In “Batman Must Die!” part 2 of 3, one of our heroes lies near death! Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne enter the ultimate, blood-soaked battle against two foes who almost destroyed the original Batman. Are the new Dynamic Duo up to this final confrontation with absolute evil? If they can’t truly bond as a team, they’re dead!
With just Gil and I on review duty this week, what did we think of our book of the week and the penultimate issue to Batman Must Die! arc? Check behind the cut for our thoughts.
Matt’s Thoughts: Man, do I love this book. I absolutely love everything about it, and I have from day one. I guess then that it is appropriate that this is where we finally have things tied back to the first issue of the series, which is something that I’ve been waiting to see for a while now.
With this we really have some of Grant Morrison’s more erratic writing that some of the other writers at MC don’t like as much as I do. To be honest, I really like it when Morrison allows himself to have more fun with the titles he is writing, which often leads to dialogue that reads like they came out of Kevin Spacey’s notebooks in Se7en. Professor Pyg is at his absolute most insane here, hung upside down on a cross and ranting and raving like a lunatic. This is what I love about the story though – the madness fits.
What’s also interesting to me is that in a story where the Joker is now a very apparent character, he’s not the most insane character around. I love his sequence with Damian in the opening, as well as his description of himself as “differently sane,” and his return as the clown prince of crime at the end of the story. It’s a clever set up of evil versus evil as we all eagerly anticipate the return of Bruce Wayne, with Dick Grayson caught in the middle and Damian incapacitated.
It really doesn’t get much better than this, folks. Morrison is the master of Batman stories now, and he’s the only writer who I will really get behind when it comes to the adventures of the caped crusader. I don’t really want anyone writing the title, and I’m not as interested at what anyone would do besides him. Morrison has really gone and made these characters his own, and his own madness is reflected very well in the writing. This is an issue that requires extra time to it, and I really feel like you get your money’s worth with the issue for that reason.
Frazer Irving’s art is also much better with this issue. I’m actually more fond of his work now that he’s allowed to deal with more intense sequences than I was the last issue, which was set up (although it still looked good). The tone in this book feels much more fitted, and the use of colors is perfect. Irving’s Joker looks particularly sinister this issue as he deceives everyone, and you really catch the desperation present in Batman and Commissioner Gordon as well as the sick depravity of Professor Pyg. Doctor Hurt is more of a background villain this issue, but there are some sequences with him that are quite interesting visually, such as a scene in which we see both his front and back split by panels.
To cut a long story short: Batman and Robin is quite simply an awesome title. Morrison is really on his game here, and this finale is shaping up to truly be something else. The next two issues are going to be dynamite.
Gil’s Thoughts: This book.
This book is absolutely out of its mind. Grant Morrison is too. Hell, so is Frazer Irving. You know how I know? No one in their right mind can write a book this GOOD.
Grant Morrison is totally off his rocker. I don’t know how he got so neatly inside someone like The JOKER’S head, but he did. His Joker is one of the scariest Jokers I’ve ever seen. The sneer on his face, the violence he commits, it’s all flat out TERRIFYING. Wow. And even though Damian is a little bastard, you start to feel for him as he realizes he made a terrible mistake.
Continued belowAnd that’s not even the plot of the book. Professor Pyg is one of the freakiest villains there is right now, and I could see him at home, quietly sewing people ass to mouth to make his human centipede. His plot to forcibly addict everyone to a certain drug is that of legends, and while it may have technically been done before, it’s never been so scary. Imagine Dick and Damian in 28 Days Later, and that’s the idea of the book.
And then there’s Frazer Irving. His work in this issue is absolutely mental. There’s never been a scarier looking Joker, and his Joker Venom faces are just painful to look at. This whole series has been off the proverbial chain.
Really, even if you don’t particularly care for Batman, you should pick it up. It’s that good.
CRAZY.
