If you can believe it, there is currently an in-progress comic book story arc involving Batman which will end in the death of… Bruce Wayne.
Written by Grant Morrison and penciled by Tony Daniel and Alex Ross, the series is a cheap response to Marvel’s recent killing off of Captain America.
According to Grant Morrison, “the end of Bruce Wayne as Batman” is “a fate worse than death, things that no one would expect to happen to these guys at all.” It is rumored that Batman will emphatically die tomorrow, November 26, at comic book news stands everywhere.
| |
Unknown though, is who is behind the character’s demise. Some say it will be at the hands of Robin (Tim Drake) when he makes a play for the dark side. Others insist it will be at the hands of the mysteriously unknown villain “The Black Glove.” Still others speculate that Wayne will simply retire from the bat-mantle. All I ask is that it be for a proper reason.
That fateful day when Captain America was hit by a sniper’s bullet will resonate in comic book history with the same weight that accompanied Superman’s death at the hands Doomsday. Captain America was on his way to a trial, having opposed the Registration Act that he believed put so many more lives in danger than it proposed to protect. His death, at the end of the Civil War, shook the foundations of the comic book universe – characters have died before, but none so beloved as the Sentinel of Liberty.
His death was more than the death of a character many loved, it was a political statement. Though the story hasn’t come to an end, I don’t see anything worth dying for in the Batman story arc.
To his credit, Morrison is responsible for some of the greatest stories and re-interpretations of characters I’ve had a chance to read, but he’s quickly becoming a victim of his own twists. Arkham Asylum is one of my favorite Batman stories and 52 was revolutionary work, but Batman RIP is stepping out of bounds. When fans of The Dark Knight film flock to their local comic book stores, the last thing they should see is Batman on his deathbed.
Killing a hero is by no means a way of redefining him, it merely ends his story. What reason Morrison could be using to justify his actions is as mysterious as the “Black Glove” himself. For Batman’s sake, I hope it isn’t to further the story of Robin or another sub-character inside the DC Universe.
It should be noted that Bruce Wayne has given up the cape and cowl before. The Knightfall storyline resulted in Bane breaking the Dark Knight’s back. Bound to a wheelchair, Wayne recruits Jean-Paul Valley to replace him. As we all know, eventually Bruce Wayne resumes his role as Bats.
Also, I should mention a follow-up series is planned. It is tentatively titled Battle for the Cowl, in which the question of who will continue as The Caped Crusader shall be answered.
Does Grant Morrison deserve another Eisner Award or an Arkham Asylum sentence?
Source: Telegraph.co.uk
Images: DC Comics
Loading ...
54 Comments
I haven’t bought a comic book in YEARS, but I might go out and buy this tomorrow….
Maybe that is what they’re hoping for.
Bruce Wayne wil turn out to be as permanently dead as Superman was when Doomsday”Killed” him.
been following it from the beginning. It’s nailbiting and well done writing but I gotta tell ya, killing off Bruce Wayne is tricky business. I subscribe so I’ll have to wait a bit longer but that’s OK. I can handle the wait — I hope.
@Andy S
That’s exactly what they’re vetting on, but I don’t think they’ll sell nearly as much as when Captain America was shot. For the Marvel event, the marketing campaign was so sudden, readers flocked to the stores to figure just what exactly happened. Marvel flooded the traditional media outlets and it payed off. I don’t think DC will nearly get as much.
i havent been following this site for very long so i may not have much of a say, and i dont want to come off as haughty, but isnt this a movie site?
as enjoyable as i find comic bookery, and it is nice (maybe) to have all forms of geeking out on one single site, i quite like this site being strictly about tv/film.
it seems a lot of transformations have been happening recently, from trolls popping up due to increased popularity, to the “upgrade” of comments section, and possibly in the near future, ScreenRant: Not Only TV and Movie News But Everything Else Too!
not trying to tell you how to run your site, but i did love the whole straight-out, no bull, no “sugar coating”, traditional feel of how it used to be. next thing you know, we’ll have news/reviews of games, cars and, god forbid, chicks!
sorry if this 17 year old kid sounds like a 70 year old prune cramping on your style. if it is your intention to expand your market to all forms of media then by all means don’t let me tell you how to handle things. but i was just hoping i could bring your attention to it, in case it wasn’t your intention.
otherwise, keep up the good work! =)
The Flash die, Superman die, Captain America die. These stories have too much version, i cant keep-up anymore. Do u know that spiderman clone himself so he can leave mj in the comic? yup, that’s weird. but for sure this batman comic must be damn good because Alex Ross is the penciller, i love his works
I heard about this mounths ago. I also heard Bruce Wayne would be elevated to the status of a new god. Don’t know if it’s true but that idea sucks imo. Does anyone have any info on this?
