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Batman #604
Bridget Haines |
| Title: |
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Reasons |
| Cover Date: |
August 2002 |
| Story: |
Ed Brubaker |
| Pencils: |
Scott McDaniel |
| Inks: |
Andy Owens |
| Colors and Separations: |
Gregory Wright / Wildstorm FX |
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Synopsis: (WARNING! SPOILERS!)
Although this issue of Batman does not bear
the "Fugitive" banner, it should
have. What occurs in this book is very impactful
on the Fugitive storyline. The comic opens
with Batman reflecting on how to move ahead,
we sometimes need to look back. He returns
to Gotham's East End, the site of where his
parents were murdered and where his career
as Batman began, to reflect on where his
life is now, and what happened to "Bruce
Wayne". He is there trying to find what
he lost so long ago. An attack by the Joker
Gang interrupts his reverie as he saves a
pair of kids from being run down during a
police chase.
Atop the roofs he runs into Catwoman,
also
following the thugs and protecting
her neighborhood.
Together they peek in on the
events inside
a warehouse, to find the clowns
trying to
get info out of Tony "The
Turk"
Rulyanchik, one of the big time
East End
operators. Before the clowns
can put some
holes in the scumbag, the Bat
goes into action,
putting himself between "Punch"
the gangleader and Tony, taking
a gunshot
to the chest to protect the man.
That puts
Selina into motion and she joins
the fray
as the bat takes two more shots
to his chest
to prevent them from hitting
Tony. A fourth
and fifth shot as Catwoman handles
the rest
of the posse, then Batman takes
the gun from
the head clown and knocks him
senseless,
chest smoking from the bullet
impacts against
the kevlar-nomex weave plating
of his tattered
costume.
Meanwhile, Catwoman has handled
everyone
else. She asks the Bat if he's
all right
and he insists he is fine, in
spite of barely
being able to breath from cracked
ribs caused
by the impacts. They leave Tony
for the cops
to pick up with the rest of them
as Selina
helps Batman out.
Atop another roof, overlooking
a bridge,
she asks again if he's ok, and
offers to
wake up Leslie to look at him.
She doesn't
buy his insistence on being fine
and adds
that he "didn't have to
let him shoot
you that much.." When he
explains if
he dodged, the bullets would
have hit Rulyanchik,
she confesses to not understanding
why he
took point blank shots for such
a scuzzball,
and that she could see doing
that for a good
person or a friend. He replies
that that
isn't what its about. She asks
him what it
is about then, and he says it's
complicated.
The trade off further words about
how life
complicates everything, and when
cornered
about why he was in the East
End, he says
that is complicated too. Cats
retorts with
a quip of "Look, if you
wanted to see
me, you don't need to makeup
excuses…"
With a small grin he replies
"Ok, you
caught me…" She somehow
doesn't think
so, and takes off into the night
all smiles.
Batman looks inward again, asking
himself
why he really came there that
night. He mentions
that he always thought Bruce
Wayne died with
his parents that night and had
just been
a mask and a small remnant of
that child.
But he realizes it just isn't
true, his codes,
rules, and ideals as Batman came
from his
father, which is why he couldn't
let Tony
die, because his father, as a
doctor, believed
in the sanctity of ALL life.
He admits to
having been blind all this time,
and admits
that the mask is not Bruce, not
at all, "I
am Bruce Wayne. I always have
been."
Analysis:
Cover:  (5 of 5 cowls)
I absolutely love this cover image. I don't
know if it's the colors, a striking combination
of black, red, gray with just a touch of
yellow, or the sharply emotive Batman on
it. The gritted teeth, furrowed brow, and
hunched posture connote the pain and restrained
fury within the man. The coloration is perfect
(look at the shading on the teeth, and the
reflected red on the right side of each surface).
Most of all, this image perfectly reflects
the story within, the most integral part
of it. Perfect cover. As a side note, the
contrast of the yellow cowl logo with the
red and dark colors made it very easy to
spot on the racks.
Story: (5 of 5 cowls)
Wow. I mean wow. This book was an integral
step ahead in the entire Batman mythos. For
decades now we've all seen "Bruce Wayne"
as a mask, and not a real person at all.
We've seen things this way, because that
is how Batman sees them. This re-evaluation
of who he really is was monumental and astoundingly
well written by Ed Brubaker. Some without
reading this book might be skeptical, until
the rationalization is played out. How can
Batman and Bruce be really the same? Because
the Bat's whole purpose revolves around Thomas
Wayne's belief in the sanctity of life, and
Bruce Wayne is his son. The IMPORTANCE of
Bruce Wayne, not as a cover for Batman, but
as a testament to his own father, is brought
forward. Very well done. Loved the story
immensely.
Artwork: (3 of 5 cowls)
The art is not the main draw of this story
for me (nor should it be in this case), but
this was not McDaniel's best work. Mostly
I am disappointed in his Catwoman. I had
been really looking forward to see him drawing
one of my favorite Bat characters of all
time, but she didn't look right at all. Especially
not on page 19, top panel, where she has
suddenly sprouted ape arms. Try standing
in that stance, my hands just reach my rear.
To reach my knees, my arms would have to
be 2 feet longer than normal! There are some
nice dynamic images scattered throughout
though. I like the image of the Bat leaping
to save the children, and the Lara Croft-ish
crouched handstand by Catwoman to dive through
the window in the warehouse. The rage/pain
on the Bat's face while he gets shot is well
done, as is him hunched over hulking and
smoking afterwards. But for McDaniel, this
is not his top-level stuff.
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