[kiimiko]

The writers of Batman, Have decided to kill off bruce wayne.

Not batman the character.. but the Bruce Wayne Character.

Apparently he is going to have "a fate worse then death"

http://www.nowpublic...ath-bruce-wayne

T_________________T

[Farangu]

Fan-boy reaction will probably be rabid, of course. But Bruce Wayne was just about the perfect set-up for a hero like Batman. There was a reason his origin story didn't change much in the ret-cons of '86. This might just be some publicity stunt, and end up bringing him back in a bit.

But I really liked Morrison's work with Bats' psychological side in Arkham Asylum, so we'll see what he does with it. I just would hold off on pouring out the 40 oz. for Bruce Wayne just yet.

[Waycos]

They could play this out for years.. have a failure at first.. then bring Bruce back to over see the next "Batman". Like in Batman Beyond. I like the idea of him being such a tough miserable coach type character who when you question him shows you how it's done.

[Blue Blazer]

I dare them to try this for the movies and see how much confusion among the general public it creates.

[dragonking]

quick, make sure noone tells the joker

edit: thought of something funnier

This post has been edited by dragonking: 29 November 2008 - 09:11 PM

[Rain]

Make sure you read the last sentence.

[The Illusionist]

Batman isn't being 'killed off' - it's just a hiatus, just like the Knightfall/Prodigal storylines.

And they'd be nuts to do anything else. Batman makes them too much money to simply be ended forever, and killing off characters is never as successful as writers seem to imagine. Just ask Superman, or especially jean "Phoenix" Grey

[redtangerine]

HUGE HUGE HUGE SPOILER alert!!!!1!














The Batman RIP story was supposed to end Bruce Wayne's career as Batman. However, once it got to the end, it flashed forward six months and said that Batman hadn't been seen in that time. However, we still haven't learned the "final fate of Batman" as Grant Morrison put it. Now he says that it is going to be shown in Final Crisis, also a book he writes. Right now he's some sort of mutant demon thingy killing of Darkseid's armies (at least that's what I got from the latest issue) and they may deal with that in the next issue, but due to the terrible pacing of the story, they probably won't.

[Scarlet Speedster]

And they'd be nuts to do anything else. Batman makes them too much money to simply be ended forever, and killing off characters is never as successful as writers seem to imagine. Just ask Superman, or especially jean "Phoenix" Grey

The whole Phoenix thing, dying and rising from the ashes, is pretty much what has come to define Jean Grey. One can argue weather that is a good thing or not, but it is pretty much her iconic story.

As for Batman RIP, it was pretty bad. Morrison is often plagued by having these great ideas but failing to execute them that well. For every Doom Patrol, Animal Man or the Invisibles (the widely acknowledged "inspiration" for the Matrix) there's Batman RIP, Final Crisis, or Seaguy.

On the flipside you have Ed Brubaker's Captain America epic, which coincidentally has somewhat mirrored Batman in recent years as far as major plot points go. The only difference is Brubaker's Cap is one of the best runs on an ongoing series in history. Which only goes to show that not only can the idea not carry an entire book, but it cannot sink one either.

Coincidentally, before the issue even hit stands where Bruce Wayne "died", Dan Didio stated in interviews that he would be coming back. Even if it's inevitable and obvious to even the most green of fans, you so don't say that. Batman RIP is just another of the many, many missteps of Didio's tenure at DC.

[redtangerine]

Coincidentally, before the issue even hit stands where Bruce Wayne "died", Dan Didio stated in interviews that he would be coming back. Even if it's inevitable and obvious to even the most green of fans, you so don't say that. Batman RIP is just another of the many, many missteps of Didio's tenure at DC.

