Batman: Planetary

Planetary #/Batman

by Warren Ellis, John Cassaday (Illustrator)

Planetary, DC’s archeologists of the unknown, cross paths with Batman on the trail of a killer in this new Deluxe edition hardback.
When Planetary – Jakita Wagner, Elijah Snow and the Drummer – travel to Gotham City, they mean business. Wagner, Snow and the Drummer track an amoral killer to Gotham City, prepared for battle. What they aren’t prepared for is the Dark Knight! Of course, Batman doesn’t exist on the same Earth as Planetary, which means the killer has worked in some very strange ways! Now the killer’s reality-distorting technology is pulling, twisting and shifting the heroes through untold versions of Gotham City – and Batman!
This new hardcover also features Warren Ellis’s script for this story.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Dc Comics, Comic Book, Superheroes, Science Fiction

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Warren Ellis is the award-winning writer of graphic novels like TRANSMETROPOLITAN, FELL, MINISTRY OF SPACE and PLANETARY, and the author of the NYT-bestselling GUN MACHINE and the “underground classic” novel CROOKED LITTLE VEIN, as well as the digital short-story single DEAD PIG COLLECTOR. His newest book is the novella NORMAL, from FSG Originals, listed as one of Amazon’s Best 100 Books Of 2016.

The movie RED is based on his graphic novel of the same name, its sequel having been released in summer 2013. IRON MAN 3 is based on his Marvel Comics graphic novel IRON MAN: EXTREMIS. He is currently developing his graphic novel sequence with Jason Howard, TREES, for television, in concert with HardySonBaker and NBCU, and continues to work as a screenwriter and producer in film and television, represented by Angela Cheng Caplan and Cheng Caplan Company. He is the creator, writer and co-producer of the Netflix series CASTLEVANIA, recently renewed for its third season, and of the recently-announced Netflix series HEAVEN’S FOREST.

He’s written extensively for VICE, WIRED UK and Reuters on technological and cultural matters, and given keynote speeches and lectures at events like dConstruct, ThingsCon, Improving Reality, SxSW, How The Light Gets In, Haunted Machines and Cognitive Cities.

Warren Ellis has recently developed and curated the revival of the Wildstorm creative library for DC Entertainment with the series THE WILD STORM, and is currently working on the serialising of new graphic novel works TREES: THREE FATES and INJECTION at Image Comics, and the serialised graphic novel THE BATMAN’S GRAVE for DC Comics, while working as a Consulting Producer on another television series.

A documentary about his work, CAPTURED GHOSTS, was released in 2012.

Recognitions include the NUIG Literary and Debating Society’s President’s Medal for service to freedom of speech, the EAGLE AWARDS Roll Of Honour for lifetime achievement in the field of comics & graphic novels, the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire 2010, the Sidewise Award for Alternate History and the International Horror Guild Award for illustrated narrative. He is a Patron of Humanists UK. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex.

Warren Ellis lives outside London, on the south-east coast of England, in case he needs to make a quick getaway.

Reviews

[Nicolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the late Nineties, as the old century was giving way to a new one, WildStorm Productions had its most fertile period, producing seminal comics such as the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Authority and Planetary. A Warren Ellis and John Cassaday collaboration, Planetary was team with a mysterious fourth member and was billed as “archaeologists of the impossible.” This monthly book, it started monthly until it developed a pseudo-quarterly schedule because of lateness, was Ellis’s exploration of the superhero genre and its roots in fiction, cinema and other literary forms. I’ve read the first three issues, two I bought from a comic shop when it was released and the other years after and by sheer coincidence. In those first three issues, Ellis wrote about, pulp era heroes, Japanese atomic monsters and Hong Kong cinema. As a sampling it was an excellent indicator on the direction Ellis was going for the series. Mostly standalone issues, though each served to move a main story forward, no doubt in a climactic ending.

