BROKEN

And so we come to it. The final chapter in the very much ... well ... the big "team-up", that's treated like a big "team-up" by a slightly wryly self-aware Dick Grayson.

Four heroes. A cooped up Robin back home. A monster Bruce Wayne clone Black Knight. This one plays it straight. It follows standard Morrison storytelling logic - starting the story with mysteries in both the plot and the format/execution, and giving all the explanations at the end.

Coalmine I ...
Seen in previews, but we get an instance of Dick Grayson admitting to administering the overdose that killed Batwoman (the dying Batwoman, whose injuries would have killed her anyway). Still, as sticklers will point out ... "ZOMG, Batman killed someone!". For the record, this is Dick Grayson, who has killed before (Joker, but he resuscitated him) and we've never once heard his thoughts on mercy killings/euthanasia. Apparently he's for it, at least when pushy red-headed Bat-females tell him what to do.

Nice bit of chat between Batman and his mate, the Knight, talking about back when they were Robin and Squire, respectively. Cyril was terrified of Dick - Dick, the Boy Wonder ... not for nothing, but looking back at stories like Dark Victory, and Frank Miller's out-of-continuity All-Star Batman and Robin? Yeah ... I can see it. That kid was a little firecracker. A ten/eleven year old who could hold his own against Batman, and better still ... push Batman a bit. "This rough and raucous little Demon Boy, always somersaulting around and cracking weird jokes in some barely decipherable accent." Cyril says. The accent has got to be a bit of Dick's early circus slang, mixed with a bit of his being a U.S. Northeasterner, where accents are usually different from neighborhood to neighborhood, but they're always talking at light-speed. It could be a new experience for a cultured, refined, snobby aristocratic boy from England. There's a nice bit of friendly rivalry between these two.

"Earl of Chav", Beryl remarks they've taken to calling Knight. Chav is a slang term in England for somebody working class who goes out of their way to wear a tasteless outfit to stand out in a crowd. We have them here in the States too, but we call them "Long Islanders". They're typically Italian, but by no means limited to just the "Guidos" you see on MTV. In fact, it's quite a contagious, infection of poor taste, zero fashion sense and douche attitudes. But I digress!

Whatever your thoughts on Morrison's storyline, I really like HOW he depicted a clone. It has the knowledge and know-how built-in, but just can't quite live up to the potential. Like Dick said, "like a good song in the hands of a really bad singer". No actual life experience. No muscle memory.

Wayne Tower I ...
The Black Knight finally speaks more than just grunts ... and Morrison basically writes the book here - "Dumb Monsters for Dummies". Kudos to Cam Stewart, who, if you follow through the whole issue, you see chips away at Black Knight's skin in every panel, we watch the guy deteriorate.

Alfred, in a cool move locks Black Knight's cape in the elevator, going up, and Damian chastises Dick Grayson's bad move and turns an IR computer mouse into a projectile weapon at the same time. From a wheelchair and neck-brace. How can you not like the kid? (Also ... issue title "BROKEN" and Damian pure shades of "Post-Knightfall" Bruce - Nice.)

Damian proceeds to use his wheelchair as a weapon, and we get the first of the potential bombshells of this issue, hinted when Batman tastes his own "blud" and refers to it as "tainted, sour blud." Meanwhile, Damian escapes down to the Bat-Bunker garage where we see Dick's flying Batmobile ... Damian's "Akira" bike ... Bruce's last Batmobile ... and the Bat-Quad from the first arc.

We get a glimpse of Black Knight's memories as he likens his mental capacity to shattering glass. His memories are a mash-up of Bruce's worst tormenting inner thoughts, and also the memory of being within the clone tank and watching the other clones die.

But it's still a clone of Bruce Wayne, with some of his memories, and god damn if some of his talk doesn't reference that. "Sumthing siriously wrung with mi brane. I can smell it, old chum, ruh-rotting btween mi ears." He's still got some of that detective know-how. He realizes he's brain-damaged. But then, he says some startling things about Damian, which I'll translate into "Not Brain-Damaged" - just remember that memories of Damian came in the second issue of Last Rites, where Batman started accelerating his "negative memories" to fuck up the clones. Presumably, this means Damian Wayne was considered by Bruce Wayne to be a negative memory.

"I'm your father, Damian. Those tests proved what I feared most of all. You are here to replace me. They sent you to taint the bloodline, for all time. Damian, Demon's Head. In the end it was you. You were my biggest mistake."

Well now, Bruce-Clone. And yes, you're thoughts were brought on by the clashing and smashing of Bruce's worst memories ... but if there's a chance that the real Bruce Wayne felt that way? That's why he kept the truth about Damian so close to the chest? Really now, wouldn't the unprotected sex with Talia be the biggest mistake?

Of course Damian is meant to be some kind of usurper. Ra's al Ghul knew about him, and Ra's was dead. He was enhanced genetically. Apparently it didn't adhere 100% to Son of the Demon and he wasn't put up for adoption. But what makes the clone artificial and Damian natural? What separates them? (Talia's DNA, technically, but still - both were grown in vats.)

At any rate ... a giant leap towards Batman # 666. Damian the usurper ... who'll "rebel".

Coalmine II ...
Batwoman takes a dip in the Lazarus Pit that isn't really a Lazarus Pit, it's really spill from King Arthur's fountain of healing. Knight remarks that the Mine had four exits - one for each of the elements, which is just some old druidic standard practice - nothing especially relevant. Earth, Wind, Fire, Water. At any rate, stuff the Crime Bible types would find interesting.

Batwoman LIVES! And all she has to say about the experience? "That was intense". Jesus, Grant. And the followup for the curious Knight, "It was like a rollercoaster in the dark." And then, true to team-up standards, Colonel Jacob Kane returns, he tracked them down finally - missed all the freaky-deaky shit, and Knight and Squire are jealous that Batwoman has access to "military gear" and mention calling some of "ol' Dad's" friends in the Ministry of Defense.

Wayne Tower II
Singed, burning, degrading Bat-Clone picks up Damian and carries him to the roof of Wayne Tower to throw him off. Says a few more scary "Could be Bruce Wayne thoughts" thoughts.

"Mission comes first, Alfred. Out of my way. 'And I said: What does it take to stop the gunshots?' and the City's big black voice replied: 'The sacrifice of a son'."

(Likelihood this line will come back into play when Bruce gets back? COUNT ON IT.)

So Black Knight throws Damian off the roof, only to be caught mid-swing by Dick with a quippy "With me, it's all in the timing". Classic Dick Grayson. How'd they get back so quick? Colonel Kane has access, that's how. Orbital flight. Cross the Atlantic in half an hour. Dick clearly thinks it was cool ... and goes on to further claim "... and I'm in the middle of a serious team-up." This is the stuff Dick lives for.

Batwoman drops in and starts beating on Black Knight and we get another funny bit of dialogue. "Augghh! Kathy! How could she do this to me?" A nice bit of Bruce Wayne's memories of earlier in "his" career, around Year Five, when Batwoman joined the fun for a year or so.

(Strange coincidental thought process alert: Did you know Kathy Kane's exploits as Batwoman would've been right around the same time our modern "Kate Kane" was attending West Point?)

So Batman and Batwoman take down the Black Knight. With a long fight, and then a "double punch". And after claiming "I'm what you will be." he dies. And Damian immediately goes into "Who are you people and what are you doing here?" mode, keeping his and Alfred's cover and attempting to throw Batwoman off of suspicions that Bruce Wayne's penthouse might have anything to do with Batman.

So as he sends Batwoman on her way, our ever-optimistic Master Grayson hits on her. Smooth move, Grayson. Morrison having some of the first "fun" with the concept of a "millionaire playboy" hitting on Batwoman and getting nowhere. But also, a bit of continuation of Dick & Kate's working relationship, which began back in 52 with a nice Christmas moment and was referenced last issue.

Epilogue ...
Back in England, Knight and Squire (with help from Batwoman's dad and his military hardware) have tracked down Old King Coal's lair and beat up all his chimney sweep henchmen. They knock him out with the patented Batman and Robin double-punch, then set him up in a cell across from his mortal enemy, Pearly King Charlie English. Shades of Long Halloween! Julian Day (Calendar Man) and Alberto Falcone (Holiday). In Gotham it was the freaks vs. the old-school, and in London it's old-school street vs. crime bible north.

Epilogue II ...
Dick talks to Alfred and Damian about what he attempted to do, and firmly assuages everybody's concerns that he was acting out of character. This was BATMAN he was trying to bring back. Damian is understandably pissed that Grayson doesn't plan as well as Bruce. Alfred directly references The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul where Nightwing told Tim that the Lazarus Pits shouldn't be used.

Dick takes his cloak off and once more looks at Batman's cowl that he retrieved after R.I.P. - the cowl that drew him in after Final Crisis more and more as Nightwing ended and the battle for the cowl began, and admits that it looks like Tim Drake was right all along. Crow will be eaten. The hunt for Bruce Wayne begins.

This was possibly the most substantial, forward-moving, not-as-many symbols or themes chapter Morrison has written in a while. Threads were tied up. Promises have been made for the next arc. The flow was a little more standard.

