Batman: The Black Glove
Batman: The Black Glove, by Grant Morrison, J.H. Williams III, Tony Daniel & others, DC Comics
COLLECTING BATMAN ‘667 – 669 and 672 – 675 this is also a prequel to Batman R.I.P.
Morrison weaves death themes, psychology and his fondness for classic B-characters from the Batman pantheon, whips them in a modern zeitgeist with a sense of angst that's mainly out of the picture while al being wrapped in a detective story, of sorts.
It doesn’t quite work, not least because some of the artists tend to veer towards the Jim Lee/Image school of comics and so tend to want to opt for grand gestures and melodrama whereas Morrison’s story here is best followed by the quieter moments where we can look for clues or red herrings towards the outcome of the piece. Thus it is a psychological story, rather than an action based graphic novel, so be prepared to concentrate on what is going on, or this could prove to be a confusing read.
It starts off with Batman and Robin going to an island to meet up with some C-List crimefighters called the International Club of Heroes. Batman was part of this group right at the outset of his career, and only attended once. But he is intrigued to meet up with his former team-mates such as the Knight, Dark Ranger, Eagle and El Gaucho. When they meet up they are witnesses to a murder and what follows is Batman and the team trying to solve it. This is the first part of the graphic novel, and is quite clever in its story telling. It is a kind of Agatha Christie/Cluedo murder mystery and shows the manipulating of Batman by the Black Glove.
The main chunk of the story then moves on to a couple of intertwined story arcs. Three Batmen trained to take the original Batman's place if he is ever killed is a fascinating segment of the story involving one getting venom shots and more manipulation of Batman by the Black Glove. Also involved are storylines about Joe Chill (the murderer of Bruce Wayne's parents), Commissioner Gordon, Bruce Wayne's new girlfriend Jezebel, and ultimately a thread about Talia Al Ghul.
All of these storylines have a single strand running through them and it is continued in the next book in the series, Batman RIP.
As other reviewers have said, this is a hard graphic novel to read, as it feels like separate stories collected in to one volume. A lot of this is down to Grant Morrison, and his style. A lot of people find him a hard Batman writer to get on with and I can certainly understand why people struggle with his work on the Dark Knight. A lot of this is because he doesn't go for the standard - beginning, middle and end structure to his books. However, I think he gives the reader the opportunity to come at the story and come to their own conclusions without leading them by the hand. And the trick to getting into his Batman stories are to come into them with an open mind. He rarely takes the easy way out of a storyline and while this won't be to everyone's liking, it is always an interesting ride with Morrison at the helm.
So, would I recommend this? It is hard to rate because opinion is so divided on Morrison. If you actively dislike his work, this will not convert you, and you should probably avoid this whole story arc - there are other Batman stories that will entertain you, and challenge you in different ways. If you are a fan of his work then this will be a must-buy, and it certainly won't disappoint you - it has everything you would expect from him, and because of this you would probably rate this as five stars.
For me, it was a good solid read, but not completely earth-shattering in terms of it being thought provoking, or in terms of excitement. There are some great ideas in here - I particularly liked the one about the three substitute Batmen, and would have liked a lot more on this. I also liked the subplot of Bruce Wayne's new girlfriend figuring out who he really is. The trouble I have is that these plot-lines don't get developed enough and I was left wanting more. Definitely worth a read, regardless of my personal peeves.
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