The Return of Bruce Wayne Disucssion (Spoilers)
- Thread starter Admiral_Young
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I hope they don't bring Bruce back as a Black Lantern...I really hate those.
I don't think they are going to bring Bruce back as a Black Lantern, since he's not dead, but Black Hand does have an interest in him since he is trapped in that weird rebirth cycle thingy I mentioned in the first post. I think they could still have a Batman Black Lantern though from the body Superman discovered in Final Crisis, that was Bruce's body just his soul part was transferred to the past or whatever. It seems kind of confusing. Lots of fan speculation before Blackest Night that there would be a Black Lantern Batman. I don't think it's going to happen.
I haven't really read that much of a backlash against Dick as Batman...most people seem to be really enjoying Batman and Robin. I'm just curious about Bruce because nothing has really been announced yet. I guess they're going to play this out the rest of the year before doing anything with Bruce.
I haven't really read that much of a backlash against Dick as Batman...most people seem to be really enjoying Batman and Robin. I'm just curious about Bruce because nothing has really been announced yet. I guess they're going to play this out the rest of the year before doing anything with Bruce.
So what exactly is happening to Bruce right now? (I've been out of touch for awhile.) I'm a bit unclear about this 'endless cycle' business... 
Wasn't kidding about the Black Lanterns, BTW. They seem like second-rate zombies. Normally the idea of a separate Corps for each color would be very fascinating to me (and, apart from the black, it still is), but even so...
Wasn't kidding about the Black Lanterns, BTW. They seem like second-rate zombies. Normally the idea of a separate Corps for each color would be very fascinating to me (and, apart from the black, it still is), but even so...
Batman got hit by the Omega Sanction in Final Crisis, which was a concept that Grant Morrison introduced in his Seven Soldiers: Mr. Miracle miniseries. Basically, when Darkseid uses it on you, you are placed in an endless cycle of death and rebirth, with each new life being shittier than the previous one. It's possible to escape from this; Shiloh Norman did, since he's Mr. Miracle, escaping from stuff is his specialty.So what exactly is happening to Bruce right now? (I've been out of touch for awhile.) I'm a bit unclear about this 'endless cycle' business...
Batman got hit by the Omega Sanction in Final Crisis, which was a concept that Grant Morrison introduced in his Seven Soldiers: Mr. Miracle miniseries. Basically, when Darkseid uses it on you, you are placed in an endless cycle of death and rebirth, with each new life being shittier than the previous one. It's possible to escape from this; Shiloh Norman did, since he's Mr. Miracle, escaping from stuff is his specialty.So what exactly is happening to Bruce right now? (I've been out of touch for awhile.) I'm a bit unclear about this 'endless cycle' business...
I see. So is what is happening to Batman "really" happening (i.e. are these alternate lives he's living, actually real) or is he only imagining it?
How awesome would a Mr. Miracle/Batman story written by Morrison be? Both are accomplished escape artists, and if Shilo Norman could escape the Omega Sanction, then Bruce should be able to as well.
Bruce should be able to escape the Omega Sanction...if he realizes that he's trapped in it in the first place I assume part of the problem is figuring out that you're in it.
I haven't seen any backlash, to be honest.
Some of that could be situational. There wasn't a backlash against Dick at the time of Prodigal, per se, but there was the sense of, "A new Batman? Again?" We'd just had Bruce broken, Jean-Paul in his new costume, Jean-Paul's descent into madness, Bruce coming back, and suddenly Dick is shoved into the costume. Plus, we knew at the time that Bruce was, eventually, coming back; not just because he was alive and well, but because Jean-Paul had been a short-term Batman.
I realize, in retrospect, that Jean-Paul was never meant to be a permanent Batman, but that wasn't the way it was pitched to the audience. Reading Knightfall and KnightQuest at the time, it also felt like the writers were going out of their way to sabotage Jean-Paul. (Denny O'Neil says that was deliberate; readers weren't supposed to like Jean-Paul as Batman. The problem, of course, is that we had a good eight or nine months of three books starring a character we're supposed to hate, which makes for a genuinely unpleasant reading experience.) After that experience, any backlash against Dick as Batman was to be expected; the well had already been poisoned, and the poisoning was still too recent.
Now, it's a lot different. Bruce is, from all appearances, out of the picture entirely. (What Tim believes in Red Robin is the only crack in that facade, and even then, Tim's belief doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense.) DC is making a real investment in Dick-as-Batman, with two new series launches (though I think of Streets of Gotham as a continuation of Dini/Nguyen's Detective, just under a different name), plus adding Dick to the new Justice League line-up. There seems to be a real weight behind the idea that this new status quo is going to last.
Will it last? Yes, I have no doubt that Bruce Wayne will be back. And he may even suit up in the cape and cowl from time to time. But unless Dick creates a fourth identity for himself (after Robin, then Nightwing, and finally Batman) or Dick is killed or maimed, I think it's unlikely that Dick will cease to be the Caped Crusader. Given that this is all part of Morrison's masterplan, and given Morrison's penchant for drawing on obscure Silver Age continuity, I could see Morrison cementing the legacy idea that was floated in Silver Age Batman stories in the present day. It's strange that in an era were Geoff Johns has scrapped the legacy nature of The Flash and Green Lantern by restoring the Silver Age, that Morrison could restore the legacy nature of Batman by, likewise, mining the Silver Age.
Bruce will be back as Batman. That's pretty much a done deal. That being said I'd really like to see Grayson play the role for a year or so. It's been a really interesting ride so far, and I think the momentum is enough that they could easily keep this going for another year or so.
It's funny. I went by a DC comics forum not too long ago to see some of the reactions. Most fans seem to be really enjoying this whole thing, but the ones who didn't like the storyline had some pretty hilarious posts going.
It's funny. I went by a DC comics forum not too long ago to see some of the reactions. Most fans seem to be really enjoying this whole thing, but the ones who didn't like the storyline had some pretty hilarious posts going.
Morrison's Batman and Robin has twelve issues planned; either in the tail end of that, or when it's over, I'd expect to see him come back.
April is the date for the release of the hardcover...it's listed already for pre-order on Amazon.com I already placed my order. I know that Bruce IS coming back, my question is when and how. I'd like Tim to find him as I suggested through resources provided by him through Ra's. Tim experiences a kind of obession over the sudden loss of his adoptive father and seems to not be handling it very well and Bruce comes back to help him or something. I'm actually curious as to what kind of interest Ra's has in Tim. Maybe sees him as a new potential heir.
It's possible. But that's only the end of Morrison's third "book." There's still two more to go after Batman and Robin.
The new Batman and Robin series has been a lot of fun.
Although I admit, with Batman's populartiy at an all-time high after The Dark Knight last year, I found it puzzling as to why they decided to "kill off" Bruce Wayne.
Although I admit, with Batman's populartiy at an all-time high after The Dark Knight last year, I found it puzzling as to why they decided to "kill off" Bruce Wayne.
BATMAN AND ROBIN has been surprisingly good. But, of course, the second issue was 7 weeks ago and the third still isn't out, because Frank Quitely can't be counted on to produce a monthly book on a monthly basis.
Perhaps to gain more publicity and sell more books. It's not like Bruce has been removed from all media anyway. I'm curious to know if DC actually did sell more Bat books because of Batman's 'demise'.
Issue Three is coming out next week...I forgot who's going to be the artist on the next three issue arc. I think the twelve issues are being broken down into three issues each.
Apparently most of Batman RIP (issues 676-683) did sell at high rates, though the first part somewhat better than the last two issues. Then Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader (#686) knocked 'em all out of the park.
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