Collecting issues #667-#669 and #672-#675 of Grant Morrison’s Batman.

This second hardcover collection of Grant Morrison’s Batman presents two story arcs that build on the foundations laid by the previous issues whilst also setting up elements that pay off later in the writer’s run on the book. However, these stories are also fairly enjoyable in their own right even though there’s a certain lack of conclusiveness to both that prevents them from standing alone effectively.

The first arc collected here is the “International Club of Heroes” story in which Batman and Robin visit a league of Batman imitators from all over the world. The international heroes are picked off by a mystery opponent. It’s a fun whodunit in the vein of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, and one that features several interesting twists and turns before the villain is revealed. It also features the first named appearance of the Black Glove--the villain who would later be revealed as the master mind behind the “Batman RIP” arc.

J.H. Williams III provides the artwork for this first story. His distinctive visual style gives it a unique flavour that sets it apart from Morrison’s previous work on the book with Andy Kubert. Williams is not only a more delicate and detailed artist than Kubert, but is also far more adventurous with his layouts and panel designs. He often employs visual motifs (like the Bat-logo, or the outline of the Black Glove’s hand) as panel or page borders--depicting the action of the story within these irregular shapes, which also make for arresting images in their own right.

The colouring is bold, too, with frequent monochrome sequences contrasting with more lush and detailed painted images. The result is a visually interesting story that’s worth reading if only for the artistic innovations. However, there are one or two problems with the arc that prevent it from standing as a great story.

The artist’s tendency to experiment with page layouts and panel placement certainly gives the book a distinctive look and feel, but it sometimes comes at the expense of effective storytelling. For instance, some non-linear panel progressions take more than one reading to follow (a flaw that is particularly damaging during the muddled climax).

There’s also a slightly disappointing and anti-climactic finish to the arc that feels rushed--as though Morrison’s plans for the book changed and he was suddenly forced to rework the ending of the arc at short notice (notably, a character whose skin was worn as a mask by the supposed villain of the arc in the first issue appears again in the final issue, alive and well, with no further explanation). Considering that the whole arc is built around the puzzle of the murder mystery as an homage to Christie’s ratiocination style of whodunit, it’s baffling to see such a lack of a satisfying explanation at the end of it.

That said, it’s interesting to reread this arc in light of later developments in Morrison’s run on Batman. In particular, the finale of “Club of Heroes”benefits from the knowledge that we’ve gained since the issue was initially released. The Black Glove’s presence feels far more ominous now that we know how extensive his plans to destroy Batman prove to be--and his identity is established as clearly distinct from that of El Sombrero (the villain of this arc).

However, it’s a little disappointing to note that there isn’t much evidence here to help narrow down the list of possible suspects in the ongoing mystery that surrounds the Black Glove’s identity. I guess we’ll have to wait to see what Morrison has in store for the character in “Batman RIP.”

The second arc collected in this present volume sees Bruce deal with the third “replacement Batman”--the demonic figure that we last saw in issue #666. It’s an exciting story that feels more like a modern, gritty take on Batman than the “Club of Heroes” story did--and I’m sure that that variety of storytelling is an intentional move on Morrison’s part as he explores the many different ways in which a Batman story can be told.

We get some answers about the three “replacement Batmen” that we saw earlier in Morrison’s run, and we see Batman placed into real jeopardy by his mysterious opponent who attacks Bruce in order to kidnap and torture him--unlocking repressed memories in Batman’s mind that help him to piece together the mystery behind the three Batman imitators.

This is the first of Morrison’s Batman stories to revisit past installments in great detail, and the first to take obvious steps to incorporate Silver Age pre-“New Look” Batman stories into modern continuity. Morrison references such stories as “Robin Dies at Dawn,” “Commissioner Gordon Walks a Beat,” and “The Origin of Batman.” He also includes the Bat-Mite character as he draws these many disparate strands together in a creative and original manner.

The suggestion presented by Morrison is that some of the more far-fetched stories from Batman’s publishing history could be hallucinations brought on by Bruce’s extreme lifestyle--compounded by the stresses that accompanied the isolation experiment in “Robin Dies at Dawn” and the Thögal meditation ritual that Batman undertook in recent issues. It’s a novel way to reconcile Batman’s modern incarnation with his goofier Silver Age adventures, and it’s a device that plays a major role in “Batman RIP” (the arc in which the February 1958 story “Batman: The Superman of Planet X [Zur-En-Arrh]” has particular significance).

Tony Daniel’s artwork reinforces Morrison’s ideas well, lending the third replacement Batman a genuinely disturbing and demonic quality--and rendering his torture of Batman in a suitably grim and gritty manner. Daniel also expresses Morrison’s desire to reconcile the current Batman with his previous stories effectively, whether it’s his incorporation of the various visual takes on Batman from the character’s history into his flashbacks or the accurate inclusion of such references as the purple golem creature from “Robin Dies at Dawn.”

The final issue collected in this volume (Batman #675) acts as a bridge between the second arc and the “Batman RIP” story that follows it. It’s the weakest chapter in this collection, with a rushed story that accelerates Bruce’s relationship with Jezebel Jet and reintroduces Robin and Nightwing to the pages of the book (presumably in order to set up the events of “Batman RIP”) in such a rapid fashion that it feels rather clunky and unnatural.

Ryan Benjamin’s artwork also feels rushed. Despite some clever visual ideas (such as the silhouette of the out-of-costume Bruce Wayne beginning to look like that of Batman as he fights his adversary), it doesn’t compare favourably with the work of either Williams or Daniel.

It’s slightly disappointing that there are no extras to be found in this hardcover to justify the extra cost as I’d be interested to read some commentary from Morrison and his artists on the stories collected here--or to see some of Williams’s designs for the many different characters in the “Club of Heroes” arc.

It’s also worth noting that this hardcover is not a contiguous collection of Morrison’s work on the book: issues #670 and #671 are omitted as they formed part of the “Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul” crossover storyline that was released as a separate collection. This omission makes it rather confusing when Damian (Batman and Talia Al Ghul’s son) reappears in the final issue collected here, but with a different status quo to the one that we saw at the end of the previous “Batman and Son” collection. However, I can understand why DC chose to collect that distinct story separately from the rest of Morrison’s run.

This collected edition will probably be appreciated more by those who have been reading Morrison’s run from the beginning than by casual readers who may have picked the book up in the hope of enjoying a satisfying Batman story in its own right. In particular, the second story in this volume relies on knowledge of the previous arcs in order for it to really make sense. Additionally, the collection is abruptly truncated--with a cliffhanger that leads into the “Batman RIP” story arc that is still running in the monthly title.

That, said, those readers who have been with the book since Morrison’s run began will be satisfied by the payoff that some of his longer-running plot points receive--and will likely be intrigued by the hints that he provides that play into the mystery of “Batman RIP.” So, whilst the two arcs collected here don’t prove quite as satisfying as stand-alone stories as they are as parts of Morrison’s larger whole, they’re still well worth a look for Batman enthusiasts who are willing to invest in Morrison’s larger tapestry--or for fans of the artists involved.

Nevertheless, the lack of any extra material in his hardback edition means that you won’t lose out if you decide to hang on and wait for the less expensive softcover edition.

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