Batman # 673 By Hervé St-Louis Feb 16, 2008 - 1:09:16 PM

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Batman # 673
DC Comics
Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciler:  Tony Daniels
Inkers: Jonathan Glapion, Sandu Florea

Batman is in isolation, figuring out where he is and revisiting the man responsible for turning him into a vigilante, Joe Chill. Chill fears the Batman and continuously asks himself why the vigilante hates him so much. But Batman is lost in several worlds, trying to figure out if he is undergoing a Thogal ritual, if he is in an isolation chamber in space or if he’s just dead. Batman will f9ind out the answer and it will not be fun.

Morrison effectively explores the concept of stream of consciousness in this issue and does not provide many clues to readers until the end of the issue, which of course sets the stage for a torturous storyline for Batman.  By using pieces from Batman’s past and adding new layers to old historical facts and continuity, Morrison shows us more from Batman’s perspective. To his credit, being inside a delirious Batman’s mind is not as chaotic as it would be with another person. Batman remains cold, calculating and scientific in his approach, shedding little emotions for readers to feed on.

I’m not enamoured with Daniels’ work. His work seems to be a bad collage of several artists, like Jim Lee and other current popular artists. Although one can read the action, storytelling is not Daniels’ forte. There is too much effort spent trying to find odd angles rather than tell the story. As for the inkers, they are an odd match with the artist, as they bring in all the sketchy details that should have been covered up under a thick layer of ink. Colourist Guy Major does create a consistent colour palette for the entire issue that can be seen in most scenes, but its impact is not strong enough to unite all of the artwork with Morrison’s story.

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