Batman is bestselling character in comics. Many of comics’ greatest creators have worked on the character, building him into the icon he is. An argument can be made that the Dark Knight in the 21st century is one of the better eras of the character. Looking at the various runs of the last 26 years, there are several that stand out among the best Batman runs of all time. A lot of fans really love the New 52 Scott Snyder run, the Tomasi/Gleason run has been lauded by readers, and there are even fans who like the Tom King run. However, for many fans, the best Bat-run of the 21st century started 20 years ago, when superstar writer Grant Morrison took over Batman.
Grant Morrison is an amazing Batman writer. One of their first big breaks was Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, they wrote the classic “Gothic”, and their conception of Batman in JLA birthed the “Bat-God” version of the character (for better and for worse, honestly). Putting them on Batman was long coming, and it kicked off a seven year run on the character that basically birthed the version of the hero that we have now. Morrison’s Batman run is integral to the character’s success, and one of the best comic runs of all time. Many writers have changed the game for Batman, but Morrison took the character to new levels.
Morrison Took Batman on a Journey That No Other Writer Could
Image Courtesy of DC Comics
2006 was a huge year for DC Comics. Infinite Crisis had just ended, and DC was on the path to re-establishing their multiverse in 52 (which was co-written by Morrison). The publisher was bringing back numerous pre-Crisis ideas and had announced high caliber creative teams for Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. Morrison was the perfect choice to write the Dark Knight; they had been doing excellent work with the character since they came to DC, and they were up to the task of changing the hero forever.
Morrison is known for their love of DC Comics and their knowledge of its history, so they had a rather surprising idea for their run. Since the publisher was taking things backwards in a lot of ways, the Scottish scribe decided that one of the focuses of their three act run would be to canonize every Batman story ever. This idea fit with the direction that DC was taking their heroes; Superman’s past as Superboy was re-established and Wonder Woman went back to using the Diana Prince name, so re-canonizing Bruce Wayne’s past was the perfect addition. If that was all Morrison did during their time with the hero, it would be a massive undertaking, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.
They introduced Damian Wayne in their first story “Batman and Son”, while also laying the groundwork for Talia to become one of the run’s major villains. They brought back the Batman of Zurr-En-Arrh, using it to explain why Batman couldn’t remember certain things from his past. They introduced a new version of the Joker, and it was one of the most chilling ever. They killed Bruce Wayne in Final Crisis and put Dick Grayson in the mantle. They created Batman Incorporated, which was a play on the old Batmen of Many Nations, which they had also brought back. It was an exciting seven years for the character.
Morrison redefined what Batman could be in the 21st century. If you look at every run that came after theirs, you can see every writer taking the ideas that they came up with and using them. They created the modern Batman in their run, but that wasn’t the only character that they redefined. Making Dick Grayson Batman showed that he was ready to take his place at the top of the superhero community, and led to him becoming a more important character than ever. Damian Wayne has became massively popular as a very different kind of Robin, and Batman of Zurr-En-Arrh was the main villain of Chip Zdarsky’s run on Batman. Even Scott Snyder’s Batman is basically the Morrison one. Morrison changed DC for the better over their career, and their run on the Caped Crusader is a perfect example of their skill.
DC Owes Their Batman Success to the Morrison Run
Image Courtesy of DC Comics
DC Comics is sitting pretty atop the sales charts, and Batman is one of the key parts of their success. Looking at the character currently, it’s plain to see that the Morrison run is the most formative in the 21st century. They created the new Robin, they re-established decades of the character’s history, and they were allowed to take the hero in directions that DC wouldn’t trust anyone else to. Go back and read Batman before and after Morrison, and you’ll see a pretty big difference.
Morrison is the kind of writer who can take old school ideas and make them new again, which is exactly what they did on Batman, Batman and Robin, and their two volumes of Batman Incorporated. I think the best way to illustrate how great they did on the character was that they were able to take the Ten-Fingered Man (look the character up, because there’s way too much to go into in the last paragraph on an article) and made him a cool villain for the first time ever. Their Batman was thoroughly modern, while paying homage to the past and showing readers that the old stuff was still cool, even decades later.
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