Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne

So what is this book? It is basically the aftermath of an event that took place in a limited series (Final Crisis) that was foreshadowed in previous batman books, that were the conclusion of a saga that was written back in the 70's. Confusing? Yeah- kinda. Although it really isn't as bad as it sounds. This book is one of two conclusion books to Grant Morrison's current Batman epic (the other being "Batman and Robin vol. 3" coming out in May), but it easily stands on its own. As far as art is concerned, there are many different artists, and while in most comics it may be a little jarring, it makes sense in this particular instance, and contributes to the story. The story is told in a brisk and enjoyable manner. Now, here's the thing: as said before, this is the cumulation of an ENTIRE run on the batman books, as well as a follow up from Final Crisis. For Final Crisis, I found that those who praised it did the extra back-reading, while those who just read it without knowing history of the current DC universe didn't like it. Now this book is much more accessible than Final Crisis, but to get the whole story, one should read "Batman: R.I.P" and "Final Crisis". Once again, you will be able to enjoy this story without the extra reading, but this book really is a part of a larger epic. So, in conclusion: this book is for: Grant Morrison fans, Batman fans, people who like good art, and people who don't mind digging into a little extra thought in order to get the most out of the story. WHo is it not for: People looking for a brisk read, people who believe that Batman should be 'down to Earth' and not really have supernatural adventure. For me though, I loved this book, found the story to be very engaging, and can't wait to see what the next chapter is for the Dark Knight.

You didn't think Bruce Wayne was really dead did you? With Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, superstar writer Grant Morrison picks up where not only Final Crisis left off, but where his run on the main Batman title left off as well. The last time we saw Bruce, he was hit with Darkseid's Omega Sanction and presumed dead, only to be seen in a cave doodling familiar superhero logos at the end of Final Crisis. As this six-issue mini-series picks up, we find a confused and amnesiac Bruce traveling throughout different eras in time: from the dawn of man, to Puritan times, to running afoul of pirates at sea, to the old west, to the noir-ish times of Gotham City, and even beyond. What Bruce doesn't know is that if he returns to his rightful place in time, it could be the end of everything, and Superman, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Booster Gold, and Rip Hunter are in hot pursuit to find and save Bruce, and the universe itself. Playing around with Batman mythology, Morrison weaves so much in and out of current and past continuity that it's hard to keep track of everything going on, especially if you haven't been paying attention to any mainstream DC superhero stuff within the past two years or so. Despite that though, The Return of Bruce Wayne is a rousing and incredibly entertaining ride that even features cameos from DC icons like Vandal Savage and Jonah Hex, and even picks up enough loose threads from Batman R.I.P. to bring things nearly full circle. While Morrison appears to have more up his sleeve, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne is an absolute smash, and a wonderful reminder that like Batman himself, when Morrison is on his game, he's the best in the business.

Yes fans, this is the new story of the death and life of Batman! But first, a comment on Death! The media likes to occasionally announce the death of a major character from the major publishers of comic books. Everyone remembers the death of Superman -- the media and casual readers thought it was forever. It wasn't, but was the catalyst for extreme speculation and overproduction of comic books -- so if your collection is post-1990, we're talking resale of pennies on the dollar. We've seen the death of the Flash (Barry Allen) and the Green Lantern (Hal Jordan); we've seen the disappearance of The Atom (Ray Palmer), the death of Captain America and now the current Ultimate Spider-man line where Brian Michael Bendis is planning the death of that friendly neighborhood teenage crime-fighter. Story: Grant Morrison approached Batman's death and resurrection differently. Rather than by magic or by intervention of the planet Oa, we have time travel! I always liked Rip Hunter and his time machines. And the involvement of Bruce Wayne, his confrontation of Darkseid, and finally the Justice League comes to the rescue. This is a big book and I won't try to summarize each section. I will say that the book is broken up into various time periods - caveman era, pirates, pilgrims and some 1930s detective noir. Awesome (yes, that word fits here!) art by Andy Kubert, and many others. My favorite sections include the witch hunter, Nathaniel Wayne! And then the segue into the pirate parts -- with a Batman pirate flag! Fun stuff! Bottom Line: Hey, this may not have hit the media as strongly as the death and life of Superman, regardless of their creation during the same 1930s, but Grant Morrison wrote a story that is engaging, maintains interest, doesn't get too corny (LOL) and has enough comedy among the serious & dark parts to make the Dark Knight's adventures that much more fun to read about. Batman's amnesia, his fate as a human booby-trap created by Darkseid, all comes together in a fascinating climax you don't want to miss. A must read for any comics fan. Other Grant Morrison Graphic Novels: Batman R.I.P. Batman & Robin Vol. 1: Batman Reborn Batman: Time and the Batman