Didio's solution to everything is to kill someone, but announce to everyone first, whether or not they plan to bring the character back. The Question, Didio's idea, killing off the Speedsters so that Bart became the Flash, Didio's idea. When that didn't work out, killing Bart...Didio's idea. Superboy, Didio's idea...along with an ongoing dispute over the legal rights to the name Superboy. Hell, even Nightwing, one of the most popular, though underrated characters, was supposed to die in Final Crisis. Why? Because to Mr. Dan Didio, killing off a character is the only way to write dramatically.

Sorry for the rant there on Didio, but between him and Quesada, the EIC of the big two really grinds my gears. On a side note, they announced that Steve Rogers would be coming back shortly after his death. Course, it's been almost two years and they haven't done it, so who knows.

[Scarlet Speedster]

Quesada and Didio are incomparable. While Quesada's tenure as EIC has not been without controversy (OMD/BND), the big picture results have been overwhelmingly successful. Marvel has had numerous hits, they have landed and held on to top talent, and perhaps most importantly, they're actively discovering and cultivating new talent.

Marvel under Quesada has also been very friendly to allowing writers their freedom. While there have been line wide events and crossovers, they are birthed out of creative summits where writers present story ideas, rather than have them dictated down from editorial. Other writers are given the choice to either incorporate their book into these events, or to remain independent of them, telling their own stories unimpeded. DC simply does not do that.

Also have you ever been to a convention panel hosted by Didio or Quesada, or read a transcript of them? Didio basically gets up there and asks the audience what they want to see. Why would you let the inmates run the asylum? Quesada's are far more informative, honest, and intelligent.

To be honest, until Paul Levitz and Dan Didio are no longer at DC, I do not see things improving at all for the company. They are swiftly approaching the pre-Jemas Marvel era, and it will likely require someone equally daring and willing to take real risks to lift them out of that. Marvel on the other hand is currently in a very healthy place, with a strong foundation for the coming years.

[GlassCobra]

The writers of Batman, Have decided to kill off bruce wayne.

Not batman the character.. but the Bruce Wayne Character.

Apparently he is going to have "a fate worse then death"

http://www.nowpublic...ath-bruce-wayne

T_________________T

Heh, well, I suppose "a fate worse than death" doesn't necessarily mean death. Perhaps they mean "fade into obscurity"?

[Selchie]

The writers of Batman, Have decided to kill off bruce wayne.

Not batman the character.. but the Bruce Wayne Character.

Apparently he is going to have "a fate worse then death"

http://www.nowpublic...ath-bruce-wayne

T_________________T

Heh, well, I suppose "a fate worse than death" doesn't necessarily mean death. Perhaps they mean "fade into obscurity"?

Maybe the fate worse than death might be that the batman persona* totally takes over- figuratively killing Bruce Wayne. Being batman, who has no other function or purpose than to fight evil, 24/7 would be pretty awful. However good your job is, if you lose your friends, family and love interest, you're going to be miserable because humans are basically social animals. Anyway, being reduced to little more than a machine could easily be considered a fate worse than death.

*Lets face it, Batman has a pretty dark storyline and, considering how mad most of his contempories are, it wouldn't be incongruous for Batman to suffer from multiple personality disorder.

[Waycos]

No they literally killed the character. Very lamely I heard as well. I have not personally read the issue, but from the description it sounds as bad as what they did to Spiderman.

[Scarlet Speedster]

No they literally killed the character. Very lamely I heard as well. I have not personally read the issue, but from the description it sounds as bad as what they did to Spiderman.

Are you talking about a description of RIP or Final Crisis?

This was really, really oddly handled. Initially it appeared that we saw Batman die in a helicopter explosion after a complete psychological annihilation. It was later revealed that this took place all in Bruce's mind while in a hypnosis chamber. He then died a "second" time after mortally wounding Darkseid. With a gun. Batman killed with a gun. I love Grant Morrison, but both Batman RIP and Final Crisis were disasters.

With regards to Spidey... that discussion deserves its own topic. To put it succinctly though, I love where the title is now, I just hate how they got there. The upside however is that the how need not effect the present.