Batman by grant morrison omnibus

It works great for something like Doom Patrol, where the absurdity is the point, but for the story that ends up being told here it ends up being distracting more than anything - a layer of needless confusion over typical Batman story proceedings. So much of the writing here is that off-kilter, highly-technical surrealism that Morrison often trades in. The mystery ends up being not that interesting and robs the narrative of the climactic emotional moments that it needs. Unfortunately they also indulge in some of their worst impulses here, exploring a concept that's fun in theory - Batman racing through time as he uncovers the hidden gaps in his family history - but exhausting in practice.

Morrison is so good at bouncing characters off each other and making good Bat-family tales - there are some really great character moments in this volume and that first chunk of Batman and Robin particularly is super strong because of it.