Batman Dies Tomorrow
Tomorrow, Batman #681 is finally released after weeks of delays and brings down the curtain to Batman RIP. The Grant Morrison-Tony Daniel story has been generating all manner of press, both here and abroad.
The BBC issued a story leading with, “Batman fans are set to discover whether the Caped Crusader is going to be killed off in his latest comic issue.” The storyline has had Batman and his allies menaced by a new foe, the Black Glove, who has been gunning for Batman behind-the-scenes for the last decade. The whys and wherefores remain to be revealed.
"What I am doing is a fate worse than death – things that no one would expect to happen to these guys at all," Morrison said in the recent interview with Comic Book Resources.
The next two issues will be Neil Gaiman’s farewell to Batman, “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader”, echoing Alan Moore’s farewell to Superman, “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow”. After that, Daniel will write the Battle for the Cowl which will determine if Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake or someone else will become Batman. Bruce Wayne’s fate seems up in the air for dramatic purposes.
The biggest problem with the DC icons is that everyone knows Clark Kent, Diana Prince and Bruce Wayne may take vacations from their celebrated alter egos but always will wind up back in uniform.
Tomorrow, ComicMix takes a look at the stories that influenced Morrison.
My forlorn hope: this is an attempt to bury, once and for all, the bitter/morose/etc. incarnations of the Batman in one great grand guignol, and when Bruce Wayne returns to the role it'll be as a Batman who actually enjoys being the Batman.
As long as the All Star (Frank Miller) version dies along with him then I'm all for it.
Many years ago, just after Doomsday killed Superman, someone in an apa i'm a member of said "If I were Batman, I'd be refusing to take calls from my agent." To which someone replied "Too late – they already broke his back."For just about the ultimate comment on killing major characters: http://www.stripteasecomic.com/d/20070515.html
"Daniel will take over" !!! Daniel WHO ????
"Tony Daniel", mentioned earlier in the article, presumably.
I agree with Mitch. The powers that be at DC have given the fans a Batman who is antisocial, mean spirited, and quite frankly a character who should be rotting away in federal prison, for the whole Brother Eye debacle. What was the cost in property damage, the number of human beings maimed and killed? Thanks DC for giving us a character who is more concerned about spying on his teamates than, oh I don't know making sure the Joker doesn't escape from Arkham and kill another thousnad people.
I can't believe people are complaining about the dark tone of Batman. Keeping in mind the nature of Batman and the reality of the world he lives in, plot lines like Brother Eye and War Games only make sense. Who wouldn't want a backup plan in case heroes went crazy? Who wouldn't want war plans for controlling Gotham gangs? Who wouldn't expect all these plans to occasionally go horribly, horribly wrong? I would much rather have a hero writen as Batman has recently whose plans occasionally lead to disastor than a character like Superman (and most other superheroes) who constantly throw cars at people over crowded city streets and knock people through buildings without ever so much as one civilian casualty. It is unreasonable to treat Batman like a happy character that never makes bad mistakes.On the other hand, while I do not want a return to a classic Brave and the Bold I'm-Superman-without-powers version of Batman, it would be nice to get a little bit of stabilty and hapiness in the character. If he made a joke every once in awhile, that would be nice…not a Spiderman joke, but something dark and dry after the action is over. Why not give him a REAL girlfriend? I'm so sick of the six comic story arc of "New girl, I think I love you, girl dies or almost dies or is evil, Batman becomes even more jaded." Bah! Crap! It such a crappy overused story line. If they want to shake things up in the DC universe, give him a girlfriend which actually lasts more than a year! That would be interesting!
No one is disputing that Batman should be dark, but you made my point when you mentioned the War Games debacle along with Brother Eye. These are not isolated incidents, but a continuing pattern of bad judgements and Batman refusing to act responsibly. This not the Batman character that a lot of fans grew to like and admire. The Batman I grew up with, was very concerned about collateral damage and was loathe to place innocents in harm's way. That is the Batman I would like to see again.