Batman and Robin #1-3, "The Circus of the Strange"

*****
Five Stars Out of Five

When it was announced that Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely would be working on an ongoing Batman comic, I practically shit myself. These two fellas have been referred to as the Lennon and McCartney of comics, although I prefer Mick and Keef, because they're edgier and a bit harder to get a handle on (though they probably have done the same amount of hallucinogens as the Beatles). These are the guys that delivered arguably the best Superman story ever with "All-Star Superman," the sad and touching "We3," the Earth-shattering "New X-Men," and more. I mean, they bring out the best in each other and have never failed to deliver on a comic when working together.

Once I almost shat myself, I thought for a moment that Quitely's style doesn't exactly lend itself to Batman very well, though. His art is uniquely original, but it's always colored so bright, and Batman isn't known for his brightness. He's a dark character and inhabits a dark world. Even so, I remained optimistic given their previous collaborations, and when issue #1 finally hit stands, I was beyond satisfied.

Grant Morrison has been writing the main Batman book for almost five years now, and he just got done killing off Bruce Wayne (gasp!) in "Final Crisis." No worries, though, a death in comics is never really a death. The characters always come back, even when we're told explicitly that they won't - I'm looking at you, Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America. Grant Morrison is known for his wild ideas; he is the guy the Wachowski Brothers plagiarized for "The Matrix," after all, and has delivered more fucked up stories than arguably any other mainstream comic book writer of all time. So, if his wild ideas include taking Bruce Wayne off the table for a while and sticking him in the stone age, then I'll happily follow. He told my favorite Batman arc of all time with "R.I.P" and delivered the best characterization of the Joker I've ever read, stemming all the way back to his "Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth." Even though Bruce Wayne is dead, Batman is still alive and kicking, it's just a different person in the cape and cowl now.

The new Batman is Dick Grayson, the original Robin who went on to become Nightwing. Dick reluctantly takes up the mantle of the Bat after realizing Gotham City is even shittier without Bats around. He needs a sidekick, and instead of taking on Tim Drake (the current Robin), he chooses Bruce's illegitimate lovechild Damian. It's no coincidence Damian shares the same name as the son of the Devil, as he's a little fucker who was raised by ninja terrorists(!) and is in peak physical condition for a 10 year old. Dick's rationale here is, it's better to teach this kid to be a do-gooder now than to have to deal with him in 10 years. That, and it's what Bruce would have wanted.

It's interesting that, given 70 years of publishing history, nobody has ever switched the roles of Batman and Robin. Batman has always been the brooding, dark character who takes on a sidekick in his obsessive, never-ending war on crime in order to keep sane and have a reminder of the inherent good in people, while Robin has always been more of a happy-go-lucky kid who enjoys the lifestyle and balances out the harder-edged Batman. Now, Batman is a guy who enjoys the job, won't hesitate to crack a joke under pressure, and Robin is the tough-as-nails "bad cop" who is more of a loose cannon. The interplay between the two is both interesting and hysterical. Dick is trying to discipline this little shit who doesn't really understand why they don't just kill the villains instead of capturing them and having them escape from the revolving-doors of Arkham Asylum. Damian wants to make good on his father's name but has a difficult time getting over his violent, rash tendencies - he was raised by ninja terrorists(!), after all.

When Morrison was promoting the series, he said that he was interested in meshing the style of the Adam West Batman show (Wham! Pow! Kaboom!) with the darker, more modern Batman in the comics. This seemed like an interesting marriage of styles, and also a little... odd. Surprisingly, Morrison has accomplished just this with the help of his good friend Frank Quitely. The art style is beautiful and bright, and Quitely has done something I've never seen in a comic before: he makes words out of the action on panel. It's hard to explain, but it's fucking gorgeous. His explosions spell out "Boom!" and blood-splatter from gunshots spell out "Bang." It's something small, but it totally grabs the reader and does capture that Adam West-era a little bit.

The first issue of "The Circus of the Strange" arc opens with Batman and Robin going after a low-level thug named "Toad" who looks like... a toad. He's part of a larger criminal group that is shelling out some new drug that really messes with the individual that takes it. After an awesome interrogation in the new Batmobile (it's capable of flight now), we are introduced to Professor Pyg. Pyg was first introduced in the "possible future" story of Batman #666, but he this is his introduction to the DCU proper. Pyg is a disturbing man who wears a pig mask and butcher's apron. His goal is to make everyone "perfect" by turning them into mutated dolls that he calls Dollotrons. We see the process of turning someone into the Dollotron, and it's horrific and disturbing.

So begins issue 2. The story really starts to pick up here, with Batman and Robin dropping by the police station. They are welcomed by Comissioner Gordon and his fellow officers. The police make a few comments about how Batman and Robin seem a little bit different now, and Gordon's response is that yes, they do, but there's something familar about them. It's a nice nod to the fact that Gordon isn't stupid, and he has for years known the real identity of Batman, and he's also pieced it together that the former Robin is now behind the cape and cowl.

