Digging Deeper in Bruce's Past #4
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. In this case it is the additional layering to the biblical imagery. The very first panel on the very first page show a tree in the middle of no where. The rest of the panel "Apples" are very noticeable. The Apple is debated between scholars to be the "forbidden fruit" of Adam and Eve and having the apples mixed with blood would suggest that we readers now know the difference between good and evil, the knowledge that came from the tree.
The last thing I want to point out is Jonah Hex walking away in the sun set, it is almost an allusion to Judas as we can see Jonah leaving his money behind him, this is almost a sign of guilt. Like how Judas dropped his silver pieces before he hung himself.
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
