Batman and Son 1 Paperback – February 4, 2014

This review is for the 384 page version.Collects Batman # 655-658, 663-669, and 672-675Or to put it another way, this Batman and Sonand this Batman: The Black GloveThe Run: Grant Morrison's Batman run is essentially one huge story and it all starts here. I'm a great fan of Morrison's stranger books like Doom Patrol or the Invisibles, but I didn't like Morrison's JLA run much, and avoided his work on Batman for years assuming that he couldn't do a good job with "normal" superheroes. After reading "All-Star Superman"and loving it, I decided to give this a shot.Boy, was I a fool. By now, I've read almost all of it, and if you like Morrison and/or Batman you should at least read the first book and see how you like it. It's a mammoth story and you really have to read all of it (well, most of it) in sequence in order to get it, but the journey is well worth it. It is somewhat creepy, spooky and dark, and a bit weird (but not in typical Morrison mind-blowing-fashion weird), which may not appeal to everyone. Still, give it a shot. And after the 2011 reboot, it's still kinda-sorta-mostly still in canon.This volume: I've covered "Batman and Son" and "The Black Glove" in reviews for the individual volumes, so I'll make this brief. Gotham is being terrorized by three Replacement Batmen, who were created by an evil mastermind we'll meet in this volume. Batman had a son with Talia al Ghul, Damian, who will eventually become the next Robin. (He's kinda nuts, but he'll grow on you. Or not. YMMV.) As the other reviewers have mentioned, Damian isn't actually in this volume that much. Bruce Wayne gets in a serious relationship with supermodel-philanthropist Jezebel Jet. Also features the Joker and Harley Quinn (briefly), the International Club of Heroes (who?), man-bats, and even Bat-Mite!As I said, the entire Morrison Batman run is phenomenal, and you really need to read it all the way through, from the beginning.

This book is a collection of what was previously published as "Batman and Son" and "Batman The Black Glove" so you're getting a great value here (previously 2 books, about 15 issues total).This is also the start of Grant Morrison's Batman run, which IGN dubbed the best comic run of the decade!!! Not sure I agree with that (the Batman and Robin part is definitely excellent) but if you're interested in jumping in, this is where to start, especially given the great value.The "Batman and Son" component is really only the first 4 issues and that's my main gripe with this book is that this aspect doesn't go into more depth. *MINOR SPOILER BUT SERIOUSLY IT'S IN THE TITLE* Batman's son, Damian shows up wanting to train with Bruce and he has to deal with him. I can't believe Morrison didn't devote more time to this element. He's with Batman for 2-3 issues, leaves and then everyone moves on like nothing happened. I think a lot more time should have been devoted to this massive plot twist. Maybe I need to read The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul IDK.The rest of the book revolves around the "Black Glove," an evil secret organization that's out to get Batman. The threads set up here are continued and concluded in Batman RIP so if you buy this, you should also pick that up to get the whole story!I liked the Batman and Son part a lot even though it was short but the Black Glove parts were just ok to me. As per usual with Morrison, the story jumps around like a kid who's had his first coke and there are a half dozen plot threads going at one time. Many threads will be ignored or unresolved for long stretches of time until they are brought back in much later. As such, it's hard to criticize this book without looking at the arc as a whole, as a lot of this is just set up for RIP. That said, there's some definite goofiness here (a joker issue entirely in writing and a 3-issue Agatha Christie style murder mystery in an empty coastal mansion... And RIP has some zany parts as well...) Also, I don't think the payoff in RIP is that good. Morrison tries to make us think The Black Glove is this all-powerful, all-knowing organization but they never seemed that threatening, interesting, or even unique to me. Just another "Evil Society of Doom."TLDR Not my favorite Batman arc but a great value and the start of one of the most infamous eras in Batman history! And if you get this, get Batman RIP because this and that comprise the entire arc.

Batman learns that he has a biological son, Damien,who turns out to be a little psychopathic. And he is spoiled rotten. Talia Al-Ghul, Damien's mother, is responsible for his personality and for keeping his existence from Batman. Batman also faces off against cops who were trained to replace him someday and were experimented on with disastrous results and the Black Glove organization makes it's appearance as well as Jezabel Jett.

It's a great book. A must read for any Bat-fan. Grant Morrison really knows the history of Batman and it's fun to see that what kind of stuff he brings back from the beginning years of Batman comics. The art is amazing and the writing is superb. Definitely worth picking out

Grant Morrisons writing is honestly just way too messy and the way this is organized just isn’t my taste. Nonetheless, my Batman taste is very different! I love the realistic Batman approach (Year One, Earth One, Night Cries, etc.) more than anything!Morrison combines Saturday morning cartoon humor with R rated gore, and for some fans that pleases them. Personally, I like a dark narrative and the goofiness defeated the purpose of that for me.Of course the Damian storyline is fantastic as well as the black glove ! But there’s a chapter segment I didn’t care for, several bat-men (I don’t even know what those are?), a multiple bat men mystery?!

For reasons I won't get into here due to spoilers, the book changes purpose and tone wildly mid read, and not in a typical comic way. Rather confusing experience. First half and midpoint prose story are excellent though.