Digging Deeper in Bruce's Past #3
Grant Morrison is acclaimed because he is one of the few writers who really push the medium to its potential. Part of the reason he can do this is because of his knowledge in the Occult. There will always be three types of readers that walk away from a Grant Morrison story: (1) Those that had no idea what happened and did not like it, (2) Those that had no idea or little idea what really happened but enjoyed the story and (3) those who understand the messages between the lines. With Grant Morrison spearheading Batman, the three camps have been more obvious than ever. Some old fans have left the series and have not comeback, many have stayed on for the ride and try to understand as much as they can. The following review is more about the Occult symbols and why it is making Batman the level of young Vertigo when Grant Morrison was making his name.
What makes this series really nice is the reread level. There is so much hidden knowledge (occult) in his book that the more research you do, the more you notice that things are there on purpose. I commented on the 4th Dimension in issue number 1 and in 4D, history repeats itself, this comic is where the 4D becomes visible. Issue #3 starts to mirror some key events from issue #1, such as Hero Symbols or "Sigils" would appear again (page 8-9 in issue #1 and page 10 in issue #3), almost on the same page in both books. Another key factor in the 4D argument is having Blackbeard and his Pirates are like Vandal Savage and the Blood Tribe. Vandal Savage also went under the name Blackbeard, much like how he was "Jack the Ripper". The Time skip page will feature Jonah Hex and him flipping a "Joker" card.
There as well will have an Bat Alter created. Above the Bat Alter would be a moon almost in a full eclipses, which suggest again the "end of the world". A theme which was enforced from issue #2.
These are just examples of how deep we can get into Grant Morrison's work. If you would like to add something or talk more about the comic in general, I would love to discuss the layering in the comment section.
Cheers
- Silkcuts
