Customer Reviews

Batman: The Black Glove

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When brilliant comic writer Grant Morrison (Final Crisis, The Filth, New X-Men; c'mon, you know the list) took over duties on Batman, readers knew we were going to a get a bit of a different take on the classic character. The Batman & Son storyarc proved that, and also served as a set up for The Black Glove, which finds the mystery that began in the pages of Batman & Son getting even deeper. The Black Glove picks up with Batman and Robin taking a trip to a secluded island and meeting up with a group of international Batman-inspired heroes, only to have a murder mystery in their midst. Later on, Batman makes it back to Gotham City, and has another run-in with the Batman impersonators that were once Gotham City cops, which leaves more questions than answers naturally. If you've read anything from Morrison, then you should know that a majority of his work is structured like a tree, and typically pretty cryptic. His run on Batman is no different, and he writes the character wonderfully. Sadly though, and this may be a put off for a number of fans, Morrison is gleefully pulling a good amount of material from Batman's silver age past, which he does do a good job putting to use here, but for newer or younger readers, many of the references may be a little over their heads. That aside though, The Black Glove is a solid read that will keep you entertained, and the great artwork from Tony Daniel and J.H. Williams III (Ryan Benjamin's pencil work in the closing chapter features some odd-looking facial expressions however) is a joy to look at as well. All in all, if you've been following Morrison's run at all, The Black Glove is a worthwhile pickup, and will leave you salivating for Batman R.I.P.

When comics' writer Grant Morrison assumed authorship of the Dark Knight's legends in 2006, he stated in a Newsarama interview (which I can no longer access from their site, sadly) that he "wanted to see a psychologically 'healthier' Batman... [one that] combines the cynic, the scholar, the daredevil, the businessman, the superhero, the wit, the lateral thinker, the aristocrat." Batman: The Black Glove occurs midway through the run in which he accomplished that and much more. His approach to the character, that has undergone serious deconstruction throughout the eighties and nineties, is to reconstruct him; bringing to light Batman's best parts, while reconciling his paradoxical contradictions.

The subtlety is breathtaking for anyone familiar with the 70-plus year history of the character. Morrison seamlessly invokes the "Batman fighting space aliens" stories of Batman in the fifties alongside the "Bruce Wayne as corporate philanthropist and socialite" elements of the Steve Englehart-Marshall Rogers era of the seventies. By faithfully restoring characters like Talia and Man-Bat into the modern age with powerful reverence for the source material, Morrison navigates the cul-de-sacs of our scrutiny and effortlessly appeases our demands for stories that fit within our (often over-zealous) need for logical continuity and "realism". This is what good comic writing produces: building new stories from antecedent, rather than ignoring them or worse, defaming them.

Perhaps the highest credit of Morrison's venerated run must be paid to the marriage of his words with the artwork of J.H. Williams III in the first half of the book. Williams is perhaps the best talent for evoking the emotional content of the Black Glove storyline. His work is as strong as anything he's done before (i.e. Alan Moore's Promethea), and it's unfortunately all the stronger against the less powerful work in the second half of the book, by artist Tony S. Daniel. This is not to say that Daniel isn't good. His work has come a long way since his early-nineties' X-Force run for Marvel, and it's in tight form here, but it brings the esoteric storylines back down to an almost procedural level, as if Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream had been directed as a televised episode of Law & Order, rather than for the cinema; both are enjoyable, but the approach does not necessarily best fit the other's intended audience. Regardless, Daniel does perform competently and it is not his skill that compromises the effect of his contribution, only that his work seems miscast against the complexity of the writing.

It's difficult to effectively review a book which sits in the middle of a series' storyline on its own merits but, nevertheless, even if you don't pick up the rest of his run (Batman and Son, Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul, and the final chapter, Batman R.I.P.) you still won't be disappointed by this peek at Grant Morrison's rich approach to one of comics' most enduring legends. Batman: The Black Glove is self-contained enough to be appreciated at face value by most casual readers, while giving Batman enthusiasts the concentration and depth of ideas we should be demanding from the entire comics' media, not just the superhero genre.

When Grant Morrison works with J.H. Williams III, you know only magic can happen. I mean, look at Seven Soldiers #1. In this volume's first arc, Batman and Robin travel to a remote private island for a reunion of the Club of Heroes, a gathering of international superheroes inspired by Batman (their names are just too awesome to not mention--El Gaucho, Man-of-Bats and Raven Red, The Knight and Squire, The Musketeer, The Legionary....). The revelry is soon ended when one of them is found murdered and a taped recording claims "the Black Glove" is responsible.

