★★★★★ 5
The New Era of Batman Begins NOW
Format: Hardcover
I just finished reading Batman and Robin: Batman and Robin Must Die- the deluxe edition by Grant Morrison. This book, collecting issues 13-16 of the series and the special Batman: The Return, is so good it almost makes up for the goofball s
pectacle of Bruce Wayne dying and hurtling through time to fight sentient organic robots or something. I still don't get what the f*** was going on there. Not enough acid in the world...
The entire city of Gotham made fiending addicts by a new airborne virus, the new Batman and Robin of Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne are overwhelmed by the scope of the problem. Throw in an allegedly reformed Joker masquerading as a detective, and a morbidly obese psychopath in a pig mask squealing with delight at his own torture and you have a dark return to form for the Bat-books which have been marred in self-indulgent existential nonsense for far too long.
The art is lush and cinematic, each panel more gorgeous than the last. The highlight of the issue for any long-term Bat fan HAS to be the scene with the latest incantation of Robin locked in an interrogation room with the Joker, beating him within an inch of his life with a crowbar. Both an allusion to the Joker's murder of Jason Todd from back in the 80's and the classic interrogation scene from The Dark Knight, this entire scene hums with the fierce energy of live wires.
Then Batman (Bruce Wayne... the "real" Batman) shows up and takes this series in an entirely new direction than has ever been attempted before. This isn't just some comic book, it is pop art of the finest caliber. Make sure to purchase the deluxe edition for delicious insights into the decisions made regarding characters and plots points, selections which were anything but arbitrary. Grade: A+
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Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2012
