So Stephanie Brown finally got her memorial case in Batman #673 . And while there are those who consider it an important development, I can’t help but suspect they’ll be disappointed.
I generally agree with Dirk’s sentiments, though he’s extreme enough to be featured as a guest-star in an issue of Youngblood. But in his examination of the bigger picture, he misses why the Stephanie Brown memorial case really doesn’t have much impact at all: It’s written by Grant Morrison.
Grant Morrison is a very good writer. Even at his worst – and I wouldn’t argue with someone who suggested his run on Batman is among his worst work in recent years – he’s smart, creative, and usually at least attempts to write a diverse and eclectic cast of characters. Whether your complaint is poor characterization, illogical plots, or plain old chauvinism, you’ll probably find less of it in his work. He’s not without his faults, but he has fewer of them than 95% of his peers.
The problem, though, is that Grant Morrison didn’t kill off Spoiler/Robin, nor did he write any Batman stories immediately thereafter. That was handled by other people who, unsurprisingly, are not as good as Grant Morrison. Morrison being awesome, or even just pretty good, is unlikely to make Judd Winnick or Bill Willingham a good writer. If it were possible to spread the Morrison Mojo around, DC would be publishing the greatest comics on Earth right now.
Beyond that, though, is the fact that publishers don’t seem to follow up on Morrison’s ideas terribly well. Marvel couldn’t wait to retcon his run on New X-Men, which was even a worse move when it turned out they didn’t understand what he was writing about in the first place. He revamped a bunch of interesting and diverse characters in Seven Soldiers, most of whom have barely been seen since. Books based on his revamps – Metal Men and The Atom – have struggled to find commercial success. Aside from whatever it was he did in 52, Morrison’s work tends to stand on its own, and few other writers know what to do with it.
If Grant Morrison really dictated the editorial direction of DC, I’d be pretty excited, and Stephanie Brown would be pretty low on the list of reasons why. There’s fairly little reason to believe he does, though; more often than not, he does his own thing, and every now and then someone decides to follow up on it. Those hoping for The DC Universe as Interpreted by Grant Morrison will be waiting for some time.