Batman #679 Review

"Miracle on Crime Alley"
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Tony Daniel and Sandu Florea

Batman has had one of the most amazing years in history, it has been so good that the Chinese have elected to insert him into the Chinese Calendar retroactively [year of the Batman]. It has been a while since the last issue came out but that doesn't hurt this issue. Sometimes well all the time, delays will kill any momentum a storyline has but this doesn't happen here. Instead we are treated to a fantastic issue that gets you extremely excited for the finale of this grand tale. Morrison has a way to create anticipation like no other writer can. He also manages to pull some of the most controversial things the Batman mythos will ever see. If this Thomas Wayne things then no one can ever say anything about DC not having balls. The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh is quite compelling as you learn the twist that he isn't a result of the Black Glove, this is Bruce's solution to a psycological attack. In other words the Black Glove failed to anticipate the degree to which Bruce prepared for such an attack. Even more omnious was a certain phrase the Zur-En-Arrh Batman said, this is what happens when you take Bruce Wayne out of the equation. This Batman is him in his purest form and you begin to understand the need for Bruce Wayne. At this point he is a loose canon cop on the edge and trutfully, I think he is going to break his one rule, he has to. The scene at Arkham was an amazing choice for the climax of the story. Morrison has been breaking down Batman and now we are getting ready to start the end game. Arkham has always had a place in the Batman/Joker dynamic and it is the logical ending point of the story. I do have some minor concerns which happens to be the Talia and Damien storyline. Morrison can get away with completely ignoring it as he is that talented of a writer and I just remembered that little bit of information when I told Sports God that Black Glove is Ra's Al Guhl [mark that down]. He is my guess for the true villain behind it all. After reading the scene with Gordon, I am legitmatiely worried about his safety. If you look at the track record, Morrison's run started with Gordon being gased by the Joker thrown off the building, promptly after that Gordon was shot by Lane, and now he is trapped in a rigged Wayne Manor. I hope that Gordon manages to come through but I got a feeling that Gordon's run is up. The Joker though, Morrison's Joker is just a beast. He is staright up up to no good and you know it. Tony Daniels has a panel where you see his eyes and you only see his eyes and you can see the crazy. This was an amazing issue and I just love what Morrison is doing, Batman on a budget, classy.

Art: PHENOM
Overall: OWN IT