OK this is my second take, I scrapped a rather long continuation of the 1st part of the article after reading a detailed article on all the past Batman stories Morrison is referencing here . I wasn't aware to the extent Morrison was referencing old Batman stories. I came to the revelation that most of the flaws in this big story Morrison attempted is that he's trying to cull together way too many wild Batman stories into a coherent narrative. He gets away with it in All Star Superman and I think that has something to do with the difference in character. But mostly Morrison took the approach he often does and he threw a lot of ideas at the wall and hoped that they'd stick. In this case they didn't but it's provided us with many great stories in the past. That reassures me but I still wish for the better story that might have been. As for my take on RIP, the final chapter, I'd like to use my comment from Geof Klock's blog:
I've been reading a lot of blogs, web reviews and message boards concerning Batman 681 and several of its supporters are trying to pass it off as being so good that it's over the heads of our casual readers. Mr. Klock is well versed in all things Morrison and has provided me insight on a Morrison story or two so I think his disapproval carries weight. I, too, am a Morrison fan and found his entire run to be disjointed and obtuse. The major issue in RIP isn't the never ending battle. I've seen plenty of modern storytellers give amazing swan songs on mainstream books. Peter David (Hulk), Brian Michael Bendis (Daredevil), Geoff Johns (Flash) and Mark Millar (Ultimates) to name a few. People are reacting to failed expectations. Expectations that Morrison and DC put in our heads to begin with. Morrison and DC promised a reveal of the Black Glove that was someone from Batman's 70 year history and it would rock his foundation to the core. Instead we were given a cliche' battle and an ambiguous ending where the identity of the Black Glove was open to your own interpretation. Ambiguous is acceptable but don't build it up like a mystery reveal. Morrison promised us a healthier 1970's hairy chested Batman. Instead we again got an obsessed maladjusted man who'd put himself in isolation chambers for days and creates backup schitzo personalities tucked within the folds of his brain (By the way, what type of stable backup personality is the Batman of Zur En Arhh?). We were told Morrison and Kubert but instead were left with Tony Daniel who just doesn't have the chops for a Morrison script. Quitely would've helped, but I still believe Morrison's story is severely flawed. Im my mind, the group that delivers the knockout punch to Bruce Wayne is the classic rogues gallery we've built up over the years. Call is the Batman revenge squad and you can even have The Black Glove run them. Instead we're treated to this lame club of villains. Where are Two-face and the Riddler? We're told Batman's magically rounded up all the criminals at the start of Morrison's run. That's a cop out. At least in New X-Men Morrison new Magneto had to be the grand finale. He does use the Joker, but after seeing Ledger's haunting performance, we're left underwhelmed. An emaciated too tall and thin joker with slick hair and a bullet scar just isn't gonna cut it.
Gonna wrap it up with this: many of the positive reviews on RIP have said that this story is a testament to the awesome power of the legend of the Batman. If that's the case, then Batman should emerge from the Gotham river, dragging Dr. Hurt with him. He throws him to the ground and with the Commissioner, Robin, Talia and Damien watching he unmasks him and explains how he had already figured out who the Black Glove really was. Morrison seems to wanna prove to us with all his inside baseball talk that he's read a lot of Batman stories. If that's the case, then he should realize that's how most those silver age Batman stories ended.
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