Spike Spiegel
Member
What is "Batman R.I.P." and why should I care?
Basically, "Batman R.I.P." will be the culmination of nearly two years of Grant Morrison as the writer of Batman. Every story told, every character introduced, every event that unfolded in his run thus far has supposedly been leading up to this storyline... a storyline that, when all is said and done, will have "changed things... forever" in the world of the Dark Knight.
How, exactly? Well, I'm not sure; there's been a lot of speculation (Batman dies/is reborn as a New God, lulz), random hints here and there from Didio and the gang, but nothing tangible. What we do know is that behind Morrison's run has been an exploration of Bruce Wayne's psychological state; how time spent being Batman, all these adventures and experiments to understand the minds of lunatics like the Joker may have adversely affected the Dark Knight's psyche. Presumably, "Batman R.I.P." will see these unresolved issues exploited, resulting in a "worst day" scenario for Batman that he may not emerge from unscathed... or at all.
And why should you care? Two reasons: 1) it's Batman! Apart from a few oddballs, the majority of GAF loves Batman, and this storyline promises to be the biggest Batman story in years. And 2) Grant Morrison doesn't mess around. The guy's a shaping force at DC Comics right now, notorious for groundbreaking sh*t and for not pulling his punches when it comes to making changes. Plus, the man's not going anywhere; Morrison will be writing Batman for the forseeable future according to himself and Didio. Which means all of this is just Morrison setting the stage for his take on at least the next few years of Batman.
Solicitations
Here are the official solicitations for issues of Batman that will make up the "Batman R.I.P." arc, updated as released in the months ahead. Also, given the world-shattering nature of this story, there will be tie-in issues throughout the entire lineup of Bat-related comics (Detective, Robin, Nightwing, etc.). These are tie-ins only, however; the main story will be featured exclusively in Batman.
Regarding Final Crisis, Morrison has said that a short story arc following "Batman R.I.P." will tie in to that series, but right now it's unclear whether one takes place before, during, or after the other. Heck, Bruce Wayne may not even be the Batman by the time Final Crisis rolls out.
EDIT: Here's the checklist for "Batman R.I.P.":
Batman #676-681
Detective Comics #846-850
Nightwing #147-150
Robin #175-176
Batman and the Outsiders #11-13
Story Thus Far...
As mentioned before, everything that's happened in Morrison's run thus far relates to "Batman R.I.P." somehow. In fact, Morrison's exact words were as follows:
So the question is, what's come before now? And while I can't provide a complete issue-by-issue, panel-by-panel breakdown of Morrison's run, I can give a general overview starting with #655 and hope that that helps.
Batman #655 "Batman & Son" - Grant Morrison's run on Batman starts with Gordon getting gassed by the Joker, who then gets shot in the face by a dying Batman imposter. And that's in the first five or six pages. Wow. It only gets more wild from there; the introduction of Jezebel Jet, ninja Man-Bats on the attack, Talia al Ghul returns and little Damian Wayne almost killing Robin for his father's love. Some crazy sh*t, but how will it tie into RIP?
#656
#657
#658
Batman #659 "Grotesk" - written by John Ostrander, I'm fairly certain this storyline has squat to do with RIP. At least, I hope it doesn't; a forgettable revenge story starring the Russian mob, Japanese yakuza, and a disfigured villain/vigilante who burns his victims. Yawn.
#660
#661
#662
Batman #663 "The Clown At Midnight" - and now for something completely different. Morrison returns with an unusual approach, telling this month's standalone story almost entirely in prose, with only a handful of illustrations. Someone is killing off members of Joker's old gang, and when Batman goes looking for answers he finds them at Arkham, where the Joker is being reborn...
Batman #664 "Three Ghosts of Batman" - remember Jezebel Jet? Well, she's back in this issue, and it looks like she's trying to get closer to Bruce Wayne. And not in the usual, bimbo-of-the-week "get into his pants, then his trust fund" way; she's actually taken an interest in him. That can't end well. Oh, and remember the fake Batman from Morrison's first issue? Yeah, well... it turns out he wasn't the only one; there's another imposter out there, and this one's killing prostitutes.
