Sunday, October 29, 2006

The Truth

It turns out that what we've always suspected is actually true. Grant Morrison owns up in his interview in Wizard #182 ("Son of a Bat!"; p. 38).
Wizard: Batman and Talia's baby from Son of the Demon has been pretty much ignored by DC continuity for all these years. Did that make it tougher for you to tackle, or more tempting?

Morrison: For a long time, [DC] said [Son of the Demon] was out of continuity. Now it's just kind of out of continuity. I didn't actually read it before I started writing this. I messed up a lot of details, like Batman wasn't drugged when he was having sex with Talia and it didn't take place in the desert. I was relying on shaky memories. But now we have this new "Superboy punch" continuity [after Superboy Prime attacked the fabric of the universe during Infinite Crisis]. People still don't realize how important that single punch was to cover everyone's ass.
This has left me speechless, though I do admire GM's honesty.

Comments:
No, I think we all know how convenient it is for a writer to fall back on "arbitrary retcon" because "I couldn't be bothered to read a single, readily available TPB to which I loudly declared I was writing a sequel". I like the part where he goes on about how biological determinism will prove triumphant and the aspect of Bruce within Damiem will set him straight. Which suggests Jason Todd fans were also right in suspecting that Morrison pays so little attention that he doesn't realize he's rehashing the "bad son" angle.

But my absolute favorite part? The confirmation that Morrison got the green-light for Bat/Talia before Didio ordered Pfeifer to make Catwoman pregnant, pointedly using one book as a red herring, via the implied Helena Wayne angle, to service another title. Nice. Politics.
 
If it allows Grant Morrison to write what he needs to write, I'm all for it and I and other Morrison Mindslaves will buy enough copies to cover anything Jason Todd fans dropped.
 
*checks to see where anyone called Morrison fans "mind-slaves"* Nope, can't find it. I expect fans to be fans. I like a great deal of his work, but his run on Batman seems phoned-in. The core premise of his story: "can a child raised to be an egotistical maniac overcome his nurturing via his nature" does not rely on changing a loving relationship into a retcon roofie rape. He did not make this change to write what he needed; he made this change because he didn't care. I'm a bit baffled how anyone even skimming Son of the Demon could miss one of the central premises: true, overwhelming love. That was pure laziness and disregard.

While I respect his admission of error, I don't respect his excuse. "Excuse me" is a request, not an assured demand, even with a ready-made party line. I get the impression he's skating by on his reputation rather than making a sincere effort, because I've read a lot of his work. I'm sure it will continue to sell well, but that doesn't mean I think he's doing anything great by reducing a decently complex characterization into psychopathic female #3 so we can hurry up to the good part where Batman turns his missing son into a good boy through sheer osmosis (and yelling threats). Batman and Son has been hideously bad, so far, nor did he cook up ninja-man-bats first. Then again, I'm not sure Usagi Yojimbo did, either.
 
Usagi Yojimbo means "Rabbit Bodyguard" in Japanese.

AND NOW YOU KNOW!
 
Anonymous -- You missed the Infamous Paty Cockrum Post didn't you?
 
Oh noes! A comic book fan who posts their opinions on the internet is implicitly accusing me of being a comic book fan posting their opinion on the internet! Gosh, how will I ever cope? My sense of self-worth is crushed entirely!

Sorry, you are not an instant winner. Please try again. (No purchase necessary).
 
Kkglinka -- ??

You stated your opinion, I stated I had a different opinion in a hopefully humorous way. Looks like it fell flat. I'd hardly call it an aqttempt to crush one's self-worth.
 
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