What the f@!* !!!!!
Not the death of Batman.
He is so cool. It just seems strange to me that he would be penciled in to die.
They should have done something like that if they were going to make a Justice League film-then you could do the whole alternate universe thing that Batman died in.
Maybe it is a dream of the curent Robin or batgirl or Nightwing orone of Batman’s foes or one of his close friends(hopefully).
Grant Morrison Tony Daniel and Alex Ross,no offence, but get you head straight please, or atleast make a new , completely creative villian that has never been seen before-yeah I know that there are many extremly good one-joker been the best of them.
But PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!! Not the death of Batman. Captain America lead the Avengers and did a lot of cool things. And people will not miss Batman as much as they missed Captain America because he held the respect of America due to his Patriotism. But Batman is a Dark billionaire playboy loner that flings around with girls and lets his inner beast-Batman, do the talking. The guy could almost be interpreted as been suicidal-in some cases of course or as mentally insane as the Joker. Personally, I think that Superman had the most amount in the DC universe because he was respected- by everyone, including Lex Luthor, his arch enemy and by other villians. It just does not fit in correctly with Batman kicking the bucket.Out of Seven of DC’s most respected characters, he commands the least amount of respect because he is a testament of everything that is not a superhero. He has no powers, disrespected by the community in some cases and his villians in some cases, and commands no respect from the police department except by Gordon and his men.
So please don’t kill of Batman even though he is the most popular character in the DC universe currently-it is only due to The Dark Knight(movie).
I mean how cheap of a response to Marvel’s recent killing off of Captain America can you get.
Now if you kill Wonder Woman off, that is bound to shake almost everyone except for people who do not know who Wonder Woman is. and everyone knows who Wonder Woman is. Just an opinion-but a much better suggestion than killing of batman. It is just not the right time for him to die.
Eh. Whatever. Talk to me in 1 to 3 years and if Bruce Wayne is still dead, I might believe it.
The death of Captain America put Marvel in every source of mainstream news and got them crazy amounts of attention. I guess DC is gunning for the same.
Seriously lame. Come on DC, think of your own storylines.
They cant seem to do anything on their own and be innovative anymore. In the 90’s te Death of Superman and Knightfall stories were genious! Nothing like them before, but now all they can do is rehash Marvel stuff, and before people say killing cap was a rip off of killing Superman, you dont rip something off 10+ years later.
Its crazy, oter than TDK, DC/WB doesnt hold a candle to Marvel in the movie market, so what do they do? Hold a meeting and discuss a slate of movies to try to keep up wit Marvel, then they go and do this in the comic market.
DC used to be innovators, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Vertigo, Death/Return of Superman, Knightfall…..all amazing innovations in the comic industry. Now they are just followers and a second rate publisher.
Sorry DC fans, this is a dark era for the company and they need to be leaders again instead of followers.
Stupid.
‘Nuff said.
This sounds like one of the most exciting storylines ever and, after reading Batman #680, it certainly toys with the mind. This will only be a success if it’s done well.
Bollocks to the “keep things the same” brigade.
@nig
Hey bud, I *love* getting honest feedback!
I just thought this was enough of a major event to cover here since one of the main thrusts of Screen Rant is to cover superhero movies. From well over two thousand posts on the site you’ll probably find no more than 10 off topic posts.
And trust me, there will be NO branching out to cars, chicks or otherwise here at SR.
As to this death of Batman thing – I think I’ll wait for the trade paperback.
Vic
It’s just to promote the release of The Dark Night DVD. He’ll probably be resurected in some fashion, DC doesn’t have that many tent pole characters they can just throw away.
Predictable… but maybe this could be the start of the Beyond series.
Here is what they should do (both Marvel And DC) they should have a huge apocolyptic event that kills off every superheroe, and then start everything over by “rebooting” every franchise.
If Batman dies at least let it be at the hands of The Joker.That would be the only way to kill him off.That or Old age.
Please note the sarcasim in my last post
I collect many different books. I haven’t had a chance to catch up on my subscription in a long while so I am waiting for all of them to come out before I read the series but I am sure they are pretty good. I there is one thing I am sure about, when it comes to comic books, no one is ever dead. If they kill Batman, he will be back probably because of a Lazarus pit or something like that. Lets face it many have died and returned. So rest assured Bats will die and comeback just as I’m sure Captain America will be back because as bad as it is to see them die, its that much better when they return. Plus it sells a lot of comic books.
