The mind numbing cue-balled entity that is Grant Morrison has struck again. The concluding issue to Batman & Robin's second arc "Revenge of the Red Hood" has come to a blazing halt much like "Batman Reborn" did, but with plot threads that have enough forward movement to keep Morrison's run both cohesive and decisive.
I'm sure most of you won't be too shocked that the new Dynamic Duo of Red Hood and Scarlet doesn't exactly pan out so well, but Morrison is able to provide a purpose for the much maligned Jason Todd in the DC Universe, albeit by questioning his very existence/resilience in the first place. In his most subtle fashion, Morrison is able to infuse this issue of Batman & Robin with a trace amount of a fourth dimensional retrospective on the Jason Todd character. And really, anything that Morrison does to take a step back and analyze the medium whilst maintaining the most basic fundamentals of superhero storytelling is just cunning, if not genius.
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In terms of narrative, the conclusionary issue of "Revenge of the Red Hood" leads to perhaps the only place it can for the titular character, but along the way we are more thoroughly introduced to one of the "New Rogues" Flamingo, a flamboyant flamenco dancer-like baddie with a penchant for pink. Leave it to Morrison to craft new Batman villains that are instantly intriguing amongst the well-oiled machines that are bad guys like Scarecrow, Joker, Two-Face, etc. We still don't get to know much about him, but his presence does lead to some interesting things... mostly pertaining to further tying in this series even further with Morrison's epic Batman run, including "Batman RIP" and Final Crisis. My brain honestly can't conform to the enormity of the story that Grant Morrison is telling.
Philip Tan finishes up his great work on his three issue stint; his run has been both terrifying and action packed, which cetainly play to his strengths as an artist, as previously seen in his work on Green Lantern's "Agent Orange" and Final Crisis: Revelations. I'll admit that there were many times throughout this issue as Flamingo is stalking his prey and laughing at his bullet wounds that I longed for the interior art to resemble that of Frank Quitely's work on the cover to this issue, but hey, you can't always get what you want. Don't get me wrong, Tan in no way is a detriment to this issue, or the arc for that matter, but there are certain quirks and characteristics of the new status quo that Morrison has established in the Batman mythos that is tailor made for Quitely's unique style.
I don't typically think that Quitely is suited for a particularly "dark" story, but in the case of this issue, I'd say the tone of many scenes was dictated by the artist. While some scenes are potrayed as menacing with Tan behind the wheel, they may have had an alternate feel at the hands of Quitely, with the genius of Morrison's writing being that it works great either way.
It's quite difficult to review a book as complex as Batman & Robin without flooding your minds with spoilers and wild conspiracy theories about where Bruce Wayne is, what's in store for Dick and Damien as a team, and the sinister plots that the Black Glove is...woops, have I already said too much? I suppose only time will tell. Happy reading!
