Batman RIP. What does it mean? It’s a title that sets the scene for what you’d except to be Batman’s, or Bruce Wayne’s final adventure. Will he rest in peace or rot in purgatory? Either way, this is the moment that Grant Morrison’s run has been building up to. Although its early on when you consider his whole tenure on the Batman titles, Batman RIP, along with Final Crisis (gulp) is the end of phase one. I consider the phases to be literally the three main titles that Morrison works on, those being Batman, then Batman and Robin, before concluding with Batman Incorporated. When you read lists of best ever Batman stories, RIP appears without fail. I first read it without reading any of the previous stories and, to put it mildly, I didn’t get it. But now, after reading the Black Casebook, Batman and Son, The Black Glove, and some
others, I can confidently say I still I don’t get it! I joke… for the most part anyway…
Batman 676-681 was published from June to December 2008. It was written by Grant Morrison obviously with art by Tony Daniel and Sandu Florea. I’ve read the story in its trade paperback.
“You’re wrong! Batman and Robin will never die!”. Those are the words which begin Batman RIP, before we are taken back six months to the present. This is probably the most written-about and loved story in Morrison’s Batman run. As I said earlier, it doesn’t work as a standalone story as you need to read everything that comes before it and that is proven immediately as we are quickly introduced to Simon Hurt as he inducts a new member into the Black Glove cult. While there are some familiar characters here like El Sombrero, the Black Glove is introduced here as if they’re a new team of rich people who bet on all sorts of evil things just for fun. While none of its members, apart from Hurt and El Sombrero, are particularly memorable or even really entertaining, it makes the villainous team appear more mysterious. Anyway, nearby, Batman and Robin (still Tim Drake) chase after an amateur villain known as the Green Vulture in their new Batmobile. By day however, Bruce Wayne’s romance with Jezebel Jet reaches its height as she learns how much the death of his parents mean to him? Is a flashback coming on? No? Good. Too many Batman stories go over those events in Crime Alley just for the sake it. Morrison dodges a bullet there. What is worrying though is that Jezebel receives an invitation from the Black Glove. Alarm bells surely must be ringing now. I mean, it’s fairly obvious that she’s working with them and I’m not even saying that because I’ve read the whole run. It was clear from the start. Elsewhere however, we get an interesting end to the first part as a deranged Joker, now even more severe and crazy after being shot in the head, learns of the Black Glove while hallucinating. He hatches a plan. It’s very common for the writers of today to overuse the Joker, but Morrison only uses him about three times in his lengthy run. This is how it should be. Every time the Joker appears, it should be an event to be remembered. In the past decade, especially with runs like Scott Snyder’s, the Joker appears every ten issues or so. Tom King changed that for the better, but I fear that Batman has gone backwards with the Joker since. Regardless, the second part details Batman on the hunt for information about the Black Glove, working on his own as he does so he tries to find a connection between Simon Hurt and John Mayhew. Later he meets with Jezebel and orders her to stay away from him for her own safety as the Black Glove have been hunting him. However, Bruce’s emotions take over and he convinces her to stay. While this going on, something more interesting is taking place in the GCPD building and its one of the more forgotten aspects of the story. Commissioner Gordon is presented with “evidence” that Bruce Wayne is schizophrenic after his father became an alcoholic who used to beat his wife. With Alfred, Gordon learns from the journalist’s “facts” that he is an actor whose stage name was Beagle (a nice reference to the golden age Alfred). The rumour basically is that Thomas Wayne is still alive, and he faked his own death and killed Martha Wayne. Before we can even talk about that bombshell however, the Batcave goes into lockdown mode as the words “Zur-En-Arrh” appear all over the screens and the Black Glove arrives to capture the Dark Knight. We are then suddenly taken to the grim mucky streets of downtown Gotham where Bruce Wayne, battered and drugged out of his mind, awakens on the ground and is met by a tramp named Honor Jackson. Throughout this slightly mad chapter, (continued)