Batman #665 "The Black Casebook" - Batman's near-fatal encounter with the second imposter dredges up old memories of a long-forgotten case, of three visions of the Bat passed off as a hallucination but now undeniably real. As Batman races to meet Robin in a rematch against second imposter, he wonders about the connections between the fake Batmen, his strange visions... and the Gotham PD. All this, plus romance blooms between Bruce Wayne and Jezebel Jet, much to Talia's dismay.
Batman #666 "Batman in Bethlehem" - in the not too distant future, Damian Wayne is the Batman, following in his father's footsteps in a world that grows worse with each passing day. Feared by the public and at odds with Commissioner (Barbara) Gordon, Damian carries on the legacy of the Batman... and in this issue, he takes on a pretender to his throne -- the third Batman imposter, the so-called "Devil Batman."
Batman #667 "The Island of Mister Mayhew" - attending a meeting of the International Club of Heroes, Batman and Robin find themselves caught up in a murder mystery that ultimately could claim their own lives as well. After trapping them on a billionaire's private island, someone is killing off members of the Club, men inspired by Batman to don costumes and fight crime. Is the killer one of their own? How will they escape the island? And who is the mastermind behind this attack, the mysterious Black Glove?
#668
#669
Batman #670 "Lazarus Rising" - this issue serves as a prelude to the whole 'Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul' storyline, one of those crossover events spanning different Bat-related titles for several months. And since I didn't buy those other titles, I have no idea what went on outside of this series. All I know is it involved some new villain called the Sensei, Nanda Parbat, Talia and Damian, a mystical suit of Bat-armor, and (of course) the return of the Demon's Head. Someone else fill in the blanks.
#671
Batman #672 "Space Medicine" - Bruce Wayne's night of basejumping for charity with Jezebel Jet is interrupted by the arrival of the third and most dangerous Batman imposter. The "Devil Batman" has come home to the Gotham PD, and taken Commissioner Gordan hostage to lure out the Dark Knight. Defeated, injured, and at the Devil's mercy, Batman goes on the ultimate mind trip as old memories come flooding back -- memories of Joe Chill, Bat-Mite, rituals in Nanda Parbat, isolation experiments, and origins of the three Batman imposters. Zur En Arrh.
#673
#674
Batman #675 "The Fiend with Nine Eyes" - where is the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Jezebel Jet headed next? On a dinner date with her would-be beau, Jezebel asks that very same question, and the answer received from her date is not to her liking. But before their romance can end in typical "Wayne Girl" fashion, something unexpected happens... something that changes Jezebel's view of Bruce entirely, and could ultimately change both their lives forever.
And now you're caught up.
News and Updates
Here's a sampling of news stories and links from Newsarama concerning Batman, Grant Morrison, DC and "Batman R.I.P." Scour them for clues at your liesure.
Talking Batman with Grant Morrison
Dan Didio on "Batman R.I.P."
NYCC '08: Dan Didio talks Batman R.I.P. with Mike Martz
NYCC '08: Dan Didio talks Batman R.I.P. and Trinity
NYCC '08: The Grant Morrison Panel
NYCC '08: DC Countdown to Final Crisis Panel
NYCC '08: DC Nation Panel
NYCC '08: DC's (final) Final Crisis Panel
ADDED 05/06/08 CBR All Star Grant Morrison II: Batman
ADDED 05/07/08 Newsarama's 5-page preview of Batman #676
ADDED 05/12/08 Newsarama talks Batman R.I.P. with Tony Daniel
ADDED 05/19/08 DC Comics August '08 Solicitations, Batman #680
ADDED 05/24/08 Comics Continuum preview of Batman #677
My guess?
Barry Allen becomes the new Batman.
Part 1 hits stands on May 14th!
