Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Batman #673

By Geoff Hoppe
February 2, 2008 - 13:08

Batman #673

Nightmares don’t always make for good stories. For instance, I had one two nights ago where Michael York held me captive in Red China. After subduing him with an empty wine bottle, my family escaped to safety.

Where was I?

Ah yes, Batman. In Batman #673, Bruce Wayne, who recently suffered a heart attack, has dream flashbacks to the Thogal ritual he took part in in Tibet, his early days as Batman, and even the murder that instigated his career. Bat-mite shows up, and somehow avoids being a poor addition to the storyline. Successfully incorporating a character like Bat-mite into your story is a big test for a writer. It’s like asking a trained chef to make haute cuisine with oscar mayer products. Good thing Grant Morrison’s up to the task.

Morrison is back in top form, dropping enigmatic details like names at a party. He’s very adept with “literary blanks” (a snooty, scholarly term for the things an author doesn’t tell the reader). It’s hinted that Bruce Wayne studied “two years with ninja shadow masters” and “six months among the Ghost Tribes of the Ten-eyed Brotherhood in North Africa,” but told nothing more. Like any good writer, Morrison’s vocabulary is his atmosphere, and a gripping one at that.

Joe Chill, the thief who murdered Bruce Wayne’s parents, is also given an extra dimension. He tries to explain himself to his hired muscle: “If it ain’t the rich preying on the poor like vampires, you tell me what else it is? It’s us against them. Anything I ever did, I can justify as class warfare.” Chill is no longer a simplistic thug, but a rationalizing monster with delusions of social reform.

Tony Daniel’s previously uninspired pencils also improve drastically. His rendition of the original Batman costume would do original designer Bill Finger proud, and his drawings help the tale’s tone pass seamlessly between somber determination and panicked terror. Villain Joe Chill’s face is almost pathetic when afraid; he almost achieves sympathy, despite the fact that he’s a rat.

Worth the money? Yes-- an interesting contribution to the Batman mythos.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12