Comments on: A Year of Cool Comic Book Moments – Day 322

By: DanCJ

DanCJ — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:33:56 +0000

Nah – he’s too thin to be an Alex Ross design. I’m not mad on that version either. The ears are dodgy (though I realise they’re taken from the original Golden Age version)

By: Patient Boy

Patient Boy — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:42:25 +0000

Isn’t the last iteration of Batman an Alex Ross design? I never really liked it all that much.

By: Joe Que?

Joe Que? — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:25:16 +0000

Planetary is overrated.
As always, Warren Ellis’ characters has zero depth.
Except for this one moment.

By: Dean

Dean — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:49:07 +0000

I love Ellis and Cassaday as a team. It is a shame Cassaday has squandered so much of limited output on very average X-Men comics.

By: Roman

Roman — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:59:59 +0000

Somebody at DC, get Cassaday onto Morrison’s 6th arc of Batman and Robin! Also, bribe Darwyn Cooke, Farel Dalrymple, and Duncan Fegredo to get them on that book.

By: Ed

Ed — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:12:57 +0000

I think the lesson here is, if everybody else would handle Batman as well as he is handled here, wouldn’t that be freakin’ awesome. Who wouldn’t be a fan of that?

By: jocutus

jocutus — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:37:05 +0000

Yeah, that last Batman is pretty awesome. After cycling through all the various well known versions (including the original gun waving type) Ellis & Cassaday drop their own awesome version in there at the end to give the speech. It’s their own thing, an idealized amalgamation. I think of it as the Batman equivalent of Morrison’s All-Star Superman. Can you imagine an ASBAR with this version instead of the over-the-top, G-D Batman Miller came up with? That would have been something.

Also, in one of the Batman RIP/Final Crisis tie-ins when Batman was remembering all his past adventures I kept thinking it should have been drawn in different styles like they did here.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:10:43 +0000

Joshschr, I’m pretty sure Batman didn’t exist at all in the main Planetary reality.

Another Planetary/DC crossover moment I’d love to see is Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, and Diana battling an evil planetary. The Snow/Wayne fight was wonderful. Or the Ambrose/Kent. Man, I love Planetary. It’s gonna be difficult having to wait until March for the last trade.

By: Chad

Chad — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:03:28 +0000

I love it when Ellis drops his “I’m so cyncial and I drink a lot and I like to flirt with Suicide Girls and I’m so cool” persona and shows that he’s really a big softy at heart.

By: joshschr

joshschr — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:40:05 +0000

A cool moment from a cool series. Dick Grayson and the Joker’s cameo at the start of the story was nifty. I forget, was Batman an urban myth in the Planetary home reality, or did he not exist there at all?

By: Andrew Collins

Andrew Collins — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:15:32 +0000

It’s Jakita and Elijah’s reactions at the top of the 4th page that always set this scene apart for me, especially Jakita’s “Oh god.” Brilliant stuff all around…

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:07:33 +0000

Ah, gotcha.

Yeah, that’s Cassaday’s take on an integrated Batman.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:05:56 +0000

Brian: what about the last Batman, then, from the third page on? I think that’s what Ed’s talking about.

By: Neil Cameron

Neil Cameron — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:07:08 +0000

Warren Ellis really summed up in this one shot everything about Batman you ever needed.

Why DC has not collected the three one shots into a hardcover to match the other 3 volumes annoys me.

-neil

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:06:57 +0000

@Ed-

The Batman talking at the end was, I believe, supposed to be an amalgam, idealized Batman that took the best bits from all of the others and didn’t represent one particular era or style.

Part of teh awesomes.

By: Scott MacIver

Scott MacIver — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:58:12 +0000

It was such a good way to tie together the mythos of Batman, and make him work again as a hero, unified.

By: Tom Fitzpatrick

Tom Fitzpatrick — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:52:02 +0000

Mr. B.C. You really should make MORE room for whatever you need to post, and the consequences BE damned!!!!

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:43:59 +0000

Glad that you’re enjoying the feature, Ed. Sadly, only a little more than a month to go!

The Batman with a gun is Batman from his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 (complete with his purple gloves).

By: chad

chad — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:38:49 +0000

loved the speech batman gives to john revealing how he manages to keep going after losing like john his parents. and him telling him you remember and use it to help others so no more like us will be made. powerful. stuff

By: Ed

Ed — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:26:39 +0000

I just have to gush a little bit – this “Year of Cool Comic Book Moments” is the single greatest thing that’s ever happened to my life. Well, that may be a little exagerated, there was my marriage, and then there was the kid . . . but I’m sure you guys get my gist. I’ve learned so much about comics I never would have known otherwise, and have read some fantastic stories I never would have even known existed if not for Brian’s little internet daily here. The only thing it has been hard on is my wallet, but it’s been $$ well spent for the most part.

As far as today’s strip goes, which incarnation of Batman would this be? Denny O’Neil’s version from the early 80′s? I also like how Ellis handled Batman here. I tend to think of Ellis as being gritty and cynical but that’s already been done with Batman to the millionth degree by Miller. Instead, Ellis throws us a curve ball (which he is so brilliantly capable of doing to us from time to time) and instead gave us a Batman with both compassion and some revealing emotional depth – all without sacrificing anything in the way of Batman’s overall strength or general badassery. More great work by Ellis on what I consider to be one of the all time greatest series in comics history.