Like a clone of Wayne. Also will be looking for Batman custom redesigns.
@Vic
I see no problem discussing “chics” … unless pictures are not allowed.
@Rob
I hope it is some cheap ploy to get sales because if it isn’t, things are looking pretty bleak for the future of DC.
@90calibar
I haven’t been reading the story arc, but it’s entitled “Trinity” if you’re still interest. It’s Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman and they’re hearing the same voice in their head. People have speculated that they die to usher a new wave of heroes.
I haven’t been reading this, but I can tell you that Bruce Wayne does not die in R.I.P., because Morrison confirmed that it’s him in Final Crisis-which takes place afterward. Now, in Final Crisis on the other hand, no guarantees. I do happen to agree, however, that they won’t leave him dead if they do kill him.
I can see him dieing and I can see it being permanent. There are others dieing to get the cowl for their own purpose in the event of his death. And with the drastic change that Hush has made I cant wait to see what happens.
So wait, DC is killing off 50% of their money makers? After they already killed off the other 50% back when they killed Superman?? lol
I’m kidding, relax…
Me, I suspect Iron Man because Robert Downey Jr.’s still hasn’t learned to let go….
(*Grin!!!*)
Sorry to inform you Carl but, for a comic nerd like me this news is about 5 months old.
Uh Michael, this is a movie news site and since we cover superhero movies so much we thought it would be relevant to bring it up just as the pivotal issue is being released.
Just because YOU’VE known about it for months doesn’t mean everyone has.
Vic
i tried to say that in a jokingly sarcastic way(its hard to do that while typing) i wasnt trying to sound snobby
@michael
Oh, sorry, bro… didn’t mean to jump on you like that. Couldn’t tell. That’s why i use smileys extensively.
Vic
Here’s some possibilities:
http://starcasm.net/archives/1835
@michael
Yeah, I knew about it as well. It’s been a great opportunity to express my thoughts on this story arc, and I wanted to see what the public’s sentiments were as well.
Ok any moron who thinks marvel cornered the market on killing off comic book heroes is a total moron! Actually marvel is more ripping off of DC when it comes to killing off comic characthers. For DC this is old hat, ie Superman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, The Flash and blah blah blah.
Grant Morrison didn’t make Batmans death meaningful because that would be to easy to him. If he killed him off in a similar way to Captain America it would be nice and clean and simple. Hero dies a grand and meaningful death. I’ve read how he did it and the story on line and it pretty stinks from what I’ve read.
I started reading and collecting comic books because of Batman back in about 1977 at the age of 5 and August of this year over 31 years later after having not missed a single issue of Batman or Detective Comics I stopped buying them, why? I’ll tell you why, because I seen this coming from a mile away, thats why. I mean comeon, Batman RIP. Plus many of the things I’ve read that Morrison has said haven’t really been trying to hide it
@Ronnie
There’s no reason to be calling people morons.
If you want to continue commenting here you’d better trim that sort of thing.
Vic
he’s not dead. he’s just lying low.
@D
I certainly hope so. I hope DC isn’t idiotic enough to kill off one of the foundational characters of its universe.
I still believe Steve Rogers will return to the Marvel Universe at some point…
Vic
I agree with D.
Bought the comic, do’nt think Bat’s is dead I’m also betting the Cap’s death is either a skrull imposter or Cap’s healing factor is working and S.H.E.I.L.D. has Cap’s in a coma somewhere. Marvel and DC will bring back these huge icons when both Bat’s and Cap’s franchises start dying down agian.
@Vic, @Adrian
Yeah, I want Captain America back too but I don’t really see that coming anytime soon. When they gathered the guys in that room and decided Captain America was going to die, they did it deliberately. The collected Fallen Son series has an interview with Jeph Loeb, he says The Cap. died for a reason and we have to move on; the Fallen Son series, based on the five stages of grief, was to help us with that.
He’s dead, and he’s not coming back anytime soon.
@Carl Lee
I absolutely agree with you, but I don’t believe either character death will be long thank 10 years. Deep down in my gut, I don’t believe either company will keep these characters dead like the original the original Flash or orginial Captian Mar-vel. IMHO, the comic companies are trying out new bodies in Bat’s and Cap’s names to get new reads and more complex storylines.
FYI: Rumor has it that the BIG three (Superman, Batman, Worder Woman)will all be replace in the DC primary Universe to make room for new character growth.
