Batman 667 - 668: The Island of Mr Mayhew/Now We Are Dead.
November 20th 2007 03:05
Category: Movies
Publisher: DC Comics.
Production Team: Grant Morrison – writer, JH Williams III – artist, Dave Stewart – colours, Ken Lopez – letterer (667), John.J.Hill – letterer (668).
Creator: Bob Kane.
Cost: $US 2.99/$AU 6.50.
What do eccentric men who have everything do when they get bored? This is a question that Batman poses to his young partner Robin as they sit in the cockpit of the Batwing flying over a storm covered Caribbean Sea towards the remote island retreat of John Mayhew, a multibillionaire who made his fortune in his twenties and is now a recluse. It is an interesting question coming from someone like Batman, after all the very same words could be used to query precisely what does his alter ego Bruce Wayne do when he gets bored? The reason why Batman is posing this question is the fact that he and Robin are travelling to this remote island retreat to engage in what is a reunion of a little know group called the Club of Heroes.
In the days when Batman was first starting out on his career as a crime fighter extraordinaire he became part of a group assembled by John Mayhew and known as the Club of Heroes. The other members of this group are The Swordsman (France), El Gaucho (Argentina), England’s Knight and his son the Squire, The Ranger (Australia), Wingman, The Centurion (Italy) and Man of Bats with his son Little Raven. Batman and Robin only attend the first meeting of the Club of Heroes and never become involved with its operations and members from that point onwards, time passes and the various members get older, the Squire ends up becoming the Knight whilst taking on another as Squire a woman known as Beryl and Little Raven grows up becoming Raven Red. It is then that the various members or sons of members are all invited by their former patron, John Mayhew, to his Caribbean island retreat.
The interesting thing is that all of the protagonists involved believe that it is Mayhew who has invited the various members of the Club, or as Robin calls them the Batman Impersonators of All Nations, for a meeting at his island retreat. The first page of Batman 667 seems to point in the direction of implying that it has been someone else, a mysterious individual called the Black Glove. This is an interesting alias for someone to use as reading further along in Batman 667 reveals a poster for a John Mayhew film called the Black Glove. Certainly as the heroes all gather at the appointed time to sit round the table and presumably meet with Mayhew they’re confronted not with the mega rich former dare devil and philanthropist but instead someone who claims to have killed him and is wearing his skinned face to conceal his identity. The mysterious Black Glove who reveals what he has done and prompts an immediate response from his crime fighting audience, especially after announcing that by tomorrow they will all be dead. To punctuate this remark there is a sudden series of explosions, the various aircraft and ships that the various heroes have used in order to get to the island, all of them going up in smoke and flames. The Club of Heroes is now stranded, with potentially limited supplies and a dangerous adversary on the loose.
Grant Morrison has written a true classic here with this Batman tale, after all DC does stand for Detective Comics and Batman is often known as the Detective for his intuitive and analytical crime solving methods and this story is a pure detective tale. Coupled with this is the fact that the agenda behind the Black Glove is the age old drama of good versus evil, which of the two sides is the strongest? This aspect then turns a straight mystery into something with a distinctly moral dimension, no longer are the various heroes solely intent on finding out who has murdered their former benefactor and is intent on killing them off they are also proving their mettle as champions of all that is good and just in society. But then again we are left to wonder, as events progress, exactly how ‘good’ and ‘just’ are some of these heroes and is the issue of good versus evil more complex than a simple contest?
Certainly it seems that there is more to the Club of Heroes than meets the eye; in Batman 668 things open with a flash back to a meeting of the club at the headquarters of Mayhew International, the corporation owned by John Mayhew. It seems that the original England’s Knight has a bone to pick with Mr Mayhew which in turn leads to a confrontation with the Centurion and it is at this point that the Knights son, the Squire who has been left outside the boardroom, walks in. The Club is not an entirely happy group, it seems that there are ego clashes and as Dark Ranger (formerly the Ranger) remarks every time they come together its like a nervous breakdown. Dissension in the ranks leads one to ponder whether or not the Black Glove is actually one of their very own or perhaps an independent agent, either way this unique twist only serves to add to the atmosphere of the tale.
