DC COMICS
WRITER: Grant Morrison
PENCILS: Frank Quitely, Philip Tan
INKS: Frank Quitely, Jonathan Glapion
COLORS: Alex Sinclair, Pete Pantazis
LETTERS: Patrick Brosseau
EXTRA ART: Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Philip Tan, J.G. Jones, Andy Kubert with Chris Chuckry, Tony S. Daniel with Ian Hannin
COVER: Frank Quitely and Alex Sinclair
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2566-7; hardcover
168pp, Color, $24.99 U.S., $29.99 CAN
I see the last 26 years of DC Comics as an onslaught of events, launches, re-launches, etc., especially the last 10 years. It seems as if the powers at DC and also the writers, artists, and editors who are looked upon with favor have been restarting, destroying, making-over, re-imagining, revamping, re-jiggering and remaking every corner of the DC Universe, every character in the DC catalog, and every page of comics ever published by DC Comics.
Out of the 2008-09 conflagration that was “Batman: R.I.P.,” Final Crisis, and “Battle for the Cowl,” came a new Batman comic book series, Batman and Robin. Bruce Wayne was no longer Batman. Bruce was dead/missing/lost in time and the Bat-mantle was picked up by the original Robin, Richard “Dick” Grayson, and the new Robin (#4) was Damian Wayne, Batman and Talia al Ghul’s lovechild.
The new Batman and Robin debuted in Batman and Robin #1 (cover date August 2009). The series was created by Grant Morrison and the first three issues were drawn by Morrison’s All-Star Superman collaborator, Frank Quitely. Like All-Star Superman and the other Morrison/Quitely joint, New X-Men, Batman and Robin was snazzy and jazzy compared to the dark-dark that has mostly been Batman since Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. The Richard Grayson Batman is light-hearted and more conscious about violence and the Damian Wayne Robin is more like the scowling, Dirty Harry Batman.
The first six issues of Batman and Robin (which was re-launched during DC Comics’ “The New 52), are collected in the 2010 hardcover, Batman and Robin: Batman Reborn – The Deluxe Edition. The book collects two storylines: “Batman Reborn” (#1-3) and “Revenge of the Red Hood” (#4-6); the latter is penciled by Philip Tan. The book also includes a 16-page section in the back of the book, entitled “Batman Redrawn” which includes art, character and costume designs, and some text about the creation, graphics, and design of the new series.
Originally, I only read the first issue of the series. I thought it was excellent, and it reminded me of the start-off-with-a-bang that was Morrison and Quitely’s New X-Men #114 (cover date July 2001). Rereading Batman and Robin #1 for the first time in over two years, I have to admit that I didn’t find it as sparkly as I did the first time. That surprises me because every time I reread New X-Men #114, which I do every few years, I love it as much as I did the first time. And boy, did I love it.
In “Batman Reborn,” the new Dynamic Duo takes on Professor Pyg, a villain with a predilection for changing people’s faces. He is the boss of an extreme circus based in Europe, but he is also a creator of and dealer in designer drugs. “Revenge of the Red Hood” pits Batman and Robin against rivals who want to replace them, Red Hood and Scarlet. The twist is that Red Hood was Robin #2, the tragic Jason Todd. Todd, who claims to want to really cleanup Gotham City, actually brings more trouble to the city with his antics.
Although it ultimately goes out with a whimper, the “Batman Reborn” storyline is imaginative. It’s not Morrison’s best work (The Invisibles), but it is some of the most colorful and inventive Batman comics, probably since the Batman comic books of the 1950s and 1960s. Quitely’s intricate line work in All-Star Superman needed color to give it texture and form. In “Batman Reborn,” ragged brushwork pushes Alex Sinclair’s colors aside, so that the color is just that – color. Quitely’s artwork would look lovely reprinted as a black and white comic book. The clotted blacks and scratchy lines give Batman and his Gotham City milieu a screwy, but unique neo-Noir touch.
“Revenge of the Red Hood” is hodge-podge of character conflicts that don’t interest me enough to analyze them. The art by the usually good Philip Tan is ugly. With that in mind, overall, I think of this collection, Batman and Robin: Batman Reborn – The Deluxe Edition, as being another DC Comics event that does not live up to the hype or to some readers’ expectations (like mine). This isn’t essential Batman or essential Grant Morrison, but Batman and Morrison fans will want to sample it.
B
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