Batman R.I.P.

[Majic Walrus]

Are we talking about the last issue of RIP or the most recent issue of Batman?

 

[Saint]

The most recent issue.

 

[Majic Walrus]

Okay. I thought I missed out on something.

 

[FCEEVIPER]

Pretyy funny article...

So, Yeah: Batman's Dead, or Something


Superman carrying dead Batman Batman: Well, he sure looks dead, doesn't he? DC Comics


by Glen Weldon

In comics, always bet on "or something."

You won't go wrong, particularly when the putative corpse in question is -- as in the case before us -- a multiple-franchise-spawning chunk o' intellectual property whose heavily marketed multimedia presence has infiltrated mass culture to an absurd, and in some cases profoundly unflattering, degree.

In superhero circles, see, death is a chronic condition. It's inconvenient, yes -- but treatable.

Case in point: Last month, DC Comics once again sent one of its most recognizable characters into the Great Beyond ... or somewhere thereabouts.

In the Caped Crusader's absence, DC will launch Battle for the Cowl, a multi-issue series in which Robin, Batgirl and the rest of extended Bat-family... well, battle. For the right to wear the pointy ears.

"Battle for the Cowl." Hey, it beats what they called a very similar plotline back in the 90's, when Bruce Wayne literally broke his back fighting crime.

(He, um, got better. But for a while a Bat-vacuum existed that nature thoroughly abhorred. I wasn't too crazy about it either, frankly, as it allowed this cheesy, "TO THE EXTREME!", quintessentially '90s chump of a character -- your garden-variety brainwashed, gene-spliced, French-Catholic-assassin in fire armor -- to take over the Bat-books for a time.)

Back then, DC editors ushered in the guy's doofy stint as interim-Batman by asking the question: "Who Will Inherit ... the Mantle of the Bat?"

"Mantle of the Bat." Doesn't really sing, does it? Not sure why. Maybe it's the faux-gravitas of it, which just comes off sounding ineluctably dumb. Or maybe it's because the word "mantle" puts you in mind of things that stick to rocks.

After the jump: The facts, such as they are, behind the Dark Knight's Dubious Dirtnap.

DC is fond of saying that they've been building up to this shattering turn of events for years. Mmmyeah.

I've been over and over the last few years, and dang if I can find a through-line. Seems like a lot more like the steady accretion of weirdness, when you take a step back.

The Year: 2004
The Tale: Identity Crisis
Batman grows deeply affronted when he realizes that his fellow Justice Leaguers have robbed him of a particularly troubling memory -- a memory that's altogether too squicky to go into here. Let's just say I kinda wish they'd mind-wiped me as well, while they were at it.

Oh, okay, but I did warn you:

It involves one of his colleagues getting brutally raped by a D-list super-villain.

....

("Hey Kids! Comics!")

Let's ... let's just move on.

The Year: 2005
The Tale: The OMAC Project
The already paranoid Bats gets steadily, fabulously moreso, and creates a spy satellite to monitor his fellow heroes. Said satellite, natch, becomes self-aware and takes over the world.

Batman: "....Oops."

The Year: 2006
The Tale: Infinite Crisis
Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman grow exasperated with other, decide to break up the band. This promptly leads to big, cataclysmic badness across several (okay, infinite) universes, until the three reunite. Cue hugs, Skittles, karaoke.

The Year(s):2006-07
The Tale(s): "52", "One Year Later"
Batman decides that, because driving the world to the cusp of Armaggedon is exhausting work, he needs to go off somewhere to clear his head. He takes young Tim "Robin" Drake and Dick "Nightwing" Grayson with him on a ... round-the-world cruise. (Quiet, you.)

At one point during this year away from Gotham, Batman seals himself in a Himalayan cave for 49 days to undergo a grueling Buddhist ritual of psychic death and rebirth.

Tim and Dick, sensible lads, opt instead for the hot-stone massage package.

The Year: 2008
The Tale: Batman, RIP
Now things get weird.

Batman returns to Gotham, has some adventures, then finds himself targeted by a mysterious secret society that may or may not be run by his long-thought-dead father. To combat their protracted psychological torture, Batman reverts to an alternate personality that he ... came up with ... early in his career...

Or something; this part gets murky.