Once inside the station, the dynamic duo is ambushed by some of Toad's peers. Quitely's art really explodes off of the page here, in which Batman and Robin face off against Siamese triplets, a fat bearded lady, and a man who is constantly on fire. It's awesome to see Morrison tackle a group of misfits from a circus jump into crime. There's a fraternity between these people, the feeling that nobody understands them but each other, and it's just plain creepy to see the bearded lady in a tutu trying to kill a 10 year old. Quitely is also able to somehow pull of exhibiting Dick's skills and how they differ from Bruce's. Dick has always been leaner and more acrobatic than Bruce; Dick is finesse to Bruce's power, and with no animation whatsoever, Quitely is able to relay that here. This sequence also shows Damian is a bit of a badass, too. He fucks up the Bearded Lady, but is a little too headstrong. He doesn't follow Dick's orders and puts himself in harm's way. After the battle, back at the Batcave, Dick and Damian get into an argument that culminates in Damian quitting and going off after Professor Pyg himself. What follows is a great segment of dialogue between Dick and Alfred, with Alfred playing the fatherly role. Dick complains that the cape hinders his natural acrobatic skills and it's affecting him in the field. Again, it's great to see Morrison address something that seems so trivial, yet the fans love the fact that it's given some attention. The issue ends with Damian at the abandoned carnival (looks eerily similar to the one in "The Killing Joke") ready to take down Professor Pyg. He fails and is captured.

The third issue opens with Batman dragging Phosphorous Rex (the flaming guy) through the streets of Gotham, trying to get answers to Pyg's whereabouts. After some dangerous gambling with Rex's body, he gives up the information. There's a quick scene of interaction between Gordon and Batman in which Gordon questions Batman's decision to treat a prisoner with such hostility, culminating in the question, "Who are you?" Dick's reaction is fucking priceless: "I'm Batman." This is the moment where Dick completely gives himself over to the Batman persona, and it shows him becoming a little bit more like Bruce.

Damian is tied up at the carnival and Pyg is getting ready to make Damian "perfect." Pyg talks to Damian, releasing some hints that will drive Morrison fans crazy for a while until they're slowly revealed within the pages of the book further down the road. During this sequence, Pyg shows his insanity by dancing to "sexy disco hot" music on a pink iPod, taking his shirt off in the process. Damian, the steadfast little shit, simply states, "You just redefined wrong." Damian then escapes and starts kicking all sorts of ass, fucking up Dollotrons left and right, while trying to save Scarlett, a woman who was captured by Pyg and was given the doll-face, but has yet to lose her identity. Pyg grabs Damian and is unable to save her. As Pyg is about to off Robin, Batman arrives and fucks him up. He tells Robin that he was unprepared, but still did a good job nevertheless. They handle Pyg, and afterwards, Dick "discovers" an antidote, labeled "Antidote" and Damian informs him that he was trying to save some girl. Dick says that no bodies were found, so she must have escaped.

We're given a little interlude which hearkens back to the beginning - and end - of R.I.P. where Batman and Robin capture Le Bossu. It's a nice little throwback to R.I.P. and it helps with chronological classification for the hardcore fanboys out there (myself included). The issue ends at the hospital, where Scarlett is killing off all of the other Dollotrons. She's confronted by the police and before they can do anything, they're killed in spectacular fashion, again because of Quitely's deft ability to draw the coolest shit imaginable. The killer is revealed to be the Red Hood, and he offers Scarlett the chance to be his sidekick is fighting crime...

The ending is a great way to set up the next arc, which, sadly, will not be penciled by Quitely. Instead, Phillip Tan will be taking over for the next three issue arc, and Quitely will return in issue 10 (bringing the Joker along with him - Quitely doing the Joker is a fanboy's wetdream). The identity of the Red Hood remains a mystery for now - it it Jason Todd? The Joker? Another new person behind the mask? Only time will tell, and either way, I have faith that no matter who is revealed to be behind the mask, Morrison will handle it in a way that makes sense and is a total mindfuck.

What Morrison and Quitely have accomplished with this series is hard to truly express in words. There are so many great books on the stands right now, from the capes to the indies, that it's hard for a Batman book to come out and completely exceed all expectations. This is a book that, along with "All-Star Superman," may go down as one of the best books of the decade, if not more than that. Morrison has taken a 70 year old character and made him new to us again, in a way that I didn't think was possible. The book flies by at such a quick pace that it's almost hard to imagine that this is the guy who wrote R.I.P. which was four years worth of writing that tied into Bruce Wayne's entire career as a crimefighter. I cannot express just how much ass this book fucking kicks. It's sad that so many people are missing out on what will be one of the best Batman collaborations in history. Even if you don't read comics, check it out.