Since reading those three issues, I’ve lost track of the title. First it was having scheduling problems and its last issues were late and by then I’ve completely stopped buying comics monthly and updated myself on an occasional Wizard magazine purchase. Despite ending my monthly habit, I’ve often bought an occasional issue or two and I decided I wanted to try this graphic novel. Originally released in 2003, it recently got a reprint featuring twice the pages with extras in a hardcover. I managed to find a copy of the original prestige format graphic novel in a recent convention. This was Planetary, a book about the superhero genre taking on one of the biggest superhero icons, Batman. I knew the story was going to be big, and almost a decade later when I finally got my copy, I could say it was worth the wait.

The Planetary team was on the hunt for a rogue metahuman who was warping reality around him. As reality started to unravel around them, they encounter the Batman in his various incarnations through the years from Golden Age to Adam West. This was the perfect story for Cassaday to showcase his prodigious talent and he delivered. He drew Batman in his various forms, channeling great artists such as Neal Adams and Frank Miller, without losing his own artistic voice. His Dark Knight Returns Batman was beefy and scary as Miller drew him but though it had elements of Miller’s design, it was distinctively Cassaday.

Planetary is a title that should be on every comic bookshelf. I am looking for the collected edition of the entire run. An Absolute is perfect but expensive, I would be happy I could find one of the deluxe hardcovers instead.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one gets the character of Batman right, and has a couple good laughs, especially with the campy Sixties version.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a brief crossover between Warren Ellis’ team of archaeologists set on uncovering the world’s secret history, and the Batman. Planetary go to Gotham City to find a man who has escaped from a secret concentration camp where his parents were murdered and horrible experiments conducted on him, and discover who was behind this. The man’s abilities enable him to jump between parallel universes and as Planetary are taken along with him, they notice the Batman undergo some startling changes too.

The book is brief at 48 pages but an enjoyable romp for fans of Planetary. It helps if you’re a Batman fan as well as Batman undergoes visual changes going from 90s Batman to 00s Batman to 60s Batman to 80s Batman, each time looking different as he is drawn in the style of a certain era by a certain artist.

It’s not a bad read but all too brief and really only serves to have Planetary and Batman meet rather than go through a particularly satisfying adventure. John Cassaday’s artwork though continues to be a revelation.

The deluxe edition includes the entire script for the story as written by Warren Ellis but that’s it. It looks nice in a shiny sleeve and hardback but it’s hardly deluxe.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually a second read for me, having read and own the original. The Planetary team travels through alternate realities meeting various versions of the Dark Knight. That's really it. There isn't a mystery they team-up together to solve, only a minor amount of conflict between them. The plus I think is just seeing Cassaday get to draw different versions of Batman.

I had forgotten how short it was too. Half of the deluxe edition (which is already thin compared to some others) is the story and the other half is the full script.

I'd say this is necessary for Planetary completists but will probably be a disappointment for most others. While it's cool the length of it and lack of a real story keeps me from giving it more than 3 stars.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts off a little familiar and a little mysterious - the Planetary gang with their usual tensions, up against a town we all know but don't quite know how it's going to be presented. Ellis' take on Gotham is razor-sharp. Encounter the villain...

Then "bat man" shows up to take care of the villain. In the most jarringly different ways possible. Ellis & Cassaday show us all the most extremely different iterations of Batman that we remember (and one they predicted before we even saw it), in ways that illustrate just how ridiculous and exaggerated the character's been over the years. "men dressed as fetish bats" mad me laugh embarrassingly loud, in context.

Ellis finally gives us a little nuanced insight into how Batman copes with his living nightmare. Cassaday gives us such a grand picture of how beautiful various Batmen could be.

A fun little side-trip.

[James Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warren Ellis’s epic storyline, the epic art of the late, great John Cassaday, a multiverse’s worth of Batmen, and a tight, compelling script - an all-time classic.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 3 out of 5]

You actually have Planetary (and/or The Authority) to thank for the MCU. The Ultimates, from the Ultimate version of Marvel’s superheroes, were the Avengers of that line, and introduced the Planetary/Authority version of the group, the “prestige” version. This was when Image was finally bothering to rewrite its image as strictly image-first, and so it found someone like Warren Ellis, and let him loose. This is also when it began to shake loose the firm hold superheroes still had on its publishing line. Planetary was the Authority without the superheroes. It was a superhero group without costumes. It went on big adventures. As exhibited in this graphic novel, it basically functioned as too cool for the room. Punctuated by doing this opposite Batman, who in careless hands is himself depicted that way. So that’s cool.

