Biff Bam Pow Comics

It’s that time again! Cee Diddy has combed the earth, cast a net across the sky and used the power of his telepathic cats to bring you a bunch of crazy (and probably not so crazy) ass rumours. This time mainly centering around Batman R.I.P. and any possible ‘big reveals’.

What’s my money on? I’ll give you three guesses. In the meantime - click here to get yourself some New Cee Diddy Holla!

Now, here’s a little known fact about my relationship with Batman. For most of my life - I’ve been a huge Batman fan. That’s not the little known fact - pretty much everyone knows that.

The little known fact is that I used to read Batman and fantasize about being Batman. About taking up the mantle of the Bat - fighting the good fight on the deep dark streets of Gotham. And the bad thing about this? Last time I fantasized about it was only a year or so ago.

So it’s fair to say I’m a big Batman fan.

Now - having said all of that - I’ve not been all that impressed with his books over the past year. But - happily - the last issue of Batman (676) left a good impression on me.

But what of Batman issue 677?

***SPOILER ALERT***

The book opens with an interesting sequence - Batman ‘interrogating’ one of the Black Hood’s ‘hentchmen’ - literally beating him to a pulp for information.

Going further in to the issue, plot seeds are laid for Bruce to go off the deep end, as it appears that he had a ‘trigger phrase’ implanted into his subconcious some years back - which the Black Hand would like to activate (with the help of a little librium).

Jet meets Bruce in full uniform under the Batcave, and begins to question his attachment to his calling - asking him if the Black Hand could really be within his head - and that’s when things start to turn a little ugly…

As with the last issue - this is a great book, beautifully drawn by Tony Daniel and exceptionally written by Grant Morrison. Happily - I’ve got a good feeling about Batman R.I.P.

And even more happily - I still think that I might get a shot at the Bat’s throne…

Pete’s Score: 4 out of 5
(recommended - there are some dark days ahead for Bruce Wayne)

So here we have it. The much anticipated first issue of the Batman R.I.P. storyline, written by Grant Morrison and penciled (in this issue) by Tony Daniel.

This, in theory, could be a very big storyline for DC. If it goes the way it probably should go - we might end up with a new Batman. If it goes the way we’re expecting it to go - someone in the Batman family may very well bite the dust.

Before I get into the review - I’m going to take a stab in the dark at…

***SPOILER ALERT***

…Dick Grayson becoming Batman in issue 150 of Nightwing. Don’t ask me why - I haven’t got any insider info, just a gut feeling. Batman has bitten the dust (almost) once already during the return of Ra’s al Ghul, falling into the Fountain of Essence after being beaten half to death by Sensei.

Batman 676 opens with a very interesting shot from 6 months in the future - a darkened image of Batman and Robin, atop a roof in the middle of a storm. Batman proclaiming aloud “You’re wrong! Batman and Robin will never die!”, Robin ready to pounce on whichever villain they are facing.

Now - a few things to note about the imagery here. DC has of late been leaving subtle little clues in its posters / display materials / etc, to the future of any given series. Let’s just take a moment to reflect on the fact that Robin looks a wee bit tiny here. Tiny, and with a new haircut. A haircut that’s a little Damian-esqe… Could Bruce be dying / passing the mantle on to Dick, Tim be stepping up into Nightwing, and Robin’s boots being filled by Damian?

All just speculation - but damn that’d be interesting reading wouldn’t it?

One of the best Batman storylines ever written (in my opinion) was Prodigal. Dick finally getting the chance to prove to Bruce that he was able to be the Batman - if he ever needed him to be.

Since then, I’ve always wondered if it could happen someday. It’s certainly possible. Especially when you think about DC’s history of killing characters and replacing them with their sidekicks (see the history of The Flash, etc…). Around the time of Infinite Crisis however, when it was originally planned for Dick to bite the dust, the outcome looked bleak.

But then Conner waved goodbye instead, because of massive fan outcry. And suddenly, it all became possible again.

Now - having said all of this - I’m conscious that Dick has been living on ‘borrowed time’ since Infinite Crisis, and that Final Crisis could very well be his final outing.

Yet… Something makes me think he’s going to be around for awhile to come. And possibly wearing pointy ears come the end of R.I.P.

Buy Batman 676. It’s a good read, it’ll get your mind thinking, and it’s very likely to be the start of something very very very big.

Pete’s Score: 4 out of 5
(worth the $2.99 if for nothing more than it’ll get your grey matter moving on what might be coming for Batman)