I like the second to last sentence in this quote from the IGN interview with grant morrison. It sounds like he’s finally figured out what fans want in their Batman stories.
IGN Comics: It sounds like that goes back to what you were trying to do with Final Crisis, where you cut out all the quieter moments and just got down to “the drums and the bass”, as you called it – the meat of the story.
Morrison: Yeah. I went to see Crank: High Voltage when we were in Los Angeles. I had just watched that, and I thought everything else just looks like slow motion, really. I wanted to get that effect into the comics as well. To me that was just a great action film, and every action film after is going to have to try and move at that speed. I really wanted to get that into Batman and Robin. Again, the stories are really easy. There aren’t big multi-layered Gnostic parables this time around. Like I said, it’s like a really bad trip cartoon. [laughs]
We’ll see if it holds true in the series, although I’m still not sold on Quietly’s art for the series.
17 Comments
D’you suspect his run up to this point was entirely a huge purging of the grimdark Miller-esque 90s elements of the Batman mythos, in order to recapture the fun and light-heartedness of the series and character? The Final Crisis/R.I.P. Issues certainly seemed to imply that Bruce was better off when Dick was Robin, the Joker blew all his money on giant green helicopters, and he was having a glorious love affair with the original Batwoman.
Certainly, he’s mentioned here and in other interviews that the new team is a reversal of the classic idea, with Batman as the affable comedian and Robin as the brooding sadist. Fun adventures for a Fun Bat? Here’s hoping…
D’you suspect his run up to this point was entirely a huge purging of the grimdark Miller-esque 90s elements of the Batman mythos, in order to recapture the fun and light-heartedness of the series and character? The Final Crisis/R.I.P. Issues certainly seemed to imply that Bruce was better off when Dick was Robin, the Joker blew all his money on giant green helicopters, and he was having a glorious love affair with the original Batwoman.
I certainly wouldn’t dismiss the theory out of hand. It’s been proven that Grant loves ALL elements of comics, not just those that have aged well or are all badass. I dug the heck of chunks of Batman RIP, but I’m not really a Batman fan. Maybe that’s shorthand for “I’m not a fan of what Batman has become post-Dark-Knight?”
Stephen’s opinions on Grant Morrison are Stephen’s opinions, and your mileage may vary, but I’ll say this: I haven’t been excited about a Batman book since Englehart and Rogers did “Batman: Dark Detective” several years ago, but I’ll be picking up ‘Batman and Robin.’
I only trust Morrison as far as I can stab him in the eye erm… I mean throw him.
We’ll just wait and see.
i haven’t bought a batman book in years (other than the classics like long halloween and dark knight return) but the combination of morrison ans quitely is making me giddy. i can’t wait for the first issue.
Yes, this is the Batman series I’ve been wanting to get into. The great thing about Batman is the concept is so versatile, it can be told in many different ways. That’s why we can enjoy watching Batman: The Brave and the Bold, while appreciating the Dark Knight. Ricco, keep your comments constructive. Even if this isn’t the way you wanted Batman go in Batman: R.I.P. and Final Crisis, which were both awesome, we’re getting an interesting and different take with Morrison. Some others, like myself, want some new things injected into the Batman mythos, rather than it remaining stagnant. This is progression. Get used to it. If you can’t, which you probably will do, you can still read your old back issues, so you can’t really complain.
And, look, Stephen hasn’t grown up yet. Somebody needs to go back to school for syntax lessons.
Something constructive… I’ll give it a try: well I’m curious on how well Damian will play his role as Robin and if we’ll see Talia at all.
Another Batman post, from another DC writer…yawn….
In other news, all of Marvel’s titles are still written by the same four guys.
I disagree with you strongly about Quitely’s art.
He’s shown with Authority’s Midnighter that he can do a kick-ass Batman.
Personally I find his artwork a massive drawcard as I think he brings a quirky gravitas to every one of his panels.
I like the image above because it’s portraying a Batman that doesn’t necessarily look like a brick shithouse.
I’m a bit tired of Batman hulking from panel to panel like an Abrams tank. He’s a lithe bloke who gets around the city on a wire, prepared for any and every contingency; ever since TDKR people have been beefing him up too much… but I digress…
I’m looking forward to Frank Quitely’s art moreso than I am Grant Morrison’s token existentialist peyote-fuelled god-hunt.
