With the ushering
in of a new decade, Batman’s popularity has currently reached fever pitch.
Even now, fans
around the world anxiously anticipate his latest cinematic exploits with 2012’s
“The Dark Knight Rises.”
However, with what
time remains until the release of the film, DC Comics has provided an
incredible amount of material in the comic books themselves.
Things got off to
an incredible start with “Blackest Knight,” the third story arc told in the
“Batman & Robin” title, where it’s revealed that the Omega Effect that
supposedly killed Batman in “Batman R.I.P.” and “Final Crisis” #6 actually
scattered his consciousness to parallel worlds and timelines.
“The death that is
life,” according to Darkseid.
Further discovery
leads to the realization that the corpse left behind after Batman’s ‘death’ was
a clone created by Darkseid in a failed attempt to give birth to an army of
‘Batmen.’ This reveal occurs when Dick Grayson, believing the body to be
Bruce’s, places it in one of Ra’s Al Ghul’s Lazarus Pits to revive him, which
only ends up producing an insane opponent that Grayson defeats.
May 2010 began the
6 issue “Return of Bruce Wayne” story arc with “Batman: The Return of Bruce
Wayne” #1, which follows Wayne’s journey through time after being transplanted
by Darkseid following “Batman & Robin” #12. From the prehistoric era
through the age of witch hunts and the Wild West, all 6 issues hit a different
time period until Bruce finally arrives in present day by the end of the
mini-series.
Written by Grant
Morrison, the story is a wonderful homage to the concept that Batman’s mantle
can endure and impact at any point and in any age and it’s an excellent treat
to see Batman visually represented in multiple points of time, in the tradition
of his steampunk/noir appearance in Mike Mignola’s “Gotham by Gaslight” graphic
novel.
A number of
one-shots and extended mini-series events were created to conclude the story.
Among them was the
month-long conclusion arc “Bruce Wayne: The Road Home,” which began in December
of 2010, carrying over into one-shot installments such as “Batman: The Return”
and the “Black Mirror” storyline.
Wayne’s return
creates a number of ramifications and particularly affects Dick Grayson, who’d
adopted the mantle of Batman following 2007’s “Battle for the Cowl” story arc.
Whatever the hang
ups, the decision had been made.
Bruce Wayne was
back.
And following his
and his allies defeat of Darkseid, another choice was made; a choice that would
take the character down a new and completely fresh path altogether.
Despite reclaiming
the mantle of Batman, Wayne decides to allow Dick Grayson and his son Damian to
remain in their positions as the dynamic duo of Gotham City.
His priority
shifted; no longer concerned with one city, Bruce set his sights on the world at
large.
Launched by Grant
Morrison, Frazer Irving and Cameron Stewart with art provided from Yanick
Paquette and Scott Clark, “Batman Incorporated” began its run in January of
2011.
Bruce Wayne returns
to the cape and cowl, freshly designed by artist David Finch, and begins a
campaign to create a legion of fellow ‘Batman’s around the world, establishing
them in nearly every major country as a sort of crime fighting network,
universal in their being adorned with the Bat-Logo.
A play on concepts
of widespread marketing and brand-recognition, Bruce takes it a step further by
announcing his involvement in the endeavor as a financial supporter. To that
end, Wayne Enterprises is revealed as a contributor to Batman’s campaign,
aiding him with the weapons and technology that the public now knows he’s been
‘given’ by the company over the years.
From there, Bruce
travels the globe to recruit the dark knights of various regions including
Asia, South America and Africa.
Justice on a global
scale.
Given his being a
wealthy industrialist, this development for Wayne as a character makes a
tremendous amount of sense; in the current climate of the franchise mentality,
the idea of franchising and commanding such a team fits synonymously.
“Batman Inc.” ran
as a storyline from January to October of 2011, nearing its conclusion just as
DC Comics decided to revitalize their properties, for better or worse, once
again.
As with “Crisis on
Infinite Earths” in the mid-80s, DC created a massive revamp launch event with September
2011’s “The New 52.”
