Grant's Morrison's Batman Annotations: Recommended Reading Part 2

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

In Part 1 of this recommended reading, I focused on the works by Grant Morrison that are particularly relevant to their Batman run.  Now it's the turn of other writers and artists.  Morrison reached back into the mists of time and used unexpected Batman stories for the basis of their epic - long forgotten tales, outlandish madcap stories that were excommunicated from continuity as they didn't 'fit' modern Batman, and plots and characters that neatly dovetailed with the saga that was to unfold.

Batman: Son of the Demon (1987)
Written by Mike W. Barr
Art by Jerry Bingham

This 1987 graphic novel is the purported origin of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul’s son, Damian Wayne, who plays a significant role in Morrison’s Batman run as a new Robin and (as shown in Batman #666 and #700) ultimately takes over the mantle of Batman.

There are major discrepancies though between the story itself and the version put forward by Morrison.  In Son of the Demon, Batman appears to genuinely have feelings for Talia – or at bare minimum, be attracted to her – and agrees quite happily to a relationship with her.  When she announces her pregnancy, he is delighted and prioritises the health of her and their unborn child over everything else.  When Talia tells him she has lost the baby, Batman seeks revenge on the man he considers responsible (Qayin, who was at one time a surrogate son for Talia’s father Ra’s al Ghul).  After leaving Talia (at her insistence) and returning to Gotham, he is clearly emotionally affected by the apparent death of his unborn child. As an epilogue to the tale, 9 months later, a baby boy is left on the doorstep of an orphanage and taken in by a childless couple.  Left with the child is the necklace that Bruce gave Talia during their time together.

Morrison significantly rewrites history.  When Talia asks Bruce if he remembers the night Damian was conceived, he replies, “I remember being drugged senseless and refusing to co-operate in some depraved eugenics experiment.”  No mention of the apparent miscarriage is made, and the inference is that Batman was unaware of Talia’s pregnancy.  Furthermore, rather than being adopted anonymously by a random couple, Morrison tells of Damian being grown in an artificial womb and genetically modified, then raised by the al Ghul organisation The League of Shadows to be a future conqueror of the world.  Damian says he was not ‘formally introduced’ to his mother until his 8th birthday, some two years before he meets his father. 

Batman: Son of the Demon was never particularly considered an in-continuity tale, even upon its release, and although the idea of the child from this story was used in alternative universes or stories set in the future, Morrison’s Batman was his first introduction in the ‘main’ continuity. 

 

Batman The Cult #1-4 (1988)
Written by Jim Starlin
Art by Bernie Wrightson

 

 

In this 4 issue mini-series – which clearly influenced The Dark Knight Rises movie – a cult made up of the homeless and hopeless of Gotham mass in the city’s sewers launching vigilante attacks on criminals and politicians alike.  There are clear links and influences of Morrison’s Batman run here.  Batman is drugged and brainwashed into joining the cult, which is echoed in the scheme of Dr Hurt in Batman R.I.P.  The cult leader is a seemingly immortal man obsessed with Gotham, traits shared not only with Dr Hurt but also Brother Manfred from Morrison’s Batman: Gothic.  However, Morrison specifically links their Batman run with The Cult as this series sees the introduction of Miagani tribe, an ancient Native America tribe that lived in area that became Gotham City, and in the caves that became the Bat-Cave.  All this also feeds into the general ideas that Batman has been subjected to drugs, gasses, and psychological attack, countless times over the years, and that the supernatural is an established aspect of Batman’s history.

 

Batman: Dark Kight, Dark City
Originally published in Batman #452-454 (1990)
Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Kieron Dwyer (and some lovely covers by Mike Mignola)

 

 

In this great little story Batman is led on a merry dance by the Riddler, who tricks Batman into committing a series of steps in a ritual to summon the demon ‘Barbathos’, culminating in the attempted sacrifice of Batman himself.  It is suggested that this demon has possessed the Riddler and has been guiding his actions all along.  The ending is ambiguous as it appears Batman releases the demon from where it has been trapped, along with the skeleton of the previous sacrificial victim, so despite surviving Batman may still have achieved the demon’s goals.  Batman then gives the victim a burial in the Wayne mausoleum, next to his parents. 

 

In flashback scenes we travel to 1793 where a group of men try to summon the same demon, via the sacrifice of the girl whose skeleton is found by Batman in the contemporary story.  This summoning takes place in a cellar adorned with satanic symbols, with the group led by a Jacob Stockman and including a young Thomas Jefferson.  A bat shaped creature appears – which the group assume to be the demon – causing the men to flee and trap the girl in with the creature, condemning her to death.

 

 

 

Morrison replays this scene in Batman and Robin #16 at the conclusion of The Return of Bruce Wayne storyline, as the revelations mount and the plot lines in place for the first two thirds of Morrison’s run come to conclusion.  There are however some key differences.  The demon being summoned is now referred to as ‘Barbartos’, named for a demon from The Lesser Key of Solomon, a grimoire from the mid-17th century.  This ‘demon’ plays a key part in Morrison’s story and is revealed to actually be the Hyper-Adaptor, a creature/weapon sent by the New God Darkseid to pursue Batman through time, and the driving force of the events of The Return of Bruce Wayne.  Furthermore, the sacrificial girl is not the only person left behind in the cellar as Stockman and friends flee – there is also Thomas Wayne, Bruce’s ancestor, who strikes a deal with ‘Barbartos’ granting him immortality.  Thomas Wayne will surface years later as Dr Hurt, the principal antagonist for the bulk of Morrison’s Batman run.

