Batman: Black and White #3

[icon_uk]

Picking four pages from the five stories in this issue has NOT been easy.



The variety of stories helps, there's a Marv Wolfman story which is sort of forgettable (or at least has been done before), and a Daimon Scott story which is visually striking, but not that interesting (well, to me at any rate, others may revel in it)

So I'll start with, as you might imagine, a Robin centric story written and illustrated by Lee Bermejo.

It's not clear which Robin this is, but from the phrasing, I suspect Jason.... as Batman uses his civilian ID to help break up a drug manufacturing plant, by having him ride a very classy motorcycle right up to the "front door", as a sort of distraction.



I'm not always a fan of Bermejo, but monochrome works REALLY well for him.

One page from Rian Hughes, a British graphic designer who tells a tale of Batman from the 1950's... sort of, and features an appearance from an old, OLD Batman ally; Tal Dar an alien police officer... as they team up to find out what has been triggering sights of flying saucers around Gotham, on the fairly logical premise that if someone who flies a flying saucer can't help you find others (if there are any) then no one can.

The threat is a much weirder one than that though, as the Neoplastic Man (which is according to a google, a medical term, but never mind) attacks the Gotham Art Gallery and starts garbling concepts like expressions, words and underlying principles (he also speaks in anagrams, a very grant Morrison-y touch) and even uses artwork to travel from the gallery to Wayne Manor...



It does disappear up it's own backside in terms of cramming meaning into it's short length, but I'll give it props to trying and the art style is unique (especially as it gets more and more weird towards the end)

And finally TWO pages from the Paul Dini, Stephane Roux story because I think it may well prove popular here.

It starts with a young girl running through Gotham, escaping from a rather vile character who calls himself Playground, who kidnaps little girls for ransom, and though he doesn't do anything to them, still trauma is never a good thing, and you don't get bonus points for NOT being a pervert.

So as Jennifer runs, she thinks of the heroes who she's heard about...



Yeah kid, this is Gotham... still, there are worse people to run into if you're a victimised little girl...



Just this once, no I really don't think Batgirl will mind... and this guy will probably wish it HAD been her, because she plays by the rules, but these two ladies?

Hope this little selection might tempt you to get the issue, because it really is a lot of fun!

 

Comments

[xamda]

Oh, Harley and Ivy, is there any female tag team I love more than you? I think not.

[psylynce]

Yay, they included Huntress as a heavy hitter!

[junipepper]

That is one very beautiful Jason Todd (assuming that's who it is, and I'm going with it). Very nice monochrome work there.

In the Hughes story, all those labels on the cave are a little blurry, at least to my aging eyes. When I came to the label just above Stream of Consciousness (and below Inessential Digression, toward the bottom right of the scan), I was absolutely convinced it said "Bat Scat." Then I looked at the picture ("Hmm, that doesn't look like any Bat Scat I've ever seen..."), squinted a bit, and worked it out.


So at least my ever-increasing decrepitude provided a few moments' entertainment...

[featheredserpent]

ohhh, the ice in that "Did he now?"

[damar148]

You'd imagine the lower classes of criminal would know better than to mess with the likes of Harley and Ivy.

[shadur]

I can just hear the air temperature dropping about five degrees when Ivy says "... did he, now?"

[bradygirl_12]

I love the Secrets of the Batcave. I've seen those cutaways in the old comics. And that final level! ;)

Yay for that little girl thinking about the superheroines!

[misanthr0pe]

I'm going to try to figure out what those two phrases are anagrams of.

[skemono]

"Wayne Manor!"
"To the bat-poles!"

[whitesycamore]

Dat third frame. Dat ass. Dat dialogue, holy cats, it only makes it more suggestive.

[icon_uk]

It's good to have you back sweetie! You have been missed!

[whitesycamore]

Thank you, sir. I'm not really back though, only dropping in. Just sort of rapping on the table and leaving a bit of ectoplasmic residue before shuffling back to the Other Side.