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by ChrisW-15, 7 January 2009
Warning: The following article is spoiler-heavy
Literally.
And I'm not one of those die-hard fans who thinks that Nolan's movies did not stick closely enough to the D.C. original, and have soiled Kane and Finger's good names..
In the latest Batman comic storyline, Batman R.I.P., Batman really might have died. He jumps on a helicopter, which explodes, and the series ends with Nightwing (the first Robin all-grown-up) clutching a piece of his cape.
The series begins with a mysterious organization, "The Black Glove", set out for the complete ruination of Batman. Their leader, Doctor Simon Hurt has implanted a phrase: "Zur En Arrh", in Batman's mind decades ago in a secret isolation project that when set off, will make him go complete insane. Injected with heroin and crystal meth, Batman is left on the streets where he is eventually buried alive outside of Arkham Asylum, as Hurt intends to bring Batman back to life as his braindead servant.
Confused?
The comic also brings to life darker sides of the Bruce's parents. Hurt has gathered a dossier that apparently has evidence of Thomas Wayne addicting his wife and Bruce's mother, Martha to heroin, sexcapades with Alfred and movie stars and many other juicy details.
Oh yes, and did I mention that Hurt reveals himself to be Bruce's father, Thomas Wayne at the end? Whether this is true or not, it sends Batman reeling, just long enough for the helicopter he is hanging on to crash, and him to (presumably) die.
There are many more twists, involving the Joker, Jezebel Jet (Batman's new girlfriend), the Bat-Mite, and the meaning of "Zur En Arrh" is finally revealed—something that has been popping up in Batman comics for over fifty years now.
"This is the end of Bruce Wayne as Batman... So what I am doing is a fate worse than death. Things that no one would expect to happen to these guys at all," writer-in-chief Grant Morrison said in an interview.
This prompted a instant reaction from fans.
The consensus? Good storyline, bad ending. Having spawned award-winning cartoons, movies, and TV shows, Batman is simply too popular to die.
But Bruce Wayne isn't. Fans are already speculating about who might replace him: Dick Grayson (the first Robin), Azrael, Cassandra Cain. Morisson has already been hired to work on a new comic, "The Battle for the Cowl", focusing on a substitue for Wayne.
Okay, so I lied. Bruce Wayne isn't really going to die. D.C. comics revealed very recently that Bruce wasn't really dead, although he would be missing for a long time following R.I.P. "He's not dead, though he'll definitely be gone for a while," said Dan DiDio, executive editor at D.C.
Just to clarify, this isn't the first time Batman's "died".
Batman's commited suicide twice—the first to join the "Death Cheaters", a sinister club where dying and then being revived is mandatory for joining, the second when he teams up with Lex Luthor in an alternate past to take down Superman. He's also been electrocuted to death (twice!), killed by Bill Jensen (we've never heard of him either), killed by the Joker, killed by Ra's ah Ghul, killed by Superman, faked his death countless of times...
The idea of a main superhero dying isn't even relatively new. "The Death of Superman" in 1992 sees Clark Kent getting killed by Doomsday in Metropolis. Jason Todd (the second Robin) is brutally murdered by the Joker due to a narrow vote by readers. Wonder Woman has been killed in the past, and also in a future that her mother foresaw. All of them are alive right now.
In fact, pretty much everyone significant in the last twenty years who have died were brought back to life (Captain America excluded, although it's only been a year so you never know). There's even a name for it in the comic industry: The Bucky Clause. No character is dead forever.
You can't touch him.
He's Batman.
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