 

The Black Casebook  

 

Many of the plot points and characters that inform the first third of Morrison's run (often referred to as Batman R.I.P., but actually includes all the story up to and including those published under that title), are drawn from the oddball and bizarre Silver Age Batman comics that Morrison read as a kid.  As they don't fit the character Batman became - and certainly not the modern silver screen version - they have been airbrushed out of history by DC Comics.  They are not even available from their digital subscription service, DC Unlimited.  However, to coincide with Morrison's successful Batman run, some of these were published together in The Black Casebook.  Taking its title from Batman's own notes of his more esoteric adventures, it collected 12 otherwise unavailable tales.  A few of the stories are included just to give an idea of the type of story that inspired Morrison, or examples of when Batman came under psychological attack or subjected to mind-altering gasses and chemicals (all of which plays into Batman R.I.P.), but the notable tales are;

 

Batman #65 - 'A Partner of Batman' (1951)

Written by Bill Finger

Pencils by Lew Sayre Schwartz

 

Robin is out of action after breaking his leg.  Somewhat comically this comes not from battle with a super-villain, but Robin slipping on some oil and falling off a boat.  Enter: Wingman.  An unnamed masked adventurer from a 'northern European country' that fills in for Robin, whilst also being trained by Batman to be his counterpart in said unnamed nation.  Robin becomes increasingly upset from his mistaken belief that Batman is seeking a permanent replacement for him.  Wingman ends up being not particularly good, so much so that when Batman gets word that the gangsters they are taking on have decided to target the newcomer due to his inexperience, Batman and Wingman swap places.  Obviously, the caped crusader saves the day, dispatches Wingman off on his European assignment, and Robin returns to his rightful place as Batman's sidekick.

 

So we are introduced to the character of Wingman here, although in his preposterous bird costume he is very different from the version Morrison reintroduces as part of the Club of Heroes. The seeds are also sown here for the concept of Batman Incorporated as well - various Batmen, or agents of Batman, operating around the globe under his tutelage. 

Batman #86 - 'Indian Chief' (1954)

Written by France Herron

Pencils by Sheldon Moldoff

 

 

Interestingly, this story begins with Batman and Robin flying home in the Bat-Plane from a 'distant mission', a nod to one of the key messages from Morrison's Batman - that the character can have adventures away from Gotham City.  He's a global superhero and should act as such.  Batman and Robin land their plane after spotting a Bat-Signal created from smoke.  This leads to their introduction to Chief Man-Of-The-Bats and Little Raven, the secret identities of Native American father and son duo Great Eagle and Little Raven.   In a twist reminiscent of the Wingman episode, Batman and Robin take on the identities of their counterparts in order to bring down local gang leader Black Elk.

 

These two characters, again showcasing the notion that the concept of 'Batman' need not be limited to just one person, play important roles in the Club of Heroes and Batman Incorporated chapters of Morrison's run.   

Detective Comics #215 - 'The Batmen of All Nations' (1955)

Written by Edmond Hamilton

Pencils by Sheldon Moldoff

 

 

The Batmen of All Nations were reintroduced in Morrison's story as the Club of Heroes, and serve as a precursor of sorts to the idea of Batman Incorporated.   Here they are presented as crime fighters from around the globe influenced by Batman; The Knight and Squire from England (who sport lances whilst riding motorcycles adapted to look like horses), The Musketeer from France and The Legionary from Italy (both dressed exactly as you would imagine), The Goucho from 'distant South America' (who is a bolo expert), and Ranger from Australia (who initiates the story by asking for Batman's advice on his crime-fighting methods). 

 

There are a few nods to Morrison's Batman run in the tale of these Batmen helping foil an armoured car robbery; Batman seemingly dies after a house he walks into explodes (he faked his death, and reappears hidden in a money bag in the armoured car), and the apparent betrayal of one of the team - in fact, Legionary was replaced by the gang boss behind the robbery - foreshadowing Wingman's treachery in the Club of Heroes.

 

Detective Comics #235 - 'The First Batman...' (1956)

Written by Bill Finger

Pencils by  Sheldon Moldoff

 

 

It's no wonder that this Batman tale has been airbrushed out of history, as it casually ret-cons Batman's origins in significant ways - ways that Morrison was of course happy to take advantage of (remember, in Morrison's run everything from Batman's history happened).  We're treated to a flashback to when Bruce's father, Thomas Wayne is taken at gun point from a masked ball he is attending to treat an injured bank robber Lew Moxon.  Wayne Sr beats up Moxon and his hoodlums, and at their trial Moxon swears revenge on Bruce's father.  The two big twists here are that Moxon gets his revenge by hiring 'Joey' Chill to kill Thomas Wayne, in the infamous Crime Alley murder of Bruce's parents.  Usually named 'Joe' Chill, the character has appeared throughout Batman history as the Wayne's murderer, though he is ordinarily portrayed as a random mugger rather than a hitman.  Morrison treats him as such in the Joe Chill in Hell chapter of Batman R.I.P.  The other revelation is that Thomas Wayne attended the masked ball - which was themed 'flying creatures' - in a prototype Bat-Man costume (he's even referred to as a 'Bat-Man').   This outfit surfaces in Morrison's Batman as worn by Dr Hurt/Thomas Wayne, and by Bruce himself as he travels through time in The Return of Bruce Wayne.

