Batman #676 slugfest

[Dave Wallace]

In anticipation of today's slugfest, I was wondering if anyone could shed any light on the “Batman R.I.P. checklist” that was featured in this issue. I wasn't sure what to make of it, so I haven't mentioned it in my review, but I was wondering: is the "Batman R.I.P." story going to be contained within the pages of Batman, or are we going to be expected to buy the other books listed in order to get the full story?

I wasn't too happy when the "Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul" story was split between the other bat-books, as I only read Batman, and wasn't prepared to buy three other books in order to follow that story. However, I do feel more invested in the "Batman RIP" story, and I want to follow the whole thing - but I'm going to be annoyed if it means picking up several other books in order to do so.

I'm hoping that the titles mentioned on the list are just going to be doing tangential stories that relate to the "Batman RIP" story but aren't direct tie-ins - but if anyone knows for sure, I'd be interested to find out.

[ednorris]

Hey Dave, the whole story of RIP is contained to Batman, so no need to worry. All the other tie-ins are just how this huge story affects the rest of the Bat family in their own books.

So you will be getting 100% of the story by just reading Batman. However you could pick up the other books listed on the checklist to see how the entire Bat world deals with the scenarios unfolding.

[Dave Wallace]

Ah, ok. Thanks for letting me know.

[Thom Young]

I'm surprised that Kevin, Caryn, and Dave all seemed to like the new Batmobile. I thought it was too similar to Acura's version of their new sports car concept (or any high-end car company's "concept car" for a high-performance sports car.

Actually, Dave didn't say he liked it--but that he thought Batman's comment about it was a "reference to Morrison's improvisational writing approach" and was a comment on Morrison's own concept for Batman not turning out the way he originally saw it.

That's certainly true of any artist who works in an improvisational manner, but I saw it more of Morrison commenting through Batman that Daniel's design for the car doesn't look like what Morrison had in mind.

I just realized that there might have been an allusion to the Batmobile from the 1960s TV series in this issue. During the car chase scene, Batman tells Robin that the CD changer in the new Batmobile is smarter than the moron driving the Lincoln.

It could be coincidence that Morrison chose to have the D-list villain drive a Lincoln, but the 1960s TV Batmobile was based on a Lincoln concept car from 1955 known as Futura:

Perhaps Morrison did tell Daniel to base the new Batmobile on a current concept car design, in which case that's the Batmobile that Morrison (and Batman) had in mind.

I wasn't sure what the new Batmobile would look like, but I was hoping it wasn't going to be the tanks we've seen in the latest films and Miller's comics. I guess I might have been hoping for something contemporary but with a retro feel.

Here are some classics.

Here's a model of the 1940 roadster that Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson had Batman driving before it was officially called the Batmobile:

Drawn here by Marshall Rogers in his cover for Amazing World of DC Comics #16:

The 1950's Batmobile:

Carmine Infantino's 1964 design:

Denny O'Neil had Bob Brown (and probably Irv Novick and/or Neal Adams) go with a 1960s concept car style for the the turbo-charged sports car that debuted in Detective Comics #394 in 1969 (seen in this model):

So, yeah, the trend since the 1940s has been to give Batman a suped-up sports car (and often a suped-up concept of a sports car that never actually makes it into mass production), so I guess I shouldn't be too disappointed by the new Batmobile, but I am nevertheless.

[Ryan]

Can anyone tell me why this new Batmobile was supposed to be a big deal? Every artist who has ever done a Bat-book I've read in the past ten years or so has had their own design for the car. What was to be so special here? I could see if Morrison had some wacky ideas as to what the car could do, but this just seems like a redesign of the body.

[Thom Young]

Yeah, which is why I was disappointed. I was expecting something amazing, but I was shown the Acura concept car.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by Thom Young

Yeah, which is why I was disappointed. I was expecting something amazing, but I was shown the Acura concept car.

Wait...maybe Grant Morrison is now developing concept cars for Acura. Are comics not paying like they used to?

[ultraaman]

Meh. What is it with the lovefest on Morrison's run on this title? I've had fajitas that are thicker than the storyline he's been spritzing out for the past two years - AND I'M A MORRISON FAN! I also found the reviews to be little more than commentary on what RIP is supposed to be, based on rumors and interview nuggets I might add. Speculating about what Morrison intends to do, should he ever actually get there one day, is a nice side note but it has nothing to do with what is in the comic at hand (no pun intended). The reviews should be based on the merits of the 22 pages of #676 not on what #676 portends for the future.

Anyway this issue, like the 20+ that preceded it (with the exception of #663, #666, and #675 which are what I came to expect when I heard Morrison was jumping on the title), inches the story along and gives us a small but [at least this time] concrete look at what we can expect to transpire soon. Gee, maybe if something had actually transpired in the $100 I spent on this title so far I might have enjoyed the obtuseness of #676.

Instead what we have here is Part Whatever of a never ending prologue to....well, something. Since this is supposed to be RIP already I can only surmise that whatever Morrison is building to has yet to rear its head. Kevin at least saw that, though I would dismiss the comparison to Knightfall. As much as I am bored to death with this book, Morrison is anything but a hack. If there is a similarity to that epic story from 15 years ago, it's intentional and, I'd wager, a red herring.

The art is really strong though, especially the colors. Kinda sorta a bit like ASBAR but with stronger inks.

This was a 2 star issue.

[Thom Young]

Oh look, here's a picture of the Acura concept car that looks even more like the new Batmobile:

Or maybe it's based on the new Bugatti concept car:

I might have actually liked something along the lines of the Audi concept car:

That seems different enough to warrant being a Batmobile.

[Thom Young]

Originally Posted by ultraaman

I also found the reviews to be little more than commentary on what RIP is supposed to be, based on rumors and interview nuggets I might add.

Really? So you didn't actually read my review.

That's okay. It was rather long--but I had some nice pictures to try to make it more entertaining.