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Nate wrote:
BATMAN #655

PLOT:
Bruce, Tim, and Alfred decide its tiem for a vacation. While Tim heads for the mountains, Bruce and Alfred head to London where Talia has kidnapped Kirk Langstrom and his wife and a little boy watch over Bruce. At the end, whats the plan for all the Man-Bats?

REVIEW:
While Dini's run was the run people couldn't wait for, I couldn't wait for this "Batman & Son" arc. The reason why was because the son, which of course is the kid in the book, is from an elseworld story and seen in the most loved Kingdom Come book. With the DCU changed for the better and for hope, the idea of Batman having a son wouldn't be on everyone's mind but its interesting. Of course, the funny part is that if Catwoman's daughter, Helena, is Bruce's also, then that would make Bruce a man-whore.

The only thing from this issue that wasn't clear and couldn't make out is that while we learned Batman at the beginning wasn't him an a crazed ex-cop, was the Joker really shot by his gun and is he dead? I feel I have to talk about this before I discuss the rest of the issue. Okay, is he dead? It did look that way but he can't be. Would you want the Joker gone? No. After he was "supposely" shot, when the real Batman carried him, he was still alive when he made a sound. Then when Robin came in and said that the story is all over that Joker was dead, Bruce said they should keep it that way.

So what happened was that the ex-cop may have fired the gun but was either blank and Batman hit the Joker with something that knocked him out, or he fired a knockout round and didn't know it thank to Batman. Afterwards, with all the bad guys locked up, Batman decides to take the vacation and make sure the word got out that Joker was "dead" so people would be fine when he was gone. Thats I think happened.

Lets continue: Alfred in this story is trying to get Bruce Wayne into the light as much as Bruce himself wants to. But sometimes we can see his old ways trying to sneak back in as when he thought he saw Killer Croc but it was a guy in a green jacket. If he was like before, he may have thought to stay and check things out. But now, he wants to get out from the darkness.

Talia and the kid appear but we don't what they want to gain. The kid is in the shadows and I wonder if its because he may look like Bruce during that age and saving the shock factor from us that Batman will get later. But what do they want with the Man-Bats? Who are ninja Man-Bats. We don't know yet. I wonder if its a plan within another plan. We'll see.

Overall, this was the start to an interesting arc. The Joker part was difficult to get but I think we figured it out. Anyway, can't wait for the next one.

RATING: 7.5/10

batchat wrote:
7.5 out of 10? I'd rate it at 5.0, tops.

How does the Joker survive a shot from a pistol to the center of the forehead? What is this 'ex-cop' business that you referred to above? One moment, Batman is beaten and bloody, almost dead, and the next, he reaches for a handgun and blasts the Joker square in the forehead. The Joker survives somehow and groans as Batman surrenders him to police custody. WTF? Did I miss something?

DC completely undermines both Talia's character and the 'Son of the Demon' trade by having Talia raising and (presumably) using her and Batman's son for some devious purpose. But to be truthful, we all know that DC lost any semblance of integrity a long time ago. Aside from Supergirl (which seems to be in good hands), I am beginning to hate DC Comics with a passion.

On a positive note, the art in this issue was good (maybe even very good... ). I'm so sick of Saturday-morning-cartoon-style artwork in comic books... This was a pleasant suprise.

Given that three issues remain in this story arc, the comic MAY redeem itself. I hope so.

- D

Nate wrote:
If you see the scene where "Batman" shoots Joker, behind him is the true Batman, the real one, with no damages. Gordon said in the hospital that the Batman Joker thought he got was an ex-cop.

Go re-read the book.

batchat wrote:

That's lame. Crap writing at its best: a cheap excuse to have a shocking panel.

And it doesn't explain how the Joker survives.

I think that I took the two 'Batmen' as the artist's attempt to show movement within a single panel (a rare thing, but it has happened before). I just plain missed Gordon's comment about the ex-cop... probably because I didn't care for the hospital exchange (lame scene with crap dialog) and rushed to the next part.

- D

batchat wrote:

Nate wrote:
While Dini's run was the run people couldn't wait for, I couldn't wait for this "Batman & Son" arc.

Me, too. ;-)

The reason why was because the son, which of course is the kid in the book, is from an elseworld story and seen in the most loved Kingdom Come book.

Is the son of Batman featured in 'Kingdom Come' the one born in 'Son of the Demon'? Is the child in 'Batman and Son' the child from 'Son of the Demon'? That is the impression that I formed from the pre-release information that I read... I haven't read 'Kingdom Come' yet (it's on my list). I take it from your comments that 'Kingdom Come' is worth the read?

With the DCU changed for the better and for hope,

Debatable, but I'll let it slide for now...

the idea of Batman having a son wouldn't be on everyone's mind but its interesting. Of course, the funny part is that if Catwoman's daughter, Helena, is Bruce's also, then that would make Bruce a man-whore.

Go, Bruce! lol. I don't care for the events of recent, post-Infinite-Crisis 'Catwoman' but definitely approve of Bruce being a 'man-whore'. What I'd love to see, however, is a permanent love interest.

- D