I suspect in Batman vs. Robin, Dick and Damian will attempt to find clues about Bruce Wayne within Wayne Manor itself, and El Penitente (Hurt), Gravedigger, and Talia will all make moves.

But for now ... we're left with an issue that actually ties up more threads than it leaves. Something satisfying. I'm as curious about what happens next as ever, I'd love to see more of the British characters, learn about Old King Coal's wife and if she's ever going to be shown or if she's an Unseen Character ... but frankly, the Batman # 666 and Batman & Son loose threads are more pressing, and have waited a long time to be caught up on.

Not that much to analyze ... I still squeezed quite a bit of thought out of it.

BATMAN VS. BATMAN

Well, here we go again. This issue is a little lighter on the "Who's who of British street weirdness" and a little more relevant to things like ... Final Crisis ... Blackest Night ... that sort of stuff. And ultimately, the point of the issue is like the title says: Batman beating up Batman.

But man, oh man, there's some stuff I didn't see coming.

London ... earlier (pre-last issue):
I'll just point out here that every time I see fans whine about something Morrison left out or breezed past, they go crazy about it in forums. But then next issue, inevitably, he deals with it. And everybody always forgets this about him.

Fans griped that Batwoman "came out of nowhere" last issue. I thought she was telegraphed. Hints about Coal's crew being fanatics. Slowly we realize that means they're Crime Bible thumpers. Somebody was carried in a box into the Lazarus Mine. Wham, here's Batwoman in a pine coffin. But for anybody who that didn't track well with - here's your explanation. She was tracking Coal's people because she's a Crime Bible expert. Coal's henchmen are either Scooby Doo "G-G-G-Ghost Miners" or ninja Chimney Sweeps with knockout gas soot brooms.

Crime Bible news: Mannheim (I believe is dead as of 52) is considered to be a Martyr."Hail the Rock and the Rage" is standard prayers for these guys - not just the "Order of the Stone". Which is good, because The Spectre killed every single member of the Order of the Stone during Final Crisis' "Hell Month". (Except Vandal Savage, last seen hanging with Ra's al Ghul, and soon to be seen by Bruce Wayne as a young neanderthal). In case anyone wondered ... it's pretty clear that Morrison loves what Greg Rucka has been doing.

So anyway ... we see Eddie English get loaded onto the Burning Black Heart train with TNT on his chest. And Batwoman is kidnapped. Curiosity - is English his actual last name? Is Pearly King's last name English as well? Anyway ... King Coal is a Crime Bible guy, but his "prayers" echo The Devil (Doctor Hurt) who assault Bruce Wayne, Bruce's acknowledgment that upon meditating he felt a "Hole in the center of existence" and the fact that some of that came from Darkseid. The intersection of Bruce's meditations and battles with his personal Devil, the Crime Bible which worships Judeo-Christian Evil but has plenty of Jack Kirby New God chapters and speaks of the "Apokolips" and Darkseid vs. Batman in Final Crisis? I haven't put my finger on the keystone to the whole set of how it connects yet, but some ideas are forming that hopefully get easier to clarify soon. Anyway ... this ends with a nice, quick Jacob Kane cameo. Colonel Kane (Dad) is Batwoman's "behind-the-scenes" man. Apparently by the time this issue happens, they've gotten over their drama about Alice. By the way, if you aren't reading Rucka & J.H. Williams/Jock Batwoman? What the hell are you thinking? It's literally just as good as what Morrison is doing ... go ... get it. I'll wait.

Remble Colliery, English countryside (Near Newcastle):
Batwoman kind of sums up one of my thoughts - the Crime Bible "worships Gods of Evil". I suppose that means they're an "all-inclusive religions". They worship Satan, they worship Lucifer, they worship Pluto/Hades, they worship the New Gods of Apokolips, they worship all evil gods. Therefore ... the "connection" between those things might just well be that these cult crime villains are the ones making connections via prophecies and other things. In fact, one would theorize that the Third Batman from "Batman in Bethlehem" (#666) and the "new Gotham villains" depicted there are carrying out the evolution of the Crime Bible, and that by the time Damian grows up, the Crime Bible is HUGE in the DCU.

So ... insane Lazarus Bruce Wayne clone is the "Black Messiah" of the Crime Bible? I wonder how long he'll stick around for ... but some fans have theorized that Darkseid is in there. Dick says "there's no God of Evil in there, just Batman". And Darkseid says "he has use for a dead clone body of Bruce Wayne". Could this be Darkseid's last ditch attempt? After all ... he mentioned that he chose Dan Turpin because Batman would have been too hard to control. This feels sort of like "post-Return of the Jedi" when the Emperor didn't actually die, he hurled his soul into a clone body.

Final Crisis news: This flashback clearly takes place AFTER Batman has escaped but BEFORE Superman picks up the body. It's obviously BEFORE Batman shows himself, shoots Darkseid and gets Omega Sanctioned, because Darkseid mentioned "I wondered when you'd show yourself", meaning Bruce has been sneaking around the Bludhaven bunker. Plus, here Darkseid isn't bleeding or dying.

The fight. Man, much of this issue is the brawl. Batman (Dick), Knight, Squire and Batwoman can't even take on a full-powered, Lazarus-bathed super-soldier clone of Bruce Wayne. Four TOP level ass-kickers like that can't handle this guy. I'm not saying Bruce wouldn't win against the four of them (with or without Lazarus Pit) but this clone (which needs a name) is a wrecking machine. Even Dick's cool "Electric Bat-Knucks" didn't help much. Meanwhile, Cameron Stewart draws a really good looking Kung-Fu battle.

Outside ...
More of Old King Coal. Even his black car has a burning coal chunk logo. Others have pointed out the "Black vs. White" theme of the English gangsters. Black Newcastle vs. White London. Black Coal vs. White Pearl. Working class (Chimney Sweeps, too) vs. Street Royalty. OF COURSE King Coal is smoking a cigar. The guy has to be smoking. Burning. Smoldering.

Batwoman tazes Clone-Bat in the FACE! And it doesn't work! That Fountain of Youth crap must be good stuff. Meanwhile ... the mine has been caved in. The "Caved in mine" is an absolutely classic Pulp Fiction trope. And Clone-Bat escapes ... because he apparently has enough Bruce Wayne escape artist skill to be the one who gets away.

Gotham City (Wayne Foundation Bat-Bunker):
Alfred's home. A nice bit of "Comic book time" because he was on some high-tech exotic location last issue during the Lazarus Pit events, and now he's already back in Gotham.

Back at the Coalmine ...
Bat-Clone (What the HELL are we going to call him? Dark Messiah? Bat-Beast?) takes one of Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's Gyro-Bats for a spin back to London. What's his motivation other than being an insane Bruce Wayne clone? But anyway, Batwoman is severely fucked up. Broken legs. Dying. WHAT?! Rucka gave the okay for this?! (Yes, yes ... fear not, Batwoman fans ... there is a Lazarus Pit five feet away and a Prophecy involved. She'll be fine next issue.)

Back in London ...
We get another cameo from John Cleese inspired "Beefeater" as Bat-Beast steals the Bat-Plane that Dick left in London ... because he looks like Batman, sounds like Batman, and knows what Batman knows.

Back in Gotham ...
More Damian. He's got a new spine, he's a 10 year old hellion so being wheelchair confined doesn't seem like much fun. And this time instead of Batwoman, it's Alfred's turn to shut up internet fans who complained that Dick Grayson is acting out of character, as Morrison sums it up thusly for those who literally said there was no proof other than our (us being readers who pay attention) "interpretation of what Dick is thinking". And thus: "I fear Master Richard has taken the taunts of the Red Hood to heart and done something rather rash." I love how often I'm proven right (Sorry, had to gloat here ... I'm done.)

Look ... Dick Grayson is not Bruce Wayne. Dick has feelings. Jason Todd was his successor, a little bit of a trainee, and Jason didn't last long. But they were both Robin. When Jason returned? After he tried to torment Bruce a bit, he moved on to Dick. Clearly there was a grudge. But CLEARLY Dick actually cares what Jason thinks and says. And now ... now they're rivals. Jason is the closest thing Dick has to an arch-nemesis. The ex-Robins. The good son vs. the bad son. (Granted, I think they're as much "little brothers" to Bruce as they are "sons" but that's a WHOLE other argument, not that relevant here. I've said it before ... Bruce was their surrogate, and was whatever they needed him to be. Brother. Father figure.)

Plus Jason's statement had the added insult to injury of the fact that Jason himself was resurrected via Lazarus Pit. And he's ... not really much less insane than he was before. Dick talked Tim out of using the Lazarus Pit on his lost ones. But throw a Jason into the mix? Feelings get mixed.

Lastly ... Alfred called Jason "Red Hood". Not Master Jason. Not Mister Todd. RED HOOD. That right there is tacit acknowledgment that Jason is no longer part of the Bat-Family. He WAS the Black Sheep. Now he's not welcome. He's a villain. He might not be a Gotham Rogue, but he's a villain. Perhaps the most tragic villain of all.