 

World's Finest #89 - 'The Club of Heroes' (1957)

Written by Edmond Hamilton

Pencils by Dick Sprang

 

 

In this zany Silver Age team-up between Batman and Superman, the latter starts adopting an alter ego of Lightning-Man as a result of amnesia that occurs every time a fragment of a Kryptonite meteor orbits above Metropolis (it was the Silver Age!)  The background to all this is mysterious Metropolis millionaire John Mayhew, who creates a Club of Heroes to honour costumed crime fighters from around the world, so naturally we see the return of the heroes from The Batmen of All Nations.  Lightning-Man, and then when his identity is revealed, Superman, is elected chair of the club.  Morrison makes no mention of Superman (or indeed Lightning-Man) when they resurrect the Club of Heroes for Batman R.I.P. and Batman Incorporated, but the benefactor Mayhew plays a key role in the murder mystery of The Island of Mister Mayhew. 

Well after three blogs in preperation for the real deal, the next episode with being the annotations for real - albeit with the issues of 52 that lead into Batman R.I.P.  See you then, same Bat-Time same Bat-Channel. 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

Grant's Morrison's Batman Annotations: Recommended Reading Part 1

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

Grant Morrison's epic Batman tale not only uses previous Batman stories for its inspiration, plot, and themes, it is predicated on the very fact that there are previous Batman stories - that everything that was printed did in fact happen.  From the sci-fi madness of the Silver Age to the gritty violence of the 90s, no story was out of bounds for Morrison or for Batman himself.  Grant does a decent job of weaving these parts of Batman continuity into its own story so that reading these earlier comics is not necessary to understand and enjoy it, but reading them - or at least these summaries! - will help illuminate the saga in ways that can only enhance it.

There is, admittedly, a lot to get through, so I've broken this down into two parts to make it somewhat easier to digest.  This first part will focus on other Grant Morrison work, and the second on comics by other writers.  Grant's comics have often tackled similar themes and ideas, and there is a crossover of many of these in most of their work for DC Comics, so in theory one could recommend reading the entire back catalogue of Morrison!  Don't worry, I'm not going to do that.  I'm going to focus on the most relevant comics to this run, particularly the key themes, plot points, and characters that shape it.

 

Arkham Asylum (1989)
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Dave McKean

Probably the work that put Grant Morrison on the map – when released Arkham Asylum was the biggest selling graphic novel of all time (I believe Morrison claims it still is).  The multitudes who picked up this prestige format comic, with fully painted art by Dave McKean, must have been bemused by the story that they encountered.  Far from an action-packed adventure, or mystery solving plot, it is instead a slow labyrinthian examination of Batman’s psyche.  Batman arrives at the mental institution, Arkham Asylum, at the behest of the Joker who has taken its staff hostage.  Batmen enters the gothic mansion to try and resolve the situation.  In there he confronts a gallery of his rogues, each partly reflecting a piece of his own personality.  In flashback we also get the history of Amadeus Arkham, who founded the asylum, and this plays into why one of the doctors released the inmates from their cells initiating the whole escapade.  However, it’s not particularly clear whether these events actually happen or if they all occur in Batman’s mind.

Like much of Morrison’s previous Batman work, there are no specific connections made in his Batman run to this story. In fact, one of the more interesting points of his epic tale is that really only the Joker and Talia Al Ghul from his rogue’s gallery make appearances, other key characters from Arkham Asylum; Two-Face, Scarecrow, Clayface, Killer Coc, etc, are ignored completely.  However, there are some more thematic and symbolic connections:

• The point of the story is to examine Batman, who he is and how he works, which is also ultimately the point of Morrison’s full Batman run but on a much larger scale.  Though the main difference is that here we take a look at Bruce Wayne from the inside of his head, whereas stories like Batman R.I.P. and The Return of Bruce Wayne use the actions of other characters and Bruce’s response to them to demonstrate the key elements of the Batman character.  

• The key antagonist in Arkham Asylum is the Joker, who after forcing Batman to enter the asylum challenges him to a game of hide and seek – this is reminiscent of Batman R.I.P. and The Return of Bruce Wayne, where the Joker and Dr Hurt play out a metaphorical game of chess with each other, and where games, including dominos, are a recurring theme.   The story also brings up the idea that the Joker is not insane, but rather “super-sane”, constantly reconstructing himself in response to the ever-changing zeitgeist. Morrison explores this in much more detail in Batman R.I.P.  Furthermore, the Joker’s motivation here is not to attack Batman physically but psychologically, which is not only the motivation of Dr Hurt but also key to the conflict between him and the Joker.  

