It’s been a long time since Bruce Wayne was Batman in the pages of DC Comics; Scottish madman Grant Morrison banished him to the bowels of space and time in the pages of the gimmicky crossover “event” Final Crisis, and the original Robin, Dick Grayson, has been filling in as the Dark Knight ever since.
Bruce returns to Gotham City in November, but Dick Grayson will remain as Batman in the Detective Comics (which introduced Batman in 1939), Batman (which began in 1940), and Batman and Robin books, while Bruce will only be back as Batman in two new titles — Batman, Inc. and Batman: The Dark Knight.
So basically, Bruce won’t be returning to everything we’ve been waiting for him to return to, and he’ll also be appearing in two fewer pages of the two titles he’s been banished to now that DC’s trying to trick us all into thinking they’ve lowered prices by replacing two pages of story with two more pages of ads.
You can read my thoughts about all of this on Batman on Film, created and edited by Bill “Jett” Ramey, the hardest working Batman fan on the planet. As always, I can’t thank him enough for the opportunity!
While I agree that DC is not going about Bruce’s return in the best way, but I have to disagree about Dick. I think Batman has grown beyond one man. Do we need an army of Batman branded people across the globe no. But Bruce cannot live forever and he cannot answer every call. It has been made clear that Dick has fought long and hard to take up the mantel of Batman and to make it his own. I’m happy Bruce is back but feel he and Dick can be Batman.
I really appreciate the comment! I do give huge credit to Morrison for writing Dick as Batman so well, and I’m confident that Peter Tomasi — who also writes Dick very well, especially during his run on Nightwing — is the worthy successor to Morrison on Batman and Robin.
But I don’t like that Bruce is banished to two books while Dick remains in THREE. And Batman: The Dark Knight is already in trouble — BleedingCool.com reports that issue 1 isn’t even finished being drawn yet, and that issue 2 hasn’t even been written. They are supposed to be out in November and December, respectively, and DC has already dropped it from the January schedule until Finch can get caught up. So they can’t even keep up with the two books Bruce has been shuffled away to.
The editors over there need to crack down hard.
I hear you, there should be a way to balance the two men out between the good titles.
Wow! What a great time for the lord to bless us Bat-maniacs!!! I have a great Idea for, Damian, as an adult in his thirtys, He develops into his own man, and basically abandons The Wayne name. He gets to a point where he his firm on his own personal beliefs… No, it has nothing to do with Batman #666.(sort of)
I will display art-work soon. -Pabs
Can’t wait for Knight Fall on The Big Screen…
John, that was a fantastic article. You totally hit the nail on the head.
What I’m so baffled at is this “WE’LL tell the fans what they do and don’t want to read” attitude at DC. Yes, the Morrison stuff has been intriguing to a point. But like All-Star Superman, it’d be just as intriguing if left to its own thing.
This whole “it won’t last forever” and “just go with it” attitude is really starting to fizzle out for me. Like you said, it’s already been four years, with another two on the horizon at least. This IS forever in my opinion. Six years in comic-time? That’s an eternity. Hell, even Knightfall was over way earlier in comparison.
Not only do we not get good “standard” Batman stories in the main titles, we don’t get them elsewhere. Batman/Superman just isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, while the quality of Batman Confidential is so variable that it’s not worth reading consistently. Although I will say that BC #49 was the best Bat-comic I’ve read in ages. And I’m not sure if it’s because it was a fantastic issue or if it’s because it’s the only “non-Morrison” Bat-story I’ve read in a while that’s gasping for air. And featuring Bruce, to boot.
Thanks so much, Ryan! I have some regrets about the sloppiness of its organization, but I stand by my words and feelings. SIX. YEARS. And then what? I’ve been treading water for years now, and I still can’t see land.
And for those of you who don’t know, Ryan also reviews comics for Batman on Film, and you can find his excellent review of the Batman Confidential issue he mentioned right here.