How does it defy logic? I think the elitist dorks that are trying to make it more than what it is are confusing others by trying to read too much into it. Like Morisson wrote "you think it all breaks down into structures, symbolisms and clues". As the Joker said "that's just wikipedia".
Batman finds out he had a son with Talia
Joker gets shot and reinvents himself
We're introduced to Hurt's Batmen
We find out in a possible future Batman's son takes on the mantle and Oracle replaces her father
We're told the Batman of all Nations did in fact exist and are reintroduced to them
We also find out about The Black Glove
The Black Glove tries to psychologically sabotage Batman and they fail
We find out the Black Glove is Batman's "father" in the sense that they are responsible for the death of the Wayne's
And that's were we last leave it and it picks back up with Batman being kidnapped by Darkseid's forces.
How does any of that defy logic? it's all straightforward and thankfully all superheroish. Morisson is writing comics books as comic books and not trying to write them like they were movies and error a lot of Batman writers have made in the 00's.
Wanna know why I like Morisson's run because what he and Dini are both doing on the main books is refreshing for a Batfan such as myself who has been reading since the late 80's and was frustrated with what the bat books became after the awesome Bruce Wayne: Murderer event. Before Infinite Crisis was done the books began to take themselves too seriously under the direction of people like Azzarello and Winnick and tried to go too "dark" to the point that they forgot that Batman is wish fulfilment and they just weren't fun to read anymore. Even Rucka who is usually awesome with Batman lost his way around this time.
Hush
Death and the Maidens
Broken City
As The Crow Flies
Hush Returns
War Drums
War Games
Under the Hood
All of these stories sucked & all of them I bought only through the halfway mark except for Hush which I did complete for some reason but the rest I dropped half way through cause they were poorly written and weren't going anywhere. I felt duped each and every time cause I was promised by editors that things would get better and they just got worse this is why I kept giving the arcs chances.
A big waste of my money and time as a Bat fan that period was. So I gave up on buying the books something I only did once back in the mid 90's with Batman. Until Face the Face and then when Morisson and Dini got on board I gave their runs a shot and liked what I read and so far haven't dropped the books again.
Sorry for this tangent but you left the bait and I took it. In a nutshell Morisson focuses on the superheroic aspects of Batman something that was neglected for a while and that appeals to me. He still goes for the psychological as well but doesn't forget that these are still comic books. He makes them engaging and fun to read again not a chore like what Winnick did.
He made sense of nonsensical stuff like the Batman of Zur En Arhh while complementing the competence of Batman. Basically he has honored the fact that Batman is the best of what we humans could do with his run and I dig that. You could say you don't enjoy his writing but to say it defies logic is insulting to those of us who like this direction. As a Batman fan for 20 years now I'm proud to have BATMAN on my pull list again after that dark period before IC finished. Morisson's stories have me enjoying the title again and this is why I like his run.
Great post!!!
Btw, i liked Death and The Maidens mostly because we saw Thomas and Martha find out what their son has become and how Bruce realizes that he is Batman whether they like it or not.
Re: Morrison's Batman run.
Personally Morrison's Batman has been a delight. I've grown sick of the same old overly grimdark stories that lead nowhere, just deeper into grimdark. Dini's detective is fabulous and it reminds me a lot of BTAS. That said, it doesnt lead anywhere and its not as exciting as Morrison's Batman. Its too... safe.
Morrison took the Batman book and set himself a long and exciting course that would end up with Batman's death and eventual rebirth physically and psychologically. He tried to deter other writers from writing grimdark batman by showing them how bad grimdark batman is in his JLA run, but its success made them follow his example (Batman taking down the JL, building OMAC, etc). You know what they say: If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. And that's what Morrison is doing.
It was frustrating at first, since he threw us into the deep with no life raft, but slowly he began explaining things and setting up the bigger overarching story. [BLACKOUT]You guys know that Darkseid is behind the Black Glove and possibly the Black Lanterns too, right? [/BLACKOUT] Not to mention the rest of the metatext, about how the Club of Heroes represent aspects of Batman's personality, how his Batman run and RoBW are based on the Buddhist circle of life, etc.
My only disappointments were that Joker/Harley story with the carving smiles and all that, and RIP which ended in an anticlimactic way (DC editorial was to blame though). On the other hand, that made Morrison kill Batman in FC, facing the ultimate evil and gave him the chance to do Return of Bruce Wayne which i dont know if it would have been possible otherwise.
tl;dr Morrison's Batman run is the most exciting, colourful, thrilling, dark and yet lighthearted, campy and yet grimdark, Batman run i've ever read. His B&R is just as good, if not even better.
(granted, it's nothing that still can't be explored with him as red robin, the worst name/costume in comics, but to say he had run his course implies stagnancy which is the farthest thing from the truth.) plus, damian is icky-yuck irritating and the only writer who's mannaged to write him as anything other than jason todd 2.0 to me has been dini.
