9 July 2025

Grant's Morrison's Batman Annotations: Batman #655

The Give Me Comics or Give Me Death podcast is available from all your usual podcast providers, or see all episodes here

See the index for all entries in these Batman annotations here 


Batman & Son Part 1 - 'Building a Better Batmobile'



Having seemingly won the battle over supervillainy in Gotham, Batman is persuaded to spend more time as Bruce Wayne.  Flying over to London to attend a fundraiser, he is drawn into a plot by an unknown woman involving Man-Bat and a mysterious child.

Page 1

 
The man falling from the building, having suffered poisoning from Joker gas, is Jim Gordon.  He made his first appearance in Batman's first ever comic, Detective Comics #27, and has been an ally and sometime confidant of Bruce Wayne and Batman ever since.  Generally holding the position of Commissioner of Gotham's police department, he has over the years been a Detective, a Captain, and retired.  It is often implied that he knows Bruce is Batman, but keeps the secret to himself - and he would have to be the worst police detective of all time not to have figured it out.  He is the father of Barbara Gordon, one-time Batgirl and then superhero information broker Oracle.  Despite the longstanding and deep relationship the character has with Batman, he plays a fairly minor supporting role in Morrison's Batman run.  

Page 2 & 3

 
A triumphant Joker leans over an apparently dead Batman with his bloodied crowbar.  We will shortly see that this isn't in fact Batman (nor is he in fact dead), but in the first pages of the run Morrison is already foreshadowing not only the 'death' of Batman that occurs later on, but their use of the crowbar (which is the weapon with which the Joker killed Jason Todd, the second Robin) also anticipates both the return of Jason Todd and the death of another Robin.  

The representation of the Joker here is very traditional, including the Joker-faced helicopter, and sets the scene for the Joker's own story of transformation.  He's bragging of killing Batman in front of a load of vulnerable disabled kids, to emphasise both his evilness and his absurdness.  Though his gloating of Batman's apparent death does seem at odds with his commentary in Batman R.I.P. that he and Batman need each other, and that his aim is Batman's psychological, not physical, destruction.  

 

Page 4

 
Panel 6 - The obvious indication that this isn't the real Batman, as Bruce Wayne doesn't use guns or kill.  Rules he would actually break during this run as part of Final Crisis where he shoots and 'kills' the god Darkseid.
 
 

Page 6

 
The first appearance of the phrase 'Zur En Arrh' which will reappear in the next few issues graffitied around Gotham City.  This is a trigger phrase implanted in Batman's head by our principal antagonist, Dr Hurt, intended to cause Batman's psychological collapse.
 
We also see here the bloodied Joker after being shot in the head.  Later, we will learn that the bullet to the middle of his forehead didn't kill him, but does lead to his transformation into a new version of the character.
 
 

Page 9

 
Panel 3 - Gordon says the Batman who Joker thought he had killed was an ex-cop who "just snapped".  In fact he is police officer Josef Muller, one of the 3 'ghosts of Batman', that have been manipulated by Dr Hurt.
 
Panel 5 - A key set up for Batman R.I.P. is Gordon's comments here that the newly revitalised Batman (following the Thogal ritual - see here) has essentially cleaned up Gotham.  This handily gives him space to mentor his son Damian - who at this stage he is unaware of - and pursue a romantic relationship with Jezebel Jet (yet another part of Dr Hurt's plan).  
 

Page 13

 
Panel 1 - Tim Drake joins the party.  He made his first appearance in Batman #436 in 1989.  Tim is the third person (child) to take on the role of Batman's sidekick, Robin.   He gets the gig after impressing Batman by using his detective skills to identify Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson as the original Batman and Robin - a feat that makes Jim Gordon look even more useless, if he hasn't ever figured it out (see above).  A little unfairly, he's relegated to a bit part in Morrison's run, especially given the other Robins get time to shine; Dick Grayson becomes Batman for a while, Damian then takes over from Tim as Robin (and is a key character throughout the series), and Jason Todd gets a featured story and then a redemption arc. After Bruce Wayne's 'death' Tim adopts the new moniker of Red Robin, and his most crucial role is his instance and investigation into his belief that Bruce is still alive.  Notice he enters the Batcave here via a fireman's pole, a nod to the 60s Batman TV series.   
 
 
 
Panel 4 - The title of this issue's story is 'Building a Better Batmobile', and whilst that's really a metaphor for building a better Batman - Morrison's overall mission - we can see here it can also be taken literally. 