Ah gee wiz albert, and here I thought you’d be happy I used capital letters in the headline… ah, shucks and gosh darn…
If the art is gonna look like that preview image up yonder, I’m already “out” on this one. Sorry, but it looks like reading 20something pages like that would give me eyestrain… There’s something about all the crosshatching AND color at the same time that just makes my eyes go woogy. As far as the “fun Bat” theory goes…. DAMIEN is the “sidekick”…. I dunno, but he doesn’t exactly scream ‘fun’ to me. I get that he’s ‘youthful, disrespectful, and spunky’ which might be fun to some people, but…. Well, we’ll see if he turns out like Peter Parker, or just plain petulant; it could go either way.
Plus, I love how people leave obliquely snarky comments… If flaming were encouraged here, I’d be torching punks left, right and center. :)
Wyntermute: I don’t mind snark if it is directed creatively, but SOME people are pushing the boundaries of polite conversation. We’ve had to ban a user recently because of the flame-baiting hatred of his posts. Well, that and he was a real dick… (joke…?)
One of our long-time Major Spoilers readers commented that s/he liked this site over many of the other sites out there because it offered a unique perspective on the comic book industry in a way that was not kowtowing to the publishers, was a fun site, and that the community of users were generally respectful of one another.
I agree with that long-time reader…
Yeah, I have to agree with that long-time reader too. While it might hurt the amount of freebies y’all receive every month, it’s nice that there is no bias present beyond that of “what the people who write here LIKE”. (I hope that made sense…) I’m also glad this place is a tolerant community. Especially so considering my sense of ‘humor’ (yes, I know I’m taking license with that word), but also because I don’t have many “real world” comic-book-fan-friends to discuss this sort of stuff with. I’m generally a quiet person in the aforementioned ‘real’ world, so it is nice to be able to voice opinions with informed peers and NOT be shouted down like we’re in some sort of mid-19th century British Parliament (a.k.a., a trip to some Local Comic Shops… “You are wrong, sir. WRONG!”). Plus, the quality of conversation here is FAR above what I’d consider to be “normal” for _any_ internet site/message board/whatever, as far as it pertains to flamers and trolls and idjits… Like, that one person who got banned? _MUSTA_ been a dick. Everybody else gets lots of respect from me, however. *hands out Chocolate Chip & Respect Cookies.*
Hmm, Final Crisis was inspired by “Crank?” More like written on crank!!! J/K (well, not really)
Grant Morrison thinks Crank High Voltage is the gold standard for action movies? Haven’t seen it, but the ads make it look more like pornography than action. Not that there is anything wrong with pornography, but many of the scenes in the ads (nipple electrocution, biting wires, rubbing against an old lady to generate static) seem to be intended and shot in a sexually titillating style (for whatever small group is not disturbed by the sexualization of such things).
But hey, maybe it’s a so-ridiculous-it’s-awesome movie like Shoot Em Up, which would be a decent model for what Morrison appears to be talking about. He seemed to have the right idea in his JLA run (with some exceptions), so this run has a chance to be fairly good.
What he meant was that it was a great ACTION movie, the same as Die Hard 4.0 – all explosions and electric shocks and madness. Look at the preview pages for this first issue – the duo go on a car chase against a giant gangster toad and use their flying Batmobile to swoop down on his car and drop it in a river!
It’s similar with how they’re going to reintegrate sound effects into the story – rather than the classic “BIFF”, “ZOWIE”, “SOCKO”, etc., they get to be made part of the scenery – e.g. “SPLASH” spelled with droplets of water from a water splash, communicating a sound message via a visual medium.
@Hercules in NY
Dont be too happy about the un-beefing, remember this isnt Bruce Wayne but the younger slimmer Dick..(man that sounds dirty)
@Wyntermute
One of the reasons im looking forward to this book is because it seems like Robin will be the brooding one and Batman the more fun loving snarky one. Should be an interesting change in dynamics.
And besides the crosshatching (and whatever is going on with Damiens neck and head) the art looks fantastic…well to me at least.