Coalmine ...
A nice moment of "full circle" appreciation. Dick first met Kate Kane as Batwoman during 52 - the Christmas issue. He gave her a Batarang as a Christmas present, because he's Dick Grayson - "Nice guy extraordinaire, lover of red-heads, welcome aboard." So now she finally realizes (She's not officially Bat-Family) Oh ... you're that guy who gave me the Batarang. Nightwing became Batman, that's who it is. It's a nice moment. He came to her rescue with Montoya as well.

Then she DIES. What the fuck?!

But like I said ... there's a Pit nearby ... a Prophecy in the air ... she'll be fine.

But then there's this: Knight and Squire dig through and find Batman. Quote Dick Grayson: "She's dead. Batwoman died in my arms." Which TOTALLY hearkens back to the Silver Age story where Kathy Kane died in Bruce Wayne's arms. I don't think she really died in that story ... it was a hallucination or something brought on by aliens. I think it was featured in The Black Casebook collection, actually, and that's where I read it.

King Coal calls his "old lady" or whatever (Nothing actually said they were a couple). I'm still trying to figure who she might be. My guesses are: Whisper A'Daire. (Because she's Crime Bible and Abbot is a supporting character in Rucka's Batwoman stuff, but his former Cobra partner Whisper is missing) or possibly Talia. Talia was part of Libra's high command in Final Crisis. Libra preached out of the Crime Bible as Darkseid's prophet. It's POSSIBLE Talia converted to Crime Bible religion during Final Crisis. She did seem to be "planning something" last issue. It's hard to say, though. Morrison has finally gotten around to picking up on threads from Final Crisis but Talia has been a recurring character in his run with her own agendas and plots. Whether they connect are just speculation.

Back in Gotham ...
Last, but not least ... I didn't expect Bat-Beast to fly back to Wayne Tower in Gotham, attack Alfred and see Damian (and possibly throw the kid wheelchair and all off the top of the building next issue). Can not fucking wait to see where this goes from here ...

Batwoman has got to be revived to counter the prophecy. Dick Grayson has had a rude awakening and will have an even ruder one once they kill this Bat-Beast clone and he realizes ... wait a fucking second ... if the Blackest Night body we buried isn't Bruce, where the fuck is Bruce? Tim Drake was fucking right?! Knight and Squire ... well, they're along for the ride, aren't they? Good friends to Batman (Bruce or Dick). Awful nice of them to help out with this case.

Damian vs. a clone of his father? How the hell is that going to go? Damian was included in some of the newer, less fun memories that Bruce used to destroy the clone minds (basically the whole second issue of Last Rites). How's that going to work?

And, going way further (and less likely, but hey ...) if Darkseid is somehow in there, or affecting the Bat-Beast/Dark Messiah clone ... and Damian is the grandson of "The Demon" ... has some sort of connection to The Devil (As seen in Batman # 666) and is the closest living thing to Bruce Wayne on the Earth right now? Will Dark Messiah/Darkseid actually give us a hint about the nature of Doctor Hurt A.K.A. The Devil? (Coming soon in the very next story arc.)

I doubt Morrison will highlight much of that. He likes to keep things close to the vest and seed out the hints and tidbits over time. But I do think there's a very, very high chance that we get A HINT about Doctor Hurt next issue.

The Joker 3 - My "Replacements are circling" too!

As esteemed Bat-blogger David Uzumeri mentioned in his B&R blog this week ... go here for a knock 'em dead article by 4thletter:

http://www.4thletter.net/2009/11/batman-robin-the-facets-of-the-joker/

This stuff is not altogether new to us. We've been noticing massive nods to Alan Moore's accidental, possibly not self-appreciated work within The Killing Joke (By all accounts, and rightly so, the greatest Batman story ever told) cropping up all over Morrison's run. Homages. Nods. And even outright moments of rebellion from that holiest of 80's super-sized one-shots.

In my own musings I've covered how the Club of Villains, quite obviously so, all represent "followers of Joker's art" in the same way that the Club of Heroes are all inspired by Batman (and indeed, how J.H. Williams III homaged the various periods of Batman's life with their art styles).

My fellow blogger Cass Sherman has pointed out plenty of references, as has Uzumeri himself, and many others online throughout forums like CBR, Newsarama, ComicBloc, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. To those of us invested enough in Morrison's opus to really get crazy with these annotated blogs, The Killing Joke homages seem old hat. Le Bossu represents the twisted experimenter. Scorpiana represents the use of poisons. El Sombrero represents the use of death-traps & fun-houses, and leaves calling cards. Pierrot Lunaire represents the creepy clown factor. Swagman represents the defiance of the law (perpetual outlaw), and his Ned Kelly inspired gear pays wonderful homage to Heath Ledger. King Kraken I'm actually lost on ... other than being an inhuman monster. Charlie Caligula is the vanity. Professor Pyg has the completely insane mental status. Eduardo Flamingo has the lanky frame and absurd showmanship. Pearly King has the old-school street hood (Jimmy Cagney) vibe and the love of street-level games like dice, cards, darts, dominoes.

But in the interest of that article (and in total celebration of my new Absolute Hardcover Edition of TKJ with the pretty Brian Bolland coloring) I've decided to re-read TKJ and point out things Morrison would later homage - in reverse, rather than reading Morrison's stuff new and going back in time for references, which wouldn't do at all, since I've already done that.

So, without further ado:

THE KILLING JOKE and everything I can find in it that Morrison will use later. With some thoughts.

1A. Batman goes to Arkham to have a sit-down with Joker. There he finds Joker (actually a stooge pretending to be Joker, but bear with me) dealing a hand in a solitary card game that provides clues to the sharp-eyed reader. The "stooge" is arranging the cards into suits, and the Jokers are set aside, outside the deck. Keen readers will notice in 5.2 seconds that this flunky is "picking up Joker's mess" and distracting Batman, while the real Joker isn't even there to begin with.

1B. Batman goes to Arkham to have a sit-down with Joker. This happens in the DC Universe # 0 one-shot that kicked off the events leading toward Final Crisis. In Batman's chapter, Batman goes to Arkham to sit down with the Joker to ask him about the Black Glove. Joker is dealing the cards so as to give Batman clues. In typical Morrison (or Joker) fashion, it's much more coy than just some schmuck cover for Joker, because it's the real Joker, and he's working with a theme, he deals the "Dead Man's Hand" with himself as the wild card at the end.

2A. The Deck of Cards.

2B. The Deck of Cards? In case you may have noticed re-reading The Killing Joke, the design on the back of the deck of cards is Red & Black Checkers. The Joker card that Batman keeps to bring to the Bat-Cave for analysis is one of these. Side-note: Red & Black are also the colors of the original Red Hood costume ... and the new "half Batman inspired" Red Hood costume that Jason Todd (born of both Batman and Joker) wears.

3A. The Carnival Grounds. Here we see Joker buys it for his experiment with spreading his psychosis and hires gimmick carnies as henchmen.

3B. Years later (about 5 by my, and Morrison's count) Professor Pyg uses the same grounds, the same Ghost Train ride as his secret hideout for experimenting a drug that spreads "his sickness" and uses gimmick Dollotrons as henchmen.

3C. Prior to that, actually, in Batman # 663 The Clown at Midnight we get reacquainted with Solomon and Sheba, the two dwarfs who torment Gordon in TKJ. Joker has them killed in his traditional "thanks for your service, henchmen" way. Actually Sheba lives. According to Joker's inner monologue (Morrison's prose) during his "metamorphosis", TKJ is his short-lived "Ringleader from Hell" phase. And according to Morrison, the whole super-sanity theory he came up with can be credited to one Harleen Quinzel, so kudos Grant for effectively tying Moore's TKJ, Dini's Mad Love (or "Case Study"), and your own Arkham Asylum: A Serious House ... all together as "THE" definitive Joker reads.

4A. Joker walks by the posters for the sideshow freaks. There's a poster for Siamese twins, a three legged man, and a fat lady. We meet them later.

4B. When Professor Pyg unleashes his Circus of Strange on Gotham Central in B&R#2, sure enough, we meet a fat lady ("Big Top"), and an amalgam of Siamese twins and a three-legged man - the Siamese TRIPLETS known as "Siam". Also the "flaming man" Phosphorous Rex, but Rex was actually one of the Batman # 666 villains of Grant's own creation, much like Flamingo and Pyg, and others. The Carnival Freak Show is one of the classic pulp cliches.

Intermission - One would assume that, since Grant believes that somehow, all Batman's stories, even the outrageous 50's and 60's stuff, somehow really did happen to him ... that all of Joker's insane 50's and 60's stories happened as well. Not necessarily how they appeared to when first read, but something similar. Now, couple that with Grant's thoughts on Joker's David Bowie style reinventing himself - his innovation, and the fact that Grant gave us the names of these "Joker Styles" during The Clown at Midnight, you would assume that just like (and apparently Dick Grayson as well), "everything that ever happened to Joker is in continuity" as well. So how does that work with his "Multiple Choice" flashbacks to his own origins? I assume Grant, like he's doing himself with Batman, would encourage a devoted Joker fan to "mix and match the parts you like" and ignore the ones you don't.

