Bruce Wayne is no longer Batman

[cmurdur]

http://i.usatoday.net/life/_photos/2008/11/17/batmanalexrossx.jpg

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2008-11-17-batman-gaiman_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip


Will success kill Batman?

Just as The Dark Knight closes in on $1 billion worldwide gross, DC Comics is ready to have Bruce Wayne "die" — or at least give up the cape — in his monthly comic.

Batman #681, due Nov. 26, wraps up writer Grant Morrison's Batman R.I.P. story line, in which the crimefighter is so shaken by a secret from his past that a new Batman must be found.

What makes this "death" go beyond the usual circulation booster is the talent involved. Helping to bury Batman will be best-selling novelist Neil Gaiman, who created the goth-cult Sandman comic 20 years ago.

Gaiman is writing a two-issue tribute to the character, starting with Batman #686 and tentatively titled Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, due in February.

"This is my last Batman story," he says. "And in some ways, it could be seen as every last Batman story."

Working with artist Andy Kubert, Gaiman will try to reconcile the various versions of Batman, some wisecracking, others brooding, over the Dark Knight's 69-year history.

"There are infinite Batmans," he says. "It has been really hard on Andy because I keep asking him to draw in so many different styles."

DC Comics asked writer Alan Moore, creator of Watchmen, to similarly wrap up Superman's first half-century with Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? in 1986. The character was retooled shortly thereafter.

Comic-book deaths are usually short-lived. "No franchise ever closes down for good," Gaiman says.

His return to comics had everything to do with the Batman character. "You never forget your first," he says.

"My entire love of comics came from 1966, being 5 years old and the Adam West TV show starting in the U.K.," says Gaiman, who's English. "Superman is sweet and fun to write, but Batman is more than fetishistic. … Batman sees his parents killed by criminals and vows to do something about it.

"Every day that there are still criminals out there, he's losing."
I must say, I'm pretty fucking bummed out. He won't be out of commission forever, even Barry Allen is "running" back into life. But, it seems that he'll be out for quite sometime.

[3/6]

good

[Get Some]

interestttinnnggg

[Luris Blear]

This happened all the time back in the early/mid 90s, when comic books were "better than the stock market."

We'll keep seeing this crap too until the next batch of Batman Forever style movies runs the comic book gimmick back into the ground. Then when we get a good 7-8 years of comics having to be good instead of needing to share a name with a highly publicized movie, we will be able to read good comics again.

Yes, they are out there right now. The mountain of crap to dig under is much taller, and the publishers don't want to divert talent away from the next pile of money.

I can't disagree with these people wanting to make a profit either. I will simply allow them to do so and spend my dollars elsewhere.

[FrighT MasteR]

:mecry: <- cmurdur before his mom tucks him in tonight

[cmurdur]

:mecry: <- cmurdur before his mom tucks him in tonight

F..................YOU! :finger3:

[Grendel]

I remember staking out the local drugstore to make sure I got the second part of Moore's Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? story, back in the day when they rebooted Supes...

Hopefully Gaiman will come up with something good.

[Darkgod]

Its just a marketing ploy... dc is realizing they are getting dropkicked by Marvel, and Final Crisis is bombing. DC's top books arent under their banner, but under the wildstorm and vertigo banners.

[Grendel]

Its just a marketing ploy... dc is realizing they are getting dropkicked by Marvel, and Final Crisis is bombing. DC's top books arent under their banner, but under the wildstorm and vertigo banners.Haven't been a huge fan of it, myself, but, far from bombing, Final Crisis has been a consistent top seller. Moreover, none of their top selling books are on their boutique imprints like Vertigo and Wildstorm.

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2008.html

And while, yes, Marvel has dominant marketshare, both companies' sales are trending up at about the same rate.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18563

[cmurdur]

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd113/theMightyKnip/bat-previews.jpg
(Left to right)
Commissioner Gordon, Oracle (Barbara Gordon), Ra's Al Ghul, Poison Ivy, Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, (I'm guessing on these last two) Catwoman in her old school costume, and Alfred.

I can also see Mr. Freeze and the Red Hood in the background.

[Chief Falling Rock]

Batman R.I.P. is confusing as hell, but hell they've revamped and "killed off" almost everybody at some point. Suprised something like Batman R.I.P. hasn't already happend. Bruce Wayne never ever being Batman again? Thats like saying Godzilla Final Wars was the last Godzilla flick that will ever be made....yeah.....right.

[toxicangel19]

:mecry: <- cmurdur before his mom tucks him in tonight

:lol2:

[Darkgod]

Haven't been a huge fan of it, myself, but, far from bombing, Final Crisis has been a consistent top seller. Moreover, none of their top selling books are on their boutique imprints like Vertigo and Wildstorm.

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2008.html

And while, yes, Marvel has dominant marketshare, both companies' sales are trending up at about the same rate.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18563

Sorry, didnt mean in terms of sales for Vertigo/Wildstorm... but in reviews, critical books. DC's top monthly books are: Batman, Green Lantern, JLA. Batman gets bashedx repeaditly, where as the other two are usually praised. Hell Wizard picked GL as the book of the year because of Sinnestro Corps war. Wildtorm and Vertigo on the other hand, mostly all their books are praised. Majority of the Vertigo line has been tapped for movies, 100 bullets, Fables, Y the last man.

