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Batman & Son Part 1: 'Man-Bats of London'
The title of the issue is a play on the (excellent) song by Warren Zevon, Werewolves of London.
An action packed issue, where both the bigger messages and subtle hints of Morrison's work take a back seat to a lengthy fight scene mean there's not much to annotate here - but what there is, is pretty fun! We rejoin Bruce at the fundraiser for Africa at a modern art gallery, where he flirts with potential new love interest Jezebel Jet. The event is crashed by commando/ninja man-bats, who fight with Batman and ultimately defeat him. He regains consciousness in the underground lair of the mastermind behind the attack - Talia al-Ghul. But the surprises don't end there, as Talia introduces Bruce to his own son!
Page 1
Panel 1 - The bombshell introduction of Jezebel Jet. This is her first appearance. She is the leader of the fictional African country of Mtamba, taking over from her adoptive father (who had 'won' her in a wager) after he was killed in an uprising. Aside from the classic super-hero love interest trait of alliteration, her name gives clues to her real agenda and the story to come. According to the bible, Jezebel was the wife of Ahab, King of Israel, and she replaced worship of Yahweh with that of other gods (Yahweh would develop into the monotheistic God of the Abrahamic religions). The key plot of much of Morrison's Batman is the ultimate embodiment of evil - in the form of Dr Hurt/Thomas Wayne/Darksied/The Devil - opposing and trying to destroy Batman, and there are God and Jesus allusions to Batman throughout the story. In fact, many fans referred (usually pejoratively) to Morrison's depiction of Batman as 'Batgod' due to him displaying abilities far above his supposedly 'normal human' capabilities. We will later discover that Jezebel is part of the Black Glove, the criminal organisation headed by Dr Hurt, so the idea of her opposing 'God' seems very much appropriate. According to the Bible, when Jezebel purged the royal court of the Yahwists, the survivors were hidden and protected in a cave, and the Batcave plays a significant role in this Batman run. Jezebel's biblical end sees her devoured by a pack of dogs, which mirrors the fate of Morrison's Jezebel who dies at the hands of a pack of Man-Bats.
Jezebel is also stereotypical slang for a sexually voracious African-America woman who seduces men - with its origins in the American slave trade. Her role in the Black Glove is indeed to seduce Bruce Wayne, and she makes a startling impact on him here.
Finally, her surname of Jet relates to the shade of black (named for the gemstone jet), and the colours of black and red will become a motif throughout the Batman R.I.P. arc - and is already a nod to her true affiliation with the Black Glove.
Also in the background there's a pop art painting with an appropriate 'wow! wording over Jezebel's head. Throughout the issue, there are other such paintings uncannily placed to complement the action or dialogue in the scene.
Page 2
Panel 1 - There's a lot to unpack in this panel. Although the artist on display is not named, the artwork is clearly in the style of Roy Lichtenstein. Best known for his blown up replications of comic book panels, Lichtenstein has been criticised for simply being a copycat or plagiarist and failing to credit the original comic book artists - though some have suggested that this itself was purposeful, and a reference to DC themselves failing to credit artists in the original comics. He did use a lot of panels from DC, which begs the question whether he exists in the DC Universe, despite using that same fictional universe as the basis for his art? It's a quintessentially Morrison meta-textual question that is thrown in here.
Bruce says that all the comic book stuff is 'way too highbrow for me', and there are multiple ways this can be taken. Art critics have claimed that Lichtenstein elevated low art, comics, into high art by turning them into giant paintings. It could be Morrison taking a dig at those that do indeed consider comics to be low art, or they could be suggesting that comics - and Morrison's particularly - are, or should be, considered highbrow. Certainly, Morrison is one of the few comic writers whose work is often elevated by fans and critics to being 'highbrow'.
This is followed up by Bruce's claim that he collects 'tribal art, schizophrenic artists, "outsider" work'. Usually any art on display at Wayne Manor is depicted as traditional portraiture, so it's not clear whether he's talking about actual art here. More likely, this is a reference to his alter ego's regular run-ins with his rogue's gallery (literally, in this reference). Though the mention of 'tribal' anticipates the events of The Return of Bruce Wayne, in which ancient tribes play a major role. 'Outsider' is also a nod to the superhero team of the same name, founded by Batman, who also make an appearance later on in Morrison's Batman.