Page 14

 
Panel 2 - A perfect encapsulation of both Alfred and Bruce here; Alfred's care and attention even extends to the wild bats living in the Batcave, and Bruce - with his Batman tunnel vision - doesn't even notice.
 
Page 7 - A reiteration here that following the Thogal ritual, Batman returned so energised he ended the supervillain threat in Gotham (temporarily at least).
 

Page 15

 
The captive woman is Francine Langstrom, wife of Kirk Langstrom, aka Man-Bat - more on him below -  and despite being the damsel in distress here, has over the years transformed into She-Bat due to Kirk's serum that is being demanded by her kidnapper.  She made her first appearance in 1970's Detective Comics #402.
 
The clues to the villain's identity are all here; she's accompanied by ninjas and scientists, is using poison, has the long nails and pouty lips of a femme fatal, and refers to Batman as "my darling detective".
 
 

Page 16

 
Panel 4 -  Dr. Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom, a zoologist who specialises in bats, is better known by his alter ego Man-Bat, and made hist first appearance is Detective Comics #400 in 1970.  Langstrom developed a serum that turned him into a half-human, half-bat hybrid.  Sometimes portrayed as a villain, sometimes as an anti-hero, his serum has been used by, and on, many other characters over the years (including Batman).  Whilst Langstrom himself doesn't really feature in Morrison's Batman run after this first story arc, his serum, and those who have taken it, do continue to play an important role - particularly in the finale of Batman Incorporated.
 
 

Page 19 & 20

 
Morrison is laying out their vision here; taking the role of Alfred they're telling Batman that he's been too serious for too long, and now is the time to let Bruce Wayne back into the picture, to make Batman human again.  
 
Panel 6 - Alfred brings up the names of some of Bruce Wayne's previous girlfriends:
 
  • Kathy Kane was introduced after publication of the controversial book Seduction of the Innocent (1954) by Frederick Wertham, which suggested comic books were responsible for juvenile delinquency.  One of the many hysterical accusations was that Batman and Robin were in a homosexual relationship, and promoted homosexuality (which was obviously seen as a 'bad thing' in 50s America).  Kathy was brought in to be the very-much heterosexual love interest for Bruce, and as the first Batwoman, making her debut in 1956's Detective Comics #233.  Absent from continuity for many years, Morrison brought her back into the fold to play a significant part in Batman Incorporated.
  • Julie Madison made her debut way back in 1939's Detective Comics #1939, and has the honour of being Bruce Wayne's first romantic interest.  She was an actress, and actually got engaged to Bruce before breaking it off.  She was basically written out of continuity, until being reintroduced by Scott Snyder in 2011.
  • Vicki Vale made her debut in Batman #29 in 1948.  She is a journalist who has popped up throughout Batman continuity as a love interest - albeit being married to someone else at one point.  Despite not being used by Morrison, she does play a big part in Battle of the Cowl and Bruce Wayne: The Road Home, comics that tie into the main story but are penned by other writers. 
  • Silver St. Cloud first appeared in 1977's Detective Comics #470 as a socialite who dates Bruce Wayne, and actually figures out that he is Batman.  She has only made a handful of appearances since her debut, though she did pop up in the improbable but entertaining Batman/Elmer Fudd crossover.
The talk about past girlfriends also sets the scene for Bruce's next one: Jezebel Jet, who he (and we) will meet next issue.
 

Page 22

 
Panel 1 - Alfred wants to catch up in the latest Artemis Fowl book.  Written by Irish author Eoin Colfer, the series of children's novels features an elven police force facing off against the titular criminal mastermind.  You’d have thought he had enough of the fantasy crime fighting in his day job. 

Panel 2 - Given the scene takes place at an African fund-raiser, that must be Bono on the bottom TV screen!  Of course, U2's lead singer has a Batman connection - their song Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me, as well as being an absolute banger, was featured on the soundtrack of the Batman Forever film.  Bono was originally supposed to have a part in the film - as his 90s alter-ego MacPhisto - but the plan fell through, which is probably for the best.
 
 

Page 23

 
The ninja's surrounding Mrs Langstrom from earlier have now been subjected to her husband's serum, and are revealed as a new menace - Ninja Man-Bats!  The mysterious woman will be properly introduced next issue, as will the child-sized figure hidden in shadow who - unbeknown to even Grant Morrison at the time - would go on to be become a key and beloved character of the Batman universe. 



 
 
 
 
 


 
 
 

7 July 2025

Podcast: Image Comics: Liefeld's Incredible Artistic Feet

Available from all your usual podcast providers, or listen here:   

 

It's all well and good talking about comics, but they are obviously a visual medium - pretty pictures!  Therefore, to accompany each episode, we also do a little blog post with some images and other extras to give you some context as to what on earth we're talking about!   

