Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Bruce Wayne is back from the dead.
Bruce Wayne is Batman.
Dick Grayson was Batman in Bruce's stead.
But Dick Grayson is still Batman.
And they're not the only ones.

Upon Bruce's return trip (more or less quantum-leaping from one past/possible life to the next thanks to the Omega Effect Darksied's eye beams do to people), he once more faces off against The Black Hand's William Hurt (the guy that spread lies about his parent's lifestyle, blackmailed Commissioner Gordon to look the GCPD was funding Batman, took over Arkham Asylum and such in an effort to destroy Bruce).

During his little quantum-leaping experience of past and alternate Batmans (Cave Batman, Pirate Batman, Cowboy Batman, Private Detective Bruce) Bruce learns of the history of The Black Hand, the truth behind Hurt's lies and premonitions of a larger threat facing the Earth.

So after clearing the name of his parents and choosing to save Alfred's life over pursuing Hurt (which leads to Hurt just getting killed and buried by The Joker, which is always what happens when there's anyone that takes his #1 baddie slot, basically), Bruce decides that to take on the upcoming threat (and whatever it entails) that Batman is going public, Batman will be expanded and franchised.

The Justice League of Batmans? Nope.
Expanding Batman's Outsiders? Nah, on their own now.
The Bat Lantern Corp? Not quite.

Batman Incorporated.



This is the answer to saving Commissioner Gordon's hide, Bruce comes out and says that he's (not Iron Man) been funding Batman all these years because he believed in Batman's crusade. Criminals killed my parents and all that so when he heard about Batman.

And now I'm sure this will give Lucius Fox the excuse to play that line from the Dark Knight if anyone insinuates Bruce is Batman.

So Bruce is now recruiting more Batmen. And with recruiting comes the excuse to bring girlfriend. Catwoman along as his sidekick (don't call her his toy wonder) because she's helpful with stealing things from bad guys. Dick and Damian are still the Batman and Robin of Gotham City. Stephanie Brown's Batgirl is being shipped out to England. Superhacker Barbara Gordon (aka Oracle) is now the Batgirl of the Internets, fighting virtual cybercrime video-game style.

It begins in Batman: The Return (one-shot) and Batman Incorporated #1, which Grant Morrison will be heading up.

Batman will focus on Dick Grayson's solo exploits as Batman.
Batman: The Dark Knight will focus on Bruce Wayne's solo exploits as Batman.
Batman and Robin will continue to feature Dick Grayson and Damian
Detective Comics will have either Batman, but also other Gotham heroes.
Batwoman, being ousted from Detective Comics, will get her own comic, Batwoman.
Batman Incorporated will focus on Bruce Wayne recruiting other Bat-guys and gals for his global war on crime. .

And if that's not enough, it seems there's a Batman Beyono comic miniseries that recently got started, issue #4 pits Terry against Hush.

[Ufgt]

Re: Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

Wow. This sounds terrible. I thought Sliders Batman was bad, but this definitely takes the cake.

[Raydeus]

Re: Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

There can be only one.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

Morrison's work sounds bad in summary, but often proves to be extremely compelling in execution because he draws upon a much broader history of Batman and comics ranging from as far back as the 1950s and 60s. Seriously, there are villains that were one shots or just plain forgotten that he'll resurrect and reintegrate into new stories. There are larger themes at play here, the last time Batman tried to take crime on this scope he created Brother Eye and the OMACs, which proved to be a mistake of epic proportions (Earth-3 Luthor turned them into killing machines before and during Infinite Crisis). In fact, Bruce's return is partly why this future threat is coming and he's preparing for it.

This so far is known as the Leviathan criminal conspiracy.

ff there's one thing I'm sure about, its that Batman Incorporated will probably go on for a couple years before stopping. A project like that is something only Morrison can carry, no one else. Someone else takes that on and it will die like JLA died after Morrison had his run on it. Seriously, after Morrison stopped writing JLA in the 90s, everyone stopped reading it.

Batman and Robin needs to continue because Dick/Damian works a lot better than Bruce/Damian as Batman and Robin. Its been a real hit with fans, too. Father and Son are just too much alike, so Dick as Batman gives it a needed balance much like Bruce and Dick had in years past. Plus, this is Batman and Robin in Gotham, which has had plenty of talented writers, Morrison started this comic, but anyone could keep going with it with the mythos they have going.

Batman and Robin has been really great this last year and a half, even Bruce Wayne coming back is not good enough of a reason to break up Dick and Damian from being Batman and Robin, the chemistry is just too good between the two characters.