Seems to be a sort of "In Case of Psychological Torture, Break Brain" kind of deal. Which may have something to do with that Himalayan ritual. Again: Murky.

As said personality, Batman roams the streets of Gotham wacked out on goofballs. He hallucinates, rants, doesn't shave. Expresses a desire to see Hosea win Top Chef.

Gets into a big fighty-fight with Maybe-Dad, whereupon their helicopter crashes into a river. Later, Batman's cape and cowl wash up on the river bank. No Bat-body is found.

The Year(s): 2008-09
The Tale: Final Crisis
The Bat-body is found. Turns out, Batman has somehow been abducted by the DC universe's resident all-powerful despot, just before the copter hit the water. This particular all-powerful despot possesses, as is the peculiar wont of all-powerful comic book despots, zappy eye-powers. Also: thigh boots.

Eventually he turns those zappy eye-powers on Batman, and voila: the Bat-corpse, en flamb??. Heroes mourn. Villains exult.

We readers note, however, that said all-powerful despot employed a peculiar vintage of zappy eye-power on the cowled crimefighter, one that seems not to kill, but to instead make its victim live an infinite succession of hopeless, utterly defeated lives.

[Cheap joke about Paterson, New Jersey redacted.]

On the final page of the final issue, we abruptly cut to: a Stone-Age cave, where a mysterious bearded figure draws a familiar bat-symbol upon the wall...

And that, it seems, is where we stand, going into Battle for the Cowl -- with a Batman-free Gotham, and a hero trapped in the distant past.

As it turns out, though, where we stand is on ground that's awfully familiar.

After all, Batman just got back from that round-the-world walkabout of his, what, a year ago? And just a few years before that, Aquaman found himself trapped in the distant, prehistoric past.

I'll wait and see what Battle for the Cowl brings, but I can't shake the feeling that, with Bruce Wayne stuck in what looks to be the time of the Cro-Magnon, it's all going to seem a lot like re-inventing the wheel.

(See what I did there?)

 

[JoeCat]

Who is this??

Spoiler

Sorry, I have not been keeping up with the stories lately...

 

[Batman]

That's Libra, one of the main villains of Final Crisis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libra_(DC_Comics)

 

[JoeCat]

That's Libra, one of the main villains of Final Crisis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libra_(DC_Comics)

Thanks t:

 

[The Guard]

Finally read this. I was kind of underwhelmed. To be sure, there are some great moments and overall the idea has merit, but for the most part, this is just a mess. Connecting everything just "because" isn't clever. There were five, six really good moments, and the rest just feels recycled from other sources. Was really disappointed not to see more emotional exploration of the Bat family's reaction to what was happening to Bruce.

 

[Saint]

Pretyy funny article...

The part I found funny was that the guy writing the article didn't read the actual book. If he had, he would have known that the Zur-En-Arrh personality wasn't created "early in Batman's career," as he claims, but rather following the Thogal ritual during the OYL gap. This was addressed directly in the story; we see Bruce making this decision in a flashback, after having become aware of irregularities in his psyche as a result of the Thogal ritual.

Second, he would have known that Batman was not captured "before the copter hit the water." Again, this is addressed directly in the book: Batman survived the crash and went on to the events of Final Crisis (where we see him captured). It seems asinine to right silly articles about books you obviously have only had summarized to you (poorly summarized, at that). I don't understand the goal of such an exercise.

Perhaps the author would not find the story so "murky" if he had bothered to read it.

 

[victor hugo]

finally read this. got a bit off the rails at the end but i really enjoyed it. i think it was mis marketed a bit but it really felt like a vintage batman story. some real moments of greatness.

 

[JTStarkiller]

I need to go back and re-read it soon, but is it clear that Bruce created the Zur-En-Arrh personality? I was under the impression Hurt did, but I'm more in love with the idea that Bruce created it in case something happened to him, and placed the phrase all over in order to trigger the personality.

 

[Nepenthes]

go back and read the bit with Bruce slumped in front of the mirror in the Zur En Rah rags. Batmite explains pretty clearly how Bruce created it himself. Hurt only picked up on the phrase and uses it as a keyword since he thought it indicated some kind of weakness. But it was a trap, almost like a mental tripwire that Bruce had in place already. Hurt just took the bait

 

[Drz]

So it seems DC is releasing "Batman: The Black Casebook" that will have all the batman issues that inspired Grant Morrrison to write R.I.P

 

[JTStarkiller]

Thanks, Nepenthes. Read that part again, and it makes a lot more sense now.

