Batman R.I.P.

"Batman R.I.P."
Cover art to Batman #676, the first issue of the arc. Art by Alex Ross
Publisher	DC Comics
Publication date	May – November 2008
Genre	Superhero
Title(s) Batman #676-681 Detective Comics #846-850 Nightwing #147-150 Batman and the Outsiders #11-13 Robin #175-176
Main character(s)	Batman Batman Family The Joker Club of Villains
Creative team
Writer(s)	Grant Morrison
Artist(s)	Tony Daniel
Collected editions
Hardcover	ISBN 1-4012-2090-8

Batman R.I.P. is a comic book story arc published in Batman #676-681 by DC Comics. Written by Grant Morrison, penciled by Tony Daniel, and with covers by Alex Ross, the story pits the superhero Batman against the Black Glove organization as they attempt to destroy everything for which he stands. It has a number of tie-ins in other DC Comics titles describing events not told in the main story.

Outline

Discussing the genesis of the storyline and its linkage to the rest of his run, Morrison notes that:

In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Grant Morrison explained that Batman's fate in the story is "so much better than death. People have killed characters in the past but to me, that kind of ends the story! I like to keep the story twisting and turning. So what I am doing is a fate worse than death. Things that no one would expect to happen to these guys at all. This is the end of Bruce Wayne as Batman."^[2]

Morrison talked about "Batman R.I.P." at the April 2008 New York Comic Con "Spotlight on Grant Morrison" panel. "When we begin to suspect the identity of the villain, I think it's the most, like I said the other day, it's possibly the most shocking Batman revelation in 70 years."^[3]

DC Universe #0 shed some light on the potential plot of the series, with a scene between Batman and the Joker written as a prelude to the upcoming storyline. In the sequence, Batman confronts the Joker about the mysterious "Black Glove", villain(s) who were behind the attempt to kill Batman during Morrison's "International Club of Heroes" arc in Batman #667-669. The Joker, nonchalantly dealing out a "dead man's hand" from a deck of cards, taunts Batman regarding his fear of the mystery villain and how the Black Glove intends on destroying him.

Plot

Bringing together a number of concepts and characters explored by Morrison during his run as writer on Batman, the story details the attempts of the mysterious Dr. Simon Hurt and the "Black Glove," a criminal organization dedicated to corrupting virtue, as they attempt to destroy Batman and everything for which he stands.

Using a mixture of physical and psychological attacks, the Black Glove tests Batman's resolve, forcing him to temporarily adopt the crazed persona of the "Batman of Zur-En-Arrh." He is then led to Arkham Asylum to face the Joker. Seemingly defeated, Batman is buried alive by the Black Glove, a group that includes Bruce Wayne's girlfriend, Jezebel Jet, who has betrayed him. With the assistance of Robin and Nightwing he turns the tables on his foes. In a final confrontation with Dr. Hurt, Batman is caught in a helicopter crash.

The storyline concludes with both Batman's fate and the true identity of Dr. Hurt still up in the air. Hurt himself repeatedly claimed to be Thomas Wayne throughout the story, while Batman apparently believed him to be Mangrove Pierce, a crazed actor. To further add to the confusion, a multitude of clues dropped throughout Morrison's run actually seem to suggest that Dr. Hurt is, in fact, the Devil himself.

Publication

Main storyline

Pre-R.I.P.

The Batman R.I.P. storyline is the aftermath of "The Black Glove" storyline told in the following comics:

• Batman #667-669 "The Black Glove" (1st Mention & solo appr.of a Black Glove member)
• Batman #672-675 "Space Medicine" Concludes "The 3 Ghosts of Batman" storyline. (Mentioned earlier on in Batman #664-666 (The Last chapter of the "Batman & Son" Graphic novel)

R.I.P.

• Batman #676-681

"Last Rites"

• Batman #682-683
• Final Crisis #5-6

Tie-ins

R.I.P.

• Detective Comics #846-850 "Heart of Hush" (Takes place immediately before G.Morrison's officially titled Main Batman R.I.P. storyline)
• Nightwing #147-150 "The Great Leap" (Epilogued in Nightwing #151 labeled "Last Rites")
• Robin #175-176
• Batman and the Outsiders #11-13 (Takes place in accordance with Batman RIP #680 & #681)

Last Rites

• Batman #682-683 (Bridge the gap between Batman R.I.P. & Final Crisis #5)
• Detective Comics #851 - "The Last Days of Gotham" pt.1 of 2
• Batman #684 - "The Last Days of Gotham" pt.2 of 2
• Detective Comics #852 - "Faces of Evil" (Hush) pt.1 of 2 ("Heart of Hush" epilogue)
• Batman #685 - "Faces of Evil" (Catwoman) pt.2 of 2 ("Heart of Hush" epilogue)
• Nightwing #151 - Although labeled "Last Rites" is the epilogue to the Nightwing R.I.P. storyline
• Nightwing #152 - "Faces of Evil" (Ra's Al'Ghul) Ra's reflects on Bruce's Death
• Nightwing #153 - the final Nightwing issue
• Robin #183 - the final Robin issue (later relaunched as Red Robin)

References

The Batman R.I.P. storyline references earlier comics involving "The Black Casebook" and the "Club of Heroes". The following comics are referenced:

• Batman #62 "The Batman of England"
• Batman #65 "A Partner for Batman!"
• Detective Comics #215 "The Batmen of All Nations!"
• World's Finest #89 "The Club of Heroes"
• Detective Comics #235 "The First Batman"
• Detective Comics #241 "The Rainbow Batman"
• Batman #112 "Am I Really Batman?"
• Batman #113 "The Superman of Planet-X!"
• Detective Comics #267 "Batman Meets Bat-Mite"
• Batman #134 "The Rainbow Creature"
• Batman #153 "Prisoners of Three Worlds"
• Batman #156 "Robin Dies at Dawn"
• 52 Weeks 30 and 47

