Piper2381: Batman: The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Batman: The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul

Title: Batman: The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul

Writers and Pencillers: too many to mention, lol (Peter Milligan, Grant Morrison, Don Kramer, Jason Pearson, etc.)

Published by: DC comics

I basically picked this graphic novel up in the library because it featured Batman. As mentioned in an earlier post, I haven’t kept up with the comic book scene so I was totally lost with how this book started. The introduction however did provide a nice review of the main characters and the story leading up to this graphic novel. Wow, was I surprised to learn that Batman not only was going out with a woman named Talia (the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul) but that he also had a child with her named, Damian. Regardless of that little bit of new information on the Dark Knight’s personal life, I started reading with optimistic intentions.

At first the story was easy to follow and the art work was cartoonish and colourful. But then suddenly a new writer and artist took over and the story and drawings became more about action and resembled something close to Japanese Anime. But as soon as I began to follow that story, the comic again changed the writer and artist and introduced new characters and sub-stories. I just decided to read on and try to get by. The story is basically about an immortal being, Ra’s al Ghul whose body is slowly decaying and so he must find a new body to use. He believes that the only suitable body for him to enter is of his grandson, Damian. Eventually Batman (Damian’s father) discovers his plans and sends Nightwing to protect his son while he goes after Ra’s al Ghul. When Batman catches up to Ra’s al Ghul, Robin, Damian, Nightwing and Talia are there to help him. Batman, then fights against Ra’s al Ghul in what I think are really nicely drawn action scenes that are well executed.

However the back and forth between writers to me is what made this graphic novel such a letdown, it simply did not connect each writer to one another resulting in many holes in the story line, and confusion. The ending of the story I did not like as well because it was rushed choosing to stick with the generic ending of; good guy wins, bad guy promises revenge, all sub-stories (such as Robin wanting to join Ra’s al Ghul) vanish as if they never happened. I would not recommend this graphic novel to anyone wanting to read a good story, however I’m sure Batman fans will appreciate the amazing drawings featured in the book.