 

[Bnightwing]

I am not reading any spoilers, but could someone please send me a message of any Graphic Novels I need to get before I get 'Batman R.I.P' because now I have money so I want to get it ,and I was just needing to know if there was any stories before or after.

 

[Nepenthes]

You need Batman & Son and The Black Glove tpbs, they're the direct set-up to the arc. other books like Nightwing and Robin have the RIP banner but the stories don't really tie together at all. you don't need Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul tpb either.

 

[Dirt Like Me]

I picked up The Black Casebook trade today. I haven't read all of it, but I've seen enough to recommend it. If you liked Morrison's run on Batman, I think there's a lot in The Black Casebook that you'll enjoy. I knew that Morrison ran with certain elements from some relatively obscure, sci-fi Batman stories from the 1950s, but I was surprised by how many things from those stories made it into his story arc. I still have my problems with how R.I.P. was resovled, but this trade gave me a new respect for the whole run.

A couple of examples, spoilered because they're the type of details that people might really enjoy discovering for themselves:

Spoiler

Nearly every line that Dr. Hurt speaks in Batman #674 ("Joe Chill in Hell") is directly taken from the "Robin Dies at Dawn" story from the 1950s. I got a real sense of deja vu while reading "Robin Dies at Dawn", because I recognized the dialogue. Because both stories are about messing with people's minds, I thought that was somehow appropriate.​

The Batman of Zurr En Arrh costume (right down to the ripped sleeves) and the Bat-Radia were taken from a (ridiculous) sci-fi story. I knew that Zurr En Arrh had been used in the past, but I didn't realize the extent of it's impact on Morrison.​

I'd also never read the story of the first Bat-suit that Dr. Hurt steals, but that's included here.​

If you didn't read, or didn't like R.I.P., this might not be the book for you. But if your curiousity was piqued by R.I.P.and you've got $18 burning a hole in your pocket, it might be worth checking out. If you really liked R.I.P., I think buying this one is a no-brainer.

 

[ultrasuperduckman]

I'm really enjoyed it. I think I'm going to enjoy the new Batman & Robin even more though.

 

[Drz]

Thanks for the info. Definatly gonna order it now.

 

[Bnightwing]

I read and have Batman R.I.P a lil confused but should I get these comics also?

Spoiler

http://www.overstock.com/Books-Movi...words=batman black glove&searchtype=HP_Header

http://www.overstock.com/Books-Movi...-Paperback/2882054/product.html?sec_iid=33969

http://www.amazon.com/Final-Crisis-...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246482829&sr=8-1

 

[Figs]

I read and have Batman R.I.P a lil confused but should I get these comics also?

Spoiler

http://www.overstock.com/Books-Movi...words=batman black glove&searchtype=HP_Header

http://www.overstock.com/Books-Movi...-Paperback/2882054/product.html?sec_iid=33969

http://www.amazon.com/Final-Crisis-...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246482829&sr=8-1

The Black Glove and Batman & Son you should definitely read as part of the R.I.P. arc.

 

[Texas Zombie]

Hey anyone know any good noline comic stores besides, mile high or ebay? I stopped reading for a while and need to pick up some of RIP. My local store's dont have them.

 

[Cain]

I need The Black Casebook in my life even though I already have a couple of those stories "Superman of Planet-X" and "Robin Dies At Dawn" in other collections it still seems like something worth having.

 

[SpideyZERO]

Finally got my hands on the Black Casebook trade. I love the cover, make the book feels old and like a case book. Enjoy the introduction by Morrison as well. Too bad there's no 'comments' by Batman on each case, it would make it feel more interesting and real...

So far I have only read 2 chapters. It was a different experience to see such fun and um, ridiculous Batman story? This is my first time reading the old Batman story, and the stories are kinda fun actually

Recommened

 

[Ace of Knaves]

What's going on in Blackest Night? And how, if at all, does it tie into RIP? I know Black Hand dug up Bruce's grave and is bringing back a load of dead heroes. But I thought that Bruce wasn't actually dead? Just in another dimension or something?

Sorry if those questions are completely off the mark