Batman #673 Review

Joe Chill in Hell
Writer: Grant Morrison
Art: Tony Daniel

Summary:
We start with Morrison explaining a meditation that simulates death and rebirth. Batman ends his little hallucination in the 13th day. Batman is back in the Bat-Cave, where he comments on how he records everything he does. I am not sure if its real or not, but Batman is talking about his parents death, and instead of a guy shooting his parents, we see a batman with the gun. We go to the house of this crime boss. He is telling his goons about how hard it is to run a crime organization, and how a batman is haunting him and making his life a living hell. He says that he should have shot the boy when he had the chance. After the goons say that they'll take care of the bat, the batman shows up and kills the goons. We go to a with the batman, who says Gotham has never seen someone like him before. We go back to the mediation. 23rd day now, and now he is thinking of when he was a kid looking down the well. He says that that was the time he realized that his parents are going to die, that we are all going to die. Now he is at his parent's funeral, and the little disfigured batman is telling him to make friends with the dark. This one guy at the funeral says that you keep too many of your emotions in you, that you are keeping Tim at arm's length so he won't end up dead like Jason. We go to a scene with Batman volunteering to be in an isolation chamber. Bruce says that he wanted to know how the Joker thought. Robin said it's dangerous to do that and that he needs to stop thinking about the Joker so much. We go back to the scene with the guy that killed his parents. Joe finally figures out who he is and says "OH MY GOD..... I MADE BATMAN". We see Bruce being brought back. The meditation ends at 49 days. He says that Thogal (the meditation) ended a year ago, and the isolation chamber ended 3 years ago. He finally remembers that he had a heart attack on the top of the GCPD building. He wonders who brought him back. It was the evil Batman.

Comments:
Wow. I don't even know what to say about that book. Morrison absolutely did a number on me. I was confused and mesmerized throughout the book. I didn't know who was who, if it was real, or when he was in meditation. I just knew that it was great. We get a real different look at the history of Batman. We get a little bit of his childhood, his days of vengeance, his emergence as Batman, and his grievience of Jason. Grant Morrison's dialog and narration was very good. Grant Morrison shows how complex Batman can be, and why this is why we love him so much. He is not some fluff, but he is some real deep gravy. If you analyze Batman, you can write a book on it. Batman is by far the most complex character in comics, if not in modern literature (seriously). Grant Morrison attempted to get inside that mind, and he did a solid job of it. Of course, Morrison continues this seemingly incredible story with the revelation that the evil Batman saved Bruce Wayne on the top of the building. As you know, the Bat-Cave loves us some Batman stories, and this one has the chance to be up top with the best. We are very excited for this story arc.

Verdict:
OWN IT