Bruce hallucinates himself and his past as he pushes a trolley of yellow, red, and purple fabric around the city. This is where things get confusing as Bruce spends his whole day doing this before Honor Jackson vanishes into thin air. Bruce then discovers that Honor died the previous day, and our hero is entirely on his own. This is the only major aspect of the story I don’t get. I understand that the Black Glove has drugged Batman to near-uselessness in a way to take away his most valuable aspect: his intelligence. But who exactly is, or was, Honor Jackson? I’ve heard theories that he’s Lucius Fox in disguise, but that doesn’t add up. He clearly exists in the present as people around town recognise him. If he’s simply a conjuration in Bruce’s mind, then how come others can see him. Either way, this gives Bruce the incentive to use that rubbish wool in his trolley which appeared out of nowhere. While the Black Glove, now occupying the Batcave, proclaim that the Dark Knight is dead, Bruce uses his secret and deadliest weapon. Remember the Bat-Radia from The Superman of Planet X (Batman 113). Well, it’s not that. But it doesn’t belong to Batman now in his deepest personality: the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. It’s a message that’s appeared several times throughout the run and Morrison uses this old dusty relic from the past as a backup personality for the Dark Knight. He’s a Batman without limits, you might say. I don’t know why Morrison chose the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh when the Rainbow Batman would have totally been more appropriate, but who cares. It’s just great to see a colourful costumed hero from the 1960s appear in the gritty 2000s. And oh yeah, Bat-Mite tags along with him because why not! Now in his most wild form, Batman takes out members of the Black Glove as they follow him due to a tracker in his teeth. With ruthlessness, Batman removes his tooth and, with the help of Bat-Mite and some talking gargoyles, takes out the villains. Yes, you are reading a comic book from 2008. This is obviously where the Black Casebook comes into it as Bat-Mite explains that this underlining personality in Batman developed when he was in that isolation tank and, thanks to Professor Milo and his hallucinogenic gas, Batman was transported to Planet X where he met the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. All very sensible stuff. For years, the Batman writers and editors were utterly terrified of mentioning any of these old stories, but Morrison really didn’t care, and he is clearly writing something that he finds hilarious. We may find it confusing, but it’s great how he reimagines the wacky old characters from the past. Meanwhile back in serious land, Robin and Nightwing unite as they take on members of the Black Glove, with help of Knight and Squire. At the same time, Gordon arrives at the Wayne Manor to discuss the accusations against Bruce, but he finds the Manor has been converted into a death trap. Simon Hurt meanwhile goes through delusions that he is in fact Thomas Wayne before he transports the Black Glove to Arkham Asylum, taking it over only to honour a deal made with the Joker. As we head into the fifth part, one of the things you realise is that when it comes to stories like this, there’s rarely any time to relax or ponder over previous dialogue. Normally, this would be a problem as it doesn’t allow the story to have any breathing room. But Morrison, like Moore, gets away with it because it’s written in such a unique and identifiable way. Perhaps this doesn’t always apply, as stories like The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul proved to be quite uninteresting, but Morrison only wrote about a quarter of the story as the rest belonged to the other writers. Anyway, now in Arkham Asylum, the Black Glove meet to prepare for the death of Batman. I suppose even the thought that drugging him up wouldn’t kill him. Either way, with Batman arriving at the asylum and effectively storming his way through, Bat-Mite leaves him and the only voice of reason left in the Dark Knight’s mind is gone as he enters a dark world that will lead to his death. Wait? Bat-Mite is the serious voice here? Something certainly is wrong here. Meanwhile, we get to one of the best moments of the story as the Joker, now appearing more twisted and insane than ever before, enters the Black Glove’s meeting. Everyone but Simon Hurt is terrified of him as he proves to be more unpredictable than ever. Meanwhile, Gordon attempts to make his way through Wayne Manor, but just as he trips one of the traps, suddenly Damian Wayne and Talia appear in what’s beginning to be a reunion of the whole Bat family. Back in Arkham, the Black Glove use the Joker, who’s not lost his taste for blood after he seemingly kills El Sombrero, to goad Batman and generally annoy him.
