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BATMAN #600
Recommended (8/10)
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DC Comics
"The Scene of the Crime"
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Pencils: Scott McDaniel
Inks: Andy Owens
Letters: John Costanza
"The Mystery of the Black Bat"
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: James Tucker
Letters: Eric Shanower
"Joker Tips His Hat"
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Stefano Gaudiano
Artist/Letters: Eric Shanower
"The Dark, Groovy, Solid, Far-out, Right-on and Completely With-it Knight Returns"
Writer: Patton Oswalt
Artist: Sergio Aragones
Artist/Letters: Eric Shanower
Colors: Gregory Wright & Wildstorm FX
Editor: Bob Schreck
Price: $3.95 US/$6.50 CAN |
Scene of the Crime: That Brubaker... such a tease, giving this story -- the first chapter in the "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive" storyline -- the same title as his stellar 1999 crime series from DC/Vertigo. But it's an appropriate name. This new crossover storyline -- stemming out of events in the previous "Bruce Wayne: Murderer?" storyline -- continues the impressive trend of focusing on character above plot. This story is getting to the core of the relationships that the title character shares with those who follow him, and it makes for entertaining reading.
Bruce Wayne, awaiting trial on a charge of murder, has escaped from prison, and Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl and Oracle know exactly where he's headed. They meet up with the Batman in his underground lair, and are shocked to discover that he plans to simply cast aside his civilian identity, dismissing it as nothing more than a mask that has outlived its usefulness. As some of his students question his innocence and even his sanity, Nightwing demands answers of a different kind from the man he had come to know as his father.
McDaniel's exaggerated style works surprisingly well for such an emotionally centered story. As the tension in the script crescendoes to an inevitable explosion, so does the art become more twisted and chaotic. That chaos doesn't translate into confusion, though; it still tells the story clearly, and with a great deal of power. The inks and colors reinforce the dark but intense atmosphere nicely as well.
It occurs to me that all of the major developments in "Murderer?" and now "Fugitive" take place off panel. We don't see the murder take place. We don't see Bruce Wayne escape from prison. I believe it's this approach that's helped to maintain an accessibility throughout this ongoing storyline. I think it's also helped to shift the focus onto what the characters are feeling as opposed to what they're doing. These stories are clicking because they're examining who the Batman is, not fisticuffs with colorful villains.
Back-up stories: Writers Brubaker and Oswalt present some fun looks back at different eras while the artists offer up some radically different comics storytelling techniques, and the lighter and simpler tone of the pieces are cute and entertaining. These pieces made me wish we got to see the entirety of that Elseworlds 80-Page Giant that DC never released a couple of years back, as it would have boasted a number of short stories like these.
The thing is, this book seemed to be the wrong place for such tongue-in-cheek, nostalgic stories. The goofiness of these pieces clash with the darker, more serious tone of the main story. It isn't a question of quality, but one of context.
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