What’s even more mind boggling is that aside from that, Ellis depicts Batman as incapable of figuring out the situation. This can only happen because the entire concept of Planetary would otherwise fall apart. So this version(s) of Batman is otherwise boiled down to the origin. Which is still the character who actually resolves the problem. Not even the group Ellis literally created and stars in this thing.

There are readers out there who consider Planetary, and the original version of the Authority, as a high water mark in comics lore. They don’t even particularly care that the WildC.A.T.s had a period during this where they were more or less at the same creative level. Ellis was a god to them. Then of course bad things were found out about him, and he went away. I was never particularly into him. The thing I loved (Supreme: Blue Rose) was predictably overlooked by everyone else. I don’t really care if his fans think Night on Earth accurately reflects Planetary’s legacy. If it does, then this dismissive review stands. If it doesn’t, then it’s a waste of time anyway.

So there’s that.

[Jedhua · Rating 3 out of 5]

ABSOLUTE RATING: {3/5 stars}

STANDARDIZED RATING: <3/5 stars>

[Rick Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an extremely short read. It says that it is 96 pages, but the comic itself is only 48 pages long. The other half of the book is a one page synopsis of the story by writer Warren Ellis and the entire script he wrote out for the book. Even with it only being the length of a double sized comic issue, it is still worth the $5.99 I paid for it on Comixology.com during their Warren Ellis sale that is going on right now. I would be kinda pissed if I had paid full price for this though. With it being 96 pages long, I expected at least 90 pages of comic to read. Anyway, it is a Warren Ellis story so it turned out as great as I thought it would be.

Ellis created the Planetary characters for Wildstorm comics back in the 1990's. I read their books back then because I have always thought Ellis was one of the best comic writers. Even his worst stuff is better than the best produced by many other writers. While I don't think this was his best work ever, it was still great. Snow, Jakita, and Drummer all travel to their world's version of Gotham in search for a serial killer that is the son of a guy that metahuman experimentation was done on. Batman doesn't exist in their universe, but when they get to Gotham, they are met by 2 local Planetary branch officers who are Dick Grayson and the Joker. (That was a nice touch by the way.) They are soon pointed in the right direction towards finding their fugitive. Upon finding him, something is triggered within him that causes himself and the Planetary team to shift to a different universe.

In this different universe, they meet Batman who is also hunting down this killer. Jakita fights Batman to keep him occupied while Snow and Drummer track down the villain. Things shift again and Batman now looks Adam West from the TV series and the world is colored different. Things keep shifting and along the way the Planetary team gets to meet many different incarnations of Batman ranging from the original 1930's look to the Frank Miller version to the gray and blue version from the 1970's and 1980's. I bet John Cassaday had a ball getting to draw all of these different versions of Batman within one book. Each version is jarringly different when put in the order that Cassaday and Ellis did.

Cassaday's art is in an extremely ultra thin lined style. In certain places I didn't like how some of the faces look, but on the rest of the pages they look fine and so does everything else in the book. His style isn't my favorite style of comic art, but it does look much better than a lot of the art out there. The colors used by David Baron really help Cassaday's art. Each universe that they jump to has its own coloring that makes it stand out from the others. Too many times have I read a Batman book where the colorist just went completely overboard with the use of black and hid too much of the art. Baron does an exceptional job of using browns, grays, and other tones to keep the darker scenes dark, but not obscured. Then, there is the character Snow. He is pale skinned with white hair and a solid white suit. He is the polar opposite to any of the versions of Batman.

