Wide Load Coming Through

Batman: The Widening Gyre #4

I haven't posted anything lately.  I guess I really haven't read anything really noteworthy to discuss.  I did read Kevin Smith's Batman: The Widening Gyre mini-series in its "entirety" about a month ago, though, so I'll write about that.  (You'll see why I put "entirety" in quotes later.)

First, I'll start with the title.  The title is taken from a poem called "The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats.  The poem was written in 1919 in the aftermath of the WWI. While the various manuscript revisions of the poem refer to the Renaissance, French Revolutions, the Irish rebellion, and those of Germany and of Russia, others suggest the text refers to the Russian Revolution of 1917.  The poem uses Christian imagery regarding the Apocalypse and second coming as allegory to describe the atmosphere in post-war Europe. 

The poem begins:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.

If you're interested, you can find the rest of the poem here.

With that imagery in mind, "the widening gyre" in Batman's case is the appearance of many of his villains all at once.  He's bombarded with different villains in each issue.  Meanwhile, there are subplots of Bruce Wayne/Batman's romance with Silver St. Cloud (that comes with a lot of jealousy from a famous feline lady), as well as the appearance of a new vigilante in town sporting a goat mask by the name of Baphomet.  (You can read about the origins of that name here.)  

"The Widening Gyre" was supposed to be released monthly.  However, like Kevin Smith's Spider-Man and the Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do, there were delays.  The six issues were released in October 2009, November 2009, December 2009 (so far so good), and then February 2010, April 2010, and lastly, September 2010.  Ouch.  Nearly a year for a six-issue mini-series.  (Note to Kevin: if you're not going to write them in timely manner, please don't take or ask for the assignments; there are many, MANY other comic writers out there who would LOVE to have the opportunity to write a mini-series.  Note to DC and Marvel Comics: don't start printing/releasing Kevin's comics until he's completed all issues of a mini-series.)  

Bruce and Silver frolic in the water.

Luckily, I didn't start reading the issues until I had them all, so it was fairly cohesive for me.   I enjoyed Batman facing off against his most popular foes, one after the other.  It reminded me somewhat of "The Gauntlet" storyline that just ran through The Amazing Spider-Man series last year.  Best of all, though, was the romance developments between Bruce Wayne/Batman and Silver St. Cloud.  She's the only non-superhero who could handle being partnered with Bruce Wayne, knowing what he does in his spare time.  She's mature, yet fun.  Attached, yet not clingy.  And she certainly doesn't need the Wayne fortune.  It left me wondering, though, if this series was a dream, took place in the distant past, was an Elseworlds story, was a "what if?" type scenario, etc., because this could seriously change Bruce/Batman emotionally, not to mention his relationship with Catwoman.

Kevin Smith

As I finished reading the sixth/final issue, it ended with a cliffhanger (I won't reveal what) and said to look for Volume Two.  WTF?  When?  2026?  This was supposed to be a six-issue mini-series and now there's more?   I want to know what happens, but I don't want to know on Kevin Smith's time schedule.  Imagine if Dallas had decided to take a three-year break to reveal Who Shot J.R.?  I enjoy Kevin Smith's writing and the stories he comes up with for such superheroes as Batman, Green Arrow, and Spider-Man, but I'm more than a bit frustrated with his lack of dedication, as well as DC and Marvel's acceptance of his flagrant disregard for deadlines.  He's not exactly winning over fans.  Perhaps the "widening gyre" refers to the gap in time between comic releases?