5A. The photograph. In the Bat-Cave, Bruce sets the Joker card down next to a portrait of him, Dick Grayson (Robin), Bat-Mite, Kathy Kane(Batwoman), Bette Kane (Bat-Girl), Ace the dog, Alfred Pennyworth, and Commissioner Gordon. It's drawn in the distinct Bob Kane Style and even has his iconic signature at the bottom. Is it a drawing, or is it a real group photo of the Batman Family of the late 50's and early 60's?

5B. Morrison would say a portrait, for sure. Of course now, in the wake of Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis, it's harder to pin down continuity. It's a writer's plethora. Whatever they choose. But on the issue of known things - Bette Kane in current continuity moonlighted as the Earth-based Flamebird. She was a Teen Titan, she's retired now. Kathy Kane goes by Kate Kane, is Batwoman, but only recently (This is less specific, as she has a stepmother named Catherine Kane (a rich socialite, like Kathy Kane was) and an Aunt Kathy, presumably her father Jake Kane's sister, and her namesake, who may be the "old friend" of Bruce's who was killed by assassins). Bat-Mite is Bruce's imaginary friend that he only sees when he's going crazy - but he probably does exist in some capacity. They may very well have had Ace when Dick was younger, but odds are the dog didn't really fight crime.

6A. The Bat-Cave. Notice the one-seater "Bat Gyrocopters" hanging from the roof along with the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Morrison postulates that a lot of the goofier "trophies" in the Bat-Cave were Dick Grayson's ideas - the trophy collecting was a fun thing that he really got Bruce into doing. The goofier, more outlandish gadgets were also his influence on Bruce.

6B. Sure enough, in Batman and Robin # 7, Dick and England's "Squire", Beryl Hutchinson, fly from London to a remote coalmine in the countryside via these very same Bat-Gyros. Apparently Dick has "dusted off" some of his old favorite toys.

7A. Alfred's snack tray. Alfred brings the costumed, but umasked Bruce tea and sandwiches as Bruce ponders the Joker's next move, offering a snack for the busy detective. Bruce is too distracted by work to eat.

7B. Alfred's snack tray returns! In B&R#1 Alfred brings the costumed but unmasked Dick and Damian sandwiches and tea. Dick munches down sandwiches. Damian (Bruce's supposed son) is too distracted by work to eat. There's an interesting blog floating around out there about how Morrison never has Bruce eat food, but shows Dick eating all the time. At any rate, while Dick actually takes the sandwiches, he like Bruce remains glued to the monitors - in his case, he's chasing down Professor Pyg.

8A & 8B. As 4thletter pointed out, Gordon and Barbara enjoy cocoa but Joker barges in and shoots Barbara in the spine three times then kidnaps Gordon. He ties them up, tortures them, attempts to make Gordon watch. In B&R#1 Pyg barges in and kidnaps Sasha and turns her father into a Dollotron. Then later, he goes to turn Sasha into a Dollotron and makes Damian watch. Also, three shots to the spine - Flamingo shoots Damian in the spine three times. Damian is rapidly undergoing the "what Joker is capable of experience" whirlwind tour.

Intermission # 2. You know, I just realized for the first time that the gun Joker shoots Barbara with is a Colt Single Action Army - otherwise known as "The Peacemaker". It's probably THE most legendary cowboy/pistol duel/gunfighter gun to come out of the Civil War/Old West, and it was famous long before badass guys like Clint Eastwood made it THE standard in gunslinging Spaghetti Westerns.

9A. As Joker strips Barbara to her underwear/naked (Comics Code!) to take some photographs that will surely help tip Gordon over the edge, he says "To prove a point. Here's to crime."

9B. It's a slightly thinner reference, but Grant's "Pearly King of Crime" in London talked about "street royalty", but specifically said his gang was old-school. In it for "the good, honest plunder". And in fact, it's a recurring motif for Morrison to point out the fact that Gotham's "Pop Criminals" are all in it for the fun of crime - the GAME of crime. Cops vs. Robbers. Detective vs. Heist. Which is why all these street geniuses all pick a common street-level game as a gimmick and then try their hand at being a super-criminal. Two-Face with his coin tosses. Riddler with his riddles. Joker with his cards. It's a slick way of rationalizing Bob Kane's original very 40's comics way of coming up with villains, where he just took everyday items and things and made a character out of them.

Intermission # 3. You'd be wrong to say that Morrison is taking every homage from The Killing Joke. In fact, he references tons of 70's and 80's Batman as well. In the 70's? Well, it's pretty heavily from Denny O'Neill's celebrated run. Man-Bat has been seen. Ra's al Ghul, Talia and the League of Assassins are huge. But mostly it's the big-time great Joker stories of the time - The Laughing Fish. The Joker's Five-Way Revenge. From the 80's? He's made a big point to embrace what the 80's did to Jason Todd. Morrison uses what he likes from ALL eras of Batman.

Intermission # 4. Something always didn't sit well with me for Moore's Joker backstory. Recently I've wrapped my head around it, but I'll clarify. Moore's Joker is celebrating crime. He's trying to prove a point, sure, by torturing Gordon. But he's really the same gleeful criminal mastermind, and some would say "crime artist" he's always been. As The Joker, Moore never paints him as anything more than he's always been painted (albeit with some thoughtful shots of what he might be thinking about as segues into the flashbacks).

So it dawned on me when I first finished the story ... Lab Assistant, check. He's a smart guy. Failed comedian. Okay, maybe that's where the whole joking craziness comes into play after the Red Hood poor attempt at crime took place. But honestly? Joker is way too much of a crime savant, if that's the case. He's so good at crime. He knows the ins and outs. The ups and downs. It seems impossible to me that Joker came from humble backgrounds as a lab tech and failed comedian. This guy has the extensive street knowledge that a LIFE of crime would bring.

I'm not saying it's not possible he was a lab tech, a failed stand-up comic, and a husband and not-quite father ever. It certainly is. But the notion that somebody who would later be dubbed a PRINCE OF CRIME wasn't already a really talented criminal prior to his Joker days? Dubious, at best.

It doesn't bother me much anymore. It occurred to me more recently that if Joker had done ALL of it, in keeping with Morrison's "EVERYTHING COUNTS" mentality ... if he WAS a lab tech, a bad stand-up comic, an expert heist-level lock-pick/bank robber (See: Lovers & Madmen ... or The Dark Knight, I guess), a hitman (See: Batman '89, Batman:TAS, "Case Study") ... if he was a sicko little kid who killed animals and as a teen murdered his parents (See: J.M.S.' The Brave & The Bold: "The Atom & The Joker") ... if he did a TON of that stuff at a very young age, and quite a bit of it actually happened ... well then he really would have been a Jack of All-Trades, you know? And that's precisely what Joker was before he became a Joker. He was a Jack. He went from a Prince of Crime to being a Clown Prince of Crime.

Side-note to that whole concern. It can not be a coincidence that one of the gangsters who convinces the "young Joker" to take part in Moore's possible origin story's "Red Hood gimmick" looks absurdly more like the Joker than the kid does himself. Now anyway, back to the task at hand. In fact, in 90% of Bolland's panels, that guy gets better panel time than the young comedian does. Of course, that guy also gets shot in the head by a cop. But hey, so it goes. And as evidenced by Batman's "So, Red Hood, we meet again" ... it's all up for grabs.

10A. Actually, I've really already covered this. Joker's got midgets for his henchmen here, and they're scary and creepy and weird and torture Gordon. Look at the "girl midget", who we learn later is named Sheba. She's wearing Red & Black Checkers.

10B. Morrison brings them back, in the only way we ever meet "former Joker henches". Five-Way Revenge style.

11A. Joker sits atop a throne on a mountain dolls.

11B. Dollotrons. Lots of 'em! The cover of B&R#3 says it all, as Batman and Robin battle atop a mountain of Professor Pyg's Dollotron henchmen, and it appears they're standing atop a mountain of dolls. Even the color-scheme is similar.

Intermission # 5. This one is shorter, I promise. Moore's Joker basically sums up the entire existence of The Joker. "But can we live without them? Memories are what our reason is based upon. If we can't face them, we deny REASON ITSELF." That's Joker to a tee. His past trauma has turned him into a whirling dervish that lives only in the present. He denies reason in favor of being unreasonable. By the way, Moore's puns here are off the charts.

12A. Ripples in the Reflection. This shows that Joker's memories can't be trusted. Most of the puddles in this book are being rained upon, and so they're not still reflections, they're broken, rippling, chaotic. Not especially true. Moore's got a nice subtle metaphor going with the rippling puddles.

12B. Meddlesome Memories. Bruce wanted to know what it's like to be The Joker? He finally got his chance when his memories could no longer be trusted amidst Last Rites (During Final Crisis) when he was being telepathically read like a book by The Lump and his memories couldn't be trusted. I wonder, when he gets back, if he'll finally be able to understand Joker more.

