sdelmonte | This Week's Comic: Batman

It's Batman 681, the end of "Batman RIP." And while it is a bit confused and oblique at some points (which is not a surprise), it's a lot of fun and also rather gripping (which isn't one either, given what I think of Morrison).

The long and short of it is that even at low ebb, drugged and trapped and broken, Batman is still prepared for every occasion and perhaps not as broken as he seems. In some ways, this can be seen as disappointing, since it means that no threat is ever enough to shut him down (and it's clear by the end that the Black Glove group was outclassed by Batman and by Joker). But that's what we like about Batman, isn't it? It's not that he can't lose, it's that sometimes he finds new ways for us to win. Though sometimes, there is a cost.

The cost here, however, is unclear. Is Batman really dead? It doesn't seem likely. It sure seems like the usual Caped Crusader in Final Crisis (which takes place after RIP). But at story's end, he's been gone (again) for at least six months, and he's sure gone in the ancillary Batman books. The next thing we are getting from DC are requiems to Batman written by Denny O'Neil and Neil Gaiman, followed by something called "the Battle for the Cowl." DC wants us us to think that Batman is really gone, dead or retired or just taking a vacation and spending all his dough from the movie.

Right now, though, that doesn't matter. And right now, I feel like basking in the glow of a big, loud, exciting, challenging, somewhat iconic and entertaining Batman story where Good and Evil face off. And in seeing that Morrison really did have a vision of what to do with Batman. It's a sprawling vision, one that I know a lot of people hate, maybe for good reason. But for the most part, I have enjoyed the wild ride Grant has taken us on. And I hope that he returns to the Batman books again, since it's clear that he isn't done in Gotham yet (even if DC is not saying when or if he'll be back after we learn who's inside the cowl).

I will add one more thing: Morrison is good at endings. So good that I might have to buy the finale of Final Crisis, even though the story lost me, because I fully expect him to come up with a great ending not unlike the one here and the one in All-Star Superman.