   

  

• The Joker’s dialogue is presented in a different colour scheme to the other characters – in this case red with a white drop shadow – a technique that is used to particular effect in Batman R.I.P.

• Much of Arkham Asylum revolves around the symbolism of the tarot, which is something Morrison uses in a lot of his work – they are strongly influenced by magic and have said one of their first real uses of it was giving a tarot reading to friends and acquaintances.  Whilst much less integral to the story than in Arkham Asylum there are allusions to the tarot in Morrison’s Batman run, most obviously in Batman Incorporated which reflects the Tower card – quite literally at the conclusion.  

Batman: Gothic
Originally published in Legends of The Dark Knight #6-10 (1990)
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Klaus Janson

Morrison’s second Batman story is much more conventional than Arkham Asylum, and whilst it has less to say about Batman as a character than his other work, it does have some thematic links to his later Batman run.  The plot of Gothic is fairly straightforward, though its mysteries are slowly revealed with skill by Morrison.  Someone is killing off various mob bosses in Gotham.  The criminals, surprisingly, turn to Batman for help, claiming they know the murderer is a ‘Mr Whisper’ a child-killer who the believed they had murdered 20 years ago, and is now back wreaking his revenge.  It is subsequently revealed that ‘Mr Whisper’ is Bruce Wayne’s old headmaster ‘Mr Winchester’, and that Bruce was to be his next victim until his father pulled him out of the school furious at the corporal punishment being administered to his son.  To celebrate, Wayne the elder suggests they all go out to see a film – this turns out to be the infamous night Bruce’s parents are killed and his journey to becoming Batman begins.  Linking events in a story back to key moments in Batman’s life; his parent’s death, the bat breaking through his window, the death of Jason Todd, is something that is used repeatedly throughout Morrison’s Batman run.  

 

The mystery doesn’t end there – the true identity of the villain turns out to be Brother Manfred, a monk who sold his soul to the Devil in return for 300 more years of life.   The machinations of Whisper/Winchester/Manfred all turn out to be an attempt to cheat his way out of the deal, as his 300 years are now up.  Batman stops his plan, and the Devil – in the form of a nun – appears and takes his soul to hell.  Here, Morrison has clearly solidified the supernatural into the Batman mythos, and also established the Devil (and his deal making) as existing in the DC universe, which plays a key part in his later stories with both Dr Hurt and Damian.  Surprisingly though, despite one key premise of Batman R.I.P. being that all these stories happened, there are no overt references to Gothic or any suggestion that Dr Hurt and Brother Manfred share any connection.

 

JLA (1996-2005)

JLA #1-17, 22-31, 34-41, 1,000,000

JLA: Secret Files and Origins

Written by Grant Morrison

Art by Howard Porter (plus a few fill-ins issues by other artists)

JLA: Classified #1-3

Written by Grant Morrison

Art by Ed McGuinness 

Morrison’s seminal run on DC’s flagship title JLA (traditioanly called the Justice Leage of America, but not referred to as such in this title, given their more global scope) involved Batman as one of the key members of the team.  Morrison made sure all members got their moment in the sun, and as the team expanded this meant there was less room to comment on Batman specifically.  However, covering almost 50 issues they are several issues to take note of:

• Morrison has often talked about superheroes in comparison with mythological gods and heroes – hence the title of his superhero analysis/autobiography book Supergods.  In JLA he takes this idea literally, portraying the team as the modern-day incarnation of the Greek god pantheon; Superman is Zeus the king of the Gods, The Flash is Hermes the god of speed, and Aquaman is Poseidon god of the seas, to pick the most obvious ones.  In this take Batman is Hades, the god of the dead and the underworld.  Hades was depicted by the Greeks as being cold and stern, traits typically associated with Batman – though part of Morrison’s aims for the character in Batman R.I.P thru Batman Incorporated was to break him out of such restrictive characterisation.  In Morrison’s Batman it’s suggested that death is a key component of the character and his mythos; not only was death of Bruce Wayne’s parents the catalyst for his transformation to Batman, but the death of those close to him (even if many are resurrected) is an almost routine occurrence and central to many Batman stories.  Hades’ realm of the underworld is also something often referenced by Morrison, most obviously in the metaphor of the Batcave, but also in the notion of Batman descending into the underworld to obtain knowledge or understanding.  As Batman, Dick Grayson does this twice in Morrison‘s run; when he goes deep into a British mine in search of a Lazarus pit to resurrect Bruce Wayne, and when he discovers previously unknown tunnels and ‘Batcave’ under Wayne Manor leading to the return of Bruce Wayne.

• At the start of the JLA run Batamn tells the league that he’s only prepared to act in an “advisory capacity” because for him “Gotham comes first”.  This is the restriction – self-imposed in this JLA story, but meta-textually one that has been imposed on Batman by a succession of writers, particularly since the ‘dark and gritty’ version of the character from the late 80s onwards – and it is part of Morrison’s mission in his run to break Batman out of this geographical restriction. 