After barely escaping from the island, Batman is thrown headfirst into another crazy case--that of the third replacement Batman, the mysterious figure hinted at in the previous volume. After suffering a heart attack, Batman has flashbacks to great periods of distress in life--the murder of his parents; his first confrontation with Joe Chill, his parents murderer, as Batman; an isolation experiment he participated in that left him believing Robin was dead; and a Buddhist meditation ritual he underwent in Nanda Parbat where he was sealed off from the world in a cave for 49 days. When he awakes, Batman finds himself the captive of the his impostor, who warns him of the Black Glove and the mysterious Dr. Hurt, the man who oversaw the isolation experiment Batman so many years ago--a man who just may be the embodiment of the Devil himself.

Morrison, Williams, and artist Tony Daniel really take charge here. Williams' layouts and stylistic approach is, as always, revolutionary. Daniel, though not nearly as inspired, still provides solid work. And Morrison unites Batman's history and psyche in ways previously unseen. I can't wait to see where he goes next. I'll be looking out for the ominously titled "Batman R.I.P."

I've been reading a lot of negative reviews of Grant Morrison's run on Batman, and to me they seem unjustified. His entire run on the title has been strange and interesting, running the gamut of Batman stories [from straight-up detective work to psychedelic flights of fantasy] and drawing upon the wealth of his entire history. Morrison obviously loves and understands Batman and his history, and it shows in his writing.

The Black Glove is the third collection of Grant's Batman, and it's solid. I would recommend reading the first collection 'Batman & Son' beforehand to get a bit of background; however, this story is still quite enjoyable, even by itself.

It took me a couple of times reading through the book to get it and maybe I still don't. The first story finds Batman and the `Batmen of All Nations' trapped in a mansion on a small island. The Batmen characters were created back in the lighthearted 1960's where Batman had inspired other crime fighters from around the world to don Batman like costumes modified to their own ethnic flavor. This being NOT the 1960's the Batmen are no longer the gay band of merry men they once were and now find themselves being picked off one by one ala Agatha Christie `And Then There Were None'. The big reveal at the end of the killers identity was... ok, but the first time I read the book I thought the villain WAS the titular `Black Glove'. But the Black Glove is more of an ethereal foe if not a product of Batman's imagination.

The Batman has become obsessed with the idea that there may exist a foe who cannot be caught, a King of Crime. It appeared at first that the Black Glove was the mastermind pulling the strings in the first story; the villain behind the villain but in retrospect I wonder if it's more a product of Batman's paranoia. Batman has become so obsessed with planning for every eventuality that his mind has now constructed a villain who is always one step ahead no matter how well he strategizes. So is the Black Glove real or a product of Batman's vivid imagination? Maybe we'll find out in R.I.P.

The book starts off big with some excellent and creative art but drops in quality in the next two stories with the final one having both the weakest plot and blandest visuals. The second story was pretty good although it used characters from stories I've never read. Apparently years ago the police department started to fret about what might happen if Batman were to expire so they created three Batman type crime fighters from their own ranks. The plan didn't go well. Batman gets blasted in the chest by one of the pseudo Batmen and goes into cardiac arrest and that's where the story gets really strange as Batman finds himself disoriented, slipping between images from the past and strange hallucinations including a character who looks like the old Bat Mite.

I enjoyed the second story very much but the third was weak. Bruce Wayne is having dinner at a restaurant with his girlfriend, Jezebel Jet (yikes), when a member of the Ten-Eyed Brotherhood breaks in and... well, actually I can't remember what exactly he was trying to do. Maybe kidnap Jet. It was pretty forgettable and a sorry way to close out the book. Let me just say that making a compelling story with one of the Ten-Eyed men is... challenging.

The thread that binds all the stories is Batman's increasing paranoia which reminds me of his creation of Brother Eye during the run up to Infinite Crisis. So where does DC go with this as Batman becomes more and more unhinged? I guess it leads up to his death in Batman R.I.P. DC has already stated that Batman isn't actually dead but it is interesting to see how writers try and push the envelope of what they can do with a character who is the companies biggest cash cow without truly, fundamentally altering the character. The death of Batman could be a hugely powerful story but then of course you're left with a dead Batman and what fun is that.