Panel 2 - 'There's a message here somewhere. I know if I just stare hard enough..' Many people often criticise Morrison's comics as confusing, or not making sense, or missing important information. Final Crisis, which plays a part in this Batman story, in particular has faced these criticisms. Morrison's defence is that all the information is there on the page, you just need to apply more thought and attention to detail to it than you might other comics.
Panel 3 - More of the Lichtenstein-style pop art, including what looks like a panel from a Sgt. Rock comic. Sgt. Rock, a US army officer who has starred in many DC comics, was co-created in 1959 by the legendary artist Joe Kubert - who just happens to be the father of the artist of this comic, Andy Kubert.
The centrepiece of the exhibition is a giant Godzilla-type dinosaur in formaldehyde. This is a nod to the star of the Young British Artist movement, Damien Hirst, who's most famous works were animals, sometimes cut in half, preserved in formaldehyde. Of course, he's not the only Damien that pops up in this issue. The dinosaur is also reminiscent of the giant T-Rex robot that is kept in the Batcave. Morrison is tipping us off that Batman's life is about to be turned upside down.
The detailed figures in the foreground appear to be famous guests at the exhibition. The arched eyebrows, receding hairline, and sunglasses, suggest Jack Nicholson at the front. If anyone can identify the others, then please let me know. Though, the short man with the gray hair does bring a young Jack Kirby to mind.
Page 3
Panel 1 - That appears to be Grant Morrison themselves, with the trademark bald head and sunglasses. Morrison has a reputation for inserting themselves into their comics, most famously Animal Man. The artwork of clowns may be a reference to the Joker, though it seems a bit on the nose.
Panel 2 - More famous people. Jezebel refers to 'the Prime Minister's wife', and the woman here does indeed bear an uncanny resemblance to Cherie Blair, the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (he was still PM when this issue was published). Though Jezebel also refers to 'Darius Cage, the film director', the man on the left with the wild hair looks an awful lot like a different film director, Michael Bay. Again, if anyone can identify the others in this panel, please let me know!
Page 9
Panel 5 - When thinking of an 'Aunt' in Batman, I'm sure most of us would conjure up Aunt Harriet from the 60s TV show. She was in fact originally from the comics, and was Dick Grayson's aunt rather than Bruce's. Instead, here we have Aunt Agatha who is Bruce's Aunt, being his father's sister. She made her debut in 1955's Batman #89. Despite Batman R.I.P. revolving around an alleged Thomas Wayne back from the dead, she plays no part in the story other than this one panel - but she serves again as a reminder that in Morrison's Batman everything from past continuity is in play.
Page 19
Panel 4 - Batman and Talia have differing versions of what occurred when Damien was conceived - but there's also a big difference between Batman's version and the original story in Batman: Son of the Demon, see here for more details.
Page 20
Panel 4 - Talia departs with the promise that Batman will hear from her again soon, and that she intends to 'hold the world hostage to a new kind of terror'. She is true to her word, and what she has planned is the basis of the last third of Morrison's run with Batman Incorporated.
Page 21
Finally, we discover who the son in Batman and Son is. Meet Damien Wayne. A character devised by Morrison to originally be part of one story arc and then be killed off. Despite initial hostility to the character from certain sections of the Batman fan base, he grew to become a fan favourite. The initial plans for the character were scrapped, and Damien went on to play a major role in the entire Morrison Batman saga. Despite death and continuity changes, he continues to be a major player in the Batman comics as another Robin.
Damien derives from the Greek 'Damianos', which means 'to conquer'. And this Damien was raised by his mother to rule the world, so nothing could be more appropriate. The other obvious connection is with Damien from The Omen. In that film, Damien is the antichrist, the son of Satan, and seems destined to rule the world. Not only does that connect with this Damien's al Ghul family line - their name translating to 'head of the demon' - and again connects with his mother's plan for world domination, but it also ties in with the biblical themes of the devil vs God, good vs evil, of Batman R.I.P.
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