El Sombrero
08-25-2011, 08:45 AM
Some of this stuff is probably obvious or taken for granted, but I was thinking about this the other day and it really made me appreciate the entirety of the Morrison run as a longer narrative as opposed to separate stories.
I think the real "point" or theme of the Morrison run is the personal growth of Bruce Wayne. This works pretty well with each separate run.
In Morrison's initial Batman run, Bruce is quite literally haunted by his dreams. While all people have bad dreams, children are especially terrified of their dreams and have trouble accepting that they are not indicative of reality. Bruce has to deal with his immature fears related to these dreams that he still has not conquered: the gun, the idea that there is someone better than him, the dark side of what he does; respectively, the Three Ghosts of Batman.
Bruce is also a bit self-centered in this part of the run. Not to a crazy degree, but he spends a lot of time galavanting around with Jet, going skiing and not really doing much of meaning with his life, not really reaching his full potential. He's acting like a kid.
Damian serves as an intervention in Bruce's life, a signal that he has to grow up. Bruce cannot have these fears anymore if he is to be a father. He has to do more in the world. It is very appropriate that the arrival of Damian triggers these fears in Bruce's dreams, as it's really a scary wake-up call for Bruce. Damian is even a reminder that Bruce has to be more responsible for himself. He slept with Talia (whether this was consensual or not is kind of irrelevant). He has to take responsibility for his actions and finally man up.
RIP is quite literally Bruce versus his darkest dreams, as he creates the Zur En Arrh personality as kind of a childish fantasy and reaction against reality. Zur En Arrh is undoubtedly the work of a child, complemented by the goofy cartoon Bat-Mite, literally a figment of imagination (the fifth dimension).
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Yv74a8XkxJI/S4GbIDrOf7I/AAAAAAAAFWQ/kt9NGmks2uM/s400/Batman+%23678+-+Page+23.jpg
Dr Hurt is the representation of all of Bruce's fears. It is so appropriate that he takes the persona of Thomas Wayne, Bruce's lost father and his biggest fear and source of trauma in his life. Bruce has defeat Hurt to defeat the memory of his father. It's kind of a f***ed up form of therapy but Batman is kind of a f***ed up reaction in general.
This "childish Bruce" is complemented by the art choices of the run. Andy Kubert does big, bold superheroics, the type of art that would appeal to kids. Tony Daniel then nicely transitions these superheroics into the weird horror of having to face down your dreams and fears in the eerie patterns and visual motifs of the RIP arc.
Child Bruce really even faces his fears in sort of a stupid / dumbed down way, with all the deus ex machinas in the RIP arc, the "grim and gritty" feel of a lot of stuff there, and the "Bat-God" stuff. It's the way a child would tackle these problems, with brute force and attitude instead of elegance or strategy. Batman must figuratively go through these childish narrative hurdles (put in place by generations of real-life Batman writers) one last time, before he completely faces his ultimate fears and uses the gun against Darkseid, where he (child Bruce) "dies" as he is ready to move on in life.
Batman and Robin is then a tale of puberty or adolescence. Both the Batman and Robin in the story struggle with their identity and who they really are. Nothing is taken for granted anymore and they have to adapt to a new and scary world. I thought it was smart on Morrison's part to use a different character than Bruce here, as it makes things feel less predictable and even more "unsure of itself."
The art choices really complement what Morrison is going for here, as Quitely and Irving in particular are so full of weirdness and the uncomfortable qualities of adolescence / puberty. The prospect of growing up into this new world is terrifying for Batman and Robin. Are they ready for this?
http://readrant.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/batman-and-robin-2.jpg?w=450&h=684
Dick and Damian are able to really bond with each other and exceed expectations. They are able to truly grow up together and accept their roles and demands in the world. Nobody thought they could be Batman and Robin, but they did it. They are ready to move into adulthood.
At the same time, we meet Bruce who has been almost literally "born again" at the end of Return of Bruce Wayne. Bruce has learned the true secret of Batman, that "Batman was never really alone" (or however Morrison phrased it). This is the key line of Morrison's entire run. Batman was able to move past the childish notion that he is a "loner," "outsider," or better off by himself. He is a true adult now, ready to face the world and trust others, and reach his full potential.
Going back to the earlier note about Bruce being self-centered in the first part of Morrison's run, Bruce has now realized that he needs to give back and do the best he can for future generations. This directly triggers his desire to go global with Batman. There's more to the world than Gotham. It's almost impossible to imagine a Batman of five years ago trusting random heroes across the globe, but this Bruce has grown up and he does, welcoming others into his Batman family simply because it's the right thing to do for the greater good. It's also healthy to have friends. What sane person wouldn't want that? Bruce is now ready to trust and accept others.
The Bruce of Inc is completely grown up and confident in his abilities. He doesn't play around with Selina anymore, he simply calls her up to come along to Japan for a fling. He's less paranoid about his secret identity and straight up aligns himself with Batman in the public sphere. He figuratively shares Bruce with the world and literally shares Batman with the world.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j4RPhrM-8Fw/TOWr0CKa-pI/AAAAAAAABeQ/Fhl0DxmunHc/s1600/batcatbatmaninc01.JPG
Again, the art is perfect to symbolize this, as Yanick Paquette is so bold, sexy and confident, and Chris Burnham is devoid of pretension and fear, just full of the simple love of life.
Where are we headed in Leviathan? Morrison has teased about loss and emotional sadness. I would guess that Bruce will now have to now face his fears and trauma in a healthy way as an adult. As we age we eventually lose things literally and figuratively and must accept that.
