The final week of May, and only two comics to keep me company this time. It’s an even split between the two mainstream publishers, which makes me think I should be buying more books from the independent publishers.
Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #2
Or Witch Hunter Batman. Grant Morrison writes a straightforward tale of Batman waking up in Gotham of the 1700s, but not remembering who he is (but still retaining his detective skills). Defeating a strange creature, he is looked after by a woman who convinces him that he is Mordecai, a witch hunter, who tries to examine things rationally, rather than the knee-jerk response of Malleus, who wants to drown just about anyone as a witch. Meanwhile, Superman and some friends are trying to locate Batman in the time stream. I really enjoyed this, with some lovely art from Frazer Irving – his strong, smooth lines are very apt for the story (although his Superman doesn’t look quite as good). I can’t wait for Pirate Batman next issue.
Fantastic Four #579
I’m really beginning to lose my patience with Hickman’s run on Fantastic Four. This issue could be the proverbial last straw. It doesn’t help that I find Neil Edwards’ art really ugly – flat, harsh, inconsistent – and it’s not helped by muddy colours from Paul Mounts. But this issue is the worst yet: Reed acts like a dick to the (almost) peers at a conference (with a particularly odd argument – the Marvel universe isn’t the real world, so comparing the two when the Marvel universe has supposed geniuses like Reed and Stark who could completely alter society, the environment, health care but DON’T pisses me off), there is some nonsense with the kids, a pointless interlude to Nu-World, and a boring dialogue between Reed and the Wizard. It’s just not interesting – the Fantastic Four should be fantastic, but this isn’t at all. I’ve got faith enough in Hickman to see if he’s going somewhere, it’s not limitless – it would be sensible to remember that the individual issues of a comic should be enjoyable, rather than being glimpses of a supposedly larger story.