I like Detective Comics being more about Gotham in general since that's sort of a nod to what Detective Comics was before Batman became a popular character. They used to be stories about detectives, Batman just became the popular one. But in the current continuity you could have Harvey Bullock, The Riddler, Batwoman, Commissioner Gordon, Oracle or any number of people take on the role of detective in Gotham. Detective Comics will also have side stories featuring Gordon, so that's something.

And I do think Bruce needs his own books as Batman. I think there can be more than one. I don't think Bruce needs a "Batman" in every city, just an affiliate that can operate at a similar capacity. Right now he's trying to recruit a guy called Mr. Unknown in Japan, for example. Unknown is an original, but the villain is taken from an old Bat-Manga. Here's Morrison working his knowledge. Batman sets off to track down the oh-so-Japanese Lord Death Man.

And Lord Death Man bears a link to Leviathan in a symbol he has on his person, a japanese take on it, no less. Batman recruited Catwoman to steal from Dr. Sivana in Tokyo, which means this criminal conspiracy could be headed up by none other than Libra, who has the bible of crime and was a key figure in Final Crisis (though it was thought he was done in by Lex Luthor, no body or ashen remains were found).

This is just the start of a new Morrison rabbit hole, he loves to make them. Here's an annotated breakdown of the first issue:

'Batman, Inc.' #1: Mr. Unknown is Dead [Annotations] - ComicsAlliance | Comics culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

[Malacite]

Re: Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

(don't call her his toy wonder)

why not


And yeah I'm not sure what to make of any of this. I stopped caring about actual comics a long time ago though, and really just pay attention to the movies, animated series, and on occasion novels (I have several old batman novels that are actually very good) with regards to super heroes. That said, apart from Bruce the only other Batman I really give a damn about is Terry. Batman beyond was a lot better than I thought it would be back when it first came out and I almost miss it. At least the Justice League has him cameo from time to time. I'm surprised that show is as well done as it is (the movies have been surprisingly violent too, DC doesn't usually show blood or even violent deaths) and glad to see that the animation style from the old Batman & Superman shows is still in use (along with folks like Kevin Conroy )


Too bad Mark Hamill's pretty much done playing The Joker after doing Arkum Asylum, but then I guess you can't blame the guy. Some people just get tired of reprising the same old role, even if they are the undisputed master.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

why not

She has claws and a whip, not afraid to use them.

To put it plainly, there is a good reason for Batman to go public in his current storyline.

Half of the top-tier Batman baddies these days know who Batman is. Oh sure, The Joker, Ra's Al Ghul, The Riddler and Bane might keep their beef with Wayne on a professional level, but William Hurt, Two-Face, Hush and those in their employ regularly raid the manor and the Batcave now.

Hurt took it to the extreme even the Joker, Bane and Hush would not - they kept their war on Wayne private. Hurt blackmailed Bruce Wayne, publicily putting his parent's character in question, as well as his place in the family He forged evidence to bring down Gordon and bribed politicians to investigate. If Wayne didn't go public and attempt to clear the name of his family and the GCPD, they would all go down.

And this isn't the only hero origin DC has tweaked. Superman has had to live with the fact he's not the sole survivor of Krypton anymore (New Krypton orbits opposite of Earth in the DCU, population 100k) and now Wonder Woman's past isn't quite what she remembered it to be.

The big thing is with all these big shake-ups DC makes, unlike Marvel, they do not back down from sticking to them and keeping them as part of the history. DC might retcon, but its more of a truth being changed, when Marvel fucks up, they just plain reboot and start over.

Marvel has rebooted Spiderman twice in the last ten years. Seems like they just won't let Peter Parker move fully into adulthood for some reason.

The other nice thing about DC is if you just like Batman being Bruce Wayne, there are stories outside continuity where classic Batman, Superman and others can have more focused stories without the complexities of the monthlies and they're every bit as valid as the monthlies. If you don't like big shake-ups, DC has you covered.

[Ufgt]

Re: Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

I'll just stick to reading bads like Supergirl.

I can't afford to follow comics religiously anymore. Oh the days of living at home, now but a distant memory.

But I will agree on the DC shake ups; they tend to be permanent and a big event is actually a big event, unlike Marvel (re: Civil War, ugh).

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

Civil War happened?

No one told Spiderman! Even though he's still chums with Iron Man who talked him into that whole go-public-with-your-identity thing that got Aunt May whacked. Defying logic, Peter Parker just somehow became younger, was put back in college and is dating Gwen Stacy (who should be dead) instead of MJ.

Aunt May's not even dead now. Good as new! Its like Kingpin's goons never even put that hole in her head. Thanks Mysterio!

