fait accompli.

[earl]

I think just like with his X-men run, there are parts of Morrison's Batman run that are great and some stories that didn't work as well. I thought the best parts were the threads with the Batmen of other nations and the Batman & Robin sequence which introduced some cool villains. I'm not so sold on the Joker changes and the crossover story as usual was pretty weak sauce.

When they compile it all, I think you have to incorporate Final Crisis and then use the Return of Bruce Wayne as alternating chapters at some point with the Batman & Robin issues, if not it doesn't make as much sense I think. I think they will probably always compile those separate and really I think the way to read it is as alternating chapters as they came out in single issues.

[nepenthes]

I personally love The Clown at Midnight, and that. Easily top in my 3 Joker stories. The prose style feels rickety and awkward at first but I find you limber up to it after the first couple pages and it paints the story and the characters incredibly well.

some guy called John Van Fleet

He's illustrated Batman: The Chalice and Batman: Cast Shadows, however I suspect he was picked for this particular issue because it's a really great nod towards...




...Batman in prose novels! All Van Fleet covers. I've only read Dead White and it was pretty decent. It's in the same timeline as Batman Begins.

[officersmile1466]

I really enjoyed it.

I mostly loved how Morrison carefully builds his insane plot arcs over a long period of time. Things like the Zur-En-Arh words, the 666 issue setting up Professor Pyg, the receptionist Batman rescues and ultimately the whole story of how you don't mess with Talia Al Guhl.

Plus Damian and Dick as a dynamic duo is one of the most awesome Batman things ever and certainly, without a doubt my favorite use of Dick Grayson.

[PyroSikTh]

It's fine, obviously, that you don't like it, that it wasn't your thing, but the idea that they tried to do some format and failed is silly.

I don't think anyone has said it failed, only that it wasn't to their taste.

When they compile it all, I think you have to incorporate Final Crisis and then use the Return of Bruce Wayne as alternating chapters at some point with the Batman & Robin issues, if not it doesn't make as much sense I think. I think they will probably always compile those separate and really I think the way to read it is as alternating chapters as they came out in single issues.

I don't think it has to alternate. I have Return of Bruce Wayne wedged between Batman vs Robin and Batman and Robin Must Die and it reads perfectly fine. RoBW 1-5 don't have any impact on anything else, and B&R 13-15 don't have any bearing on anything either. As long as you read RoBW 6 before B&R 16 everything slots into place nicely.

[deadboy80]

Not my favorite Bat story at all. I did appreciate that Morrison looked to the past, and brought for old stoies and charecters and what not. I just did not like the story, and I'm not a fan of Damian.