Thursday, February 11, 2010

Batman and Robin #8

I suppose it wouldn't be a proper Grant Morrison story without a few moments in there where you think, "What the heck?"

And there are a couple in this issue of Batman and Robin.

The story picks up shortly after Dick (Batman) Grayson places the corpse of Bruce (Batman) Wayne in a Lazarus Pit (famously used to revive the dead Ra's Al Ghul more than once).

When the no-longer-dead body emerges, that's when things get interesting (and somewhat confusing). Is this Batman reborn - or is it something else altogether?

We're confused because, even though the story is set outside London, it includes a guest appearance by Batwoman (who seems to drop in out of the sky), a New Gods-related cameo (aren't they on a different world altogether now?), and lots of Batman versus Batman-type action.

Despite the confusion, this is a fast-moving adventure that doesn't let up and ends on a great cliffhanger. I really like the art by Cameron Stewart - he has a clean, clear and kinetic style that suits this story nicely.

Despite the story's quirks (or perhaps because of it), this series continues to be a lot of fun to read - and there's certainly nothing wrong with a few challenging twists here and there.

Grade: B+

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