This storyarc has been pretty good, even if a little confusing at times. No one can replace Bruce Wayne as Batman tho. I hope they stop with this legacy crap sometime REAL soon. First they did it with The Flash (thank God Barry Allen’s back!!!!), then they tried it with Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and Green Arrow (Ollie Queen), then they did it with the Atom, Captain Marvel, even the frikkin’ Question!!! And, most recently and egregiously, Marvel did it with CAPTAIN AMERICA! When’s it going to end??? The sidekicks and also-rans aren’t EVER going to replace the real superheroes, ever! Least not in my mind anyway.
Anyhoo, I hope Bruce makes it thru OK. And here’s hoping Billy Batson, Vic Sage, and Steve Rogers return very soon. 
@Carl Lee
Altho I may be mistaken, I don’t think I’ve seen your posts here before. Good to have another clever and pensive writer here at screenrant.
Yes, I agree. The human element of Bruce Wayne is so identifyable by Batman fans , that it almost seems useless to kill off Batman. Maybe create alternate universe senarios , but not kill off Batman. He has to be the most original superhero ever created.
I’ll wait for the TPB and then read this in one sitting. I’m absolutely sure that Bruce Wayne will be back.
Vic
@Kel
Thanks for the comment on my writing, buddy! I appreciate it.
I feel like when Marvel did it to Captain America it was something entirely different than other heroes, and it comes down to what he stood for. Then they had a little memorial for him so it finally meant something.
Killing Green Lantern and Green Arrow, and now Batman, comes off as just spin wheels for me. They’re not reinventing anything and that’s the hardest part to take.
Death should be more common in Comics. People say too much that it a stunt or something else ridicules. Death happens, if it makes a good story go for it. If a resurrection does the same all good. But remember the first death and resurrection in comics is Wonder Man. Bat in the ‘60 so this is nothing new. Get over it.
@Carl lee
You’re welcome, bud.
Well, at this point, it’s still a little early to determine exactly how everything plays out, as long as there are good stories to be told they can do anything I guess, but I’d dislike it if it were just ______ dressed up like Batman, like they did with The Flash. Really pisses me off when they pull crap like that, even when they tuck their tails between their legs and turn around comparatively early (like they did with GA and to a much lesser extent even GL), the damage is still done. And Steve’s still Captain America to me, no matter what.
Marvel has done to Cap what DC did to Flash all those years ago. But I agree, the Bucky Cap (Cucky?)(and even The Flash thing which was handeled similarly, still hated it tho) thing has been handeled better than most of the other “deaths”.
@Vic
I’m sure BW will be back too. Everyone comes back eventually. In comics, if a character’s been pegged “dead” they’re really just sitting on the sidelines. Now when the company loses the ability to publish said characters anymore, then you’ve got something to really worry about.
Not to change the subject, but I’m happy that THE Flash is back from the dead FINALLY!!!! I love Final Crisis.
Barry Allen aka THE Flash is the superhero (currently) who has stayed “dead” the longest; 23 years. Glad he’s back, and I hope to God it won’t be that long before Steve Rogers and Bruce Wayne are back. 
Has anyone read Final Crisis #6? The one where Superman is holding Batman’s lifeless corpse ?
I have. I can’t wait for number 7.
DC is living up to it’s reputation as confusing. It’s very frustrating since R.I.P. was supposed to kill Batman and the run was in Batman. On top of that the downloadable R.I.P. checklist didn’t even LIST Final Crisis…if you can even follow half of Final Crisis. I’m glad I saw the DCAU for it helped explain some of the situations such as the Anti-Life Equation. Whew. D.C. Is in BAD shape.
we all know the dark knight will return to us soon, but the real question is ‘what does batman do when he is not batman’
Calling DC frustrating is practically praise. Frankly, what I just read in F.C. 7, just p155es me off.
Yes, there was a LOT of build-up, to Batman (or specifically Bruce Wayne’s) death. But then, in F.C. 6, what happens? Darkseid hits him with the Omega beams. The “Death that is life” as he called it. Say WHAT?
And at the end of F.C. 7, lo & behold. Bruce Wayne, sent far back in time, leaving clues for the future to find.. and presumably, one day, rescue him.
Meanwhile, I’m guessing Bruce will stay shelved for a while, much like Barry Allen did, while someone else takes up the mantle of the Batman character.
This, of course, is a curious situation, because his body, was burnt & nearly mummified, in his present, but in the past, he’s fit & healthy. So it’s not just his spirit (apparently) that was sent back thru time.
Further, in the present, all time has been, yet once again, reset, and the DCU is going to be vastly changed.
DC is beyond frustrating. It seems, ever decade or so, they just decide to blow up the multi-verse, wipe it out and reboot existence.
It’s gotten old.
What's your opinion? Leave a Reply!
Go to Gravatar.com and upload your own (we'll wait)!