BATMAN:
EARTH ONE
Earlier this year, Hollywood gave us The Amazing Spider-man, which was
enjoyable while you were watching it but didn’t really hold up to scrutiny once
you were a few days, weeks or months removed. Upon reflection, I think
that’s because despite a great cast and an enterprising director, it never
really stamped its authority on the series or differentiated itself enough from
the rest of the movies to make it memorable. It was a movie of lots of little
ideas, but no big ones. That would be fine if the reinvention of the story was
any fun, but it’s strangely dark and surprisingly slavish to the original
story.
Compare that to Geoff Johns’ Batman: Earth One, which returns to the
origin story of Bruce Wayne, one that’s been told over and over and over again
in many different ways, and has a heap of fun with retelling it. Johns doesn’t
necessarily have any big ideas either (after one book, anyway) but he’s
incredibly inventive, understanding that he can write a story that throws
plenty of winks and nods to the super fans while providing a fantastic
introduction to the character for newbies. If you’re a Batman fan, it’s fantastic;
if you’re not, here’s a remarkably good place to start.
Johns masters the art of reinventing
characters while leaving enough of a degree of recognisability: (minor, minor spoilers to follow) Harvey
Dent has a lawyer sister named Jessica, Alfred is a gruff, bearded ex-military
man who takes on the role of Bruce’s guardian, Harvey Bullock is a good-looking
television reporter on the hunt for a star-making story. These are fun twists that lend new texture and stakes to familiar characters, like a fantastic cover version of a song that makes you appreciate the original in an entirely new light. It’s so good, it's in my
top five Batman graphic novels (as opposed to ongoing books) of all time. Check
it out.
Honourable
Mention: Some TV shows are spiritual successors to
movies. (Eastbound and Down to the
Will Ferrell sports comedies, for example.) If a comic book can be a spiritual
successor to a television show, then fans of Lost should definitely be reading Morning Glories. It’s a puzzle box of a comic book with well-drawn
characters trading philosophy and pop-culture references in equal measure, all
while making their way through a labyrinthine plot filled with some
delightfully weird ideas. It's on a brief break at the moment as the creators work on some larger-size issues, so now's a good time to catch up. It’s a rollicking good time.
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