Spread throughout
all of their titles, continuity was once again reset in “Batman,” “Detective
Comics,” “Batman & Robin” and a brand new addition to the Bat books,
“Batman: The Dark Knight,” as Bruce Wayne was put back into the mantle as the
one and only Batman and Dick Grayson returned to his role as Nightwing.
Speaking of new
bat-books, going off topic for a moment, 2010 also saw the debut of a brand new
title for a fan favorite.
“Batman Beyond” continued
the adventures young Terry McGinnis as he protected the future Gotham City with
the aid of mentor Bruce Wayne.
The “Beyond” story
had found its place in comics before, such as the ongoing comic than ran in
correlation to the animated series from November 1999 to October 2001, totally
24 issues.
This time around, the
2010 mini-series featured art by Ryan Benjamin and a narrative titled “Future
Evil,” written under the pen of Emmy-Award winning scribe Adam Beechen.
In the wake of its
success, “Batman Beyond” was published as an ongoing series that ran two story
arcs spread over eight issues starting with “Batman Beyond” #1 in January of
2011. The first story arc teamed McGinnis once more with the Justice League of
the future as they battle the man who would become the Matter Master. In the more
personal 2nd storyline, Terry is faced with the reappearance of
Blight, his original nemesis.
The creation of the
“Beyond” stories in the comics just goes to show the true impact and popularity
of the original animated series and 2012 will see the return of two bi-weekly digital
titles “Batman Beyond” and “Justice League Beyond,” which will be packaged and
released monthly in a 48 page comic simply titled “Batman Beyond.”
Following “The New
52,” a story-arc dubbed “Flashpoint” saw to the establishment of a new
continuity in which all of our heroes and villains have been regressed to
earlier stages in age and in their careers while remaining in a modern
timeline.
Within the
parameters of this new continuity, Barbara undergoes experimental surgery in
South Africa three years after the events of 1988’s “The Killing Joke.” Once a
paraplegic tech broker named Oracle, Barbara recovers in the span of a year and
dons cape and cowl once again as Batgirl for the first time in established
comics in decades!
In her new
“Batgirl” ongoing title, we learn that even though she’s back on her feat ready
to take on criminals the way she once had, Barbara still suffers from
post-traumatic stress, often finding herself hesitant when faced with gunfire
that could potentially cause another spinal injury.
The biggest new
antagonist arrived in 2008’s “Batman” #673 with the creation of Dr. Hurt, who would
go on to become the central threat to Batman during Morrison’s entire run into
2011.
Also known as Dr.
Simon Hurt, the character is revealed to have a long and twisted past
connection to Batman and wishes to break the dark knight in body and soul as a
means of replacing him as a corrupted counterpart.
It’s Hurt that
leads the campaign to target Batman as conducted by the Black Glove
organization in “Batman R.I.P.” and throughout the whole of Morrison’s run,
characters speculate who he really is.
Some, like the
Joker, claim he’s the devil incarnate. Hurt himself claimed to be a
reincarnation of Thomas Wayne. In a fight atop Arkham Asylum, Batman accuses
him of being Mangrove Pierce, an actor and acquaintance of Thomas.
Eventually, all
roads lead in culmination to a finale that finally uncovers the truth.
Dr. Hurt is a 17th
century relative of the Wayne’s, also named Thomas, who’d been black marked and
shunned by the family for his satanic worshippings. While attempting to make
contact with a demon named Barbatos, Thomas is actually confronted by the
Hyper-Adapter; a creature birthed on Apokolips by Darkseid and tasked with
overseeing Batman’s voyage through history after the resulting Omega Effect.
Following his cameo
in 2007’s “Batman” #666, readers were also introduced to Professor Pyg; a
gifted scientist and madman that would plague the dynamic duo in the “Batman
& Robin” title.
With the resultant
continuity adaptations from “The New 52,” Grant Morrison and company created a
giant sized one shot titled “Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes,” in which
Batman and his allies are confronted with Leviathan, a new and deadly
organization lead by Talia Al Ghul that seeks to induct young girls into a
group of deadly warriors called the Girls of Death.
The comic book
history of Batman transcends the stuff of legend, built upon a formidable
foundation of passion, creativity, drama and loyalty on part of the legions of
writers, artists and editors who have guided and shaped his adventures through
73 years of continuous publication.
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