Over the last month I’ve caught up on a lot of comics reading. The reason being, I went to Fukuoka, Japan, have been sick, and was lazy.
The main books I was and will be focusing on are Batman by Grant Morrison and Captain America by Ed Brubaker. First off, I would like to state, without question, Morrison and Brubaker are two of the best writers in the industry. Morrison creates these expansive worlds and plots that refuse to maintain any kind of commonly thought structure and Brubaker embodies the new noir movement that permiates fiction right now.
With that said, the following ramble came about after I finished reading ‘Batman & Robin’ #10 and realized that both the Batman and Captain America story lines seemed parallel. By this point, both Batman and Captain America were killed off, replacements found, and have now, I’m guessing for the reason that you can’t have Batman and Captain America without the identities we have all grown accustomed to (which I disagree with completely), either returned or are in the midst of being found and returned.
I’ll do my best not to provide too many spoilers as I’m not sure how many people are actually reading the books – I would highly suggest picking up both the ‘Batman: RIP’, ‘Death of Captain America’ and subsequent stories. Carrying on…
I’m annoyed that the story, as it seems, of Bruce Wayne’s return as a more fleshed out version of Steve Roger’s. The death of Captain America was a huge deal and a fantastic story. Even the subsequent books: Bucky taking the reigns and trying to live up to Cap’s legacy/forge his own. That’s a wonderful story line that could have been sustained as a B-story and underlying theme for several years. To have Cap come back so quickly, around a year, seems too reactionary. I didn’t feel comfortable with Bucky as Cap yet, in spite that the characters of the Marvel universe seemed to believe so, and wanted to see him struggle more.
Just like any person in the real world, death takes a while to deal with. Pain hits you in different intervals or situations and there is nearly no way to predict when you’ll be reminded of that loved one and mourn them again. And those stories are interesting. Seeing Bucky, in the middle of combat, be called Captain America for the first time by his enemy would bring about a viseral reaction, and that’s interesting to see.
Now with the return of Bruce Wayne, I have similar feelings. Grayson as Batman is far more interesting. It’s the classic son becomes the father instead of friend becomes the hero story line from Captain America with the added twist that Wayne’s son, Damien (too many characters named Damien in the Batman universe), has taken on the reigns as Robin and believes he has what it takes to solve Wayne Enterprise’s financial issues. Damien is dark and brooding, like Bruce, while Grayson is far more optimistic about life. He wasn’t effected as much by the negativity and pain that gravitated toward Bruce as Robin, but I feel as though, over time, that pain will happen. Grayson will become jaded, angry, and brooding having to deal with the mantle of Batman. Conversely, Damien could very easily take on more of Grayson’s optimistic air.
That’s a story line I want to see. Progress. I want to see new characters go through life changes. Bruce Wayne will always be dark and brooding, Captain American will always be a boy scout, but with Grayson and Bucky we have a chance to see new characters forging their own paths independently of their predecessors. That, those changes in character and the dynamics of life, make stories great. And that is life.
on Apr 4th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Great post man.
You’re not alone either. A lot of people – podcasters and otherwise- are sad to see that Batman and Robin does seem to be on the Road to Bruce Wayne. And yeah, it would be nice to see Dick Batman stick around, but given the current “return to the past” movement for both Marvel and DC, it does not seem likely that two Batmen will be running around (Batman Corp., anyone?)
I’m interested to see what they do with Bucky going forward. While Dick can go back to being Nightwing, Bucky likely won’t be taking on his Soviet alter ego anytime soon. He’s the “free agent” and it’ll be interesting to see what Marvel does with him. Have you heard any gossip on this front?
on Apr 4th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
Rumors are all over the place on Batman. It seems as though they’ll have the return of Bruce Wayne be a sizable event, but there are some that say he’ll come back as Batman and others that say he’ll take on a Alfred or ‘Batman Beyond’-style Bruce Wayne mode, helping Dick. I’m hoping for the later.
I haven’t heard much about Captain America. Currently Bucky has the mantle and has joined the soon-to-be newly formed Avengers and Steve Rogers will take on a different role on a different Avengers team. My guess is he’ll be Nomad again until right before the movie comes out and he retakes the mantle of Cap after the “untimely death of” or “untimely brainwashing of” Bucky.
These examples are why part of me doesn’t want to get into comics. Tired stories with tired characters. …but I still want to work for DC and write some monthly books.
on Jul 12th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
Easily, the post is actually the greatest on this deserving topic. I agree with your conclusions and will thirstily look forward to your coming updates. . . . .