13A & 13B. 4thletter already pointed out the clear comparisons you can draw between being "Blinded by the Hood". Dick Grayson said it to Damian in Revenge of the Red Hood, and indeed Jason was blinded a good deal by "the mask" he was wearing (a hood). Joker was blinded by the hood and that's what caused him to fall into the vat of acid. To top it off, Frank Miller recently (All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder # ?) coined that "A hood turns into a blindfold" line. Dick Grayson had thought to dub himself "Hood" like Robin Hood, and Batman tweaked it - ditch the Hood, be Robin.

That is all. Between the various bloggers and myself we'd already put thought into about 75% of these, but some stuff ... feels less thoroughly debated.

PEARLY AND THE PIT

I've tended to drag on a bit and lose my point of view in these annotation/opinion pieces, so I'll try to be more to the point and efficient with this one, for my own sake as much as for readers who don't feel like reading an essay that doesn't have some clear goals and points to make.

Prologue: Clearly a continuation of the epilogue from last issue, we have Dick retrieving Bruce's corpse. I'll try to clarify some popular questions here: 1. Why is Bruce still wearing his Bat-costume? Easy - to Dick Grayson, it's evidence. That being said, Black Hand DID remove the skull from that corpse, did he not? Yes, so they must have recollected the whole thing. Other than that? Lots of questions about the timeline. When does this happen in regards to Blackest Night? In regards to Red Hood? Morrison seems content not to worry about it, but I will.

Timeline: Robin is fine in Blackest Night: Batman, but in Red Hood he's shot in the spine by Flamingo. And his spine is still fucked here. Therefore, logic dictates that Morrison's "Day after Blackest Night" comment is more like "The week after Blackest Night". It goes Blackest Night then Revenge of the Red Hood then Blackest Knight. Got that? Let's not worry about how Tony Daniel's book ties in since Robin is fine in Batman: Life After Death, Black Mask is still in charge, but Penguin is rebelling, yet in Revenge of the Red Hood Penguin works for Black Mask. I take it Tony's arc is either after all of this a few weeks, or else Penguin's rebellion is going to fail. We'll see. Let's just throw some events up.

1. Batman R.I.P.
2. Final Crisis
3. Last Rites
4. Battle for the Cowl
5. Batman Reborn
6. Blackest Night: Batman
7. Revenge of the Red Hood
8. Blackest Knight

Dig? It's not hard to realize that frankly there's only a few months between Final Crisis and Blackest Night. Body in the vault is considered "evidence". Good? Works for me.

London: Batman & Squire.
This stuff is rife with references for London and British readers to recognize, but a lot of it is pretty widely known landmarks, and an avid James Bond or Guy Ritchie film fan will know most of it. The ferris wheel is "The Wheel" on the River Thames. Big tourist attraction. It often rains in the U.K. and we see TONS of umbrellas this issue. Makes you wonder why Penguin doesn't migrate to England, he'd do well there.

Old King Coal is our first British villain. More on his family later. Squire's "Charging Steed" motorcycle (Knightcycle?) is a modern update, but the idea of a motorcycle stylized to be a horse dates back to the very first appearance of Knight & Squire - "The Batman and Robin of England", featuring Cyril and his dear dad. Other annotations will walk you through every sight and sound in West London depicted here. Suffice it to say, Batman races up the River Thames into West London (W1) to get to the Underground Station. I remember that long bridge from 007: The World is Not Enough ...

Dick Grayson's acrobatics make moving across a lot of urban space quite a breeze for him. Once more we see he's a more nimble Batman than Bruce. The hood King Coal's planning on bombing the London Underground with goes by Smooth Eddie English, A.K.A. The Pearly Prince, complete with cockney accent. More on the Pearly Court in a bit.

The Tower of London ...
Others have pointed out that the name of "England's Arkham", Basement 101 is likely a reference to George Orwell's 1984. Which in fact, could also be a nod to "V For Vendetta". Knowing Grant's habit of giving a nod, good or bad, to what Alan Moore has done before, it wouldn't surprise me, since Moore's "V" clearly owes a bit to 1984 itself!

I was content with the hilarity of an actual secret super-dungeon in the "tourist" dungeons of the Tower of London, and an actual role for the comic Justice League Europe character Beefeater, cameoing here and originally modeled after John Cleese. Others have noted, Beefeater was last seen as a pall bearer at Booster Gold's fake funeral in 52, of which Morrison was a co-writer. I wonder how long he's been thinking "When I take Batman to England, I'm using that guy!" As for the absurdly funny names of the British rogues gallery? More on that later! I'll note that the weird Metalek alien purports to be from "Galaxy X", and "X" is a recurring thing this issue, with Bruce's body being designated "Shipment X", and indeed, a bit of an "X Marks the Spot" plot.

The scene with Dick and Pearly mirrors a zillion scenes like this with Batman going into Arkham. The Dominoes certainly indicate that Pearly as 'king of crime' in London might be in on the Domino Killer. The fish-tank with electric eels and love of games puts him again as something of a Joker equivalent (albeit more gang-oriented). No doubt he's a guy who suspends heroes over fish-tanks with sharks or eels or whatever and plays the whole gimmick routine. His bit of self-aggrandizing about his "descent from King Arthur" is about as common and bullshit in England as Americans claiming to be descended from a Cherokee Princess, but there is something to it, it seems, as he uses the Dominoes as a hint for Batman - a map of the layout of the mines. Of course, his son "won control" over that Mine, so he's willing to let Batman go clean up his enemy, King Coal's hostile takeover of it.



Knight & Squire Villains:
The primary gang conflict in DCU England seems to be between South (Londoners) and North (Country), although there's clearly rogues from all over the U.K. that no doubt as the ones in Gotham, do hired-gun work, like the Welsh "Dai Laffyn" - possibly a wildcard Joker type. Big Don Drummond was created by James Robinson in Superman recently (battling two new British heroes - Beaumont (Rich) and Sunny Jim (Poor). The others are all made up based on common British street sights. I won't go too far into it.

Old King Coal's Court
Coal is a Northern "country" criminal in England. As quickly touched upon by Knight & Squire, his henchmen are all high on magic mushrooms, and are fanatics. As we quickly learn, they're superstitious members of the Religion of Crime and so the Lazarus Pit holds "religious significance" to them. But like most of the Crime Bible thumpers we've seen Batwoman & Montoya face in Rucka's stuff - they've misinterpreted the prophecies once more to think Batwoman is the key. Other than that? The "Ghost Miners" henchmen are straight out of Scooby Doo. And hey! Remember in the 60's when Scooby Doo met Batman and Robin? Side note - coal-mining has long, long, long been a stape of the British countryside, U.K. energy source and labor disputes between lower and upper class, labor and government. A perfect choice for a gimmick villain. Pearly King mentions Old King Coal's "Donna" - that's his girlfriend or wife. Apparently she's bad news. Who the hell knows who she'll end up being, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a villainess involved in the Religion of Crime. Maybe another Rucka character cameoing - Whisper A'Daire has been missing quite a while. Lastly here, others have noted that the "Last Lazarus Pit" possibly being the "Fountain of King Arthur" seems to be a reference to Morrison's SEVEN SOLDIERS, specifically I'd imagine Shining Knight (An Arthurian Knight). Won't surprise me. I'm expecting an Arthurian chapter in Return of Bruce Wayne, to be honest.

Pearly's Court
Pearly King (Our titular character) seems to be the kingpin of the British villains. His and his son's gimmick is silly button suits, which is a reference to the "Pearlies" - akin to Salvation Army Santa Clauses really - they walk London's streets keeping people informed about charity and wearing outlandish garb covered with buttons. Apparently in the DCU, a criminal syndicate uses the whole good-will organization as cover. At any rate, Pearly and his son Eddie have East End Cockney accents, and represent the old-school "cops & robbers" hood style of crime. And yes, they feel like they were plucked right out of a Guy Ritchie flick (Snatch, Lock Stock, Rock n Rolla) and given DCU gimmicks. Pearly King himself? Apart from being old-school, he's got some heft to his appearance. He's seen using DOMINOES, and other classic games - darts, dice, cards - all things that are massive trademarks of Joker (who also goes by "something Prince of Crime") and were recently used by the Black Glove. In it for the crime life, he apparently sees the likes of Old King Coal as fanatics, zealots, superstitious backstabbers. And it's literally a case of Old-School Underground vs. Crime Bible. We've seen that battle in Gotham recently as well - Intergang (Crime Bible) moved in on Gotham's Underground (Penguin, also the Falcone family is back now) and they set up covens which Batwoman has been hunting.

Could Pearly King be in on the Black Glove? A new member? Better still - could he know Joker somehow? Might Joker have apprenticed under him once? That's pure speculation. But more recently could they have met? If Joker is the Domino Killer, traveling and killing the Black Glove rich people ... might he have used his "Brit counterpart" for information? And even inspiration? If my theory about Oberon Sexton being Joker holds true, there could be a connection. But I'll shelf the speculation for now. Pearly also shows a pretty keen eye - Dick comes across as "younger than he expected Batman to be".

