Approximately seven hundred months ago, it was Spring of 1940. Then, a gallon of gasoline cost 18 cents, Franklin D. Roosevelt was President of the United States, the Axis powers formed,
GONE WITH THE WIND had been named Best Film at the 12th Annual Academy Awards, and The Joker and Catwoman were introduced for the first time in a comic book called
BATMAN #1. Seven hundred months is a very, very long time. And only four comic books, as of this month, have reached seven hundred issues.
ACTION COMICS reached it back in 1994,
DETECTIVE reached it in 1996,
SUPERMAN will reach it in a couple of weeks, and
BATMAN reached it a matter of days ago. Enjoy these anniversary issues now, because in about 2021 is when BATMAN will reach #800.
For this accomplishment, writer Grant Morrison has returned to the writing duties to give us a set of tales that show just how far into the depths of time the Batman legend can reach. Each story, with the titles of "Yesterday," "Today," "Tomorrow," and "And Tomorrow..." tie together in a fashion that is purely Morrisonian in nature. Because of this, a lot of people may be left scratching their heads after the first pass, as I admittedly did. The first story, penciled by Tony Daniel, was in the style of the Silver Age and featured Batman and Robin going up against many of their familiar rogues, chief among them The Joker. The writing felt very different from Morrison's regular Batman fare, with classic components like the villains calling Batman "caped crusader" to his face (which, as you'll see if you read it, Batman hated). Daniel's work in this story followed the trend of his recent work, with much more line work creating more texture on the surface of the characters and environments. It had a lighter tone to it thanks to the colors, but still felt like a more classic Bat story with the dialogue and bright spectrum.
The next story taking place in the present day had the art duties split between Frank Quitely and Scott Kolins. Morrison continues to write Dick Grayson as a performer playing a part, but also as a man who genuinely cares about the people he fights with and the people he protects. One entertaining scene in Crime Alley involved a couple warning Batman and Robin that a gang was approaching. The girl wanted to take pictures of Dick and Damian doing their thing, the guy was alarmed, thinking that he and his girlfriend would be killed. "Nah, you won't get hurt," the new Batman assured them. "We're here." Morrison gets Grayson better than any of the other current writers by having him show these displays of reassuring confidence, and I enjoyed the touch of Dick pulling out his old Nightwing-esque Escrima Sticks to beat the thugs down. "Remind me to pack these again. Wow." Batman beating down a gang with sticks, yes, please.
Scott Kolins helped finish out the "Today" story. The change was a bit more jarring then I think it should've been, because of the inking and coloring. It'd be nice if Kolins was given a similar treatment to Quitely on these fronts, as it would've been more seamless. Kolins is an artist that I think is far too under-appreciated by both DC and the fanbase at large. His emotive work has always been very strong, he's never turned in a late high-profile book, and he's very experienced with many of the characters. This is one of the better examples of his work, up there with some of his best issues of THE FLASH that he did with Geoff Johns on their long run on that character.
The future stories began with a throwback of sorts to Morrison's BATMAN #666, that depicted a dystopic future Gotham with a murderous Batman in Damian Wayne. Andy Kubert returned to the art chores for this story, and he and Morrison craft a rather disturbing vision of what Joker toxin on a mass level of distribution can do to Gotham: the citizens, the soil, the very city. Morrison ties the threads of the previous two stories together nicely, and shows a child that Damian saves is in fact very important to the future of Gotham. In a final montage-like story, artist David Finch does his first interior DC work since becoming exclusive to the publisher, and showcases his style across a number of mysterious time periods before wrapping the issue up with the simple message that “No matter when, no matter where, no matter how dark, Batman and Robin will never die.”
Admittedly, this wasn't everything I look for in an anniversary issue, but it is better than many of the ones that I have read. Morrison loves driving the point home that Batman is a character that will last forever, and with an undercurrent like that which also showcases some of the best artists in the entire comic book industry, BATMAN #700 is definitely worth any comic book fan's time.