   

  
   

• When the JLA are attacked by the villain The Key, the team are subjected to a neural virus that transports their minds to alternate lives.  In Batman’s alternative he is living in retirement with Selina Kyle (Catwoman), and the mantle of Batman has passed on to Tim Drake with Bruce Wayne Jr as his Robin.  This is a quite different outcome to the events in Morrison’s Batman run where Dick Grayson becomes the new Batman, with the son of Bruce and Talia Al Ghul, Damian, as his Robin – who in a potential future then goes on to become Batman himself.  #8 also sees the phrase "Batman and Robin can never die", which, in the slighty different form of "Batman and Robin will never die!", will feature several times in the Batman run - and is probably the overaching message of the whole story.

   

  
   

• In the Rock of Ages storyline, which pitches the JLA against Lex Luthor’s Injustice Gang, the latter approach their conflict as “the corporate takeover of the Justice League’.  This, Luthor suggests, means employing the tactics of “identify their weak spots, destabilize their figureheads, headhunt the up-and-coming young hotshots’.  However, they are undone by Bruce Wayne’s superior corporate knowledge and tactics.  Not only is this echoed in that last third of Morrison’s run as Batman Incorporated take on Talia Al Ghul’s Leviathan organisation, Luthor’s tactics are employed by the latter during their war.  Morrison has repeatedly used the idea of corporations within their work; The Invisibles, Marvel Boy, and Seaguy, to name just a few.

• In a possible future Batman confronts Darkseid and is struck by the latter’s Omega Effect beams.  Exactly the same thing will happen in Morrison’s Final Crisis which causes Batman to be thrown back in time, leading to the events of The Return of Bruce Wayne.  However, in the JLA story the beams are said to send Batman “out of time, out of space..beyond what the gods even know”.  The heroes save the day in their ‘now’, so that future never comes to pass, and we don’t get any follow up on this Batman’s fate – but it's interesting that Morrison re-ran the exact scene in Final Crisis but with (it appears)  different consequences.  

   

  

There are other connections to Morrison’s Batman in JLA – both specific and more general – though it also shares some of them with their other work through the years as well.  The climatic storyline in JLA builds upon several of the shorter arcs throughout the series, and many of the previously featured characters return.   The climax of The Return of Bruce Wayne builds upon the series to date, and ties together plot lines from the very first issue, though Final Crisis, and Batman and Robin.  Whilst Batman Incorporated acts in many ways as a fresh start as it moves on from the Joker and Dr Hurt, it ultimately ends with huge conflict between the characters that featured in Morrison’s opening arc Batman and Son, whilst also includes many of the characters (re)introduced along the way.  The JLA run also features characters from the New Gods – particularly in its final story – who are key parts of Final Crisis and its impact on Batman and his supporting cast.  Interestingly, whilst the Joker does appear in JLA as part of Lex Luthor’s Injustice Gang, he has little more than cameo appearances and has a much more traditional presentation that he will in Batman R.I.P. – Morrison has little to say here about the Joker, saving that deeper exploration for his longer Batman project.

 

52 (2006-2007)

Written by Grant Morrison and others

Art by various

 

The weekly series 52 span out of the Infinite Crisis comic/event, following which the holy trinity of DC Comics - Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman - look a year-long leave of absence (hence the title, it covered 52 weeks in the DC universe in 'real time').   At the conclusion of Infinite Crisis Bruce tells the other two-thirds of that trinity that he intends to 'retrace the steps I first took when I left Gotham. I'll be rebuilding Batman.  But this time it's going to be different....I'm not going alone.'  Accompanied by (at that time the only) Robins (Dick Grayson and Tim Drake), this sets up the premise of Morrison's mission for Batman - to turn him from the dark violent soldier-vigilante character he had become into a brighter better-adjusted superhero.  Batman plays a very small part in the 52 series, but the few pages dedicated to him are incredibly important to what comes next.  Indeed, in the omnibus reprints of Batman R.I.P. the relevant pages are included as a prologue of sorts, and therefore I will address these in their own blog and annotations rather than just summarising them here,  

In the next blog I'll take a look at some of the Batman comics not written by Grant Morrrison that tie into their Batman run.  

 

Mike 

 

Brit-Trip: Glasgow

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

At the risk of becoming the new Judith Chalmers (kids, ask your parents - in fact, probably ask your grandparents!) I've been away on another brief trip.  This time was a weekend away in the unexpectedly glorious sunshine of Glasgow, Scotland.  While the main reason of the journey north was to see the mighty Manic Street Preachers play the world-famous Barrowland Ballroom, there are a couple of good comics related reasons for me to tell you about it other than just bragging about my jet-set lifestyle

Our two night stay in Glasgow was at the very nice, very classy, Radisson Red hotel - and this hotel was booked for a very specific reason: Frank Quitely (legendary artist of All-Star Superman, The Authority, New X-Men, Jupiter's Legacy, etc).  No, he wasn't working as concierge, or tinkling the ivories in the hotel bar, but his artwork adorns the hotel from the lobby to the top floor sky bar.   When the hotel was built in 2017/18, they commissioned Quitely to provide original artwork to decorate the walls - including each and every hotel room - creating a unique look and experience.  Though it probably seemed to other guests that I was some local mad-man staring at the walls of the hotel, it was pretty damn cool to be surrounded by the work of one of my favourite comic artists.