When Brainiac killed Johnathan Kent to get to Superman, they didn't find a way to bring him back from the dead. He's just dead, Ma Kent lives alone with Krypto to keep her company.

And if they do bring someone back, they tend to do it in a real epic way, usually employing Geoff Johns to do it. He's kinda like the DCU's clean-up hitter. He knows the entire universe like the back of his hands and there's a way to bring someone back to classic form, he's the one that usually finds the way to do it and make it sensible.

People thought it was outrageous when Jason Todd was brought back from the dead, but they handled it amazingly. He's symbolizes one of Bruce Wayne's greatest failures. And when they reworked history to bring him back, they did it in such a way that actually reinforced that Jason Todd still is one of Bruce's greatest failures. To him, the Jason Todd he knew is still dead, but he desperately wants to redeem Todd if he can.

Todd doesn't seem to want that, though.

Batman: Under the Red Hood does a decent synopsis of that story, by the way, it was recently put up on Netflix.

[Malacite]

Re: Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

The big thing is with all these big shake-ups DC makes, unlike Marvel, they do not back down from sticking to them and keeping them as part of the history. DC might retcon, but its more of a truth being changed, when Marvel fucks up, they just plain reboot and start over.

Very good point, and it's something I've always fucking hated about Marvel.

I mean fuck how many different versions of Spider Man do we need?!

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

I just think Marvel would be better off adapting some of DC's methods:

- Make Marvel a multiverse. Really, there are so many versions of Spider-man that people like, there's a place for each of them. They don't have to each have a monthly comic, but they can have one-shots they appear in from time-to time.

- Start consolidating. Give your top tier heroes lots of comics, but don't give every character their own series unless its truly warranted. Many superheroes can actually be developed within other comics, many actually do get little mini-stories within comics. The Fantastic Four can have guests, as can the Avengers and X-Men.

This is great because since I really just like Batman, I can just read Batman comics and still know what's going on with Superman, the JLA, and others. Mr. Terrific on Martian Manhunter might just show up in Gotham City to help out.

This is also epitomized by The Brave and the Bold series. Its just as superhero team-up comic. Superman goes out on a caper with Catwoman, Green Lantern and Green Arrow go on an adventure. It can be any pairing and there's no greater continuity to follow. Its a great comic for people that just want something simple.

- Stand by your writers and their decisions, don't just bend over backwards for your fans every time they don't like something. People don't like Wonder Woman's new costume or origin-shaking story? Well, tough shit, its going to stay that way for while. When the truth is revealed, things might go back to normal or her "new" outfit might just end up part of her wardrobe.

One of the best things about DC is I can not read their books for several months or years and for all I missed, the parts of Batman's history that I knew are still intact. The tragedy of Jason Todd, the crippling of Barbara Gordon by The Joker, being broken by Bane, the earthquake/No Man's Land - all of it still matters, its still part of the story. So its just a matter of a couple comics to catch up.

- And here's a big one - control the date of release on spoiler-sensitive stories. DC watches their shit like a hawk. If there is a big revelation or reveal, they don't spoil it in another comic before it happens in the original story. Remember that thing where one of the X-men was going to to die a couple years ago? Well, turns out it was Kitty Pride and they let that cat out of the bag before the comic she died in hit the shelves.

[Feba]

Re: Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

it was Kitty Pride and they let that cat out of the bag

*titter*

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

The puzzling thing was she had to power to become intangible or make things she touches become intangible.

Seems like she didn't use that power so well.

[Solymir]

Re: Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

So this is what the author of Shortpacked has been posting about lately. Confusing.

[Neverslip]

Re: Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

Batman is one of my all-time favorite heroes. I'm glad my personal addiction didn't live long enough to endure this failsauce storyline.

I was addicted to comics... spent anywhere from $40 - $150+ per week on them. I tried paring down which comics I'd buy; but, it just couldn't work in the comic industry's financial money making model. They'd crossover everthing and you'd need copies of comics you'd normally just pass-over so you'd get crucial parts of the story. It started really pissing me off having to buy so much BS. Over-priced alternative covers, another issue #1 cuz of a "fake" death, and the baggies and backing boards to boot.

I quit. Cold Turkey. Haven't bought a comic book in about 2-3yrs now. I couldn't store my habit anymore anyway.

More power to you consumers... I'm not saying anything against ya. Merely saying I had to get out of this particular kitchen's heat.

[Ufgt]

Re: Bruce Wayne Returns, decides one Batman is not enough

Yah, I'm out of the comic game for sure. I only buy trades because they don't take up as much space and it's cheaper and easier to read.