Batman: Icon or Big Dork?

“Whenever I read a Batman comic book, (the writers) always make a point of saying he dresses like a giant bat,” Van Sciver says. “He is clearly a man with pointy little ears on his head, and he wears bed sheets.”

from an Scripps Howard featurette on artist Ethan Van Sciver (via the Blog@Newsarama)

Mrkvm's pick of the week for 03/28/07

This week was tough, as both 52 and Green Lantern were fantastic issues. However, my pick goes to Batman 664. Despite scheduling problems, Grant Morrison's run on this book is really shaping up to be phenomenal.

This issue is essentially broken into two parts. The first focuses on Bruce Wayne as a character, something Morrison has said he wanted to emphasize. The second shows Batman tracking down some leads no one else cares about, which in turn leads Batman to meet a frightening (and familiar?) foe. A new mystery brews with mentions of the black casebook, and there's also some nice references to earlier in Morrison's Batman run, which make me realize that he's slowly building a bigger story. I also think that this issue is the best so far drawn by Andy Kubert, who has been a little spotty for me on this book.

Ultimately, though, reading this comic reminded me of being in 7th grade, when I first became a more serious comics reader. Batman and Detective Comics were my favorites back then, even if some of those stories (Death in the Family, among others) seem a bit goofy now. Morrison's Batman seems to be mining the good parts of that era and others to build the post-Infinite Crisis Batverse. Can't wait to see where this goes next.

The Brave And The Bold #1

It's the return of The Brave And The Bold, the original team-up book, and I loved it. Mark Waid has managed to pen an intriguing and fun story wherein it actually makes sense to have two of my favorite DC characters (that would be Batman and Hal Jordan) team up. It doesn't hurt that the book is drawn by one of my all-time favorite comics artists, George Pérez. Pérez still has some of the greatest layouts you'll ever see and although he's still using a lot of the same tricks that made him famous, it doesn't feel stale or too old-school.

Speaking of old-school, I have to admit that this comic managed to make me feel a bit like a kid again (I love when that happens). It may be cliché, but this book really reminded of some of those old DC books I'd randomly pick out of the back issue bin back when I first got into comics. It just had that fun vibe where you get to see what happens when these characters team up. What if Bruce Wayne took Hal Jordan to a high-end casino? And, hey, who would win the blackjack game? A little silly, sure, but it worked. I felt a little bit like I was getting to watch Mark Waid live out his own fanboy fantasy team-up, which I figure is a good thing.

All that said, I also made a mental note to myself to save these comics for my young nephew when he gets old enough for these stories. It just kind of felt like the perfect book for someone exploring the DCU for the first time. We'll see if I still feel that way after a few more issues.

The one thing I'm curious about here is how they'll tie this book into continuity. Waid has said that these won't be throwaway stories and that they'll impact the DCU in the same way that Superman/Batman did when Loeb was writing it. That certainly raises my interest level even more.

Can't wait for more of this one (let's just hope it can stay on schedule).