Batman, still drugged out of his mind under the influence of Zur-En-Arrh, lunges at the Joker before trying to rescue Jezebel. Just he tries to do so, Batman faints and his last vision before blacking out is Jezebel turning on him as he realises that she has been playing him since they first met. Now who didn’t see that one coming? I’ve said countless times before that that shouldn’t be a shock because their relationship seemed fake and too quick from the beginning. I think that there were probably more effective and shocking ways that the Black Glove could have taken hope away from Batman. For instance, killing Alfred would have been good. I mean, Tom King did it. I guess with Jezebel, since she’s rich, she is no doubt one of those members of the Black Glove who takes part simply for the fun of it. As we enter the conclusion, the crazy world of Zur-En-Arrh goes behind us as this time, Batman awakens in a coffin dressed in his regular Batsuit, with the drugs in his body entirely gone. But, by using some inane rather James Bond-y knowledge from his past, Batman escapes from the coffin. Back at the asylum, Simon Hurt refuses to induct the Joker into the Black Glove because only five members are allowed. That’s cleared up quickly when the mad clown breaks the neck of one member and the whole clan becomes fearful of him. This is all done with a purpose as the Joker, unlike Simon Hurt, really does know Batman. He knows that throwing him into a coffin wouldn’t stop him in a million years. Batman confronts the Black Glove and Jezebel, who is now clearly working for them, and we get a moment where Bruce Wayne thanks Alfred for his acting lessons which helped him in his “relationship” with Jezebel, who worked with the Black Glove ever since her family were involved with them in a dodgy people-dealing case. Away from that slightly interesting aspect of the story, the Bat-family all convene outside Arkham Asylum just after Damian drives the Batmobile at high speed and knocks an ambulance driven by the Joker into the Gotham River. In the final moments of the story, Batman chases after Simon Hurt as he escapes in his helicopter with the Third Man. Batman lunges onto the chopper and uses his weight to knock it off course. As it collapses in the river, the helicopter explodes; Batman and Simon Hurt are no more. Apparently. As the heroes rush to the scene, Nightwing watches from afar holding Batman’s cape and cowl. A new era begins. As for Jezebel Jet, she escapes on her plane until an army of Talia Al Ghul’s Man-Bats hunt her down in revenge. To conclude the story like the beginning, Morrison throws us six months in the future and as the very first page proved, Batman and Robin will never die. Am I the only one who thinks that Batman RIP has got the wrong title? When everybody talks about Batman dying in Morrison’s run, they never really talk about this story. Everyone thinks about Final Crisis in which, spoiler alert, Batman is seemingly killed by Darkseid’s Omega rays. Batman RIP proves that Batman is unkillable in this very James Bond story. In fact, Morrison’s whole run is clearly based off of James Bond to the point where it’s pointless to mention the obvious parallels. It proves that Simon Hurt, for all of his mystery, isn’t actually the villain who knows Batman the most. That award still goes to the Joker who simply plays along with Hurt in a game that he knows the Black Glove will lose. At times, the story does feel an excuse for some of the stories in the silver age. For example, the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh has been reworked radically and the original story is now dismissed as a flashback. But, as I said, Morrison is one of the few writers who can actually get away with using these old stories and he uses them in his own way while being respectful to them. Overall, I don’t find Batman RIP as confusing as many other people do and that’s most likely down to the fact that I’ve read the whole Morrison run. Yes, it has its plot-holes like Honor Jackson for instance, but there’s a reason why it’s considered one of the best Batman stories. It’s never ever
dull. Morrison brings his unique style of writing to the title, and he produces a brilliant and totally unique thriller mystery.
When I think of artists drawing crazy coloured costumes from the 1960s, Tony Daniel isn’t an artist who would have come to mind. Daniel is one of the most famous modern Batman artists and this is the story which really made his name. Morrison certainly writes an ambitious story for him to draw, but Daniel does it mostly well and his modern style somehow doesn’t look too grim or over-the-top when he pencils scenes featuring the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. I do think however that Daniel lacks a notable or unique style and that often makes his art dull. Sandu Florea’s inks are fairly standard, but the art never looks messy or scratchy in a way that would ruin it. Unlike Morrison’s crazy story, Daniel’s art grounds it in the real world with his grim and gritty finishes. Perhaps though, that’s what this story needs…
Oh yeah, it’s also worth mentioning that Alex Ross draws some brilliant covers to the six issues, and they are genuinely some of his best work due to how varied they are. Imagine what the insides would look like if he drew them…
VERDICT
Overall, Batman RIP is an unforgettable tale featuring the Dark Knight that concludes the first phase of Morrison’s run on a high note. It may have its plot-holes and unclear aspects, but Morrison writes a thrilling and energetic mystery that manages to incorporate strange and mad plots and events from the late 1950s/early 1960s in a way that’s both entertaining and yet somehow believable. The Batman-of-Zur-En-Arrh is definitely the best aspect of the story as the concept of it, while different from what it used to it, adds another layer of mystery to the Batman mythos…
Story: 9/10
Art: 7/10
Next Week: Final Crisis (Final Crisis 1-7, Batman 682-683). Written by Grant Morrison with art by J.G. Jones, Carlos Pacheco, Jesus Merino, Marco Rudy, Lee Garbett, Trevor Scott, Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, Tom Nguyen, Drew Geraci, Norm Rapmund, Rodney Ramos, and Walden Wong.
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