League of Assassins ...
All that fun romp through England aside, there's Batman story to be told here. First off, as Morrison promised in his IGN interview, we see Damian get a new spine to replace the one Eduardo Flamingo shot to hell. It's funny that he's floating in a pool of healing medicine, as the Lazarus Pit is one "Baptism in a Fountain of Life", Talia's "Damian Spa" is another (Mom even compares the kid to Alexander the Great, who himself purportedly swam in a healing fountain), Bruce's dip in the Nanda Parbat Fountain is another ... and so we see a recurring theme here. I'm not sure where it's going, but it's good to note it. Meanwhile, Alfred's charm steals the show here, as Talia plans something nefarious (Which I'm sure we'll catch up with in Batman vs. Robin). Alfred seems quite sure the body is that of Bruce. I wonder if he knows what Dick is doing. Aside from that this is the first issue where League of Assassins ... Crime Bible ... and Black Glove are all sort of referenced in the same context. The League has skirmished with the Cult of CCrime (See: Kyle Abbott, Whisper A'Daire, 52, Rucka) and the League has skirmished with the Black Glove (See: Morrison - R.I.P., a little bit of Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul). But this is the first time ALL THREE of them are converging.

Rendle Colliery, English Countryside ...
As cool as it is to see the old 70's bit where Batman leaves the city for an isolated location in the countryside, there's of course more to Morrison's site. Old pre-Christian ley lines ... druidic mysticism ... the longest night of the year ... this stuff is gold as far as where an Arthurian Lazarus pit would be, and where the Religion of Crime would be looking. And Beryl gives the location an appropriately goofy X-Files meets Scooby Doo backstory with a scary "Margaret Thatcher" (See: V For Vendetta) tale to go with it. And of course, they go into "detective mode" and notice footprints that carried something heavy, which we'll get to.

Dick Grayson's frame-of-mind:
Obviously, apart from the coincidence of these two warring Crime Factions in England unearthing the "Last Lazarus Pit" being really good timing for Dick to attempt to revive Bruce, there's the matter of Dick's mind-set. Just a year ago during Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul, Dick spent an entire issue lecturing Tim Drake about the VERY SAME THING. Bringing people back is wrong. It's not natural. They hugged. Now Dick plans on using the Lazarus Pit (the wrong way to get Bruce back) while Tim is out there as Red Robin, ALSO tied up with the League of Assassins, attempting to get Bruce back the right way.

There's enough explanation between this issue, last issue, and the Nightwing appearances in 52 and Last Rites.

First - there's Jason Todd last issue. Jason WAS SUCCESSFULLY REVIVED by a Lazarus Pit. And Jason, the Bad-Robin, last issue, really gut-punched Good-Robin Dick with guilt when he said Dick was failing Bruce by not trying a Lazarus Pit. Don't think Dick cares about Jason's opinion - WRONG. He let Gordon arrest the Red Hood without revealing Jason's real name. He lost his temper when Jason said that and tried to fight his way through arresting cops to punch Jason.

Second - there's Dick's history with Bruce. As he mentions this issue - they are brothers. Bruce is his big brother. The best big brother he could ever have asked for. When they were younger - Bruce early 20's, Dick 10-16, they saw the most absurd, insane, goofy 1950's and 60's stuff imaginable. Got through it all. Robin always saved Batman and Batman always saved Robin. He's only Batman because he's continuing Bruce's work, and he'd gladly go back to being Nightwing (Well, somebody else if General Zod's son wants to keep it) if Bruce somehow came back.

Third - Blackest Night just happened like a week ago, DC-time. Massive zombie resurrection. And obviously by its end, odds are pretty good some divine happy resurrections happen, too. There's not much context for this part yet, but it has to factor into Dick's mind. Zombies. Ghosts. White Light of Creation. And here's a Lazarus Pit, unearthed a week later.

Obviously we know that Batwoman - a bit of an expert in all things Crime Bible Prophecy - is right and this isn't going to work out very well. But Dick is at least totally within character. He's willing to give it a try.

Batwoman, too?!
So ... Batman and Squire come across King Coal's mooks and trash them, find a coffin, trade information that sounds similar to things we've heard in the Crime Bible past, and sure enough, Batwoman is trapped in a casket they were planning to sacrifice to the Lazarus Pit. It's a very old-school way of bringing in a character - a rough entrance into the scene from Stage Left. But it was at least telegraphed a bit when we started putting two-and-two together about Coal's men being superstitious fanatics ... carrying something heavy ... twice-named-daughter ... ah! Kate Kane! She's not exactly on her A-Game at first, having to blow her way out of the casket with something that goes boom and possibly concussing herself, so Dick welcomes her to the party and catches her up. He's the New Batman. He's going to attempt to bring Old Batman back. He trusts her so she's welcome to join him, Cyril and Beryl. Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble! WELCOME BACK BRUCE!

Beyond that? The abandoned mine cliche is great, and the glow-in-the-dark Ghost Miners from Scooby Doo are wonderful. There's a huge art mix-up when Batman and Batwoman's dialogue is switched and it threw me and everyone else at first, but once you get beyond that this is a top notch issue and Cameron Stewart is more than welcome.

There's plenty to speculate, but for now it's pretty straight-forward, so that's it (which I'm sure is already more than enough). Can't wait till Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Batman vs. Robin 1-3, Batman and Robin Must Die 1-3, The Return of Bruce Wayne 1-6, a little more Rucka with your Morrison, and the rest.

The Joker 2 - Red & Black ... as in Roses.

Just continuing my current treatise on Joker here for a second.

Joker killed all his old henchmen with Red and Black toxic roses. Obviously, as we learned, the whole "red & black" motif was all meant for Batman. And it took me a long time to figure out the gag. Obviously, there was the checkerboard pattern which forced Batman to look for a pattern or game. But beyond that? There was something simpler that I'd missed.

Black Roses: Symbolically, Black Roses signify lots of things. Black Magic (Okay, the Devil is involved here). They're also a symbol of the anarchist movement (which is insanely appropriate for Joker) But in the 18th Century, according to the Language of Flowers, Black Roses signify a few things.

In the 18th century, the language of flowers became popular. In this code, black roses to most people signify death, or hatred. But it also means farewell. Black rose means revenge to a foe or wanting to kill someone. However, because a black rose is virtually impossible to procure, it can also mean pure love. A black rose can also mean rebirth, though this is less known.

Now ... this speaks volumes about Joker. He's Batman's arch-nemesis. He's always trying to get "revenge on a foe" and "wanting to kill Batman". And he does hate Batman. And more than that, he IS bidding Batman farewell. But he also loves him. Which is why he also uses ...

Red Roses:
Red Roses are a symbol of true love. And we all know part of The Joker's twisted M.O. is that he feels like he's the only person worth Batman's time, and vice-versa. Without Batman there's no Joker, and without Joker there's no Batman. It's partly narcissism, and partly vanity.

Of course, to top it off ... Red/Black is a complicated system the NSA uses to section off where in cryptic, coded messages the sensitive information is stored. So it seems right up Joker's alley.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RED/BLACK_concept

And to top THAT off ... the French novel The Red and The Black is a psychological drama that highlights the inherent dichotomy between thinking (black) and feeling (red), although ultimately any other comparisons would prove circumstantial.

And of course, there's the Blue Oyster Cult song of the same name ... but that's about Canadian Mounties.

The Joker - A Simple Trickster in a City full of Devils

Just to get a little heavy into some theory here - because I'm revisiting Morrison's Batman run in an attempt to reconcile Dave Uzumeri's insane but almost certainly with a lot of truth to them theories ...

At any rate. My annotations for Revenge of the Red Hood put heavy emphasis on my own personal theory that Oberon Sexton is The Joker's latest in a long line of disguises. Most of my reasons are spelled out in detailed lists within those pages, so I won't rehash them. Rather, I've decided to look at how Morrison has used The Joker - what role in the Batman world does he fill. If Batman is up against the "Ultimate Enemy", his personal Devil, whether Hurt winds up being Bruce Wayne after 10,000 years of Lazarus Crazy or whether Hurt is a literal Devil mind-screwing him ... how does Joker, Bruce's usual Rival, fit in? If the Arch-Nemesis isn't Joker ... and Joker is forced to take a spot on the side, what is that spot?

At that, we've seen in R.I.P. that if Batman is the proverbial "Heroic God" and he's fighting against an ultimate "Devil", Joker is more like a Trickster God - a Loki, to borrow from a familiar Mythology to comics fans. Thor's ultimate conflict is probably with Fenrir and Ragnarok (or Darkseid and Apokolips, if need be) but Loki ever plays the role of the wild card. And while I'm not as up on my Norse Myth as I should be to use that analogy, think "broad strokes" and you'll see how it compares to Joker, who the "Big Bad" wanted to use as a pawn, but who wasn't about to roll that way. And of course, even after Bruce Wayne is replaced by Dick Grayson, Trickster Gods are often depicted as masters of disguise.

Now ... specifically (and forgive me if this isn't the most neatly assembled essay, but I'm making it up on the fly) here are some instances and why they point me in a particular direction.