In conclusion, I'd have to rate the writing 4 stars and the art 4.5 stars. That makes this a 4.25 star overall book. Sure, I've read better, and longer, stories by Warren Ellis. I'm still really glad I read this one though. If you're a fan of Ellis and/or his Planetary books, this is a MUST read. Even if you don't really like Planetary or don't have any clue what Planetary is about, it's worth a read for those that like Batman. All my life I've the saying "good things come in small packages". This book definitely fits that saying.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were three Planetary one-shot stories made that are not part of the Planetary canon, and this one's [1] by far the most interesting (the other two are Planetary/JLA: Terra Occulta and Planetary/The Authority: Ruling the World), and [2] the only one to feature art by the series' regular artist John Cassaday.

In this story, Dick Grayson is an agent of Planetary. Jasper, his assistant, has an uncanny (and intentional) resemblance to Joker. Ellis and Cassaday have fun using the different iterations of Batman, from Adam West's campy version to Frank Miller's "Balls Rad" Dark Knight. The "mystery" the Planetary trio are investigating fits perfectly within the regular series' tone & mood, and references, ironically, the merging of universes that "Events" and "Reboots" cause (lastest case in point: Flashpoint and the New 52, which merged the regular DCU with the Wildstorm Universe!), and their impact on characters inhabiting these universes. Very deep!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not much up to date when it comes to Planetary, but what I saw from this book is that it seems worthwhile for me to check up on.

Warren Ellis manages to give a good story even for those of us that aren't familiar with Planetary.
That the story revolves more around the Batman is a plus, even though the Planetary team are what threads it all together. I liked the appeareance and integration of Planetary's version of Dick Grayson and "Jasper" in the first chapter.

The story is good, but it never would have worked without the talent of it's artist, John Cassaday. He manages to bring the different variations of Batman perfectly to the page. He changes Batman's appearance as well as his behavior with what seems with little effort (though' I'm sure ALOT of effort went into this), matching that of the different "eras" of the Batman to a "T".

My only dissapointment, and this is why this gets a 4-star instead of a 5, is that it's way too short. I'm sure this story could have been padded up to an additional 20-pages had they wanted to. Still, I guess what they say about good things coming in small packages could apply. But, like so many good things, you're left wanting for more. Maybe it IS time I checked out this Planetary series after all.

[Hone Haapu · Rating 5 out of 5]

WARNING: To fully get the most out of this issue you must be a Bats fan and have a working knowledge of the Planetary series.

Loved it. What stood out for me was the exploration of Batman's changing psyche. He meets the Planetary team as they work to capture a dimension hopping crazed youth. In one of these dimensions they meet 'The Batman' who also wants his slice of justice from their prey. However, all in sundry keep hoping through these dimensions and it's here we meet different incarnations of The Batman and their respective personalities. And lets just say that the 'Adam West' style Bats deals with the situation very differently to the Frank Miller one.

[Johnathon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb crossover that finds the Planetary team in Gotham City, only to encounter the Dark Knight himself due to some dimensional mishaps. Ellis's writing is superb, especially in depicting Batman in his various incarnations, which is matched by John Casaday's gorgeous art, who does every version of the Dark Knight brilliantly. Plus, the story truly gets to why Batman does what he does, which is an emotional gut punch in itself. A great read for Batman and Planetary fans.

[Grg · Rating 3 out of 5]

About half way through it gets pretty interesting, but nowhere near as good as the main Planetary books.

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was superb! Now I want to read the main series again. And some Batman stuff too. If you want supernatural themes, humor, fighting and great art, look no further.

The Planetary team are searching for a man named John Black in Gotham City. He is the son of a City Zero experiment subject. His powers can warp the immediate area around him to match alternate universes. When the team finds him, he triggers his power - he has little control over it - and transports a chunk out of an alternate universe into this one. Batman will get in their way.

Though Batman in several iterations gets in the team's way to try to capture Black, in the end he understands that Snow and Jakita are better suited to handle Black's volatile powers. He does figure out that Black's power is triggered by stress. He uses Black's losing his parents as a parallel to his own past history and helps Black cope with the traumatizing memory.

[Brandon Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been catching up on The Authority and Planetary including some of the crossovers. Authority/Lobo was ok, Planetary/JLA was solid but this one easily is the best of the crossovers I have read.

