R.I.P.
Synopsis
Legendary writer Grant Morrison concocts an unthinkable plot: The death of The Dark Knight! Collecting BATMAN #676-683 in an oversized Deluxe Edition, this volume features artwork by Tony Daniel. While Bruce Wayne drops out of sight, The Club of Villains begins a crime spree through the streets of Gotham City, while Batman's allies attempt to keep order in the city and find The Dark Knight.
Batman R.I.P. is false advertising at DC's 'best'. No death. Pardon me for wanting the R.I.P. part of the title. Perhaps I shouldn't have really been surprised, after all, I knew the death of Batman was coming/gone in 'Final Crisis'.
(For those fans who don't know, or who are reading this many years afterwards, Final Crisis is the big "let's cram every superhero and villain together into one title, to try to generate excitement" series, that will be undoubtedly be seen as a horrendous foray into over-kill and pointless change for the sake of it, all fuelled by team-writing. Team-writing! A euphemism for too-many-cooks-spoil-the-broth that is pushed as 'ten times the writers, ten times the thrills'!)
Perhaps I was naive to expect that the death of the second biggest superhero in DC, the single biggest superhero outside of comics, would merit its own, careful, considered, well-written, beautifully executed story? Obviously so.
This was not published even under its own title. "Batman R.I.P." is merely the collection of some of the comics in the Batman series, designed to compliment at best Final Crisis, mollify at worst, leaving any reader with decent expectations sorely worst for the spending of their money.
That Grant Morrison, who can write brilliantly, is responsible, is a shame. It's obvious DC had ideas of the death being in Final Crisis, and needed someone to tie up the loose ends in the main title. It's thus a shame he took the job, and allowed himself to be limited. He was involved in Final Crisis, perhaps one of the main engines, simultaneously. It strikes me that either he had too many irons in the fire and couldn't concentrate on this, or saved his good ideas for the beast-child of Final Crisis. Either way, this is a poor graphic novel.
And the art? The usual pseudo-Jeph Loeb (whom I dislike anyway) shiny-shiny, lacking all originality, art that has developed in DC for the last decade or more. With appropriate Alex Ross covers of course. Because it would be too hard to let a decent artist like him actually DRAW A COMIC instead of doing covers to push titles that don't deserve them.
Done now. Oh and how long before they bring him back and prove this to be a TRULY pointless graphic novel.