 What Have We Been Reading Recently?

The House (2019)
By Paco Roca
Translated by Andrea Rosenberg
Published by Fantagraphics 



 
 
Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka Vol. 1 (2004)
Written by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki
Art by Naoki Urasawa
 



 

Rob Liefeld

 

 

 

 

 
 
 





1 July 2025

Podcast: Image Comics: The Roaring Nineties

 

Available from all your usual podcast providers, or listen here:  

It's all well and good talking about comics, but they are obviously a visual medium - pretty pictures!  Therefore, to accompany each episode, we also do a little blog post with some images and other extras to give you some context as to what on earth we're talking about!   

 

 What Have We Been Reading Recently?

Batman The Cult #1-4 (1988)
Published by DC Comics
Written by Jim Starlin
Art by Bernie Wrightson
Colours by Bill Wray
Lettering by John Costanza 



 
 
Absolute Flash (2025)
Published by DC Comics
Written by Jeff Lemire
Art by Nick Robles
Colours by Adriano Lucas
Letters by Tom Napoltano
 


 
 

The Roaring Nineties

Superman #75 - an estimated 6m copies sold!

Superman #75 bagged Platinum Edition - aimed squarely at collectors/investors

Unity #1 - the crossover would help put new Valiant Comics on the map, and launch the 90s mega-crossover fad

Dale Keown's Pitt #1 - the second issue would take 6 months to arrive

Tribe #1 from Larry Stroman - another where the second issue took 6 months

Spawn #21 - released before #19 & 20 because they were running so far behind

Deathmate, the Image and Valiant crossover plagued by delays, is considered by many to mark the end of the boom and start of the bust









29 June 2025

Early Image: Spawn - Blood Feud

The Give Me Comics or Give Me Death podcast is available from all your usual podcast providers, or see all episodes here

For Season Two of the podcast we've taken an in-depth look at the foundation and history of Image Comics.  To accompany that we've done a blog series on comics published by Image in their exciting and chaotic formative years - 'Early Image'.  


Spawn: Blood Feud #1-4 (1995)
Written by Alan Moore
Art by Tony Daniel and Kevin Conrad
Lettering by Tom Orzechowski
Colouring by various
 
When Alan Moore returned to the mainstream and superhero comics after his self-imposed exile it seemed both appropriate and baffling that he would choose Image Comics.  Moore had become disillusioned with the industry following disputes with DC Comics over creator's rights, ownership, and unfair financial deals - grievances shared by many of the Image partners and the motivation for setting up their own publishing company.  However, early Image comics were lambasted for their poor quality, style over substance, and unprofessionalism - the polar opposite of the reputation Moore had established for himself.  Even more surprising were the titles that Moore took on in those formative Image years; his own homage to Silver Age comics 1963, and Rob Liefeld's teen-boy take on modern superheroes with Supreme, Glory, and Youngblood, as well Jim Lee's alien sci-fi action team WildC.A.T.S.  But nestled in there was Todd McFarlane's Spawn - a tale of an ex-CIA operative who is killed and then resurrected as a 'Hellspawn', and uses newly found superpowers to fight evil.  The dark supernatural elements mixed with traditional superheroics were a perfect match for Moore's experience with the likes of Swamp Thing, Captain Britain, and Marvelman.  After writing an issue of the regular Spawn series, a couple of miniseries featuring Spawn's nemesis The Violator, he teamed up with rising-star artist Tony Daniel for the 4-issue series Spawn: Blood Feud.
 
Spawn's costume had always seemed like it had a life of its own; McFarlane's art style had the hero's cloak flowing endlessly around his panels, and chains flying in every direction in imitation of the way he had once drawn Spider-Man's webbing.  Moore runs with the premise and explicitly makes it a sentient being from the depths of hell, living in a symbiotic relationship with Spawn and having its own needs - being fed, principally.  One has to assume Moore intentionally leaned into the comparisons with the Marvel character Venom, who was co-created by McFarlane himself.  The realisation for Spawn that his costume is more than just a spiky cool set of threads coincides with a spate of horrific killings on the New York streets and alleyways he calls home.  With Spawn unable to recall his nighttime activities, and hearing a voice in his head claiming to be his own costume, the scene is rather obviously set for him and the reader to assume the thing has taken on a life of its own and is the mysterious monstrous murderer.  
 
