tion as to whether Bruce Wayne isdying, or "Batman" is dying - a fine, but valid point in fans' eyes)comes at the end of a storyline which has seen Bruce Wayne attacked inall ways - physically, psychologically, even spiritually - and leadsinto 2009's Battle for the Cowl miniseries by Tony Daniel, which will apparently see members ofBatman's family duking it out for the right to wear the mask and cape.
But before we put that last shovelful of dirt on the Caped Crusader,let's take a moment to remember that this isn't the first time Batmanhas died - there have been a couple near or in-continuity deaths hereand there before this. Hey, he's no Superman when it comes to dying andcoming back to life, but he's had his run-ins with the grim reaper.
Some notable "deaths" include:
Batman #72 - "The Death Cheaters of Gotham City!": Wanting tojoin the "Death Cheaters," Batman artificially and deliberately stopshis heart and was revived shortly thereafter by Robin. Being legallydead for a period and revived was the club's prerequisite for joiningup. You know, come to think of it, the cover of that issue had Batmanin a Tarzan-esque over the shoulder number, and Robin (being threatenedby a panther) clad in leopard skin briefs. Hey, it was the Golden Age of comics. Anything, apparently, went.
Brave and the Bold #115 - "The Corpse That Wouldn't Die!": Batman is killed when he touches the electrified outsideof a fifth floor window. In a rather ghoulish move, The Atom shrinksdown, enters Batman's brain, and reanimates him in order to find hiskiller (within an hour - otherwise Batman's heart and lungs will ceasefunction). The Atom does the job, and miraculously (or as The Atomthinks, thanks to his jumping around in Batman's brain) Batman's noodlecomes back online, and he lives to fight crime another day. Seriously -if your awesome meter only goes up to 10, you need to check this issueout to see what pegging the needle at 11 feels like.
Batman #291-#294 - "Who Killed the Batman?" - Batman's dead! Andno one knows who did it. So what do his enemies do? They hold aninvestigation wherein they try to figure out who killed their nemesis.This one had it all - Ra's al Ghul as the judge, Two-Face as theprosecuting attorney, with appearances by Catwoman, the Joker, theRiddler, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, the Spook, Mr. Freeze, Signal Man (Iknow!), oh, and Lex Luthor. Of course, there's a twist, and Batmanreally isn't dead, but still, great, fun story.
Batman: Birth of the Demon - This graphic novel explored theorigin of Ra's al Ghul and was therefore set in the past, but it alsohad a segment set in the present day, which featured a savage battlebetween him and Batman. Ra's gained the upper hand in the fight anddrove a shovel (!) into Batman's chest. With his last remaining energy,Batman grabbed Ra's and threw them both into the Lazarus Pit.Bingo-bango, cut to the next morning, and Bruce Wayne is up and about,with nary a scratch.
Detective Comics #644-#646 - "Electric City": During a battlewith the third individual to call himself The Electrocutioner, Batmantakes a massive jolt to the body stopping his heart. His heart isrestarted by Robin, who then tells his mentor that he needs to rest.Batman, being Batman tells Robin no in his warm and friendly way:
Robin: But you died tonight! You need to rest!
Batman: I was technically dead; not clinically.
Hear that? That's Chuck Norris saying, "Day-um."
Batman #433 - #435 - "The Many Deaths of the Batman" -Technically, the title is accurate even if it's not accurate in aspecific sense - people dressed as Batman are found dead throughoutGotham City. One of the ones not dead is the real Batman, whodeduces that all the dead men helped train Bruce Wayne in some aspectof his "becoming" Batman. Batman finds the killer, saves the day, andstops the Batmen from being killed.
Justice League: The Obsidian Age - Batman, Superman, WonderWoman and others killed in the distance past. Magically returned tolife. Whereas Atom driving a brain-dead Batman was 11 on the awesomemeter, this was about a 6 on the "meh" meter. For a real 11 on the mehmeter, see the deaths of Batmen in Countdown: Arena.
Superman: Emperor Joker - In this alternate reality story, theall-powerful Joker captured and subsequently tortured Batman to deathevery night, only to resurrect him and do it again the next day. Afterthe Joker was depowered and taken down by Superman, the memories ofbeing repeatedly tortured to death were removed from Batman's mind, andput into Superman's, where we hope he forgot them.