The huge artwork wall in our hotel room

Just in case you couldn't guess from his distinctive art style, Frank helpfully signed his work as well

 

Artwork in the hotel lobby

More lobby artwork

Giant Quitely faces overlooking reception

Possibly the coolest wardrobe ever

 

 

Of course, no trip away for me is complete without a visit to at least one comic shop!  Therefore, I nipped into City Centre Comics in the trendy West End of the city.  It's hidden away in a back alley that is a warren of small independent shops - it sits opposite a bric-a-brac place that is literally a 4-foot-high pile of anything and everything.  City Centre Comics stocks the usual monthly comics and associated collected editions, along with a handful of related toys and collectables.  What really caught my eye through was the significant back issue collection.  Given most of my current comics reading comes via digital subscription services (check out our podcast about that very topic here), I'm always looking for stuff I can't read on the iPad.  In some cases that's comics from smaller independent publishers, but in the case of the back-issue bins it's old out-of-print work.  I'm particularly partial to anyone packing up all the issues of a series together - and preferably selling at a reasonable price!  

 

Anyway, here's what I collected from my brief trip:

 

Sheva's War; a 5 issue series from 1998/99 published by DC Comics under their Helix Imprint, written and drawn by Christopher Moeller.  Helix was a short-lived DC experiment with sci-fi and fantasy comics, best known for Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan, which moved to Vertigo after Helix folded.  I've never heard of the comic itself, nor Christopher Moeller, but the artwork on the cover of the first issue sold it to me.  We may also cover forgotten imprints from Marvel and DC in a future podcast, so chalk this one down to research as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst I have most certainly heard, and enjoyed the work, of Michael J Straczynski, I am unfamiliar with his comic Protectors Inc.  Published by Image Comics, under JMS' own Joe Comics imprint, this pack collects #1-9.  Apparently it ran for 10 issues, so if I enjoy it I've probably got a minor quest on my hands to find that final issue.   The writer's name was enough to convince me to pick this up, though an added bonus was the notice on the front cover of #1 that it 'includes free audio version!'  Which is something I've never heard of before with a comic - I just have to now find out if this is still accessible 12 years after the comic was published!

 

 

 

 

I was most excited to find all 4 issues of the 1993/94 miniseries from Epic Comics, Sachs and Violens.  This was a creator-owned title from (at the time) top comic creators Peter David and George Perez.  I remember there seemingly being adverts for it everywhere, and the pun-tastic title and adult artwork piqued my teenage curiosity.  Unfortunately, any and all of my comics budget back then was going on X-Men or anything from flashy new upstarts Image Comics.  I can't wait to read this and see if my decades long regret at not buying it has been worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, I bought the two issue series Madman Jam written by Madman creator Mike Allred and drawn by Bernie Mireault.  A lot of my comics purchases recently has been trying to track down some of the indie comics I always had an eye on in the 90s, but as above, always eschewed for the mainstream.  That's frustrating, as the comics I did buy are widely available, and the ones I didn't are now subject to deep dive exploration of the internet and backstreet comic shops.  Madmen is one of those comics, and whilst I was able to pick up (at a bargain price!) the huge collected Madman Volume 1 from Dark House recently, it didn't contain this gem.  So, a great little find in a great little shop!

 

 

Eurotrip: The Spoils!

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

I recently posted about my holiday to beautiful Bruges and lovely Lille, and specifically the comic shops I was lucky enough to visit.  But there was one thing missing from my travelogue - what about the comics I actually bought there! Limited as I was by budget and how much my scrawny frame could actually carry back to old Blighty, I still managed quite a decent haul.  Now I just need to polish up my French so I can actually read the damn things (or, I guess, just use Google Translate!)

Without a doubt, my favourite purchase was the - just released - limited special edition of the first Blacksad volume.  If you've not read Blacksad then stop what you are doing, run directly to your nearest comic shop and buy a copy.  The painted anthropomorphic noir series is huge in France, and judging by its prominence in UK comic shops, it has been a hit this side of the channel as well.   This oversized edition reprints Somewhere Between the Shadows, along with a lengthy interview with creators Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, sketches, character designs, and page layouts.  It's a beautiful thing, and hopefully we'll see an English language version sooner or later.

 

 

 

Keeping on the animal theme; my wife and I are suckers for any comics about cats [idea for another blog suddenly springs to mind], so we couldn't help but pick up a copy of Crapule by Jean-Luc Deglin.  It's the story of a young woman and her little black cat who, in a shocking twist for the genre, is mischievous yet adorable.   The artwork is so simple, the storytelling so clear, and the scenes so relatable, that really the language barrier is irrelevant here. The cover suggests this is just the first volume - so hopefully more to come!

 

 

Despite the English language title Punk The Fucking Story is in French!  This is an anthology of comics and prose articles written by Theirry Lamy and drawn by a host of different artists, each tackling a different band, era, or scene, related to punk music of the late 70s and early 80s.  It is a fantastic idea, cleverly done, and I would love to see other genres given the same treatment.  I'm also fascinated with how artists represent music on the page - everyone seems to have their own way of doing it - and I'm always on the lookout for comics that I can add to my collection of soundless sound!

