Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Andy Kubert, Tony Daniel and Frank Quitely et al
2011
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The first line of dialogue is "2 Right 3 Left 1 Right": because - yes - it's Grant Morrison and if he isn't making you feel like maybe you're gone slightly crazy and are losing your solid foothold in reality and messing with all your quaint little notions about how a story is supposed to play out [1] then I guess he doesn't feel like he's doing his job properly.
From the outside - yeah: it looks like it's just one complete thing but don't be fooled: there's actually three different sections all with their own special flavour. The first third is Time and the Batman (originally published as Batman 700: so you know - it was a pretty big deal and all that - and is why it feels less like a stand-alone story and more like a greatest hits tribute medley packing in as many highlights from Bat-history as it possibly can - leaping around like a manic wandering minstrel playing hopscotch): there's a whole bunch of time travel stuff and fun ideas that most other people would spread out over whole book (eg 2-face-2) plus it takes the Grant Morrison gimmick [2] of having different artists illustrate the same story and - for once - doesn't make it feel too contrived (hooray!).
The middle section is R.I.P.: The Missing Chapter which bridges a whole bunch of gaps between Batman: R.I.P., Final Crisis and The Return of Bruce Wayne which means that (if you haven't read those books) - well - you're going to feel like you're being pulled through a hedge backwards whilst being dropped from an airplane [3] whilst for those of those who've been foolhardy enough to read everything up until this point (no - I don't know why either) - we get to experience the uniqueness of reading a Grant Morrison comic and (slowly) having things become well - (slightly) clearer answering all the pressing questions like: what exactly happened with that helicopter crash (So - wait - what? He died twice?): even if I could swear I could faintly hear Morrison quietly sighing in the background ("Do I really have to explain everything that happened? Ok - fine: let me connect up all the dots for you.").
And the final bit is: The Great Escape - which: well - is nowhere near as much fun as the first two seeing how it's basically a pretty straight forward Batman story that moves in all the ways you'd expect: almost as if it's the final part in some reverse-psychology gambit [4] with all the Batfans who were complaining that the non-stop onslaught of concepts and ideas of Morrison's livewire Batman run up until this point were all too much for them to take and so he's all like: fine if that's the way you want it - then I'll give you exactly what you want and then you'll realise how milquetoast it all is [5].
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[1] So - you know: if you think that you should be able to understand what exactly is going on at a given time and leave with a definite sense of closure then - well: you've come to the wrong place and maybe you should put the comic down and try your luck elsewhere?
[2] Although "gimmick" is a pretty harsh word to use I realise...
[3] In fact - if you're one of those who haven't read any of the other Grant Morrison Batcomics - I would totally love for you to read this and tell me exactly how much sense you could glean from what was going on (my best guess would be - not much - but then again maybe I'm wrong?).
[4] See also: Adam and Joe on Colin Farrell. "Don't do the washing up" etc.
[5] Except - oops - I just checked the contents page and realised that it was actually written by someone else (Fabian Nicieza) - so: well: oh dear. (Still - I think that's an easy mistake to make seeing how the front cover has "GRANT MORRISON" written across it in big white letters).
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Links: Comics Alliance Roundtable Review: Batman #700, Mindless Ones Article: Criminology, Mindless Ones Article: Batman 700: Zom’s Thoughts / Mindless Ones Article: Batman Says “Yes” To POPCRIME.
Preceded by: Batman: Batman and Son, Batman: The Black Glove, Batman: R.I.P., Final Crisis, Batman: Batman and Robin, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne.
Followed by: Batman: Batman Incorporated.
Further reading: Seaguy, Vimanarama, The Bulletproof Coffin.
Profiles: Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely.
All comments welcome.
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