Book Review: Batman and Robin Vol. 1 by G. Morrison et al.

Batman and Robin Volume 1: Batman Reborn written by Grant Morrison and art by Frank Quitely and Philip Tan

Bruce Wayne is gone so Dick Grayson steps up as Batman. Robin's shoes are filled by Damian Wayne, son of Bruce and Talia al Ghul. Damian was raised by his mom, who was part of her father's (Ra's al Ghul) terrorist organization. So he has fighting skills but a more brutal, less moral attitude than previous Robins. They face up against a sinister physician called Professor Pyg, who is transforming people through drugs, lobotomies, and weird masks into drone-like slaves. Pyg is part of a larger organization, the Circus of the Strange, that causes a lot of trouble for the new dynamic duo. But not as much trouble as Jason Todd (another former Robin), who returns to Gotham as Red Hood. Todd's plan is to be a next-level Batman, fighting crime by killing the criminals.

I did a little reading around before starting this since I wanted to try out the Grant Morrison run on Batman. He had a few story arcs before this, but from what I read, this was a fine jumping on point and a little lighter in tone than previous material. Well, the previous stuff must have been very dark. Pyg's M.O. is grim and unsettling, leaving a lot of people horribly scarred and mentally unbalanced. Damian is hot-headed and vicious, not the sort of Robin you would ever imagine if your first exposer to Batman was the 1960s TV show. The plots were okay and the art is nice, but the overall tone was too bleak and miserable for me.

Not recommended.

Book Review: Shang-Chi Vol. 1 by G. L. Yang et al.

Shang-Chi Volume 1: Brothers & Sisters written by Gene Luen Yang and art by Dike Ruan, Philip Tan, and Sebastian Cheng

Hero Shang-Chi is laying low in New York City, working a job at a Chinese bakery during the Lunar New Year rush. Since he's a Marvel superhero, trouble finds him pretty quickly. His dad (in this version of the story) established a secret group of warriors called the Five Weapons Society. The dad set up five different houses across the world, each with a champion. The House of the Deadly Staff (outside of London) is attacked by Sister Hammer (from the House of the Deadly Hammer, naturally). Sister Hammer kills the Staff Champion who is leader of the Five Weapons Society. She assumes she will now be in charge, but the mystical wheel of the Five Weapons Society indicates the next leader is from the House of the Deadly Hand. The Hand champion is Shang-Chi, who has disavowed the whole Society as his dad's psychotic cult (which it kinda is). Sister Hammer comes to New York to challenge him for rulership, which he is reluctant to get involved in. Even so, he's pulled in to a huge, globe-travelling adventure. He teams up with Brother Sabre and Sister Dagger to put things right.

The story is exciting and moves along at a good pace. Yang skillfully blends the ancient, semi-mythic quality of the houses with very modern sensibilities (Sister Dagger is the quintessential wisecracking, no nonsense teenager). The family issues suggested by the title are also dealt with, giving a little more substance to what could have been a run-of-the-mill comic book story.

Recommended, though don't get hung up about continuity with the recent movie, because there basically is none.