Snapped my humerus in half and needed surgery. I didn't want to watch TV the whole time so I decided to catch up on some reading. I live in the middle of no where and there isn't a comic shop anywhere. I was a comic addict before I got married. I guess this means I fell off the wagon. Oh well. Funny and great story. The book arrived quickly and in great condition. It helped while I was on the mend.

While essentially a side adventure, this is my favorite of Grant Morrison's run on Batman and DC Comics. Bruce Wayne is thrown back through time after the events of Final Crisis, and must fight his way from the beginning of time to the end, in order to get back home. It sounds absurd summarized like that, but all I can say without spoilers is that it is absurdly good, the plot is tight, and the artwork is varied and enthralling. I love this and have returned to it many more time than I have Final Crisis. It's exceptional and I highly recommend it

Grant Morrison’s The Return of Bruce Wayne is one of those dividing books in the DCU. You mostly either hated it or you loved it. I’m pretty much a fence-sitter on this one. I was okay with reading it, but not blown away. It felt too much like an “imaginary” adventure that was prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s. It was kinda fun watching Batman in action as he tried to recover from Darkseid’s Omega Effect, but since each issue was in a different time period the secondary characters didn’t really get a chance to step up and count. The Caveman Batman (which was done back in the 1950s first, I believe) was interesting to a degree. I could see the young caveman sticking around and becoming the world’s first “Robin” if Bruce had stayed there. Otherwise the story was too lean, depending too much on action that was too choreographed. The tribe is defeated, Batman goes to save the survivors, etc. The addition of Vandal Savage was cool, but that was a given too. The Pilgrim Batman didn’t work for me at all. I like that Bruce was displaying deductive reasoning and all, but the storyline just didn’t seem to come together or fit well enough, although another clue to Batman’s overarching mystery was presented there. The pirate tale was better. I liked the treasure hunting aspect of the story, and the fact that they were ducking into what will eventually become the Batcave. I also liked the reveal of who the real pirate was. I didn’t see that one coming. Edward Teach with fuses lit in his beard was fun. Pitting Batman against Jonah Hex was pretty cool. After I heard there would be a Wild West Batman, I’d wondered if that was where Morrison would take the story. I didn’t much care for his presentation of Hex, and I didn’t for a minute believe that Batman could “outdraw” multiple gunslingers with his batarangs. Sorry, but bullets travel much faster than batarangs. The 1930s Bruce Wayne detective story was pretty interesting. Morrison seemed like he was comfortable in that milieu and Bruce Wayne as a tough guy detective is a natural fit. Even down to the femme fatale who betrays him in the end. The last issue collected in the graphic novel offers a resolution to the whole event and actually comes off pretty weak to me. Batman as a threat just didn’t work for me. I understand it could happen, but I don’t think it was developed enough. Overall, I’m glad to have Batman back in the DCU, but the trips through time just didn’t offer enough to be really special.

I enjoyed this series very much. I haven't been following Batman that much lately but felt like there was no problem understanding the story from beginning to end. Sure there were a couple questions I had about the plot line or story arch from previous editions, but nothing that made it difficult to follow. I really enjoyed the fact that every issue had a different artist but that the writing stayed consistent. It matched perfectly with the series and made it even more exciting to read/look at. Shipping was quick and precise. I would highly recommend to any Batman fan or someone looking for a good graphic novel to read.

This is a great compendium of the miniseries that finally puts Bruce Wayne back among his peers. The caveman story and the noir thriller are especially great. Like "Blackest Night", this is among Grant Morrison's better work to be sure. Since the Dick Grayson character had become Batman in Wayne's absence, seeing how they reintergrate should prove interesting. This mini-series is truly one of the greatest Batman stories of all time. Great artwork, great story.

