batman and robin

I don't understand Grant Morrison.


How come sometimes he writes really great stuff and sometimes he writes total gibberish? The recent Batman R.I.P. storyline was confusing and poorly executed. Not only did I not see Batman die at the end of it, I wasn't even sure if the story was suggesting that he died. I had to read in another title altogether that Batman was considered dead. (Oh God is he going to come back in the Blackest Night storyline?!) The Invisibles was admirable but still convoluted and hard to follow. The key seems to be pairing him up with artist Frank Quietly. They won me over with their classic work on New X-Men and I loved their superb work on WE3. Now, after his last Batman stint left a bad taste in my mouth, Morrison delivers an enjoyable (so far) Batman title.

As I said, Batman is "dead". So, after the Battle for the Cowl storyline, Dick Grayson, the original Robin, who has gone by Nightwing probably longer than he hasn't, has assumed the mantle of Batman, a rite he has shied away from his entire post-Robin career. And the new Robin is Bruce Wayne's biological son, Damian (I don't know what happened to Tim Drake), making him the fifth Robin. Morrison writes Damian, a highly-trained brat with a superiority issue, really well. You just want to smack him when he talks down to Alfred.
The villains are just plain creepy. Mr. Toad, someone called Pyg, who wears a grotesque mask, and his red haired minions. They're gross and I can't wait to see more.
There were still a few akward places in the script, like this quote from Grayson Batman:


Crime is doomed? What the hell is that? There's a couple of times it seems like NightBat is taking a Spiderman-smart-alec approach to crime fighting.

At any rate, I dig this book and I'll keep picking it up. Plus, lesbo-hero Batwoman will be the main character in Detective Comics coming up here soon. That ought to be fun.