Posted by
Daniel Crandall on Wednesday, August 15, 2007 12:28:35 AM
In
Batman #666, Legend of the Batman Damian Wayne comes face to face with the anti-Christ, and Gotham may just be better off for it.
One has to get into a very dark place to truly understand Batman. Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale went there in
Batman Begins. Frank Miller went there in his
Dark Knight books, and continues in this vein in
All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder. And now we have Grant Morrison in Batman #666, and the one shot story "The Legend of the Batman."
Readers are taken into an extremely dark future Gotham (could there be any other kind of Gotham?). Bruce Wayne is dead; killed by Damian Wayne, the son he had after a tryst with the daughter of
Ras Al Ghul, the supervillian who's name is Arabic for 'the Ghoul's Head'. The son of Bruce Wayne has taken on the mantle of the Batman and does what Batman does best; he beats the stuffing out of the bad guys. This futuristic Batman, however, is not as restrained as Bruce Wayne. At the hands of this future Batman ... well, lets just say that the bad guys aren't going to be coming back to bother Batman again.
This issue is a focuses on Batman's horrific
side. It is a strong issue and one well worth reading. Its 32 pages gives readers a brief history lesson, providing just enough information to understand where they are and who they are dealing with. One need not have read any previous issue to understand what is happening. The story also gives us the typical conflict between Batman and Gotham's cops. This element of the story, however, comes with a bit of a twist. This future Batman is not working
with Commissioner Gordon, but instead is being hunted by Commissioner Gordon. The future's Commissioner Gordon is the wheelchair bound Barbara Gordon, daughter of the original Commissioner Gordon, and is determined to bring Batman down. Each panel does a brilliant job leading readers to the final moments, which are not the destruction of this issue's villain. They are an explanation of what motivates Damian Wayne to fight evil as the Batman.
Batman 666 is a riveting dark fairy tale.
That being said, it is a rare comic indeed that does not inject Leftist ideology into its pages. On this score Batman #666 is not one of these rare comics. After the story's first fight Batman retires to the new Bat Cave, with his cat Alfred, to investigate the recent wave of murdered villains. In a single panel we have a close up on the bald son of the Batman absorbing the news of the day. Leading the future's news are stories commenting on global warming and the war on Islamofascism.
On global warming, we get:
"Temperatures rose to a record-breaking 123 degrees for the eighth day ... Hotter than Hell in midtown Gotham as diplomats gather for tonight's climate change summit reception..."
If only we had listened to the Enviro-Reverend Al Gore then the future wouldn't be so bloody hot.
On the war against Islamofascism:
"Clean up continues after the dirty bomb detonated by anti-Islamic Terrorists in Mecca..."
This is what comes when you listen to the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and fight a trumped up war against "terrorism".
Despite these silly little injections of Leftist ideas into this story, the book works well and is well worth reading. Check it out.