Comic Genius

I’ve never been a huge fan of Batman. Sure, I’ll go see the movies when they come out and I try to keep up with what’s happening in the comics so I know how it affects the other titles I’m reading, but I can’t say that I’ve ever followed it by actually reading the books from month to month. But with R.I.P. starting this month, I decided to give it a try.

One of the things that immediately gave me that extra push that I needed was taking into account that Grant Morrison is writing Batman right now. I don’t have much history with reading comic books, but I loved the work he put into 52, even if it was with four other authors (Greg Rucka, anyone?). And then I read the work he’s done with All-Star Superman and realized that this is a guy who has a great respect for these characters who have a long history in the DC Universe. Morrison has a wealth of knowledge about the characters, and he isn’t afraid to delve into the archives to find characters and story arcs that were forgotten about many years ago. So today I printed out the checklist for the books that are going to have portions of the R.I.P. storyline in it and went and bought the first issue of Batman that starts the story arc.

I like the difference in tone from the other books that I read. Superman has an optimist feel about it, but Batman is all about improving and being the best in order to make the world a better place. Even after one issue, I’m starting to have a new appreciation of Bruce Wayne. I’ve always shied away from calling him a superhero simply because he isn’t “super.” He’s just a regular guy who is rich enough that he can get just about any gadget he wants. And he has discipline that must be superhuman in some way. Forty-some days in a cave? Holy Cow! I can see why Tim calls Bruce’s motives into question sometimes–he simply questions Bruce’s sanity. And frankly, I would too if my adopted father spent forty days in a cave.

I’m going to do my best to stick with this storyline and get all the issues to complete the arc. I like the diversity it gives to my pull list and how it helps keep me abreast to everything that happens in the DC Universe. After all, all roads seem to go through Gotham City at some point.

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