Today I continue my attempt to whittle down my monthly list of comics. Last week I took a look at the current state of Superman books and decided it was time for me to once again move on from those waters. At the rate prices are increasing, I may never see them again. This week I move on to Gotham's Caped Crusader. I've rarely not purchased some Batman book or another since around the time of the first Keaton movie. Is his place on the list secure?
In contrast to Superman, Batman has been with me more often than he has not. However, I'm really only buying Morrison's Batman and Robin, his Return of Bruce Wayne, and the eponymous Batman. I'm honestly not crazy about the current Bruce Wayne-less Batman paradigm. I like Dick Grayson well enough, but I liked him better as his own man. Clearly that's coming to an end though, as we are already underway with the Return storyline. Still, Batman and Robin remains an excellent title, slightly more coherent than Morrison's own RIP storyline, so I'll stick with it for now. Batman, while less impressive than B&R, is readable.
The real question here is Return of Bruce Wayne. It's one of those Morrison books that reads less like a story and more like a series of glimpses into a story. We're rapidly thrust into a sequence of events that feels as though it supposes we already know exactly what is going on (Darkseid made Bruce a living weapon?), and shows us aspects of the DC Universe that do not mesh with previous depictions (Vanishing Point). However, on occassion, these mental meanderings of Morrison's do pay off. Heck, I'm already two issues in to a six issue mini, might as well stick with it.
Ok, three books examined, three books remain. Honestly I'm tempted to add in a couple of other Bat-books, such as Red Robin, though I detest that direction for the character, and Batgirl, which actually is the direction they should have gone a long time ago imo. We'll see where I end up at the conclusion of this excersize and make a decision then.
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