The First Real Batman RIP - "Real" in terms that it stuck. We talked about this back in May - Adventure Comics #461-#463where the Earth-2 Batman (married to Catwoman, and father of theEarth-2 Huntress) was killed in a rather ignoble fashion, taking up nota full page, but barely a panel. Hey, it was 1978. While Earth-2 hasgone away and come back and some of its heroes, once thought dead, havecome back as well, Earth-2 Batman isn't one of them. He's not justcomic book dead, he's dead dead.
And while we're not talking about the "main" DC Universe, how's about...
Superman: Red Son - With Superman recast as the hero of theSoviet Union, Batman was "anarchy in black," an ever-present irritantto the Man of Steel. Repulsed by the oppression leveled on the peopleunder Superman's regime, Batman teams with Lex Luthorto take downSuperman. The plan ultimately fails, and, rather than face capture andreprogramming as a "Superman Robot," Batman commits suicide bydetonating a bomb in his chest, becoming a martyr for his cause.
An honorable mention:
Batman: Knightfall - Okay, this is admittedly parsing things out - Bruce Wayne lived on (albeit with a broken back) while "Batman" - the Batmandied...for a time. Sure, there was the replacement Batman in the form ofJean-Paul Valley (soon to appear in our 12 Times Batman Went Nutsarticle), but he wasn't Batman. He was the "be careful what you wishfor" Batman, an editorial answer to fan speculation as to why Batmancan't be rougher and more...final in his solutions. Jean Paul Valley was,and he was a bastard and a half. Luckily, Bruce got his back and hismojo back together and took the cowl back from Jean-Paul.
And one last one, just because it's a classic:
The Dark Knight Returns - At the story's climactic battle betweenSuperman and Batman, Bruce is giving Clark the thrashing of his life -and enjoying it. But - before Batman can claim total victory, his heartgives out. Flatline. No {bum-bump} to Superman's superhuman hearing. Ofcourse, it was only a ruse, designed to end the fight, and get Batmanback underground (literally and figuratively). At Bruce Wayne'sfuneral, Clark hears Bruce's heart start up again - Bruce wasn'tprecise enough with the chemicals that stopped his heart. Regardless,Clark let it go with a wink to Robin, allowing Batman to once againlead a battle against crime. An absolute classic.
So - back to this week's "death" of Batman and the conclusion of GrantMorrison and Tony Daniel's "Batman R.I.P." - will it last? Is it real?Or, sorry - is it "real?"
With apologies to Virginia who believes in Santa, we can be a littlerealistic here. Batman is more than a character appearing in a comicbook. He - as Bruce Wayne - is known to millions around the world asthe hero of Gotham City. His movie has almost made a billiondollars this year. The value of Batman/Bruce Wayne to DC Comics andWarner Bros. is beyond measure. We'll let you figure out what thatmeans in terms of how "dead" Batman may be here, in the broad view.
That's not to say that (this) Batman won't be put on the shelf for awhile, and that taking him off the stage hasn't been in the works forsome time in DC's editorial plan. After all, in the Teen Titansarc, "Titans Tomorrow," Tim Drake met his older self in a dozen or soyears in the future. Future-Time had become Batman (and a mean one atthat), and claimed that "So many heroes fell during it all. During theCrisis." DCU Executive Editor Dan DiDio has claimed that the end of Final Crisiswill connect with the end of "Batman R.I.P." - and both stories arewritten by Grant Morrison, which allows serious synchronization.
Also, in Justice League of America #0, Superman and Wonder Woman are seen on a rooftop, clearly implying that Batman is no more.
Wonder Woman: "So how'd he finally go?"
Superman: "Fighting."
That's our bit of history for today. Given that comics are comics,we're sure we missed a couple (dozen) other deaths of Batman. Got afavorite that we skipped? Think you know how this whole "Batman R.I.P."is going to work out?
These comments aren't going to write themselves, people.
Related:
- Dan DiDio on "Batman R.I.P"
- DiDio & Mike Marts on "Batman R.I.P"
- Talking Batman with Grant Morrison
- Original Story: Batman R.I.P.? A Dozen Dark Knight Deaths
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