If Morrison continues with his run after Inc / Leviathan, I would expect him to further this theme through something like "Bruce as an elder" preparing for his death or ready to pass his legacy on, or perhaps the long-expected future Damian arc where we would truly see how Bruce's legacy has been received.
http://www.comicbookbin.com/artman2/uploads/3/batman666.jpg
I think the real "point" or theme of the Morrison run is the personal growth of Bruce Wayne. This works pretty well with each separate run.
In Morrison's initial Batman run, Bruce is quite literally haunted by his dreams. While all people have bad dreams, children are especially terrified of their dreams and have trouble accepting that they are not indicative of reality. Bruce has to deal with his immature fears related to these dreams that he still has not conquered: the gun, the idea that there is someone better than him, the dark side of what he does; respectively, the Three Ghosts of Batman.
Bruce is also a bit self-centered in this part of the run. Not to a crazy degree, but he spends a lot of time galavanting around with Jet, going skiing and not really doing much of meaning with his life, not really reaching his full potential. He's acting like a kid.
Damian serves as an intervention in Bruce's life, a signal that he has to grow up. Bruce cannot have these fears anymore if he is to be a father. He has to do more in the world. It is very appropriate that the arrival of Damian triggers these fears in Bruce's dreams, as it's really a scary wake-up call for Bruce. Damian is even a reminder that Bruce has to be more responsible for himself. He slept with Talia (whether this was consensual or not is kind of irrelevant). He has to take responsibility for his actions and finally man up.
RIP is quite literally Bruce versus his darkest dreams, as he creates the Zur En Arrh personality as kind of a childish fantasy and reaction against reality. Zur En Arrh is undoubtedly the work of a child, complemented by the goofy cartoon Bat-Mite, literally a figment of imagination (the fifth dimension).
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Yv74a8XkxJI/S4GbIDrOf7I/AAAAAAAAFWQ/kt9NGmks2uM/s400/Batman+%23678+-+Page+23.jpg
Dr Hurt is the representation of all of Bruce's fears. It is so appropriate that he takes the persona of Thomas Wayne, Bruce's lost father and his biggest fear and source of trauma in his life. Bruce has defeat Hurt to defeat the memory of his father. It's kind of a f***ed up form of therapy but Batman is kind of a f***ed up reaction in general.
This "childish Bruce" is complemented by the art choices of the run. Andy Kubert does big, bold superheroics, the type of art that would appeal to kids. Tony Daniel then nicely transitions these superheroics into the weird horror of having to face down your dreams and fears in the eerie patterns and visual motifs of the RIP arc.
Child Bruce really even faces his fears in sort of a stupid / dumbed down way, with all the deus ex machinas in the RIP arc, the "grim and gritty" feel of a lot of stuff there, and the "Bat-God" stuff. It's the way a child would tackle these problems, with brute force and attitude instead of elegance or strategy. Batman must figuratively go through these childish narrative hurdles (put in place by generations of real-life Batman writers) one last time, before he completely faces his ultimate fears and uses the gun against Darkseid, where he (child Bruce) "dies" as he is ready to move on in life.
Batman and Robin is then a tale of puberty or adolescence. Both the Batman and Robin in the story struggle with their identity and who they really are. Nothing is taken for granted anymore and they have to adapt to a new and scary world. I thought it was smart on Morrison's part to use a different character than Bruce here, as it makes things feel less predictable and even more "unsure of itself."
The art choices really complement what Morrison is going for here, as Quitely and Irving in particular are so full of weirdness and the uncomfortable qualities of adolescence / puberty. The prospect of growing up into this new world is terrifying for Batman and Robin. Are they ready for this?
http://readrant.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/batman-and-robin-2.jpg?w=450&h=684
Dick and Damian are able to really bond with each other and exceed expectations. They are able to truly grow up together and accept their roles and demands in the world. Nobody thought they could be Batman and Robin, but they did it. They are ready to move into adulthood.
At the same time, we meet Bruce who has been almost literally "born again" at the end of Return of Bruce Wayne. Bruce has learned the true secret of Batman, that "Batman was never really alone" (or however Morrison phrased it). This is the key line of Morrison's entire run. Batman was able to move past the childish notion that he is a "loner," "outsider," or better off by himself. He is a true adult now, ready to face the world and trust others, and reach his full potential.
Going back to the earlier note about Bruce being self-centered in the first part of Morrison's run, Bruce has now realized that he needs to give back and do the best he can for future generations. This directly triggers his desire to go global with Batman. There's more to the world than Gotham. It's almost impossible to imagine a Batman of five years ago trusting random heroes across the globe, but this Bruce has grown up and he does, welcoming others into his Batman family simply because it's the right thing to do for the greater good. It's also healthy to have friends. What sane person wouldn't want that? Bruce is now ready to trust and accept others.
The Bruce of Inc is completely grown up and confident in his abilities. He doesn't play around with Selina anymore, he simply calls her up to come along to Japan for a fling. He's less paranoid about his secret identity and straight up aligns himself with Batman in the public sphere. He figuratively shares Bruce with the world and literally shares Batman with the world.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j4RPhrM-8Fw/TOWr0CKa-pI/AAAAAAAABeQ/Fhl0DxmunHc/s1600/batcatbatmaninc01.JPG
Again, the art is perfect to symbolize this, as Yanick Paquette is so bold, sexy and confident, and Chris Burnham is devoid of pretension and fear, just full of the simple love of life.
Where are we headed in Leviathan? Morrison has teased about loss and emotional sadness. I would guess that Bruce will now have to now face his fears and trauma in a healthy way as an adult. As we age we eventually lose things literally and figuratively and must accept that.
If Morrison continues with his run after Inc / Leviathan, I would expect him to further this theme through something like "Bruce as an elder" preparing for his death or ready to pass his legacy on, or perhaps the long-expected future Damian arc where we would truly see how Bruce's legacy has been received.
http://www.comicbookbin.com/artman2/uploads/3/batman666.jpg