 

One of the brakes on me reading as many comics as I'd like - and writing as many blogs about them - is I also invest huge amounts of time in reading books.  My preference is non-fiction, particularly history, politics, and economics - all of which have led me to the work of Thomas Piketty.  He is one of the world's foremost contemporary economists - you may have heard of his seminal work Capital in the Twenty-First Century.  The follow-up to that was Capital and Ideology, and it has recently been adapted into a comic by Claire Alet and Benjamin Adam.  Comics is a great medium for using words and images to convey complex or complicated ideas (see the work of Darryl Cunningham, or the comic adaptations of Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind), so I'm very much looking forward to reading this and hopefully better understanding Piketty's ideas and arguments.

Probably the most famous French comic after Asterix is the sci-fi and fantasy anthology Métal Hurlant (which translates as 'Screaming Metal', but you may know it better as Heavy Metal, the name it was published under in the US).  Métal Hurlant ran from 1974 to 1987 (with brief revivals in 2002 and 2021), and was famous for adult content and often luscious painted artwork.  The copy I picked up is a special to celebrate the 50th anniversary.  It is a collection of new (or newish) material with artwork much more in line with modern French comics than the traditional style associated with the magazine.  It also includes interviews (including one with Ridley Scott), and a collection of stand-out covers from the original series.

As my recent trip involved a visit to Belgium, I felt obliged to pick up a Tintin album whilst I was there - obviously! However, for something a little different I got a copy of Hergé's The Crab with the Golden Claws in Dutch rather than French, which was the original language of the series (see my previous blog regarding the complexities of languages in Belgium!). There's not much more to say, as I'm sure you're all familiar with the diminutive reporter and his cast of friends (and dog) - and if you're not, then you absolutely should be!

I also got a Dutch language copy of the famous Fanco-Belgian comic Thorgal.  This Viking action adventure is classic bandes desinées and has sold over 11 million copies since it's launch in 1977 (it actually began as a strip in Tintin magazine, handily linking my two Belgian purchases!). Written by Jean Van Hamme (who you may know from XIII) and drawn by Grzegorz Rosiński, the series is currently available in English from the fantastic Cinebooks. 

Finally, I made my regular purchase of comics magazine Casemate, which can be found in most newsagents and similar shops across France.  It features news, previews, reviews, and much more in a monthly look at the contemporary French comics scene and market.  A must-buy anytime you find yourself in France! (

 

Eurotrip: The Comic Shops of Lille and Bruges

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

One of the reasons for our break between 'seasons' of the podcast is my well deserved (even if I say so myself) annual holiday.  I was lucky enough to enjoy the wonderful cities of Lille, in northern France, and Bruges, in northern Belgium.  It's the second year running, after Japan last year, that I've visited a country where comics are not a niche interest, but just an accepted part of the arts and culture - and how refreshing it is to see!  It's improved a lot in the US and UK over the last 20 years, but we still have a way to go.

The French call their comics bandes dessinées (literally 'drawn strips'), often shortened to BD, but will also extend this to means all comics, not just French ones.  The most obvious difference you first notice with their comics is the format.   The long-established usual style is the 'album'.  These are usually hardback books in the A4 (21x29.3cm) size, so larger and wider than the American format, and normally run to 48 pages.  These albums can be one-offs, or part of a series - though they do ultimately conclude, so have more in common with manga than the never-ending superhero series from Marvel and DC.  Also like manga, and increasingly American comics, a series is usually produced by one creator or creative team.  It is unusual for titles to continue without the original writer or artist.  

I've been visiting France's comic shops for about 15 years now, and around 10 years ago there was a definite shift with increasingly more American comics for sale.  These are predominantly Marvel and DC, but other publishers such as Image and Dark Horse are also well represented.  The bulk of these are collected editions translated into French (including editions not readily available in English), but there are also some stores that stock plentiful amounts of the monthly 'floppy' comics in English.  Over the last 5 years or so, there has also been the same manga explosion that we have seen in the US and UK, and these Japanese comics have now overtaken sales of American comics - and are even more popular digitally than in print.  Interestingly, one of the common arguments for manga's success in the US is that each series has a clear beginning and end in contrast to superhero comics (if you want to read Batman for the first time, where on earth do you start?), however that doesn't apply in France and yet the same popularity boom has occurred.  

Lille is France's fourth-largest city, but you wouldn't have known it from the intimate streets lined with old buildings and the not-too-busy crowd that gives a much more laid back feeling than the hustle and bustle of Paris.  Yet its size means it is well served with comic shops.  There were a couple that were manga focused, so I didn't check those out as I was on the hunt for BDs this holiday.  Our hotel concierge had helpfully pointed out to us the most important street in the city - the one with the best bars on it - so we headed out to it in order to get our holiday off to a proper start.  Much to my delight, one of those bars was also a comic shop!  Bd + café on Rue Royale, was a dream made real - comics and beer.  Over two floors, the store stocked predominately French BD, with a decent sized collection of translated American comics, and a little bit of manga.  The newer BD were upstairs, and the larger collection of past releases downstairs, which were helpfully organised by genre.  There was a healthy selection of more experimental/avant-garde comics, which I didn't see as well represented at other shops.  They also stocked comics related merchandise such as posters and models.  The icing on the cake was the bar, which was well stocked with local beers, was decorated with comic art, and also had seating outside on the street.  My wife was very happy to enjoy a pint whilst I lost myself in the comics!