At first I took Harley Quinn's alias at face value. To be honest, Batman # 663 came out so long ago now that we weren't steeped in the insane Magnificent Bastardry of Morrison's grand scenario. And after all, Joker has employed the use of Trickster Gods before as aliases, much as any of Batman's rogues have used similar ruses, hundreds of times.

But upon further inspection (Source: Wikipedia):

"Wisakedjak (Wìsakedjàk in Algonquin, Wīhsakecāhkw in Cree and Wiisagejaak in Oji-cree) is the Crane Manitou found in northern Algonquian mythology, similar to the trickster god Nanabozho in Ojibwa aadizookaanan (sacred stories) and Inktonme in Assiniboine myth. He is generally portrayed as being responsible for a great flood which destroyed the world originally made by the Creator, as well as the one who created the current world with magic, either on his own or with powers given to him by the Creator for that specific purpose. His name is subject to many variant spellings, including Weesack-kachack, Wisagatcak, Wis-kay-tchach, Wissaketchak, Woesack-ootchacht, and undoubtedly others.

It was sometimes Anglicized as Whiskey Jack, which became an alternate name for the Gray Jay."

For starters ... the Anglicized form of Wisakedjak is "Whiskey Jack". Jack is the widely "kind of" acknowledged first name of The Joker, first given to him in the 1989 Batman film (Jack Napier), and while throughout the comics history, often the "Play on jackanapes" Napier is dropped, Jack has lasted considerably throughout dozens of incarnations. I believe because writers inherently see the joyful fun of this man "Jack", the "Prince of Crime" (A Jack in a deck of cards is the Prince) being turned into "Joker", the "Clown Prince of Crime".

(Side note here: I've found boatloads of circumstances that point toward Joker being Irish, so the Whiskey part of the name has its humor as well.)

Morrison probably chuckled at how similar the word "Wisakedjak" sounds like "Wise-Ache" as well. And lastly, the Anglicized form became a nickname for the Gray Jay - a loud, obnoxious pest bird, which in another brilliant twist of linguistics, is a member of the Jay family. Jay, like "Mister J.", which is Harley Quinn's affectionate nickname for The Joker.

Now, to top it off ... Wisakedjak was used by one of Morrison's favorite writers, Neil Gaiman, in his book American Gods (probably where Morrison first read about it, to be honest). And if you think that's strange, consider the fact that Wisakedjak had an equivalent in another Native American tribe by the name of "Nanabozho", which is absurdly like the childish taunt "Nana" combined with the all-time most popular clown name of "Bozo".

Now, how that'll all link up to my theory that Oberon Sexton (Calling himself Oberon ... a reputable Trickster God, since he's King of Fairies) is Joker is circumstantial at this point. Apart from "El Penitente" (Probably Doctor Hurt) calling Oberon and trying to coerce his services in a way that could imply "he found where Joker is hiding out", there isn't much to go by. Oberon's book title (Masks of Evil). Oberon praising Batman and talking shit on TV about the "new" Red Hood, reminding everyone in Gotham that there was ANOTHER infamous Red Hood in Gotham long before this punk vigilante. His "background" of his wife killed, which while eerily similar to that of Michael Lane (Third Batman, current Azrael) is also eerily similar to a corrupted version of the already probably corrupted history Joker got in Alan Moore's "The Killing Joke". Not to mention how Oberon is head-to-toe covered in Black (Mourning the loss of Batman?) and even his eyes are covered by sunglasses. If he were The Joker, his eyes would be a big giveaway. His new cut smile would need a full black mask to conceal. And the top hat doesn't hurt. Joker has been known to wear top hats.

I've been trying to draw some connection between Oberon's mention of the "Riddle of the Corn Dollies" and the Cree Indian Legends, but frankly ... "corn" in Early Europe meant grain - the big, yellow cobs we have here in the states were called "maize" by the Indians. So other than my own wish fulfillment thinking of Joker knowing something of his own Irish roots (Corn Dollies while not unique to the British Isles, certainly seem to be dominated by British, Scottish, Welsh and Irish lore) I had to turn to the legends.

The pre-Christian settlers of the British Isles had a harvest folklore that said there was a "corn spirit" living in the fields and whenever all the corn was scythed and harvested, he'd be homeless. Joker right now, without a "real Batman" to duel with, is sort of homeless.

I admit though, this line of reasoning is grasping at straws ... (bad pun). Anyway, there's no real through-line of connection there, but I wanted to at at least try to explain away the whole Corn Dollie mention, because if it IS The Joker, I'm hard-pressed to see why he'd bring up something that seems so much more up The Scarecrow's alley.

Last for now ... there's the matter of Joker evoking old pagan gods. Trickster gods like Wisakedjak, or Oberon or any other, are all pagan gods. Before Christianity came along, and before most of the themes with which Morrison has been playing with (good and evil, god and the devil, Christ-like Batman) existed. They were used by primitive (cowardly, superstitious lots) people to explain forces of nature. And Joker is a force of nature.

I can't help but wonder if Morrison, in his "Ultimate Battle Between Good and Evil" in the pages of Batman sees Joker as something of a pagan influence - if Batman represents "Good" and Hurt represents "Evil", perhaps Joker is here to represent something much older and much more adaptive. Perhaps the reason why The Joker doesn't take The Devil seriously is because what he represents is older and doesn't fear these newfangled Judeo-Christian concepts.

Before there was ever a Satan, there was hundreds of Tricksters, toying with Heroes for much simpler, pettier, REAL HUMAN reasons better than any kind of Good vs. Evil, Discipline vs. Temptation religious philosophical battles. And those Tricksters will outlive Good vs. Evil. In fact, Judeo-Christian Religion is dying in the modern world of Reason and Science. And that's why Joker considers himself ahead of the curve - the perfect evolution of crazy. In a fast-paced world, he's even faster. And he's cast aside outdated concepts rooted in Judeo-Christianity like "Right and Wrong" in favor of being "Unreasonable in a world of reason", "Hyper-Logical", and "Whatever the fuck he can get away with.

FLAMINGO IS HERE

This issue doesn't even come out until Wednesday, but I've been chomping at the bit for the next installment, and since the Preview is up, I figured I'd start early. And how can you not start with Frank Quitely's variant cover, and all it's AMAZING "Purple Rain" homage.

First things first, since this issue is called "Flamingo Is Here", the cover features Flamingo, and we've been hearing hype about Flamingo for two issues now, let's talk about the guy for a second, since clearly, Morrison had an epiphany with this villain and decided to really roll with it.

Flamingo wears pink, as a flamingo bird is pink from eating shrimp. Our Flamingo eats faces. His outfit is that of a matador, in the style of "flamenco" (Spanish/Mexican neo-classical which goes hand-in-hand with matador style, and is also what influenced Prince's outfits, I'm sure), which sounds an awful lot like flamingo, and reall conveniently also adds to the fact that this guy is working with a South American drug cartel (although, I thought from Sasha's story he was Russian, I'll have to re-check). The Prince references couldn't be more convenient as well, A: Because Prince is notorious for wearing odd purple frocks and coats, and so "pink" translates well here ... and because as we Batman fans know, Prince is a very important piece of the Batman history, having written the ENTIRE soundtrack to the 89 Batman movie. I look at Flamingo here, and all I can hear is "Black and white, red and green ... the funkiest thing, you ever seen ... party man!" playing on his private jet as he eats faces and prepares to assassinate Jason Todd.

It's a perfectly Morrison conflux of influences into one streamlined character, and is really not at all like how Flamingo was depicted briefly in Batman # 666, so somewhere in deciding he'd use Flamingo in his Red Hood arc, he must've been listening to Prince, or maybe even watching Batman 89 for inspiration, and decided to make a villain into a total caricature of Prince himself. At any rate, Prince doesn't seem at all out of Morrison's influence style.

Now, on to the story itself, which we've only got four pages of:

Page 1: This page is hilarious, and a fitting tribute to all the times this has happened before - Especially evoking the 60's Batman TV show where at the end of EVERY Part 1, Batman and Robin were tied up in the villain's lair for the cliffhanger. This is one of the best Dick & Damian moments since the double-punch knockout of Mr. Toad in # 1. "Enjoying the work so far?" Dick asks the new Robin as they're both tied up in their underwear to chairs, rigged to a website that with enough E-Mails will turn on a camera and reveal the identites of Batman & Robin to the world. "Does he have any idea what we're going to do to him when we get out?" Dick asks, ready to render an ass-kicking to Jason for this bullshit. But obviously we know odds are they'll actually have to render that ass-kicking to Flamingo and save Jason's ass for his short-sighted mistake.

This "trap" they're bound in speaks volumes about what Morrison has done with Jason as well. For starters, the way he's broadcasting on the internet saying "Tonight's game is simple" really gives you the idea that in his laying low, he's really watched one too many movies. SAW is the one that comes to mind, although bucking the curb because he won't kill Dick Grayson, this is a nonlethal, but very embarassing and potentially dangerous trap regardless of the fact that nobody will die. Still, Jason is still redeemable. He's a wannabe Punisher, and a killer vigilante, but to Batman at the end of the day he's more a nuisance than anything else. And entirely sympathetic. At the same time Morrison is telling us "Batman and Robin's non-lethal mission is better than Red Hood and Scarlett's because it draws less heat to Gotham" ... we're simultaneously conflicted, because this guy Flamingo? We aren't going to cry if Jason blows his head off - we'll all agree that the world will be a better place if Jason Todd double-taps the pink right off of Flamingo's face.

