BATMAN #655

Written by: Grant Morrison
Art and Cover by: Andy Kubert
Variant Cover by: Adam Kubert
Published by: DC Comics

Comic legends Grant Morrison (ALL STAR SUPERMAN, SEVEN SOLDIERS) and Andy Kubert (Ultimate X-Men, 1602) come together for Part 1 of "Batman and Son." After a harrowing battle with the Joker high atop Police Headquarters, Batman decides to let Bruce Wayne step into the light. But just who is watching billionaire Bruce Wayne? And what does their plan have to do with Man-Bat?

So I’m walking down the Gas Lamp district during last weeks SDCC (awesome!) enjoying a cigarette, Kamel Ztingers (awesome!) talking shop with the rest of the guys I’m hanging with, when someone bumps me on the sidewalk, and this was no slight bump, but a hard bump, a shove so to speak. So I look back to see who it was and it was some baldheaded, leather jacket wearing, shiny vinyl pant wearing, Goth master walking in the opposite direction. He turned to look at me, and our eyes met and I gave him a look, the classic “Wass Up Holmes?” look, and he shot me back a mid-British, down the nose glare. So I’m thinking it’s on like Donkey Kong, I just beat up a “Hired Bum” a night before after he tried to mug me, so I’m gonna tap dance on this metrosexual’s baldheaded melon. But my friend stops me and says…”hey, that’s Grant Morrison!” with thoughts of Beau Smith’s “How to Punch a Comic Book Writer in the Face” article, I diverge my eyes and turn away as we begin our trek to the nearest pub to drink a Guinness and relax, when I finally realized, “Hey, that was fucking Grant Morrison!”

Far be it from me to beat one of the men in comics who I most respect, and that is how I decided to open up this week’s review. Morrison is writing BATMAN, and it’s going to get good. I remember the way he would write BATMAN in the pages of JLA, making him such a bad ass (I just wish he could have done that with WOLVERINE, gay leather wearing biker jacket aside) and of course his most infamous foray into the Bat-universe with his classic ARKHAM ASYLUM. Man that graphic put shudders up my spine as he delved into the psychology of what makes a man, lose his marbles and dress up like a bat and beat up on bad people. I think Morrison’s run on BATMAN is going to differ from that, from what I’ve seen, he’s taking a more retro approach to the book, telling stories about the weird side of BATMAN, and making the DARK KNIGHT fun again. Not only that, but expect the powerful artwork of Andy Kubert to jostle your minds eye with eye candy-rific images of the Bats. I’ve been looking forward to the Kubert’s debut ever since they jumped ship from Marvel and decided to throw in with the DC lot.

So this week’s pick in BATMAN. But I wonder who would win in a fight? Grant Morrison or Beau Smith?