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If it was done by a well-run company with a history of good narrative and commercial decisions, then yes it would have been odd choice. But given that this is Didio's DC, the company that did a 52 week series called Countdown along with several tie-in series including Death of the New Gods, all to lead in to a series that they had absolutely nothing to do with narratively, Final Crisis, having it all go fluidly and logically is what would have been odd. It's shocking you still have any faith in them or are able to be shocked when they do these things.

What happened is obvious. Winick and Morrison were probably told what the new status quo was and were allowed to write their respective series, similar to how Morrison was told to go ahead and start writing Final Crisis. Didio probably decided that since lead time wasn't a bad idea, he'd go ahead and do a cash grab by creating a rushed and unnecessary and overlong "transition" mini, in this case Battle for the Cowl, similar to how he had all those Countdown minis and Death of the New Gods hit the stands while Morrison was still working on Final Crisis. Since he was rushing the cash grab and also is not good at coordinating things, the new writers probably didn't know what was in Battle for the Cowl just like Morrison had no idea what was in COuntdown to Final Crisis and Death of the New Gods.

Battle for the Cowl did end kind of abruptly as far as that was concerned. Most of it was "Bruce didn't want Nightwing to become Batman, so here's a bunch of other Batmen", then one page of Dick in a cowl.

it was a bullshit issue its like a jla: batman book. im reducing my pull list to batman and robin. every other bat book sucks

If it provides an excuse to pretend Battle for the Cowl never happened, then I'm all for it.

Battle For the Cowl was to Grant Morrison's Batman what Countdown to Final Crisis was to Grant Morrison's Final Crisis.

including continuity-ignorant

I saw that coming when it was announced to "fill in" what Morrison was leaving out and they had a Countdown-esque teaser image. It's just an attempt to churn out items to claim are associated with Morrison's higher selling work. But it's just a ploy to fool you. Then Morrison does an interview after his new Batman & Robin comic comes out where he says he'll explain how they got together doing the Batman & Robin thing. . . .but DC just explained it in Battle for the Cowl. . . just like Countdown explained Mary Marvel and the new Gods dying and a whole host of other things.

It was Countdown 2: Electric Boogaloo from the start.

Oh, and like those Batman R.I.P. banners were to Grant Morrison's Batman R.I.P. Unrelated. It's a ploy to fool you.

hatred: In fairness to the other Bat books, the only other one to come out is Red Robin, so we really have no idea as to their level of quality.

Not to change the subject, but was Red Robin bad? I'm interested in picking it up. The current X-Force has been one of my guilty pleasures and I'm curious to see how Yost's DC work compares.

Yost's DC work is just like his Marvel work, down to the random Global Guardians mention.

Final Crisis has been over and done with for months and Didio is still releasing miniseries that have nothing to do with each other under the "Final Crisis" banner. In the days before Didio, stuff like the Nemesis mini would have gone by the character's name so fans would spot it more easily. Back further still, the book would have been folded into anthology title like Adventure or World's Finest.

But Didio knows this is all about milking the cash cows, even when nobody cares for the cows in the first place.

@Lawrence: I gave Red Robin #1 2 out of 5 stars. It's a good concept but we really won't know if the story is any good until Issue 4. I'd take a wait and see attitude if I were y'all.

*cough* Entry point for potential new readers. *cough*

*cough* Entry point for potential new readers. *cough*

That does not explain the oddity of the issue at all.

Didio probably decided that since lead time wasn’t a bad idea, he’d go ahead and do a cash grab by creating a rushed and unnecessary and overlong “transition” mini, in this case Battle for the Cowl

Absolutely. The only way BftC could have been any more obvious is if it had boasted "Completely Superfluous!" right in the solicitations.

You mean it didn't? 'Cause that's what I took out of them.

Haven't picked it up yet, but I thought there was an interview either on CBR or Newsarama where his first issue would be "his version of Battle for the Cowl" since he already had the plot sketched out. Am I misremembering that?

Also, do Batman and Batman & Robin have the same editor? That might explain the redundancy at least partly.

Cowl
Absolutely. The only way BftC could have been any more obvious is if it had boasted “Completely Superfluous!” right in the solicitations.

But we all know that's what 'Leading into', ''Hot on the heels of' and 'Get in on the ground floor' mean!

This is also why Didio doesn't trust trade readers - by the time it's collected, Battle For The Cow will have been forgotten.

I'm also shocked that Brian read Winick's Batman!
In a world with a Morrison Batman and a Dini Batman - what room is there for Winick?
'If Morrison's over-all arcs are too long and grandeur, and Dini's single issue stories are too short and simple, here's Winick! Not as long as one, not as short of the other - neither a long exploration of a character, nor a simple crime story, just something that sits right there in the middle'.

Which way will he go folks - will Damien have genetic issues from being grown in a tank, as part of a look at the effects of Genetic Modification being used even though we aren't fully sure what will happen, or will it be a look into steroid use on the young, to explain why Damien is so angry and muscly and yet so young?