Final crisis has been bogged down with missing months, and not exactly an exact storyline. Not to mention borrowing some of themain line from marvel: Villians being shipped away ( Negative zone), a minor bad guy coming in and grouping up the baddies ( Red Hood),. They even by mistake showed a character that died in the previous year. ( I do not know which one, but they spoke about it on G4tv) . DC is losing their main writers to marvel, with the exception of Johns and Morrison.

[Grendel]

http://i.usatoday.net/life/_photos/2008/11/17/batmanalexrossx.jpg

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2008-11-17-batman-gaiman_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip


I must say, I'm pretty fucking bummed out. He won't be out of commission forever, even Barry Allen is "running" back into life. But, it seems that he'll be out for quite sometime.Amused they did him essentially the same way they "killed" Joker at the end of the A Death in the Family story arc.

[cmurdur]

I haven't read any of the R.I.P. stuff, but I just had to read 681. It was a bit confusing as I really didn't know who the Black Glove wear or what the Joker had to do with him. But, I have picked up somethings. Batman chases down a man known as Dr. Hurt, who claimed to be Thomas Wayne and that Bruce was supposed to die along with his mother and Chill screwed up, but Batman knows he isn't Thomas. Mangrove Pierce is his real identity and he gives Batman an ultimatum; serve his crew or pictures of Alfred and Bruce's parents would be given to the media, showing them as perverts and criminals. Batman refuses. Pierce jumps onto a helicopter and Batman follows, where it eventually crashes. Batman had thrown off his cape and cowl before doing this, leaving it where Nightwing picked it up in the aftermath (:hmmm:).

There is also a new Batman at the end but he has not shown on panel. The epilogue ends with a flashback of young Bruce Wayne walking out of a Zorro movie with his parents, asking how he became Zorro. With Joe Chill lurking in the background, his parents laugh and say that someone like Zorro running around in Gotham City would probably get locked up in Arkham.

So with cancellation of Nightwing, and Dick finding the suit, my detective skills lead me to believe that the new Batman is the first Robin, Dick Grayson.

[Grendel]

The Nightwing thing was almost a no-brainer.

For shits and giggles, I'd like to see Jean-Paul Valley pop up, again, to throw some confusion in the mix...

[choptop2]

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y8/Rdoltono/batman-comic-cover-12.jpg

[Grendel]

One of the weirder rumors I saw was, based on the "haughty" (and utterly un-Batman-like) pose on this piece (http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/diazb3/FinalCrisis.jpg) of Final Crisis promo art, that Nightwing would be skipped over, somehow, and that the resurrected Jason Todd would take the mantle of the Bat.

[HEKTIK15]

Fuck DC comics.....marvel is the way to go. MCL.

[Titanosaurus]

Yeah, MARVEL!!! :rocker:

Actually though, I'm not a huge comic book fan. I dabble.

[Luris Blear]

The only thing DC does that Marvel doesn't is rewrite continuity every few years.

DC has its Infinite RetCons, and Marvel just keeps twisting Earth 616 into one knot after another.

I'm down to Ghost Rider. At least that title is mostly free of the giant crossover mania that these companies are so in love with.

[WarBeast]

The only thing DC does that Marvel doesn't is rewrite continuity every few years.

DC has its Infinite RetCons, and Marvel just keeps twisting Earth 616 into one knot after another.

I'm down to Ghost Rider. At least that title is mostly free of the giant crossover mania that these companies are so in love with.

It's kind of ironic that Ghost Rider is mostly cross-over free now, considering it was Ghost Rider going from one crossover to another, without an issue in between, that got me to the point that I gave up buying comicbooks back in the 90's... just got fed up.

As for the end of Wayne as the Batman is concerned, there is no news here... there is no great shake up in the comic universe... it's a temporary story arc just like when we had to put up with Az-Bat back in the 90's... if you don't like someone else being Batman, just refuse to buy the issues and soon enough ol' Bruce will be back under the cowl.

There's nothing like declining sales to bring a beloved Comicbook character back from the dead...

[darknessfalls]

It wont last long. Batman is too strong of a character money wise to kill off.

[cmurdur]

Batman #686 comes out in 4 days and Detective Comics #853 comes out in 15. I'm certainly awaiting these two issues.

[Grendel]

Batman #686 comes out in 4 days and Detective Comics #853 comes out in 15. I'm certainly awaiting these two issues.A little surprised they're putting the gap in between these two.

Thought they would've released them in succession and jumped right into Battle for the Cowl...

[Grendel]

As for the end of Wayne as the Batman is concerned, there is no news here... there is no great shake up in the comic universe... it's a temporary story arc just like when we had to put up with Az-Bat back in the 90's... if you don't like someone else being Batman, just refuse to buy the issues and soon enough ol' Bruce will be back under the cowl.No way to know for sure, yet, but I think having Bruce on the shelf for awhile gives an interesting opportunity for characters like Oracle, Nightwing and Hush. Damien, too for that matter. Wasn't a super huge fan of Azrael--got burned out on him by the end of his solo book--but am even looking forward to see how they work him back into the mix.

[Darkgod]

It reminds me of when I walked 2 miles... to get Death of Superman... and it didn't even last..... Same gimmick... atleast marvel has kept Cap dead, sure Bucky took over, but its been over a year and not even a hint of a return of Steve Rogers.

[da Gay]

i don't even know where to buy comic books in this area

[Darkgod]

go to marvel.com or dc.com... they have comic store locators