Woo-hoo, night before last UPS dropped my box of May comics on the carport. I usually read them pretty slowly, spacing it out, reading a couple or maybe a few per day. To show how obsessive compulsive I am, the first thing I do is put the comics into the order that they came out the previous month, to read them in that order. This is for two reasons: One is that sometimes events one week in one title will impact on events the next week in a different title. Also, I want to duplicate as far as possible how I'd be reading them were I getting them through the month as they came out. (Unfortunately, getting my comics monthly like this means I may be commenting up to several weeks after they are released. Oh well. It's a problem I face when I'm listening to comics podcasts, too.)
Not sure how I'm going to record these in this blog. My first impulse is to do it like this: Read a couple and write a short comment. We'll see. It might change.
Morrison's run continues. I've already seen his comment that yes, even though it's not in the September relaunch, Batman Incorporated will be back sometime next year to finish out his six-year Batman epic that has redefined the character in mythic terms. And this is the artist whom he announces for that project. I'm happy. Morrison's a weird writer – sometimes incomprehensible, but I've found his work really rewards repeated rereadings. There's always something new to glean, new connections and allusions to discover. I don't read anything and everything by Morrison, but if it's something I'm interested in his name is usually a plus.
Briefly, in the past few years Morrison has deconstructed the character of Batman and put him back together again in a whole new way. The latest phase of that, after Bruce Wayne was lost in time and presumed dead for a year but returned to save the very universe, has been to “franchise out” the Batman idea, creating a legion of crime-fighters around the world – Batman, Incorporated. This is necessary to fight a world-wide threat he calls “Leviathan.” In this issue we also find out that Tim Drake is to head up a new iteration of The Outsiders. Although no Tim Drake title has been announced as of yet, he does survive the relaunch at least, as announced this morning for the new Teen Titans series. Don't know if The Outsiders connection will, though – that's not been announced.
One interesting thing right off the bat. This takes place after Action Comics #904, scheduled for August and thus the last of that title before the September relaunch to #1 (boo-hiss!) This is a nicely executed issue of a comic, balancing a done-in-one story that is obviously (“to be continued”) part of an overall story-arc. That's the way comics ought to be. Far too many are incomprehensible except as a chapter in a story-arc. This has a nice beginning, middle, and end, but leaves you wanting more.
I've really liked Lemire's brief run on this title, and was hoping maybe he would stay after September. Apparently he's not. And I don't really like the visual image and tone set for the character by today's Teen Titans announcement. Heck, not even confirmed that there will be a Superboy title.
Briefly, Connor encounters an even worse psychic-hallucenogenic-parasite plant than the Black Mercy (is Alan Moore going to complain about DC using that?). It makes his deepest fears seem real to him. He perseveres, of course.
Both good reads. Cheers!
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