Winick and Morrison were probably told what the new status quo was and were allowed to write their respective series, similar to how Morrison was told to go ahead and start writing Final Crisis. Didio probably decided that since lead time wasn’t a bad idea, he’d go ahead and do a cash grab by creating a rushed and unnecessary and overlong “transition” mini, in this case Battle for the Cowl

Pretty sure Morrison decided what the new status quo was, and told the others.

Lead time certainly isn't the worst idea in the world, but Didio would have been silly not to have some Batman out there in the mean time.
The only problem is that he, and the market, are in 'event mode', and until DC and Marvel totally burn it out, that's what they do.
Otherwise you just would have gotten some fill-in stories, which probably wouldn't have sold as well.

In Winick's defense, he's actually made it so that you don't have to read a series he had nothing to do with to get in on his Batman.
It's good service for his fans.
Morrison of course believes that he's issue gave you enough of an explanation as well - Batman died, Dick is the new Batman... fill in for yourself what happened.

I liked the issue quite a bit. For all his other sins, Winick has always gotten the "voice" right for Dick Grayson, and that was on full display here - the sharpness with Damien when he bailed him out, the conversations with Alfred, etc. Heck, even Benes' art was back to its tolerable Birds-of-Prey-era level as opposed to painfully bad like the JLA run (well, some characters did inexplicably turn Chinese, but that's normal for Benes). I thought it gave good context to Morrison's issue, focusing more on what drives Dick as opposed to making Batman awesome, if that makes any sense.

Did it invalidate Battle for the Cowl? Sure, but that's no sin other than an editorial one (Daniel's improved as an artist, but he can't script). On its own merits, it's probably my second-favorite of Winick's Batman issues; that my favourite, the Amazo battle, also featured Dick prominently isn't too surprising. I'm still going to be cautious about this series, but when Bagley comes on-board... hey, you never know.

One complaint I do have is that neither book has addressed exactly what Dick Grayson, the person's, secret ID status is. I don't want to see someone hanging out in a cave all day - get him out there doing SOMETHING other than being Batman.

Oh, and re: Red Robin - just flipped through it, but skip it for now. Not a great direction at all, and the villain reveal on the last page isn't encouraging since it's a retread idea with someone who's more overexposed than Darkseid was.

Who's more overexposed than Darkseid? Is a Cyborg Dick Cheney the villain?

Sorry, but I just can't read anything that Judd Winick writes. Add the Ed Benes art and... total pass.

Yes, #687 was an odd issue. But, don't worry: #688 will be an even one.

"Who’s more overexposed than Darkseid?"

Been in a movie and an eponymous crossover within the last four years.

Won't give any more hints than that, but, really, do you NEED any more hints than that?

The mystery villain is Wolverine?

I'm still wondering about half the things in the "I Am Batman" teaser image. I mean, there was five or six things in that teaser that didn't happen in the Battle of the Cowl (Two-Face in a Batsuit?) and I know DC doesn't plan that far ahead, so a lot of ideas must've been pitched by the wayside.

I mean... neither of the two Countdown teasers made much sense either, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

I don't know about that. I mean, DC's had a couple of those teaser images before. I think the Battle for the Cowl was the third or fourth, and from what I recall it took a little while (maybe a year or more) before all the clues came to pass... but they did come to pass.

Wasn't there some sort of Rabbit that usually made these kind of declarations? What happened with that?

The rabbit declared, the cat was curious.

And he only made one line declarations.

Brian,
Sorry, I just don't see what's so odd about a new creative team's first issue setting up the context for the uninitiated. Your premise is that anyone picking up Batman #678 is already aware of what's been going on in the Batbooks at large, and for months at that.
I submit that the issue -- which I haven't read, mind -- was designed to be a jumping on point for the folks who haven't read R.I.P. and Battle for the Cowl but have either stumbled upon their first issue of Batman or waited for the smoke to clear before picking up an issue of Batman.

The rabbit declared, the cat was curious.

Which was superfluous as at first I had them mixed up, and then got in my head that you had them mixed up.

There was a mouse wants as well.

But he was a bit random.

Sorry, I just don’t see what’s so odd about a new creative team’s first issue setting up the context for the uninitiated. Your premise is that anyone picking up Batman #678 is already aware of what’s been going on in the Batbooks at large, and for months at that.
I submit that the issue — which I haven’t read, mind — was designed to be a jumping on point for the folks who haven’t read R.I.P. and Battle for the Cowl but have either stumbled upon their first issue of Batman or waited for the smoke to clear before picking up an issue of Batman.

Re-telling (in a different fashion) plots that were already done in two other books =/= entry point for new readers.

Batman and Robin #1 was an excellent entry point for new readers without re-doing anything.

This issue, though, decided to re-tell how Dick Grayson became Batman for no other reason than the fact that, apparently, Winick was going to originally write Battle for the Cowl and did not want to waste his plot.