 

BD + Cafe, Lille

Posters and decoration at BD + Cafe

The bar!

If you enjoy more traditional fine art, then there is a wonderful gallery at Palais des Beaux-Arts, with some important and well known paintings.  But whilst you're there, you can pop round the corner to AstroCity on Rue de l'Hôpital Militaire.  As you may have guessed for a shop named after an Image Comics series, this store focuses almost exclusively on American comics translated into French.  What was astounding was the length and breadth of their stock - pretty much every well known Marvel or DC storyline was available here in collections, but plenty of other publishers were here as well.  The amount and variation would put many US/UK shops to shame.  They also stocked English monthly comics - so it felt very much like a home from home!

A few doors down on Rue de l'Hôpital Militaire was BD Collections.  Because of the deeper inclusion of comics in French culture, they have developed a special type of comic shop that we don't really see in the UK/US.  They are akin to a combination of a second hand bookshop and an antique book dealer - for comics.  So - as far as I could see - the comics for sale here were second-hand/used, but instead of just stocking tatty cheap comics, they focused on classic or high value items (first editions for example).  Obviously, we have a market for rare and expensive comics (now including the 'slab' phenomenon), but I don't recall seeing a bricks and mortar shop exclusively dedicated to them.  BD Collections is a relatively small store, but with a decent, well-organised collection.  One comic that caught my eye was an 80's translated Watchmen comic, published under the name Les Guardians (which I guess gives us a twist on the iconic tagline - here it would be 'who guards the guardians'!) There was also an impressive array of comics posters that would look good decorating any home!  I'd recommend a visit just to see a different side of the comic market in France.

BD Collections, Lille

 

Albums and prints at BD Collections

Handily opposite our hotel was Bazar du Bizzare, which sold comics, games, and other geek-type stuff - it was basically a French Travelling Man for those familiar with the UK chain.  The overwhelming majority of the comics were manga, but there was a quarter or so of the comics space given over to French and American comics, concentrating, as you might expect, on the most popular titles.  

Bazar du Bizzare, Lille

Bazar du Bizzare's games and collectables

Probably the largest collection of comics was to be found at Furt du Nord, which is a 5-story bookshop located on the central square in Lille, Place General de Gaulle (named after the famous President of France, who came from the city), with a whole floor dedicated to comics.   Half the space was given over to manga, which shows you how insanely popular it is now, with BD and American comics covering the rest.  Interestingly, whilst the French BD focused on the mainstream popular titles, there were more translated independent comics from the likes of Drawn and Quarterly, Fantagraphics, Nobrow, etc.   Situated in a large, bright, and airy building, in the busiest part of the city, it was a great reminder of how integrated comics are into French culture and society.

Furt du Nord, Lille

 

45 miles north of Lille, over the border into Belgium, is the city of Bruges.  It may be familiar to you from the classic 2008 movie In Bruges - and I can only agree with the description from that film that Bruges is a 'fairytale'.   With the majority of the city made up of 16th - 18th century houses, and a series of canals that wind through the pebbled streets, it is certainly the most picturesque place I've ever bought comics!  

The view outisde our Bruges hotel

 

The comics' scene in Belgium is a bit more complicated, as it is a multilingual country.   In the north they speak Flemish (a Dutch dialect), in the south French, on their eastern edge German, and in the capital Brussels (also the de facto capital of the European Union) pretty much anything goes.  The French language comics are so intrinsically linked to France, that they are generally referred to as 'Franco-Belgian', tying the two scenes together.   

I only tracked down two comic shops in Bruges - though like the rest of France and Belgium there are plenty of comics in bookshops, newsagents, and various other stores - however, to my good fortune it didn't involve much travelling between the two; they're in the same building!  Stripweb was a well stocked shop on Katelijnestraat, just on the edge of the tourist area.  It had a varied collection of Belgian, French, and American comics.  One of the interesting things I noted here was that the Marvel, DC, and so on, translated editions were printed in the larger 'album' format to mirror the local comic sizes - this meant that the pages were wider that usual, but unfortunately I didn't pick one up to compare how that worked against an original in my collection.  There was a signing area at the back of the shop which, although not in use on my visit, seemed to have events on a regular basis.

Stripweb, Bruges

 

Upstairs at the same address was De Striep Promo, which appeared to sell mainly secondhand/used comics - mostly French and Belgium titles - so I was able to pick up a couple at a reasonable price.  It was probably the smallest shop I visited on my trip, but as it didn't focus on new titles there were many comics here that I didn't see elsewhere.

Alas, that was all I was able to manage this trip (not too bad for a week's holiday, though!)  Next time I will definitely be taking the Eurostar all the way to Brussels, not only to take in its multiple comic shops but also the wonderful Comics Art Museum.  As I'm sure you can guess from my write-up, I would heartily recommend a visit to both of these magnificent towns; they are real gems and the deluge of comics available is just the cherry on top of the croissant!  Au revoir!

Mike