Detective Comics #817: Peace on Earth
Ever read Superman: Peace on Earth by Paul Dini and Alex Ross? Anyhow, it's one of those stories about how you really can't just give people everything they want, for some reason or another (the reason varies from story to story). Anyhow, I thought of that type of story when I read Detective Comics #817, as it was really quite almost discomforting to suddenly be given everything I wanted in a Batman comic book.
As you folks may or may not know, I am a pretty big Harvey Bullock fan. Here is a bit I wrote where I wrote about my displeasure at how the writers of the time handled him. So, when I opened up Detective Comics #817, and saw early on that Bullock was back on the Gotham police force, my first response was a laugh/smile hybrid. Smile, because I was glad to have him back, but a laugh because there really WAS no way for Bullock to come back from what happened to him, and yet, here he was, back to normal.
And then, later on, I got to see Commissioner Gordon back to work and Batman and Robin back, acting normally (or at least as normal as a dude dressed a bat hanging out with a teenager gets).
Yeah, the story was a bit short, but everything in it was just note perfect what I think of when I think of a Batman comic book.
Almost too perfect. I feel like the people in those Peace on Earth stories. Just everything given to me without any effort exerted. It's fun, but at the same time, it seems too easy. I guess, though, that this is the point of 52, to let Geoff Johns explain away the minutae of each one of these changes...in triplicate, probably.
I almost look forward to that. That, and Andy Kubert drawing Morrison's Batman are the only things making all these wonderful Batman changes seem like it is actually happening, and not a cool dream...like peace on Earth..
As you folks may or may not know, I am a pretty big Harvey Bullock fan. Here is a bit I wrote where I wrote about my displeasure at how the writers of the time handled him. So, when I opened up Detective Comics #817, and saw early on that Bullock was back on the Gotham police force, my first response was a laugh/smile hybrid. Smile, because I was glad to have him back, but a laugh because there really WAS no way for Bullock to come back from what happened to him, and yet, here he was, back to normal.
And then, later on, I got to see Commissioner Gordon back to work and Batman and Robin back, acting normally (or at least as normal as a dude dressed a bat hanging out with a teenager gets).
Yeah, the story was a bit short, but everything in it was just note perfect what I think of when I think of a Batman comic book.
Almost too perfect. I feel like the people in those Peace on Earth stories. Just everything given to me without any effort exerted. It's fun, but at the same time, it seems too easy. I guess, though, that this is the point of 52, to let Geoff Johns explain away the minutae of each one of these changes...in triplicate, probably.
I almost look forward to that. That, and Andy Kubert drawing Morrison's Batman are the only things making all these wonderful Batman changes seem like it is actually happening, and not a cool dream...like peace on Earth..
posted by Brian Cronin at 3/06/2006 12:26:00 AM
6 Comments:
but i liked atkins!!
okay he was an ass, but gordon just keeps on getting owned (hasn;t he suffered enough?), i guess he's got no more family to lose now or be maimed, unless they bring back his first wife and his son...
Morrison on Batman may force me to buy and Andy Kubert book. I'm not happy about that.
I dunno, this issue kinda bored me. Suddenly, it's 1996 again, and absolutely nothing happens.
I dunno, Greg, I remember those previous changes, and they never seemed to have the same level of committment to them.
In addition, they didn't have Paul Dini and Grant Morrison lined up to write the books POST-changes!!
That being said, I get your concern.
There has to be a less self-conscious way to show the "One Year Later" gimmick than constantly mentioning in-story "wow, isn't it crazy what happened 12 months ago?" "Yeah, but not as crazy as what happened to you 9 months ago!" "what's it been, 3 months since you came back?" I just found that clumsy.
Other than that, it was good.
Agreed, T, but I presume that that was editorially mandated.
That may be wishful thinking, though...hehe.
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