A couple of weeks ago, DC released a four-page unlettered preview of "Batman and Robin" #14 by Grant Morrison and Frazer Irving, and I promptly flipped right out about how awesome it is. Today, though,they've gone a step further, as the Source has put up five new lettered pages from the same issue, and seriously? They're even better than I thought.

Check them out with my commentary after the jump!

Page 1: Not much has changed here since there's no dialogue to add to these pages -- although "The Triumph of Death" is certainly a fittingly ominous title -- but it's worth noting that in the time since the preview, someone's gone back and fixed the error in the last panel: Alfred is now setting the clock to 10:47 (rather than 9:47), the moment of Thomas and Martha Wayne's death, which is how the secret passage to the Batcave behind the clock.





Page 2: I confess, I did not think for a second that Damian would hesitate to inflict brain damage.

The big note here, though, comes from the last panel: At the end of "Batman R.I.P," the Joker vows to come after the members of the Black Glove...



...and over the course of "Batman and Robin," that's exactly what he's done in the guise of Oberon Sexton. All the other members from that story -- of which the current "Batman and Robin" arc is a sequel of sorts, according to Morrison -- are dead, save for the last one, the Black Glove.

It's pretty fitting that with Batman dead, the Joker would turn his attentions not to someone he thinks of as an impostor (Dick Grayson), but to hunting down the man who "cursed" the cape and cowl and essentially took his favorite toy away.





Page 3: Never let it be said that I don't admit my mistakes, because yeah, I had this one totally wrong. The toxin isn't in the Joker's blood,but rather in his nail polish. Morrison's been drawing attention to the Joker's fingernails for quite some time (he paints them red and black, the recurring colors throughout his role in Morrison's run on "Batman," especially "R.I.P.") and now we know why.

This could also be a nod to the Joker's poisoned lipstick in "The Dark Knight Returns." What can I say? Dude straight up loves his cosmetics.

Page 4: And here we've got the Joker and his plans coming together. Again, in "R.I.P.," the Joker talks about how no matter how big his plans get, Batman always draws a box around them, but in the absence of Bruce Wayne to be one step ahead of him, he's one step ahead of everyone else. It's pretty reminiscent of "The Dark Knight;" everything he does is a step in a plan that never ends.

Page 5: I don't really have any commentary here, this is just pretty awesome.

"Batman and Robin" #14, by Grant Morrison and Frazer Irving, is out this week. Unfortunately, it's delayed a day here in the US, but you lucky Canadians still get it on Wednesday. Just don't spoil it for those of us down here, okay?