That is very odd, jump on point or no jump on point.

You know, DC missed a huge promotional opportunity with Red Robin; they could have tied it into the restaurant chain, and given a free coupon for a Whiskey River BBQ Burger, dammit!

Should we be surprised anymore by DC's publishing blunders? After the Countdown/Final Crisis/Batman RIP fiascoes, I'm surprised every time DC does something *right*. I don't think the fact there's something wrong with DC's current editorial can be waved away as just fan snark anymore.

What was the RIP fiasco?

Who’s more overexposed than Darkseid?

I'd say more "misused" than "overexposed". Darkseid should be God's Gift to the JLA, since he is the one character in the DCU that can make you go "Uhh, Ohhh" just by showing up. He has about a dozen secondary villains. Many are pretty good as they are. A few could be better with some work. You'd think DC would generate some personal beefs between these characters and the JLA stalwarts.

Yeah, I had no problem with this issue.

If you read Battle for the Cowl, it obviously takes place just before he becomes Batman. Note that in BftC we don't see his thought process toward deciding to be Batman, just that he IS Batman. Batman #687 shows what was going on in Nightwing's head before taking that step.

All-in-all, a good, accessible read, and I thought the art (and especially colouring) was top-notch.

Ra's al Ghul? Not even close to overused in comparison.

what was "odd" for me was the incessant "use" of quotation marks in the "dialogues."

I liked the Alfred parts in Batman and the rest wasn't terrible (though I am not a fan of the art).

Where I found it jarring was how Batman and Batman & Robin feel like they are occupying different worlds. As much as Batman & Robin was better... what the hell with that flying car?

@Nitz: I had similar thoughts about the Red Robin title. My thought was that DC could start a whole line of chain-restaurant themed books - "The Amazing Adventures of Applebee," "Tales of the Outback", "Red Lobo-ster." The potential is endless!

"As much as Batman & Robin was better… what the hell with that flying car?"

It's the new batmobile.

Another person saying that everything was have been close to perfect if BftC never existed. Imagine the excitement there would have been for the new Morrison and Winick runs if that awful, expensive mini series didn't get everyone down and take out the mystery of the new Batman's identity ahead of time. 687 wouldn't have felt like a slight waste.

Not that I blame Winick. For what it's worth he put out the best Bat-book since #683.

It's just one issue but I found at least this one more enjoyable than any issue I read on Winick's last go round on Batman. I'm far from a Winick fan and dropped Batman the last time her wrote, but this was very readable and (copying a dozen others above) it was better than Battle for the Cowl.

" It’s the new batmobile. "

That it took this long for us to see a hybrid Batmobile/Batwing Jet honestly alarms me. Bruce was using the same basic tech as he did in the 40's at the time of his death ( Batarangs, grappling hooks, the Batmobile ), so it's good to see Dick and Damien upgrading.

I personally wouldn't be opposed to see the Batman Beyond suit integrated into present-day DC, but that's just me.

But wouldn't a flying car take away from the mystique of Batman? I mean, what made him appealing to begin with, and something that's stayed with the character through all his incarnations, is that he's a mortal man with gadgets that are JUST out of the realm of current possibility.

Will the addition of a flying car "sci-fi" the character up too much?

Is it ok if I accept this issue as canon, instead of BftC?

@Jake: sure, but it doesn't matter since nothing in Batman #687 contradicts anything in Battle for the Cowl.

"It’s the new batmobile."

Yeah, but what I am getting at is there is no flying batmobile in Batman, just in B&R.

It really feels like they are operating in different worlds. I actually don't have a big problem with the different feel, it just jarred a bit at first.

Didn't Batman happen before B&R?

Yeppers.

Brian,
I concede.

@Keith

Why? You're absolutely correct. BFTC and Batman #687 are telling different stories entirely. Hell, Batman #687 can take place entirely after BFTC, even though Dick's not wearing the uniform at the beginning of the issue. Here's how that works:

BFTC's final scene happens, then:

DICK: Nah, I'm not gonna wear it.
ALFRED: But Master Grayson!
DAMIEN: Yeah, you do suck.

Then Batman #687 happens.

Nothing odd about either in any form or fashion. I purposely sat down, reread Battle for the Cowl and then Batman #687, and found no problems whatsoever.

No conceding, sir!

.Brian,
I concede.

Good man.

Yeah, but what I am getting at is there is no flying batmobile in Batman, just in B&R.

Well, the flying Batmobile first appeared in Batman, when Damien first arrived at the cave.
However, it took Damien to figure out the gyro's, and so he really got started on that once he and Dick had decided that Batman and Robin will never die, and he had some time to play around with it.

[...] Batman #687 Was an Odd Issue [...]

[...] buy it, and be damned if I’ll buy a comic I don’t read. So I looked at it and I decided Brian was dead-on in his assessment — this story was way better than Battle For The Cowl and rendered it moot [...]