So Grant Morrison’s Batman is pretty good. It’s a fun, snazzy story that so far has featured the Joker meeting his maker in front of a group of disabled children and Batman fighting an army of ninja man-bats. I’d probably be more enthusiastic about it if not for Andy Kubert’s art, which has that generic post-Image gritty and excessively cross-hatched style going on.
But yeah – Grant Morrison makes me want to buy Batman, which is a fair accomplishment. But after four issues, him and Kubert seem to be taking a couple months off, which might ordinarily cause me to do the same. But instead we get the following solicitation for December:
BATMAN #660 & 661
Written by John Ostrander
Art by Tom Mandrake
Covers by Gregory Lauren
Don’t miss a 4-part murder mystery by the acclaimed team of John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake (THE SPECTRE), starting with two chapters in December! Three horrific murders rock Gotham with only one gruesome connection: parts of the victim’s faces have been carved away. Meanwhile, a brutal Russian gangster called Perun threatens Amina Franklin, a doctor working at Leslie Thompkins clinic, which brings in not only the Batman but his bizarre new foe: Grotesk!
And as the mystery of Grotesk deepens, a vicious new player enters the game — a Japanese yakuza named Johnny Kareoke! Batman confronts Kareoke and his murderous Geisha Grrls while the monstrous Grotesk strikes once again!
Yes, that’s John freaking Ostrander, the writer of the very excellent Suicide Squad, Firestorm, Hawkman, and Spectre, and Tom Mandrake, who joined Ostrander on Firestorm, Spectre, and a Martian Manhunter series that was supposedly very good.
Morrison is one of my favourit writers, but Ostrander is one of the best modern superhero writes I know. He’s got a knack for twisting and intelligent plots, as well as a creative approach to revamping superheroes without abandoning their root essence – he’s written the only interesting Firestorm I’ve ever read, and his Spectre run was a fantastic mix of divine epics and human interest. And Mandrake has a great, creepy and majestic style that, I have to think, is perfect for Batman.
I was happy to see Morrison on Batman, but I’m even happier to see these two guys back.