Where do I start? I think that, riding off the coattails of New X-Men, We3, and, most of all, All-Star Superman, Morrison and Quitely had high expectations. They knew that this book couldn't just be good, it had to be great. And great it was.
Let's go from the outside in. The covers were, simply, fantastic. I thought that the audacity to put a bright yellow background was brave, and it worked perfectly. Quitely's masterful skill was evident from the moment this cover debuted, since it was clear that the team was Dick and Damien. Look at how they stand, look at the expressions on their face. I previously harangued Battle for the Cowl for being, among other things, wholly unnecessary, and this cover is testament to that. If you were up for a splurge, JG Jones turned in one of the best portraits of his career with his variant. Truth-be-told, I was tempted to spend the $20 just to get a hold of it. He combined his Alex Ross-ish cover style, which was so-so on Final Crisis and Y: The Last Man with his masterful interior composition and gave us a brilliant work of art. The logo could be better...paging Todd Klein...but at least it didn't distract.
Moving on. This is a beautifully-written book. Morrison combines his avant guard plots, his sentimental-yet-not-sappy characterization, his spot-on dialogue, and his camp aesthetic masterfully. This serves as a perfect jumping-on point, but equally well for loyal readers. There are allusions to Batman's entire history and, indeed, he bows in admiring reference to Bob Kane, Dick Sprang, Denny O'Neill, Frank Miller, and Adam West.
I think that this is his best cavalcade of creepy characters since The Filth. He somehow knows how to use a familiar image to create a slightly disturbing, slightly intriguing character. The kind of character whom you feel is familiar, yet you know isn't. This is more-than-ably assisted by Quitely's designs.
Now, on to the art, which turns this book up to 11 and beyond. Everybody has been talking about Quitely's innovative combination of art and sound effects, which is great, but I'd like to focus on his backgrounds. He creates a richness here which he has never before known. I think of his work and think of a beautiful, perfect action sequence on a plain background. Here, however, he creates a lush scene, realistic skies, and endless interesting characters. This, frankly, blows anything he's previously done out of the water. He plays with reflections and windshields, with structure and poses in an innovative way. He puts his own spin on familiar characters, and expresses an amazing range of emotion.
I'm a huge fan of Jamie Grant's inking and coloring, but I have to say, this is Alex Sinclair's best job coloring. He single-handedly creates the camp-noir atmosphere which serves everything about this book perfectly.
I cannot wait for next month. In a great week for comic books, this stands out. Bravo!
