Welcome to Variant Covers! God damn I love comic books. If I don’t make that clear throughout my columns, I want to stamp it across your dome-piece right now. Not only do I love comic books as medium, but lately I’ve been rubbing a wild assortment of them across my groin in glee. There’s a lot of good shit out there to be reading. The comic industry may be declining, tangible products may be dying, but we still have a good amount of amusing funny books to leaf through. This is a slower week (for me), but I’m inclined to not complain. Nothing coming out that’s going to catch your eye? Go crack open an old book and try and look at it in a different light.

Lately I’ve been trying to examine the the effect of panel structure and panel choice on a narrative. I don’t usually pay attention that much to the art, as a disinclined literature nerd. But it can make things really interesting, really fast.

Per usual, hit the comments box with the titles you’re snagging (or not snagging) this week.

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Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6
This week, we get the climax to Mr. Wayne’s gallivanting across the Time Stream. Which is funny, because last week he was alive and well in Batman and Robin #16. Alive, well, and dropping Bat-Reveals with a stunning calm. I know I bitched about it last week, but it irks me to no end that publishers like DC and Marvel can’t organize their releases to have characters’ return stories finish before they arrive in other titles completely fucking alive. I know those corporations are leviathans, and its easier said than done. But still.

This storyline has been a mind-warping alteration of the entire Batman mythos. And I’ve dug it a lot. I know that Morrison’s modus operandi isn’t for everyone. Non-linear romps through the timestream with one of the world’s more prominent comic book characters is sure to turn people off. Perhaps you’re asking, “Why isn’t he throwing batarangs off the dumb faces of the Joker and Killer Croc? Fuck the Heat Death of the universe!”

To which I say, pshaw.

I don’t know how they’re going to wrap this storyline up in one more issue, but I’m interested to see it unfold. Others, I’m sure, will be wiping their hands and saying they’re glad its over.

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