Written by: Grant Morrison
Arted by: Cameron Stewart, Chris Burnham & Frazer IrvingDon’t miss this fantastic finale as BATMAN AND ROBIN’s storyline connects with THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE! The climactic showdown between Batman and the Black Glove is finally here. It’s payback time for The Dark Knight as Batman and Robin face the ultimate evil. Will Damian betray his father’s legacy? Will Bruce Wayne return just in time to see Dick Grayson die? Plus, The Joker and Professor Pyg!
This is only the beginning of a startling new status quo for the Batman…
Well, we’re finally here. This issue marks the end of Grant Morrison’s run on Batman & Robin, and a huge change for the Batman franchise as a whole. I’ve said before that Grant Morrison’s Batman is what truly got me back into comics, and this issue marks the conclusion of the giant arc that Morrison has been writing since he joined the main title at #655. Obviously, I had some high expectations. Follow the cut to see if this issue lived up to them.
Where do I start? Batman & Robin has been my favorite superhero title since it started, and this issue certainly didn’t upset the standard that the previous fifteen issues set. Like the domino motif that has been prevalent throughout this run, resolution followed resolution in an incredibly satisfactory manner. In fact, there hasn’t been an issue like this — in that regard — in Morrison’s Batman run yet. Sure, we still have Batman Inc. ahead of us, but the threads for that were laid in this issue and this issue only. The saga of Doctor Hurt and the Black Glove is finally over (for the foreseeable future, at least).
If you’ve been enjoying Grant Morrison’s Batman work so far, I can almost guarantee that you’ll enjoy this issue. All the themes that made his previous issues so enjoyable to read are equally prevalent in this issue, further enhancing the satisfactory conclusion of this final arc. Morrison loves his villains, and both the Joker and Doctor Hurt have perfect character moments in this issue, with Hurt shouting his iconic quote while nearly suffocating in his own revelry and the Joker pulling one of the most classic gags of all time. Just like in Batman #701 and #702, it was great to see Morrison writing a fully-coherent Bruce Wayne once more, as he really gives Bruce the serious and focused edge that defines the character through showing, rather than telling. I will admit, I was a bit disappointed that this issue didn’t have the running narrative that I had grown to love from earlier in Morrison’s run, but in the end this hardly hurts the issue.
I was wary at first when the issue went from one artist to three, due to script delays, but in the end it didn’t really hurt the issue. Cameron Stewart continued to prove his place as one of the greatest artists currently in the industry with some superb examples of storytelling and incredibly solid pencil work. Take, for example, the 16-panel fight scene with the three smaller sub-panels. Astounding. There are a few pages of Stewart’s in this issue that I wish I could find unlettered and hang up on my wall (or, at least, use as my background). Frazer Irving was no slouch either, and still managed to put out work on par with that from his previous issues even though he was low on time. Sure, he did some odd stylistic things that bothered some, but I didn’t really mind (though Damian’s unmasked face did look a bit odd). But let’s not forget underdog Chris Burnham, who did a great job at keeping up with the big names. His art reminds me of a sort of amalgamation between Stewart and Quitely, while still retaining his own personal streak.
Unlike other comics websites, I’m going to give you a nice Spoiler Alert! before discussing the end of this issue. As much as I trust Morrison, I’m not sure how I feel about Bruce Wayne going public as the funder of Batman. It has been done before with Iron Man multiple times, and I hope that if Morrison goes through with this that he doesn’t just hand-wave away the implications of Bruce Wayne publicly sponsoring vigilantes. If anyone can do it, it’s Morrison, but I’m still a bit wary. I will now end this with something completely inane to confuse those who didn’t read the spoiler. And how about that chicken costume?
While writing this review, I made a realization: this is the first large run on a title that I have read from beginning to end as it came out. There have been a few runs that I jumped on after they started and followed until the end, and I have read many legendary runs on titles that finished long ago. This, however, is different. I started Grant Morrison’s run with Batman #655, shortly after it was released, and we have now reached the end of that run with Batman & Robin #16 (not counting Incorporated, but I mentioned that already), almost four and a half years later. I enjoyed every second of it. Thanks for the memories, Grant and company.
Final Verdict: 9.3 – Buy it!
