I used to have time to read my comics in a coffee shop. Now I have to read them in the bathroom. Then I write reviews of them. I wash my hands in between.
BATMAN & AQUAMAN #29
I'm kind of excited about this book now. The Two Face storyline is over and now it looks like Bats will be teaming up with heroes from around the DCU. Now, given, seeing Batman & Aquaman together on the cover brought images to mind of the gone too soon animated show 'Batman: The Brave & The Bold' and the many memorable episodes featuring Diedrich Bader's by-the-book Batman and John DiMaggio's bacchanalian blowhard Aquaman. And I was a little worried it might devolve into those kind of shenanigans. It did not.
What I failed to mention in my review of the last issue was
that Batman discovered the graves of his former lover Talia and his son Damian
(Robin) had been disturbed and the bodies removed by Talia’s father and Damian’s
Grandfather, The Demon’s Head, Ra’s Al Ghul. So this issue begins what’s being subtitled ‘The
Hunt for Robin’. Batman is in his Bat-submarine, with his dog for some reason,
and is heading towards some island Damian had told him about to find Ra’s. Of
course, if he’s in the water, Aquaman knows about it, so he shows up. It turns
out he heard some whales screaming in the area and came to investigate
separately. I can’t make this crap up. So they assault the island (including an
army of Aquaman controlled crabs), Ra’s IS there trying to revive his family,
but escapes just in time with the bodies. Aquaman discovers the whale carcasses
that Ra’s was using to try and grow superhuman clones of Damian (I shit you
not) and vows to make Ra’s scream for his transgression. They fight some nasty multi-headed and
misshapen clones who Aquaman then sends to Atlantis in the mouth of another (not
dead and gutted) whale. I’m telling you, this all happens.
It’s pretty entertaining to see two dyed in the wool heroes
acting like heroes, having an actual, honest to goodness team up to take care
of the bad guys. There was no snarkiness, no snide jokes at either character’s
expense, just serious heroes and colleagues getting down to serious business
involving an evil that affected them both. It’s refreshing, I’m still not sure
why the dog came along, but he didn’t leap in and save the day as a deus ex machina
or anything so I guess he can stay.
And in a last page preview of next issue’s team up, we see
another variation on Batman’s relationship with a different member of the
Justice League. Ra’s believes there’s a Lazarus Pit on Paradise Island he can
use for resurrecting. So Batman’s off to London to see Wonder Woman. After
criticizing her choice of glasses as a disguise, “Clark’s bright idea”, maybe
betraying a little jealousy at her relationship with Superman, he asks her for
a ride to her island home. I would love to see him seeking help from all his JL
colleagues and have an issue with each to examine his relationship with them. Who knows, maybe we’ll all get lucky.
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