The artwork in both Batman 667 and 668 is fantastic conveying a certain brooding menace and urgency juxtaposed with moments of halcyon flashbacks to a better more idealistic time. JH Williams III has certainly crafted a real pleaser and his use of the Bat symbol and Glove motif throughout the story serves to add that little extra oomph to the action and conflict. It also causes the reader to wonder whether or not their might be a personal dimension to this conflict, whether the Black Glove is not only interested in proving evil is stronger but also getting the drop on Batman.
The production team behind these stories have certainly created a masterpiece and given the reader a story with an iconic character that has no need to draw upon other major characters involved in the Batman milieu, instead giving them something different and at the same time remaining true to the character. The other interesting sideline is to notice how much influence Batman has had on the other characters. Definitely worth getting your hands on and having an enjoyable read.
Production Team: Grant Morrison – writer, JH Williams III – artist, Dave Stewart – colours, Ken Lopez – letterer (667), John.J.Hill – letterer (668).
Creator: Bob Kane.
Cost: $US 2.99/$AU 6.50.
What do eccentric men who have everything do when they get bored? This is a question that Batman poses to his young partner Robin as they sit in the cockpit of the Batwing flying over a storm covered Caribbean Sea towards the remote island retreat of John Mayhew, a multibillionaire who made his fortune in his twenties and is now a recluse. It is an interesting question coming from someone like Batman, after all the very same words could be used to query precisely what does his alter ego Bruce Wayne do when he gets bored? The reason why Batman is posing this question is the fact that he and Robin are travelling to this remote island retreat to engage in what is a reunion of a little know group called the Club of Heroes.
Grant Morrison has written a true classic here with this Batman tale, after all DC does stand for Detective Comics and Batman is often known as the Detective for his intuitive and analytical crime solving methods and this story is a pure detective tale. Coupled with this is the fact that the agenda behind the Black Glove is the age old drama of good versus evil, which of the two sides is the strongest? This aspect then turns a straight mystery into something with a distinctly moral dimension, no longer are the various heroes solely intent on finding out who has murdered their former benefactor and is intent on killing them off they are also proving their mettle as champions of all that is good and just in society. But then again we are left to wonder, as events progress, exactly how ‘good’ and ‘just’ are some of these heroes and is the issue of good versus evil more complex than a simple contest?
Certainly it seems that there is more to the Club of Heroes than meets the eye; in Batman 668 things open with a flash back to a meeting of the club at the headquarters of Mayhew International, the corporation owned by John Mayhew. It seems that the original England’s Knight has a bone to pick with Mr Mayhew which in turn leads to a confrontation with the Centurion and it is at this point that the Knights son, the Squire who has been left outside the boardroom, walks in. The Club is not an entirely happy group, it seems that there are ego clashes and as Dark Ranger (formerly the Ranger) remarks every time they come together its like a nervous breakdown. Dissension in the ranks leads one to ponder whether or not the Black Glove is actually one of their very own or perhaps an independent agent, either way this unique twist only serves to add to the atmosphere of the tale.
The artwork in both Batman 667 and 668 is fantastic conveying a certain brooding menace and urgency juxtaposed with moments of halcyon flashbacks to a better more idealistic time. JH Williams III has certainly crafted a real pleaser and his use of the Bat symbol and Glove motif throughout the story serves to add that little extra oomph to the action and conflict. It also causes the reader to wonder whether or not their might be a personal dimension to this conflict, whether the Black Glove is not only interested in proving evil is stronger but also getting the drop on Batman.
The production team behind these stories have certainly created a masterpiece and given the reader a story with an iconic character that has no need to draw upon other major characters involved in the Batman milieu, instead giving them something different and at the same time remaining true to the character. The other interesting sideline is to notice how much influence Batman has had on the other characters. Definitely worth getting your hands on and having an enjoyable read.
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