It is less a Planetary story and more using their ideas to write a clever, fun, sad, memory lane tale of Batman.

Snow, Wagner, and Drummer come to Gotham, then to Gotham, and then Gotham again. This keeps happening and we see several versions of The Batman from different eras and times. All based around a man who was driven insane in the Planetary's dimension.

This is a great Batman story, seeing his reactions to Planetary based on which Batman we are dealing with is exciting, fun, and many times clever and funny.

Highly recommend this book.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collects Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth issue #1

I read this book because it was recommended to me by my friend, Rick, and he knows my likes and dislikes. He was right, I did like the story, although I wish it was longer. This book tells the short story of Batman meeting a mysterious team called Planetary. I've never read any of the "Planetary" comic books, so I didn't have a lot of background with them, but this collection did make me want to check out more stories featuring them.

In this multiversal story, different versions of Batman interact with the Planetary team, and together they pursue someone whose powers are out of control.

[Đenis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batmana mám rád, tu je možné stretnúť sa s rôznymi verziami Batmana, od pyžamového policajta až po masívny stroj na zabíjanie. Planetary vyšetruje záhadné vraždy v Gotham city, ktoré má na svedomí chlapík, ktorý nezvláda svoju schopnosť prenášať svoje okolie do alternatívnej reality. V normálom Planetary svete Batman v Gotham city neexistuje, tak je trojka prekvapená po presune inam jeho zásahom. Chlapík nezvláda nervy a tak ich prenáša každú chvíľu do iného Gotham city, kde si to Jakita rozdá s Batmanmi.

[Venus Maneater · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first time I encountered Planetary in their own book, instead of short cameos in other TPBs. I like it! Love the characters and the way Ellis manages to introduce them fully in such a short span.

Batman is amazing in all his ways. A little campy at times and I'm not entirely a fan of the Cassaday design. It must be the ears.

But Batman meshes well with the Planetary crew. The script at the very end was a great bonus, I'd love to see that in more comics.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

And that was a pretty good crossover. A good Planetary story. A good Batman story. But part of that has to be, I know who Batman is (doesn't everyone?). This isn't a great story, it doesn't break new ground. But it makes good use of what is available. And it takes advantage of the thinness between worlds.

[Xavier Marturet · Rating 4 out of 5]

That's an interesting experiment of Ellis: Planetary is travelling along different realities, and this allows us to meet different versions of Batman.

Not bad. Funny. But if you're looking for the habitual Planetary's drama, forget it.

[Jorge Schumacher · Rating 2 out of 5]

A história é bem curta e um tanto sem graça. O roteiro da mesmo foi incluído como extra na edição, apenas para aumentar o número de páginas e inflacionar o preço, já que nada acrescenta para o leitor.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

PLANETARY / Batman – Night on Earth
“Who are you, Sherlock Holmes?” – Jakita
“Hey. You hired me because you wanted a detective.” – Snow ..
“There’s some kind of transvestite hooker running down the alleyway at us.” – Drums {observing the 1960s Batman}

[Drake Zappa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up as a batman fan wanting to give planetary a try as I've been looking to get into the series. I was not disappointed. The art and writing is great and I loved the different interpretations of Batman as I'm always a sucker for alternate Batmen.

[Ostrava · Rating 5 out of 5]

A goofy but perfectly serviceable Batman story. Loved how Batman still managed to be on top of the situation while coming across as reasonable. Also, the fan-service with the jumping realities was well done, and a good use of the Planetary continuity.

Just fun all around 👍🏻

[Tess Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

5- I absolutely love this one shot! It's one of the most memorable and fun Batman stories of all time, and my favorite from the Planetary series.

[Cavak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Planetary. I like Batman and his many variations. I know it's fanservice. I'll take it.

[Atef Attia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Idée sympa mais qui devient vite lassante et un prétexte servant uniquement à faire défiler les différentes versions de Batman. Moué.

[Edward Petersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little romp. I don't know anything about Planetary, but I'm now intrigued...

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every panel.