Let's start with the first part of this book, which takes place on the island of a certain "John Mayhew". What initially starts as a whodunnit type of mystery murder involving gimmicky heroes soon turns into something more. You really gotta love how Grant Morrison handles all the quirky subjects of the Batman of long ago. The writing here really shows off Batman's skill and the influence he's had. And let's not forget about J.H. Williams III. It's hard to find a word to describe this, but I think I'd have to go with "theatrical" which is a word that also describes Batman quite well. You really have to see it to believe it.

The second part of the book, which involves three fake Batmen running amok, is different from the first, but not in a bad way. It really takes a look into the psychology of Batman, and how he has had to train his mind in order to fight the psychiatric villains that make up his rogue's gallery. A special character also returns after being absent for a while, and he certainly plays his part well.

Overall, great book. I highly recommend.

Had this collection only included the outstanding Black Glove storyline from Grant Morrison and JH Williams, I would have purchased it. This is a handsome hardcover volume with a beautifully rendered cover with contents worthy of the deluxe treatment.
The downside is that after the 3 issues illustrated by Williams, the art chores for the remainder of the book fall to Tony Daniel, who's usually good pencil work is ruined by inker Jonathan Glapion.
The editors seem to be trying to create a "Jim Lee-a-like" art style here, but what they end up with is a mess the reader will have to endure rather than enjoy. Check out Tony Daniel's online Batman pencil work without inks and you'll see what a botch job this is. While William's work is fluid, consistant and clean, Daniel & Glapion's work is scruffy, uneven and messy. They don't belong in the same book.
I wish DC would clean up their act when it comes to Batman. It is hard to believe they can't find a consistantly good art team to handle their most popular character.
Why bother bringing in big name writers like Morrison if his scripts are butchered by poor artwork. Can we get this series back on track please?

Let me start this off by saying, The Black Glove is one of the best batman stories i've ever read, dare I say, better than Jeph Loeb's HUSH!

First of all i recommend you buy "Batmand and Son" and read that before buying this book. Both books contribute to the build up of Batman RIP.

This book starts off with issues #667 - #669 for the first half. In these four issues, Batman goes to a remote island to meet up with a band of batman-inspired heroes known as the "Club of Heroes". Before the first issue is over, it turns into a "whodunit", as one by one the heroes start dying off. Grant Morrison has done an amazing job creating this unique batman wannabes and make them actually likeable. The art to me wasn't that great, sorry J.H. Williams III, but your art work looks like a watered down version of Alex Ross'. All in all the first half of this book is an absolutely amazing tale, and it really establishes The Black Glove as a force to be reckoned with.

The second half of the story is issus #672 - #675 and it picks up where the end of "Batman and Son" left off. It continues the tale of the three mysterious "Batmen". This is where Grant Morrison's style of writing truly shines, you will feel completely out of the loop until the last issue and it is simply amazing. Tony Daniel's art work is awesome. I love it. Its up there in my favorites with Jim Lee, J.G. Jones, and Alex Ross.

This collection can't be missed. The story is so complexed and it deserves to be Batman's greatest tale. I can't wait to see how R.I.P. will end and bring all these issues together.

The book's main feature is its beautiful artwork. The story begins with a hoaxy murder mystery sentiment, but Batman's growing conflict with the villain eventually makes the story much more interesting. Both this work and it sequel suffer from some disorientation. That is, at times, its hard to keep up with all the various perspectives and scenes show to the reader.

Here we go with the second volume of Morrison's excellent run on Batman, the first of which was Batman and Son. To follow up the great Andy Kubert artwork from that collection, the first three issues included here in The Black Glove have outstanding illustrations by JH Williams III. I will never forget receiving this book from Amazon and perusing the first few pages. I was absolutely blown away by the art, and felt exactly the same way a few weeks back when I read it for the second time. This is a book I am glad to have on my bookshelf so I can grab it at will and peek through the gorgeous pages whenever I want.

The stories contained herein deepen the plot begun in Batman and Son and conluded in the next installment, Batman R.I.P. We begin to see the mystery deepen and learn a bit more about the Black Glove. As mentioned in my review of Batman and Son, I highly recommend readers to purchase all three volumes to fully appreciate the story. None of them are expensive and the entire collection is the only way to fully appreciate the excellent story Morrison develops.