I love Batman. I can read just about anything Bat-related, but there was a stretch of time during the 90s when my faith wavered. It can be difficult for me to revisit those days. With Detective Comics #673 we are right in the middle of Knightquest. I fully admit thant I am no fan of the Az-Bat, as he looks like some kind of Batman/Shogun Warrior hybrid. The is the final chapter of a very weak Joker story set against a movie set backdrop. Chuck Dixon is playing in Mark Evanier's sandbox here and he is not up to the task. Graham Nolan does his best to bring tired sight gags to life, but it just does not work. The Joker was overused in the years following that first Tim Burton movie, and this overexposure really takes away from the impact of the character. The main problem for me, however, is that Az-Bat is written is such a grim and gritty way that Dixon sets up an unintended paroady. Here's a bit of Jean-Paul's inner monologue: "The Joker is Wayne's intellectual opposite. Chaos in place of order. Nonsense in place of deliberate action. The ardent versus the frivolous. No wonder that they are arch-enemies". Seriously? Monday, January 11, 2010
You've Been Warned: Detective Comics #673
I love Batman. I can read just about anything Bat-related, but there was a stretch of time during the 90s when my faith wavered. It can be difficult for me to revisit those days. With Detective Comics #673 we are right in the middle of Knightquest. I fully admit thant I am no fan of the Az-Bat, as he looks like some kind of Batman/Shogun Warrior hybrid. The is the final chapter of a very weak Joker story set against a movie set backdrop. Chuck Dixon is playing in Mark Evanier's sandbox here and he is not up to the task. Graham Nolan does his best to bring tired sight gags to life, but it just does not work. The Joker was overused in the years following that first Tim Burton movie, and this overexposure really takes away from the impact of the character. The main problem for me, however, is that Az-Bat is written is such a grim and gritty way that Dixon sets up an unintended paroady. Here's a bit of Jean-Paul's inner monologue: "The Joker is Wayne's intellectual opposite. Chaos in place of order. Nonsense in place of deliberate action. The ardent versus the frivolous. No wonder that they are arch-enemies". Seriously? 
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2 comments:
I think the 90's is where a lot of us started buying back issues from the seventies. The die-cut, poly-bagged, variant covers with weak stories set in a twelve title, universe shaking story arc was depressing.
I think that there is going to be a solid stretch of this decade that is going to find its way in to the quarter bins alongside so much of the early 90's.
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