The police - generally inept, as they always seem to be in superhero comics - call in a specialist to help with these killings.  John Sansker struts onto the scene, decked out in designer suits and hulking over the hapless police detectives, declares Spawn to be a vampire, commits to taking him down, and orchestrates a media campaign against him.  To the surprise of no-one, Sansker, turns out to be more than just a guy who works out at the gym a bit too much, and is in fact the villain responsible for the killing spree.  Moore cleverly tips his hat to the true perpetrator right out of the gates, by giving us first-person POV scenes for both the murders and Sansker's introduction to the police.  In typical Moore fashion, and a riposte to the prevailing trend in other Image titles at the time, the tale ends without an action packed, splash-page filled, showdown between Spawn and his antagonist, with Sansker escaping through the sewers to see another day and (oddly) a pledge to takeover Hong Kong in 2070.   What we are left with is an understanding from Spawn as to the nature of his costume and their relationship, and an interesting deepening of the Spawn lore for other writers to investigate.
 
 
Tony Daniel had come out of nowhere to take over regular pencilling duties on Marvel's X-Force, ironically taking over from Greg Capullo who had left to work with McFarlane on Spawn.   His work there was decent enough - if a bit in hock to X-Force co-creator Rob Liefeld - but there was little there to suggest he was the right pick for a more considered horror influenced comic, or someone to pair with a legend like Moore.  However, without doubt he stepped up for Blood Feud.  Working with inker Kevin Conrad, he combines the expressive manga-light faces of Joe Quesada with the darkness and dirtiness of McFarlane.  His storytelling and page composition is outstanding - though that may be more due to the famously detailed scripting from Moore himself.  The POV scenes of the killings are particularly well done, terrifying and gory whilst maintaining the mystery of the perpetrator.  Perhaps his best work is on Spawn's living costume, especially when separated from its host; he brings a real believability to this swirling, amorphous, hell being, and imbues it with its own personality.  The only misstep in the art is the use of computer graphics for bubbles in a couple of underwater scenes - against the dark pencilled art the effect is incredibly jarring and serves only to make you realise you're looking at computer generated images.  

Alan Moore's work on various Image characters proves that a good writer can elevate even the most hopeless of characters.  Spawn was already one of the more interesting concepts from the Image founders, but in Moore's hands in Blood Feud, we get an intriguing horror mystery that brings a genuinely interesting concept to life.  Add in great art from Tony Daniel, and it is definitely one of the early Image comics that had stood the test of time. 
 
 

23 June 2025

Podast: Image Comics - Toddmagedon

Available from all your usual podcast providers, or listen here:

 

It's all well and good talking about comics, but they are obviously a visual medium - pretty pictures!  Therefore, to accompany each episode, we also do a little blog post with some images and other extras to give you some context as to what on earth we're talking about!   

 

 What Have We Been Reading Recently?


Sachs and Violens #1-4 (1993)
Published by Epic Comics
Written by Peter David
Art by George Perez
Colours by John Stracuzzi
Letters by John Workman
 


 
Adrift on Painted Sea (2024)
Pubslihed by Avery Hill
By Tim Bird 
With paintings by Sue Bird
 



 

Todd McFarlane

 
A cover from McFarlane's brief Batman stint 

McFarlane's record breaking Spide-Man #1 

 
McFarlane's darker take on Spider-Man 

The cover to McFarlane's record breaking (again) Spawn #1

 

12 June 2025

Podcast: Image Comics: Secret Origins

Available from all your usual podcast providers, or listen here:

 

It's all well and good talking about comics, but they are obviously a visual medium - pretty pictures!  Therefore, to accompany each episode, we also do a little blog post with some images and other extras to give you some context as to what on earth we're talking about!   

 

 What Have We Been Reading Recently?

The Vertigo Weekly Reader

Substack by Mark Mosedale - "A chronological(ish) deep dive into DC Comics' Vertigo imprint, starting with Alan Moore's Swamp Thing and running to the end of the British Invasion. Analysis, reaction, wild tangents, magic(?), other business."


Absolute Superman (2024/25) published by DC Comics
Written by Jason Aaron
Art by Rafa Sandoval
Colours by Ulises Arreola Palomera 
Letters by Becca Carey
 


 

 

 

The birth of Image Comics 


Spider-Man #1 by Todd McFarlane


X-Force #1 by Rob Liefeld


X-Men #1 by Jim Lee 


Shadowhawk #1 by Jim Valentino


Spawn #1 by Todd McFarlane

Youngblood #1 by Rob Liefeld

Savage Dragon #1 by Eruk Larsen

Cyber Force #1 by Marc Silvestri


Wetworks #1 by Whilce Portacio

WildC.A.T.S. by Jim Lee