Related titles

Each title has its own story, which relates to the other titles, especially the main one of Batman, but the timelines of each do not coincide with the order in which they are published. For instance, the Detective Comics story occurs a few nights prior to the main one in the flagship Batman.^[4]

Likely part of the R.I.P. aftermath, DC Comics announced that the ongoing Nightwing, Robin, and Birds of Prey titles would all end in February, 2009. No specific reason was given.^[5]

Batman #682-683 and Final Crisis

The Batman that appeared in Final Crisis is Bruce Wayne. Writer Grant Morrison, in regards to the chronology of R.I.P. and Final Crisis (since they were both being published simultaneously), stated, "First it's R.I.P., and we'll see how that winds up for Batman. Then the two-parter (#682-683) goes through Batman's whole career, in a big summing up of everything that also ties & leads directly into Final Crisis.(Final Crisis #5 is where R.I.P. resumes) And also where we see the final fate of Batman (Final Crisis #6)."^[6]

After escaping an attempt to create an army of warriors based on him, Batman uses the same bullet that killed the New God Orion to shoot Darkseid. At the same time, Darkseid strikes him with the Omega Sanction, "the death that is life." Superman is later seen holding Batman's charred body.^[7] In the end of Final Crisis #7, Anthro dies of old age and someone wearing Batman's pants, trunks, and boots places a utility belt over the dead body and then draws the Batman logo in a wall of the cave.^[8]

"Heart of Hush" (Detective Comics #846-850)

Parallel to the main story in Batman, but actually a prologue to it, Paul Dini's Heart of Hush deals with the return of Thomas Elliot to Gotham City and his plan to kill Batman before the Black Glove. Also explored in this arc is his connection to the Gotham underworld, and how his family history helped transform Elliot into Hush. This story "Heart of Hush" continues into Detective Comics #852 & Batman #685, a 2-part "Faces of Evil" storyline that is also labeled as "Last Rites".

"The Great Leap" (Nightwing #147-150)

Two-Face tasks Nightwing to protect an old flame of Harvey Dent's, Carol Bermingham, a witness in a high profile mob trial. Nightwing is in fact protecting Carol from Two-Face himself.

"Scattered Pieces" (Robin #175-176)

Parallel to the main story, Batman is missing and rampaging through the city in a delusional state. Nightwing is imprisoned in Arkham Asylum and Robin, fearing that Batman could have lost his sanity and gone rogue, tasks himself with finding his mentor and stopping him if necessary.

"Outsiders No More" (Batman and the Outsiders #11-13)

With a reduced roster and a missing Batman, Batgirl takes command and comes to the conclusion that no one can replace the Caped Crusader. She starts seeking out for a group of new Outsiders whose combined skills could match Batman's.

Collected editions

The story is planned to be collected into multiple volumes:

• Batman R.I.P. (208 pages, oversized hardcover, February 2009, ISBN 1-40122-090-8,^[9] softcover, May 2010, ISBN 1-4012-2576-4) collects:
  • "Batman R.I.P." (with Tony Daniel, Batman #676-681, June-November 2008)
  • "Last Rites" (with Lee Garbett, Batman #682-683, December 2008)

• Batman: Heart of Hush (144 pages, hardcover, April 2009, ISBN 1-40122-123-8)

Aftermath

The main Batman title featured several months of retrospective stories that "showcase the legacy of the Batman".^[10] Those were followed by a two-part story by Neil Gaiman called "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?", a play on the Superman story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" by Alan Moore, which was also the last story before major changes in the character.^[11][12][13] According to DC Senior Vice President and executive editor Dan DiDio, Bruce Wayne does not really die in the storyline, although it leads to his absence.^[14][15] Part of the aftermath later plays out in Blackest Night: Batman.

"Battle for the Cowl"

The titles Nightwing, Robin, and Birds of Prey were cancelled, and Batman & Detective Comics went on hiatus for three months in March 2009. In March, April and May a three-part series titled Battle for the Cowl, written and illustrated by Tony Daniel focused on the aftermath of the series and the battle for Gotham.^[16][17][18] Tied to this was a three-part Oracle mini-series^[19] and a three-part Azrael mini-series^[20][21] and two bookends titled Gotham City Gazette that encompassed the changes in all of those series. In addition, five one-shots were published focusing on key characters in upcoming storylines.^[22] These featured Man-Bat, Commissioner Gordon, the Network, the Underground and Arkham Asylum.^[23]

Promotion

At the New York Comic Con 2008, DC Comics gave away pins featuring Nightwing, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, and Hush with the words "I Am Batman" beneath them.

The pins were also being given away at the Newsarama booth by DC's executive editor Dan DiDio during HeroesCon 2008 in Charlotte, North Carolina and again by DiDio at Emerald City Comic-Con in Seattle.

Comics across the DC Universe also feature a checklist of the related issues, alongside a picture featuring Batman's empty cowl hanging on a cross-shaped tombstone.

Critical reception

Popcultureshock wrote that the story was "a creative and intriguing Batman tale" but that elements of the story were repetitive of earlier ones and that "some readers will likely feel cheated that the real conclusion to what happens to Batman will occur in Final Crisis and not RIP." ^[24]

The Hard Cover Deluxe edition which collects the comics from the main storyline that appeared in the 'Batman' series made the New York Times Graphic Books Best Seller List in May 2009.^[25]

Notes

References

External links

• Batman R.I.P. issue listing at comiXology
• Sunday Slugfest: Batman #676, Comics Bulletin
• Review of Batman #676, Comic Book Resources
• Review of Batman R.I.P. Deluxe Edition, Comic Book Resources