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 • Batman and the Outsiders #11-13 • Detective Comics #846-850 • Nightwing #147-150 • Robin #175-176
Main character(s)	Batman Batman Family The Joker Club of Villains
Creative team
Writer(s)	Grant Morrison
Artist(s)	Tony Daniel
Hardcover	ISBN 1-4012-2090-8

"Batman R.I.P." is a comic book story arc involving the character Batman written by Grant Morrison, penciled by Tony Daniel, Sandu Florea, and with covers by Alex Ross. It has a number of tie-ins in other DC Comics titles that are not to be confused with the main story running in Batman.

Outline

In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Grant Morrison explained that what's going to happen to Batman 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."

At the 2008 New York Comic Con "Spotlight on Grant Morrison" panel, Morrison talked about "Batman R.I.P." "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."

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," a villain who was 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, gloatingly taunts Batman regarding his fear of the mystery villain and how the Black Glove intends on destroying him.

Batman R.I.P. will then be 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.

Plot

The story begins with a scene of two figures standing on a rooftop, dressed in the costumes of Batman and Robin but with their features are obscured by shadow. The figure in the Batman costume shouts "You're wrong! Batman and Robin will never die!"

Six months earlier, at an unknown location, a group of international supervillains gather at the behest of the Black Glove, represented by Dr. Simon Hurt, the man responsible for the isolation chamber experiment that nearly ended Batman's career and for the creation of the three replacement Batmen. They are planning a danse macabre for Batman and arrange the delivery of an invitation to the villainous Joker.

Meanwhile Commissioner Gordon tries to stop a Gotham newspaper from running a story on a dossier allegedly compiled by a detective hired by the parents of Martha Wayne, which contains many shocking allegations: testimony that Thomas Wayne was a drunk who addicted his wife to heroin, insinuations that Alfred Pennyworth is Bruce Wayne's true biological father, and photographs depicting an orgy involving Thomas and Martha Wayne, Alfred, and the stars of John Mayhew's noir film "The Black Glove" and the theory that Thomas Wayne may still be alive, the "murder" of the Waynes was in truth an elaborate hoax, arranged by Thomas Wayne in order to kill his unfaithful wife and fake his own death.

After one of Le Bossu's gargoyle henchmen drugs Batman with librium on the blade of a knife, Batman has the Batcomputer analyze all of his data on the Black Glove and Simon Hurt. The Batcomputer responds by displaying scenes from all over Gotham City in which the phrase "Zur-En-Arrh" has been spraypainted. The combination of the hypnotic drug and the trigger phrase "Zur-En-Arrh" causes Batman to collapse just as the Club of Villains descend upon the Batcave.

Doctor Hurt injects Batman with "weapons-grade" crystal meth and heroin and sets him loose to wander the streets of Gotham, confused and deranged. Bruce Wayne, having encountered a hallucination of a homeless man who died earlier that day, repeats the phrase "Zur-En-Arrh" and sews a new Batman costume out of scraps of cloth: the red, black, purple, and yellow costume of the "Batman of Zur-En-Arrh," (which is a reference to a story from the Golden age time period of DC Comics in which a Batman from another planet: "Zur-En-Arrh" meets the Bruce Wayne Batman. This Batman from the planet Zur-En-Arrh bears a very similar costume to the one Bruce creates for himself out of the scraps of cloth) who, with Bat-Mite by his side, sets out into Gotham City to stop the Club of Villains. It's revealed, through Bat-Mite, that years earlier Bruce Wayne, as a defense against psychological attack, created a "backup" personality, a "Batman without Bruce," the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh (using a hallucination he suffered after exposure to Professor Milo's gas as a basis), to take control in the event that Bruce might one day be mindwiped. Upon hearing of Batman's "return", Dr. Hurt relocates to Arkham, bringing Jezebel Jet to the asylum and overseeing the release of the Joker.

Back at Arkham the Joker taunts Batman, saying Batman can never truly understand his insanity no matter how hard he tries. He then shows Batman that he has Jezebel locked in a room with his poisonous red and black flowers. As Batman tries to save Jezebel, however, she reveals herself to be a member of the Black Glove, and the unmasked Batman breaks down upon the revelation. The defeated Batman is buried alive, while the Black Glove go inside to celebrate. However, Joker turns on the group as he mocks their burial of Batman and predicts (rightfully so) that Batman has already regained his sanity and in the process of escaping from his shallow grave. Joker then uses the Bat-Radia to broadcasts a code (designed by Batman) to override Arkham's security system and lock the Asylum down.

