Grant Morrison brings back Bruce Wayne
Last seen at the end of DC’s major event, Final Crisis, Bruce Wayne has been lost in time and reality ever since being hit by Darkseid’s omega effect. The effect left his cowl empty and led to his former partner and protege, Nightwing, to take up his cowl. We have seen Batman go through “the death that is life” in Neil Gaimens neo-classic, Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader. We learned that the final reward for Bruce Wayne isn’t heaven, its the fact that he has a few years of perfect happiness with his parents, before he must once again make his solemn vow, “Never Again.”
In 2010, Bruce Wayne must prove that he in fact will never give up when Grant Morrison, the insane writer who has brought so many trials to Batman, puts Bruce Wayne through his greatest trial yet. History itself. This epic event will be seen in the pages of the mini-series The Return of Bruce Wayne, and will run 6 issues in 2010. The first issue will be 38 pages, while each subsequent issue will run 30 pages each. Within the story, each issue will feature different time periods, but will also feature different artists, the first of which is Chris Sprouce, and the second issue will be Frazer Irving. For the comic book fan boy, the designs for the different Batman costumes will be done by fan-favorite, Andy Kubert.
Grant Morrison is saying that all you need to know about the story, will be available to you in the mini-series itself. He does point out though that, “Read all the graphic novel collections together, however, and a much bigger, more complex and involving story will emerge.” He sees this story as what if the worlds ultimate superhero, the optimum man, has to face the “ultimate trap” that is escaping history and time. To the comic savvy reader, this may seem like a re-tread of Captain America: Reborn, but couldn’t be farther from the truth. Reborn is about a lifetime for Ca, Grants story is about the very essence of the Worlds Greatest Detective. How do you escape a trap that involves you going through history with nothing but brains and body God gave you.
Each era will be different, from the caveman days we saw at the very end of Final Crisis, to Pilgram times all the way to the pulp of the 19th century. Odd that Bruce Wayne will be traveling from the very beginning of human existence, to the very beginning from whence his archetype (pulp detective) first appeared. Grant also mentions that, “…the status quo of the Batman universe will be changed completely after this book. This is the beginning of a new and different take on the idea of Batman as we approach the 010s…”.
Grant mentions his love for Bruce Wayne and what makes resonate with people so much, “All the elements that make up this great pop icon will be upfront — his intellect, his detective skills, his martial arts abilities, his heroism and compassion and grit. His chiseled cheekbones!” It seems with this story, he wants to express all of these attributes by taking away anything that is superfluous to the character. The gadgets, the sidekicks, the butler, the rogues. He wants to fully express that Bruce Wayne, even stripped down, is still not only great, but still Batman.
A bit of analysis, look at the name of the mini-series. This is the return of Bruce Wayne, not necessarily the return of Bruce Wayne as Batman. As the writer for the popular Batman and Robin comic series, Grant has put a lot of effort into making Dick Grayson shine as the new Batman. We all know editorial, and Grant, want Bruce Wayne to one day take up the cowl, but I think Grant wants to have that sprout organically from the return of Bruce Wayne. With his return, this will defiantly shake up the status quo of the Bat-universe. The theme of this mini series is survival as Grant says, “…Not only the physical survival of our hero but the survival through time of memories, grudges, artifacts, ideas. What persists? What endures?”
As fans, we know what endures. A character that has survived more real world crashes, and creator burn outs than most, still remains one of the most iconic characters in American history. With his return, it just shows that Bruce Wayne AND Batman are forever intertwined, even in prehistoric times. Catch The Return of Bruce Wayne, coming to comic shops in 2010!
Source: DC Blog and USA Today
3 Responses to “Grant Morrison brings back Bruce Wayne”
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NK Flickr!
This is AWESOME!! I can not wait for this.
When I first say the Batman pirate image, it looked almost like Cthulu. Freaked me out haha.
I am The Bat…