[SPOIL] La fin de l'épopée lancer avec Batman RIP, on retrouve Bruce dans le passé. Si le fait de voir à quoi pourrait ressembler Batman à différente époque est très plaisant. De plus envoyé Batman dans le passé afin qu'il instaure lui-même son mythe depuis la pré-histoire est très tordu mais excellent. Mais, point noir, les allusions spatio-temporel et la matérialisation de l'espace-temps et de l'univers, qui sont des notions qui me gène dans tout l'univers DC.

Great condition. My best comic book of all time

Da appassionata di Batman, mi è piaciuta molto la storia ambientata in diverse ere temporali. I disegni sono davvero molto belli.

"I'm not done yet. Not while Gotham City needs Batman." - Dass Bruce Wayne nicht wirklich tot ist, überrascht niemanden. Der Mythos Batman funktioniert eben nur mit Bruce Wayne und seinem Schicksal, und so war es nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis er wieder auftaucht. Zeit ist auch genau das Stichwort, das im Mittelpunkt von "Batman: The Return Of Bruce Wayne" steht. Nach den Ereignissen in "Final Crisis" wird Bruce Wayne in die Vergangenheit geschleudert - ohne sich an sich selbst oder sein Alter Ego erinnern zu können. Grant Morrison versetzt Wayne in die Steinzeit, in die USA zur Zeit der Pilgerväter, konfrontiert ihn mit Piraten, lässt ihn wenige Jahrzehnte vor der amerikanischen Unabhängigkeit auftreten sowie als Privatdetektiv der 40er/50er Jahre bevor Bruce Wayne in seine eigene Zeit zurückkehrt. In allen Zeiträumen verkörpert er die typische Rolle als dunkler Ritter ohne sich allerdings seiner Existenz als Batman bewusst zu sein. Durch die verschiedenen historischen Epochen zieht sich ein roter Faden, der mit der Person Bruce Wayne verbunden ist. Zudem trifft Bruce Wayne auf verschiedene bekannte Charaktere, deren Schicksal mit Batman verbunden ist, die allerdings in neuen Rollen auftreten. Zudem gibt es immer wieder Bezüge zu den übrigen Bänden von Morrison. Insofern ist "Batman: The Return Of Bruce Wayne" ein guter Band, der durchaus zu unterhalten weiß. Dennoch bin ich von "Batman: The Return Of Bruce Wayne" ein wenig enttäuscht. Die Geschichte hat hauptsächlich zwei Probleme. Zum einen wird sie sehr routiniert erzählt, ohne wirkliche Überraschungen zu bieten. Man hat während des Lesens nie das Gefühl, dass das Schicksal von Bruce Wayne auf der Kippe steht, so dass man eigentlich gar nicht mit ihm mitfiebert. Dass ist wohl dem Umstand geschuldet, dass sich Bruce Wayne nicht erinnern kann, wer er ist und was auf dem Spiel steht. Zwar liefert Morrison dafür eine Erklärung, dennoch hätte mich ein Bruce Wayne, der sich seiner selbst bewusst ist und mit seinem Schicksal hadert, mehr gefesselt. Der zweite negative Punkt ist für mich die Auflösung der Geschichte, die im Kern zwar plausibel, aber den Fokus auf eine sehr technische Erklärung legt. Eigentlich habe ich ein vor Pathos und Herzklopfen triefendes Finale ähnlich Neil Gailmans "Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader" erwartet, stattdessen endet die Geschichte doch sehr nüchtern. Die Zeichnungen von verschiedenen Künstlern sind allesamt gelungen, besonders die malerische Umsetzung der Pilger-Geschichte ist für mich der zeichnerische Höhepunkt des Bandes. Auch wenn das Band eine Deluxe-Edition ist, ist das Bonusmaterial alles andere als deluxe. Stattdessen gibt es nur ein Sketchbook im Anhang, das mittlerweile Standard in den Batman-Bänden ist. Trotz der Kritikpunkte, ist der Band unterhaltsam und für Batmankenner empfehlenswert. Die vorausgehenden Bände von Grant Morrison sollte man allerdings gelesen haben.

This book is definitely worth a try, the storyline is great, very enjoyable, the characters are likable and funny when needed, the art is fantastic, it’s good to look at. I recommend this book to anyone who loves comics or just interested in getting to know the genre.