As Nightwing awakens just as he is about to be lobotomized, Robin meets up with the Club of Heroes, who vow to get rid of the Club of Villains' henchmen as Robin heads off to meet up with Batman. Meanwhile as Batman escapes his grave, there are flashbacks revealing that Batman has been aware of the existence of the Black Glove since the "Thögal" rite he underwent during his year of absence in 52. It's also revealed that Batman had long suspected Jezebel was a villain, citing the fact that he is notoriously attracted to evil women and has been faking being in love with her in order to keep Jezebel under his thumb.

The Joker vows to destroy the Black Glove and flees in an ambulance, but is knocked into the Gotham River when Damian Wayne nonchalantly rams the ambulance with the Batmobile. Now free, Batman confronts Jezebel, who as a child was "won" by her dictator father as part of a wager with the Black Glove. Batman also reveals his revenge against Jezebel, stealing the last letter her mother sent her which she considers to be her most cherished belonging.

Leaving Jezebel and her goons to Nightwing, Batman runs to Simon Hurt, who persists with the claim that he is truly Thomas Wayne (à la Detective No. 27)and orders (possibly another control-phrase) the Batman to "put away his Batman costume and retire from crime-fighting". Batman discards his cape and cowl and refutes the claim, believing that Hurt is Mangrove Pierce, star of the "Black Glove" movie who John Mayhew framed for the murder of his wife. Hurt denies that he is Pierce (claiming instead to be "the hole in things", the "piece that can never fit") but extends an offer to Batman: a complete retraction of the slandering forgeries about his parents for servitude to the Black Glove. Batman refuses and leaps aboard Hurt's helicopter, causing the craft to crash into the water in a fiery explosion. As Nightwing clutches Batman's discarded cowl, Talia dispatches her Man-Bats to bring down Jezebel Jet's airplane.

Six months later a disfigured Le Bossu is shown torturing a cop, free to act since Batman was not seen since his fight with Hurt. However, the Bat-Signal shines through a window in the roof, drawing a smile out of the policeman, and leads directly to the first page of the story.

As a final piece of the puzzle, the origins of the Zur-En-Arrh phrase are revealed as the misheard remarks of Thomas and Martha to their son seconds before their deaths, that if ever a caped vigilante would appear in Gotham, they'd probably throw someone like Zorro in Arkham, thus foreshadowing the final showdown.

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, NC and again by DiDio at Emerald City Comic-Con in Seattle.

Also appearing in all comics across the DC universe is a checklist of the related issues alongside a picture featuring Batman's empty cowl hanging on a cross-shaped tombstone.

Tie-ins

Batman R.I.P. Checklist

• Batman #676-681
• Detective Comics #846-850
• Nightwing #147-150
• Robin #175-176
• Batman and the Outsiders #11-13

Title Relations

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 Batman.

Batman #682-683 and Final Crisis

The Batman currently appearing in Final Crisis is indeed Bruce Wayne. Writer Grant Morrison stated, "First it's R.I.P., and we'll see how that winds up for Batman. Then the two-parter I mentioned (#682-683) goes through Batman's whole career, in a big summing up of everything that also ties directly into Final Crisis. And Final Crisis is where we see the final fate of Batman."

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 Batman's life, his connection to the Gotham Underworld, and how these things helped transform Elliot into Hush.

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.

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

Other notable mentions

The Batman R.I.P. events appear to have rippling effects in the whole DC Universe. In Supergirl #34 it is mentioned how Batman's disappearance crippled Robin's organization, who is no longer able to provide full support and fake identities for Supergirl and her Titans.

In Action Comics #864, the narrating Time Trapper takes the opportunity to say "goodbye" to Batman, and that barely anyone remembers him in the 31st Century, and he remembers Batman's death as well as other important events such as New Krypton's birth. At the same time, Lightning Lad warns Batman that "he should try getting loud once in a while".

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

Collected editions

The story is planned to be collected into multiple volumes:

• Batman R.I.P. (208 pages, oversized hardcover, February 2009, ISBN 1-4012-2090-8) collects:
  • "Batman R.I.P." (with Tony Daniel, Batman #676-681, June-November 2008)
  • #682-683 (with Lee Garbett, November-December 2008)

• Batman: Heart of Hush (144 pages, hardcover, April 2009, ISBN 1401221238)

References

• Batman R.I.P. at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)

External links

• Batman #679: Batman RIP Continues, Bat-Radia in Hand from CC2K
• Deconstructing "Batman R.I.P."
• Sunday Slugfest: Batman #676, Comics Bulletin
• Review of Batman #676, Comic Book Resources
• Killing Batman And The DC Universe, IGN, August 26, 2008