Hey guys, I'm back again, I've been having computer trouble so bare with me, either way,I'm here to jump right into Blackest Night: Batman #1. As you all know I've been the Batmania correspondant I guess you could say for The Blackest Night, and I've also decided to take on the duties of Blackest Night Batman & Superman series. So without further adieu, Lets get into Blackest Night: Batman.
Blackest Night: Batman starts off with the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder at the graves of Thomas and Martha Wayne, and the unmarked grave of former Batman, Bruce Wayne. After Bruce's body was stolen, Alfred was the first to find out, which explains why our newest Dynamic Duo is here. Here we see a rare moment between Batman and Robin, for one of the first times ever we see Damien as vulnerable, emotional and probably afraid, it's not too often I even care about Damien personally so Kudos to the writer, Peter Tomasi.
After gathering the bodies of the Wayne's, we see Deadman a.k.a. Boston Brand watch as his body leaves its grave as a Black Lantern while he can do nothing to stop it. Also en route to the newest JLA... morgue I guess, where the bodies of villains are being held, we see a flurry of Black Lantern rings, going through police officers to their newest owners, including former Batman villains Magpie, KGBeast, Blockbuster and even former Ventriloquist Arnold Wesker.
Later on, Boston Brand decides he needs help and runs to Bruce Wayne, only he doesn't know that Bruce is no longer in the Batsuit so he's shocked to find out he just possessed Dick Grayson. Afterwards he possesses Damien as well, I felt this scene didnt really push anything forward...It just bored me for some reason. I won't ruin the story, but I will say, I loved the Broken Batsignal, because it was a Nod to Blackest Night #2. As well as the appearance by Red Robin I'll say Batman is in for a hell of a time, and Blackest Night was a good start. With Wonderful art work and a well written story, I give Blackest Night: Batman a 8/10
- Jason Todd
I really liked this comic a lot. Like you astutely touched on, it was nice to see Damien act like a kid instead of the annoying, unbeatable fighting machine Grant Morrison often presents him as. I actually like Damien when he's written by anybody BUT Grant, who created him! Go figure...
ReplyDeleteI actually enjoyed this issue more than BN Bats #2, not sure if you've checked that issue out yet, if you did, I'd be interested to read what you thought about it.
I'm not a big Damien fan but if he's written more like this I could become one. I did check out BN Batman #2 and I did like how the characters interacted but as you pointed out It really bothered me, and I mean REALLY bothered me that Dick and Tim's identity's were just thrown out like that for Gordon to hear. I know he's not an idiot and surely knows Bruce was Batman but still, It's like no one even cared to keep it a secret.
ReplyDeleteAlso...whats the Deal with Arnold Wesker...you can bring back anyone from the dead and you choose Arnold Wesker? yeah...okay.
Thank you Jason! When Tim was refering to Dick by his first name in the Batplane, while Gordon was a few seats away, I was just stunned. I always thought the members of the Bat-family were the most protective of their secret identities... I guess not anymore!
ReplyDeleteHa, I guess the Black Lantern's were really scraping the bottom of the barrel when they decided to bring back the useless Ventriloquist!
Lol and him just using his ring to make Scarface was so uncreative...I mean honestly, was there no one else of importance? Really? Not even like...The Waynes?!
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I guess with Bruce dead they just say screw it, we can trust Gordon when Zombies are loose. I don't know, that really dropped the rating of the comic in my eyes when they did that...but..yeah. Thats so odd that they'd give up their information so easily in front of Jim.
I'm not sure if you ever read Batman: Year One Jason, but when Bats first started his crimefighting career, a young Lt. Gordon had Bruce pegged as his primary suspect in his Batman investgation. That along with the fact that Dick was Batman's ward during his Robin days, along with the fact that Gordon knew Nightwing was the grown up Robin all point to Jim knowing that not only was Bruce Batman, but that Dick was Robin/Nightwing/Batman. Still though, I can't remember any member of the Bat-family EVER referring to each other by first name while they were in costume... I always thought that was like the ultimate no-no.
ReplyDelete"And yeah, I guess with Bruce dead they just say screw it, we can trust Gordon when Zombies are loose." HA!!! That must be the old zombie rule, you know, whenever heart-eating zombies are running around in the streets, anything goes!
Yeah I did read that, I never knew if it was 100% apart of continuity or not but that totally makes sense, outside of n Batman & Robin Issue 2 where Gordon knows its not the original Batman but he still seems confused, you'd think he's immediately identify him as Nightwing but eh, what can you do. and speaking of which did you ever read Robin year One or Nightwing Year One? I did reviews of them here as well.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing about the meeting between Gordon and Dick in B&R #2. All I can think is that Dick really disguised his voice and was wearing something to boost his height, 'cause Dick is definitely shorter than Bruce was. That's another thing, the fact that Dick was hiding the fact that he was Batman from Gordon in B&R #2, and then was all too happy to let the cat out of the bag in BN: Bats #2 makes what happened in BN Bats #2 even stranger!
ReplyDeleteI did read Nightwing Year One, and like you, I recall enjoying it. I don't think I ever managed to get a hold of Robin Year One though...
Lol Yeah, its like he hid it so well then easily gave up everything about who he is. Whats weird is I was reading your reviews about Battle for The Cowl, whats with Vicki Vale knowing who everyone is now and yet she hasn't been mentioned since then...thats kinda pointless.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the Vicki Vale stuff was just bizarre... All I can think is that down the road it will all lead somewhere, but since it hasn't been mentioned since, I'm beginning to doubt that. Maybe when Bruce makes his inevitable return the stuff with Vicki will come up again.
ReplyDeleteMaybe, I hope they do something with it, although the stuff with Leslie or the stuff with Bullock also hasn't been mentioned...seems like a wasted comic at the moment.
ReplyDeleteYeah, looking back a lot of that stuff hasn't led anywhere yet... Oh well, maybe someday.
ReplyDeleteYeah, hopefully, To be honest I wish I could just fast forward to Bruce's return, then go pick up all the Blackest Night, Batman Reborn and Booster Gold stuff I've missed since then.
ReplyDelete