Comic Book Review: Batman and Robin #8

Book Information

Written by Grant Morrison

Art by Cameron Stewart

Plot

Part 3 of Blackest Knight continues as Batman, Batwoman, Knight and Squire attempt the revival of Bruce Wayne.  Using the body found by Superman after the grueling battle with Darksied, The four heroes brace for the worst as the body begins to rise from the Lazarus Pit.  Is it Batman or an imposter?  Either way, strange things are definitely a foot in the United K!

My Thoughts

Apparently the body carried out by Superman after Darksied fell wasn’t Batman’s at all, but one of the many Batman clones meant to serve Darksied.  How Convenient, eh?  So will this become another Superman story, where after Superman’s death, clones of the last son of Krypton began to rise from the Earth?  Is Grant Morrison honestly trying to continue with his horrid Final Crisis story as a way of bringing Bruce Wayne back from the grave?  Currently Morrison is writing himself into a world filled with rehashed plot devices and poorly thought out conclusions.  I can accept the Lazarus Pit resurrection, but using clones in the story is pushing it for me.

Once the Bruce Wayne clone rises out of the pit, we the readers find ourselves observing a somewhat confusing fight sequence between Dick Grayson and Wayne’s clone.  I went back a number of times after finishing this issue trying to figure out which Batman was Grayson, but failed epically. I then came to the conclusion that it wasn’t something to get worried about seeing as how fight scenes in comics can always be confusing to look at, even when it’s between two very distinguishable characters.

Morrison does find a way to redeem this issue a little with his expansion on the Batwoman prophecy.  I haven’t done much research into the Batwoman character since I don’t pick up Detective comics.  However, what I do know of Batwoman is the mystical and prophetic shadow that follows her.  Her wish to die seemingly has something to do with the mystery surrounding her.  Morrison, while not truly revealing anything new, wrote this into the story very well and helped to amplify Batwoman’s character even further.

Cameron Stewart steps up his game with much more mature looking art.  Last issue had the aura of a children’s comic book, but containing very adult themes.  Dark Storylines written for kids have to be handled delicately or they become a huge mess of random, incoherent jargon.  (Take Twilight for example.)  But this issue feels so much more mature even with Stewart’s very round stylization, particularly in the faces.  I still find Stewart to be a little annoying as an artist, but it was a lot more tolerable with this issue.

Overall

Satisfactory, but not great.  Morrison is following his typical pattern of bad storytelling; starting off with a bang, but going off into “la la land” as the title progresses.  I’m cheering for Morrison to do well as this title is the best work in Grant Morrison’s writing repertoire, but this issue doesn’t bode well for him

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars

Next Issue Coming February 24, 2010

Part 3 of "Blackest Knight" guest-starring Batwoman, Knight and Squire! Only months into his new role as Batman, Dick Grayson faces perhaps the biggest threat of his life. In hopes of attaining his heart's desire, has Dick instead unleashed a terror the likes of which the world has never seen?
Meanwhile, back in Gotham City, Alfred and a recuperating Robin are at the mercy of someone both fearsome and familiar…