Comics Review – Batman #680, No Hero #1 and Doktor Sleepless #9

Batman #680

Written by Grant Morrison

Art by Tony Daniel, inked by Sandu Florea

Colors by Guy Major

In a nutshell: a very pretty trainwreck.

There is no doubt this is the best issue of Batman R.I.P. yet, nor there is any doubt that it’s still weak. Unfortunately, Morrison didn’t see how ridiculous the entire idea was: a Batman dressed like Robin acting like an imbecile with extra-dimensional IMPS as his conscience. R.I.P. has failed to come up with an unpredictable twist so far. Really, guess who betrays Batman in the end. Not to mention that twat Damian – Batman’s ohgodithurtstowritethis SON – returns in this issue.

Jezebel is in danger, and Batman needs to invade the Black Glove’s mansion in order to save her and put an end to all this. In there, the Joker (or something like him) awaits.

One of the few things I liked about Morrison’s run was a redesign of the Joker, one of my favorite villains. At first, I liked his even more disfigured face and new clothes, but now Morrison’s trying to hard to turn him into Sweeney Todd – and in this issue, he has some of the worst lines he was ever forced to say. Aside from mentioning “Holmes and Moriarty, Sylvester and Tweety” and other references to allude to his conflict with Batman (when the fuck did The Joker become rational and culture-aware like this?), he also says:

“No, Batman, that’s just wikipedia.”

SERIOUSLY. Now this has to be the most pathetic pop culture reference ever seen in a comic book, especially considering WHO utters it. And it’s ridiculous how the Joker can be rational when talking to Batman, but out of nowhere he decides to slice his own tongue in half. The Black Glove continues to be a unintentionally hilarious villain, with his pompous talk and good manners that resemble about a thousand other villains and buttfucks originality.

Morrison is lost when it comes to parallel narratives as well. We get a single panel of Le Bossu wandering down a corridor saying “look at what he did to my face”, only to return to the other narrative without any clarifications at all. And it’s a small panel, tucked among others, for no other reason than adding a desperate cliffhanger.

And as I already mentioned, the betrayal at the end is as surprising as finding out Batman is Bruce Wayne. “No shit”, I said when I saw it.

Fortunately, Tony Daniel’s superb artwork makes up for Morrison’s mediocre script. His style looks like a beautiful mixture of Jim Lee and Andy Kubert. His Joker is simply perfect, and you can almost forgive his hideous lines when you look at his eyes and his smile. And even if the panel where the betrayal is revealed is not surprising at all, the expression on the betrayer’s face is impeccable. With flawless inks by Sandu Florea, Daniel seems to know what he’s doing better than Morrison himself, and Guy Major’s colors add a disturbing aura to the whole thing.

Just a shame Morrison is not up to the extremely talented art team, and screws up with a plot that relies solely on shock value (“LOOK I AM SLICING MY TONGUE!!”) and two fucking colors.

Let’s see if a truly shocking twist shows up in the next and final issue. Also, if somehow Morrison decides to kill the Joker to add more shock value, it’ll be proved he’s a self-indulgent, arrogant writer who believes his run was such a masterpiece he could kill a character like the Joker in the end of it. I say this because the way the Joker is slicing his own body all the time, he won’t survive for too long.

NO HERO #1

Written by Warren Ellis

Art by Juan Jose Ryp

Colors by Digikore Studios

In a nutshell: more of the same.

It’s funny that, when working at a publisher that gives complete creative freedom, Warren Ellis chooses to hit the same note of “superheroes in the real world”. I sat back and enjoyed “Black Summer” despite an unsurprising ending, but now I can’t help feeling that, despite different plot elements, “No Hero” is just more of the same. While Garth Ennis is exploring Avatar’s creative freedom to write the kind of stories he couldn’t in other publishers (a western, a tale about the anti-christ, a zombie story), Ellis seems to still be interested in the superhero genre, and his other projects – with the exception of Doktor Sleepless – are flat and uncompelling, like the first issue of Anna Mercury.

Not that Ellis has suddenly lost his appeal or anything – he’s an absolutely brilliant writer. I’m a fan of his work, which is why I’m being so exigent. So far I haven’t seen a truly original comic by Ellis in Avatar except for Wolfskin, which should have more issues. The Warren Ellis I know and love is in Crécy, it’s partly in Doktor Sleepless. Because Warren Ellis is not conventional, and this is what “No Hero” is shaping up to be.

“No Hero” tries to establish vigilantism as part of the United States’ history, and Carrick Masterson as one of its most influential figures, the leader of The Frontline. That’s when Joshua Carver, an aspiring superhero, does his best to get Masterson’s attention, by patrolling the streets at night and violently disposing of muggers and rapists.

It looks like this book wants to be not about heroes or villains, but the grey area in between them. But the things seen in this first issue make the following ones very predictable. I’ll make some guesses, see if they come true: Carrick Masterson will turn out to be a man capable of anything, who’ll introduce Joshua Carver to the Frontline and then disappoint Carver with his lack of morals. Carver himself will be the naive idealist guy who learns a lesson in how the world really is. The green-haired girl will either be his love interest or Masterson’s right hand.

Juan Jose Ryp’s art is gorgeous as usual, oozing detail. His narrative storytelling and facial expressions, though, could still use some more effort, since neither of which have any subtlety. And why is it that every time Carver hits someone, what looks like sand explodes from the spot he hit? Is his power to cover everyone in sand or something, or has Digikore Studios fucked up the colors, which are far from having the same brilliance of Greg Waller or Mark Sweeney?

All in all, “No Hero” is, so far, a conventional superhero story. I’m still waiting to be surprised by a truly original concept. When it comes to “superheroes” in a historical setting, Garth Ennis is already doing that in “The Boys”.

Doktor Sleepless #9

Written by Warren Ellis

Art by Ivan Rodriguez

Colors by Andrew Dalhouse

In a nutshell: despite a lack of character voice, “Book Two” starts off intriguing and powerful.

Another thing I think has become a problem to Warren Ellis is the concept of character voice: make all your characters unique, and not extensions of yourself. And this is something that curses the first pages of this issue, when the new protagonist, a culture blogger, types up a blog entry and her writing style is incredibly llke Ellis’ writing style – I know because I receive his Bad Signal e-mails and I read his blog. I particularly highlight this bit: “Jesus, it looks awful. Like someone chopped some meat off a hobo, dipped it in cigarette ash and rubbed it all over everything.”

But when she gets off the train and walks around post-Doktor Sleepless Heavenside, the story becomes intriguing once again. The Doktor himself never appears in this issue, just the supporting characters. It’s a good way to set up what’s coming next, and to surround him in an aura of mistery and danger. Also, the blogger becomes more interesting as the story progresses, with the introduction of a new character who calls himself “Big. On account of my huge cock.”

Ivan Rodriguez’s art is getting better and better every issue. His lines are more firm, his shadows are less sketchy, and his visual narrative is, as usual, excellent. His portrayal of Heavenside truly LOOKS like someone chopped some meat off a hobo, dipped it in cigarette ash and rubbed it over everything. And that’s a compliment. Andrew Dalhouse’s colors are pretty and also clever: notice how he colors the blogger in brighter tones, to set her apart from Heavenside’s grayish environments.

“Doktor Sleepless #9″ is off to a good start. I just hope Ellis can stop adding his sarcasm and his cynism to all his characters as he’s been doing of late.