We also get some of Jason's huge ego here. "One Million" phone calls will unmask Batman and Robin. He's operating a VIRAL internet campaign. Does he even have one million viewers? He's got a few, but one million?

And then, of course ... Morrison is being amazingly tongue-in-cheek here. Jason Todd has opened a phoneline that you can call and vote on Batman's fate makes me laugh my ass off. After all ... a phoneline vote is EXACTLY how DC decided to kill Jason off in the first place.

Page 2: Flamingo is here. This page is a splash, so I'll take a minute to talk about Philip Tan's pencils, which are servicable, but are a far cry from Quitely (and god knows, Quitely's variant covers make me literally die a little inside about the fact that he's not the one drawing these last three issues). Still, Tan is servicable, and Morrison's storyline caters to Tan's thick, muddy, 90's style enough that it "feels right", mood-wise. Apparently the Red Hood helmet can stop a .308 rifle round, by the way, before it shatters.

Page 3: Sasha, fiercely loyal to Jason already? Goes to show more of his sympathetic role here. Flamingo is a man of very few words, it seems. But is tough as nails. Filed-sharp teeth? Head-butting. He looks pretty large in size.

Page 4: He's curious about her face. He wants to eat it. He tries pulling the mask off, and we see the sickly green bonding agent that Pyg used on her. And he's not thrilled about it, but interestingly enough, the hideous doll mask saves her for a moment long enough to stab Flamingo in the leg.

Page 5: Jason is back up (probably with a ruptured ear drum ... .308 round to the helmet ... etc ...) and shoots Flamingo in the shoulder. A cry of "DIE!" and then a grazing wound must mean he's pretty messed up from the gunshots - punk loser or not, Jason was trained by Batman and is good with pistols (especially at this close range). That's the only thing that explains his wide miss of a shot. Flamingo's kick to the face looks to be the reason why in some of Tan's pencilled pages, we see Jason with blood covering much of his face (people frantically worried that Jason would be maimed into some sort of "new Two-Face" or something).

The kids are in trouble ... and the drama hinges on the fact that Batman and Robin need to save Jason, but Jason's the one who tied them up - so whether or not his life gets saved hinges on how well he tied them up. Batman and Robin can escape most bonds, but one tied by "one of their own?" - how much better are they than Jason? (And in fact, is that why he's willing to rely on guns - he did mention recently that he'd never be as good as Grayson, skill-wise.)

I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Meanwhile: I hope everyone read Tony Daniel's first issue back with Batman # 692 (has it really been 30+ issues since Morrison took over?) - it's really quite excellent. Not as deep in four pages as Morrison's stuff is, but it has a good voice, good characterization, good Catwoman appearance, good art, brought back some cool characters (making Black Mask's organization less of the "A-List Popularity Contest Winner" rogues and more terrifying ones - Golden Ager Hugo Strange, newer villainess Fright, the revamped Golden Age Dr. Death, and the original Denny O'Neill Pre-Crisis Reaper), and really, REALLY boosted itself by tying into The Long Halloween/Dark Victory. The Falcones are back!

I recommend it ... it was a very pleasant surprise, even amidst Morrison's Batman and Robin, and Rucka's Detective Comics (and even Dini's cheesy Gotham City Sirens, which surprised me with bringing back Gaggy A. Gagsworth, Joker's Silver Age original midget sidekick)

UPDATE

Page 6: Morrison addresses my comment about Jason's knot-tying skills in the first panel. Damian slipped them without too much time. Dick's comments about Jason's exploits are spot on - and I think it's half continuity-nod, and half Morrison telling fans "don't write off Jason Todd as a bad character here - I'm working with him". We also see people are in fact calling in the phone hotline - one old woman, because honestly, she just wants to see Batman naked. And then are surprised to see a fully costumed Batman and Robin, who basically spell out the "Moral of the stoy" that "The Red Hood can't deliver what he promises through violence" and before actually going on a 1960's style Aesop lecture, Damian cuts him off and tells the people of Gotham to get a life.

Page 7: Batman tells Robin to put down a gun - quick reminder that Damian doesn't mind taking the easy way out. And they realize they're in an R/V, a mobile base, and that's why they couldn't track Jason down.

Page 8: Dick's "Never underestimate Jason" line comes back into play, as Jason is down but not out, and is in a brutal fight with Flamingo (who is winning, but can't put the Red Hood down). Still, he's shot Jason twice now - once grazing Jason's head, the other in the thigh.

Page 9: Jason's bluster is clearly to occupy Flamingo so Scarlett can escape from harm. Very noble. Jason dares Flamingo to shoot him, stating "I'll come back!" the trauma of returning from the dead hasn't been explored that much as far as Jason's return, so it's interesting to see that slipped in. Is it ego, or does he think he's cursed? Of course, Flamingo's attention is caught by something ... gadget-like.

Page 10: Damian has the best line of the issue. Try not to be offended by the arrogant little bastard's line of "I was expecting scary, not gay", in reference to Flamingo. And the Batman/Flamingo battle begins!

Page 11: Dick engages Flamingo and lines up some classic "I'll fight you and tell you I want you out of here" at the same time cliche dialogue, but gets kicked down a drain. Those Gotham Sewers are something ...

Page 12: Scarlett and Robin move on Flamingo while Batman grapples back. Not much here.

Page 14: The kids are no match for him - he slams Robin and shoots him in the back three times. Scarlett picks up one of her knives and quotes Jason with the whole "punishment fit the crime" thing.

Page 15: - Then takes the knife to Flamingo's face! (He rips peoples' faces off ... she went for the same thing ... yay, Hammurabi!) but freaks when he's still standing and runs.

Page 16: Then Jason scoops him with a backho and drops him and a half-ton of rocks on top of him, over the same cliff/waterfall/whatever that Batman is still climbing back up. That'd be a hard one to survive, but it's still a perfectly servicable comic book death - one that's easily reversibe.

Page 17: Batman starts hitting Jason with the lectures - "You've brought a monster to this city" is his response to Jason's bragging about taking down Flamingo. Jason tells "Batman" (in quotes) he doesn't have the stones to do Bruce's job, and throws a handful of the red calling cards at him, ready for a fight. But Dick genuinely offers to help, because Jason is clearly a mess.

Page 18: Jason gives the old "this world is ugly, Batman wanted me to be you but it couldn't be that way" speech and mentions that he "beat" his archenemy. But Gordon shows up with the boys in blue and gives the low-down - the reason they let Batman do what he does is because he doesn't kill, and Red Hood is a murderer, and under arrest.

Page 19: No sign of Flamingo - "must be he's buried" ... right. Robin's been shot and is paralyzed, but his "mom's medics" show up, ready to patch up Damian, who probably has replacement parts. And then Jason, doing the whole "Dragged off in cuffs" bit, screams at Dick about how Damian is part of Ra's al Ghul's whole mess, and that they have Bruce's body, and his mother has a Lazarus Pit. Basically a "think about it, Bats" move, but it's also something all us readers think about, too - there are these ridiculous Lazarus Pits around the world, and Talia has got to know where one is ... why not revive Bruce? Duh, kids, duh! Of course, the next arc (or one of them, anyway) promises to show exactly why that's not going to fly. You probably can't just Lazarus your way out of Darkseid's Omega Effect.

Page 20: But it works. He actually pisses Dick off and the blues have to hold him back. Batman leaves, Damian is carted off to be repaired, and they mention that Scarlet has taken off ...

Page 21: And we get our post shot, where Scarlet drives off into the sunrise, and as she drives, her mask, which Flamingo attempted to tear off, dries out and falls off, and she's just fine.

Page 22: And for our denouement - our "to be continued" stuff - somebody calls Oberon Sexton. The someone "could be" Doctor Hurt (he has a mask like the theatrical bat-mask he wore before) and is hitting his own back with whips the way the guy in The Da Vinci Code did for penitence. He's probably "El Penitente". Anyway, he begins blackmailing Oberon Sexton about "his secret". On the bed, Oberon has newspapers - one of them, the headline "Gruesome Murder of a Cardinal". I believe this is more evidence that Oberon is Joker in disguise - there was a Cardinal in Hurt's "Black Hand" group. It's possible he was murdered by Talia, it's also possible Joker tracked and killed him later.

But I'll admit, the scene is delightfully vague and I've no proof of my claim.

Page 23: Dick returns to Wayne Tower - goes to a secure vault, speaks the password - incidentally, it's "Zur En Arrh", and what's inside?? The body of Bruce Wayne, and a teaser of the next issue/stories that show Squire, Batwoman, and a Lazarus Pit. Looks like Dick might take Jason's advice after all ...

See you all in two months - SAME BAT TIME, SAME BAT CHANNEL.