BATMAN: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #1 Author:Jett May 12, 2010
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: The most anticipated series of 2010 is here! Superstar writer Grant Morrison tackles his most ambitious project to date with THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE, a special six-part series that chronicles the return of the original man behind Batman's cape and cowl! Each issue spans a different era of time and features the dynamic artwork of one of today's artistic juggernauts, starting with Chris Sprouse on the extra-sized issue #1!
“WTF was that?!”
The preceding quote comes to you courtesy of my mind as I finished reading BATMAN: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #1 -- which of course features the infamous “Caveman Batman.”
*sheesh*
I’ve admittedly sung the praises of Grant Morrison’s Batman run -- whether it be on BATMAN or BATMAN AND ROBIN -- as I should.
Hey, it's been really, REALLY good.
On the other hand, I’ve also been highly critical of the direction that DC took with Batman and still believe that zapping Bruce into the past (in FINAL CRISIS #6) and making Dick Grayson Batman was nothing more than a stunt.
Were the Batman comics so bad that we needed this sort of gimmick just to get people to read ‘em? Anyway…
It appears to me -- based on issue #1 -- that B:TROBW is not for the “Batman Only” crowd, but rather for the fans that dig the greater DC Universe. More specifically, it’s for the people who read and loved FINAL CRISIS.
Sorry, I have no interest in seeing Caveman Batman battle Vandal Savage (I think) with his prehistoric version of Robin adorn in the skin of some dead giant Bat!
Either they've got one hell of a taxidermist in the Stone Age, or the JLA included one (or probably some sort of taxidermist robot) in that time-traveling rocket.
Sure, there are TONS of nods to the DCU’s history at hand here, and I’m sure that those aforementioned DCU fans will get a kick out of them.
But here’s the bottom line for me...
Do I really have to read all of this to “get” what’s ultimately going to happen in the Batman comics -- in particular BATMAN AND ROBIN?
If the answer is yes, then I think that Morrison and DC Comics are both screwing the “Batman Only” segment of fans over, just like they did when it came to FINAL CRISIS.
Consequently, I'm supposed to trust 'em?
"THANKS Grant!"
Until proven otherwise, I'm going to be critical of all this despite the fact that Grant gave me a nod in this issue in the form of my last name.
Flattery will get you no where, right? Regardless...
Based on this mini-series' first issue, it certainly appears that the Bat-tail (Morrison) is still wagging the Bat-dog (DC Comics).
GRADE: "Incomplete"
A life-long Batman fan, "Jett" is the founder of BATMAN-ON-FILm.COM and resides in the great state of TEXAS.
