PREVIOUSLY:
Following the events of Infinite Crisis, Bruce Wayne embarks on a year long journey of re-birth in the mystical city of Nanda Parbat. (52) Thanks to the mysterious Thogal Ritual, Bruce is born anew, his
demons fully exercised. Upon his return to Gotham City he is urged by Alfred to begin focusing on the life of Bruce Wayne and less on the career of Batman.
While attending a charity art function thrown by socialite Jezebel Jet, Batman has a run-in with Talia al Ghul leading her to reveal that she and Bruce have
a son named Damian. (Batman & Son) This comes shortly after Bruce
has decided to officially adopt the recently orphaned Tim Drake. Naturally the two young men see each other as rivals for their father's attention and the
two come to blows with Damian nearly killing Robin. Ultimately, young Damian's stay at Wayne Manor is short-lived as he returns to his mother's care
following his mother's failed attempt at taking over a military submarine with an army of Ninja Man-Bats.
With Damian gone, Bruce and Tim retreat to the island of his old friend John Mayhew for a reunion of the International Club of Heroes. Formed by Mayhew
during the early days of Batman's career - the club was the thrill-seeking Movie Producer's idea to join together different 'Batmen' from different
continents to fight crime.
The team, which had since fallen apart - regroups on the island only to find that Mayhew has been killed by the mysterious 'Black Glove' (Batman #667). The society of the Black Glove shares not only
the name of one of Mayhew's movies but also its motive - a group of super rich evildoers gamble on the fates of noble heroes they place into dangerous
predicaments. To face the Club of Heroes, the society has seemingly compiled a Club of Villains who start killing off Heroes one by one. In the end, Batman
discovers that Mayhew is still alive and in fact working with the Glove. When the heroes band together and succeed, Mayhew, having placed his bet on evil
triumphing, is killed by the Black Glove.
Back in Gotham, Batman has also been dealing with the strange
appearances of criminals dressed in Batman costumes throughout Gotham City (The Three Ghosts of Batman). When one of them shows up at Gotham PD, Batman confronts him only to be shot in the chest causing his heart
to stop. When he comes to he finds himself in the basement of
Gotham PD Headquarters being tortured by the Bat-Imposter who Bruce discovers gained his twisted psyche as a result of a bizarre experiment
by one Dr. Simon Hurt. Based on the findings from a study Batman took part in during
his early crime fighting days (Batman #156) Hurt's
experiment was meant to re-create the psychological profile of the Dark Knight and spawn a Batman militia using Gotham policemen as test-subjects (Batman #674). Bruce escapes from his restraints but Bat-
imposter escapes off into the night.
The appearance of the Bat-imposters causes Bruce to reflect back on his adventures surrounding the experiment and his mysterious Black Casebook. The casebook
is Batman's personal records (compiled at Alfred's behest) of all of his bizarre and paranormal adventures too weird to be explained by natural science.
The entire experience leaves Batman contemplating the dire consequences of a society like the Black Glove coming into possession of the type of data used to
create these insane Bat-soldiers. Could his torturer have been telling the truth? Could there really be a mysterious King of Crime manipulating Batman at
every turn?
While Batman is on the lookout for some kind of ultimate enemy, his greatest foe the Joker is sitting in Arkham re-learning how to talk. After being shot in
the face by one of the Bat-imposters, the Joker is slowly crafting a new super-persona forged in the darkest pits of his soul. Left with hideous scars that
stretch from one side of his skull to another, the Joker ditches reminders of his past (like Harley and all of his old henchmen) and gives birth to the Joker
of the New Millennium.
All this time, Bruce has still been pursuing Alfred's advice and has started a relationship with Jezebel Jet. But like the heatbroken vixens before her,
Jezebel finds herself constantly running into a brick wall of secrecy - something just out of reach in Bruce's heart. During a romantic candlelight dinner,
Jet, a wealthy leader of a foreign country, discovers Bruce's secret identity after an attack on their lives from the Ten-Eyed man (Batman #675).
SUMMARY:
Another enemy who knows Bruce Wayne all too well, Tommy Elliot (Hush) makes his return to Gotham. His attack, which includes Tommy completely re-structuring
his face to appear just like Bruce, reminds the Dark Knight just how close to home his enemies are willing to attack. Although Hush is defeated, Selina Kyle
is left in the hospital on life support. When she recovers from her wounds she and Bruce attempt a relationship but it does not work and Selina Kyle leaves
the country to finish recuperating.
With Selina gone, Bruce becomes more and more enamored with Jezebel Jet. Both of them orphans with fortunes beyond their wildest dreams, the two begin to
form a strong bond with one another - as if Jezebel and Bruce were somehow destined for one another.
Bruce's reckless abandon troubles Tim Drake but it's the revelation that Damian Wayne is in fact Bruce's biological son that sends him over the edge. Fearing
that all of this weirdness could be a sign of Bruce's mental breakdown, Robin absconds with Batman's Black Casebook and seeks out the help of Officer Harper
in verifying it's contents. If someone is inside Bruce's mind - Tim needs to find a way to stop them before they destroy Batman. But according to the Black
Casebook, Dr. Hurt has been dead for years!
Alive and well and living in hiding all of these years, Hurt re-emerges and takes command of the Club of Villains. Moving their base to Gotham City, the
Black Glove sends a personal invitation to Bruce Wayne to join their Danse Macabre. But Batman's dance of Death would not be complete without the Joker. So,
Black Glove member Le Bossu, infiltrates Arkham Asylum under his real identity as Dr. Guy Dax and recruits the Clown Prince of Crime to join their team.
Bruce is continuing his search for clues leading to the Black Glove when Jezebel Jet arrives and raises questions as to Bruce's sanity. She draws Bruce's
attention to the Bat-Computer screen where he views the words "Zur-En-Arrh" that had been spraypainted throughout Gotham. The words turn out to be a trigger
phrase implanted in Bruce's psyche by Hurt long ago. Bruce falls to the floor convulsing while the Club of Villains arrive and begin destroying the Bat-Cave.
Hurt pumps Bruce full of "weapons grade Crystal Meth," strips him of all identification and sends him out to wander the streets of Gotham completely out of
his gourd.
Tim finally gets the black casebook files to Officer Harper and begins trying to track Bruce down. All the while he is oblivious to the fact that Spoiler has
been secretly de-railing his every effort, obscuring any evidence that might lead Tim to Bruce. Knowing that his hunt for the Black Glove could lead him to
go missing for a period of time, Bruce had instructed Stephanie to keep Tim out of harm’s way. After finding this out, Tim angrily storms off, leaving
Stephanie behind. He tries to contact Dick, but by this time Dick had already been abducted by the Club of Villains and taken to Arkham. Left with no other
option, Tim sends an email to the Club of Heroes who immediately rush towards Gotham.
With Tim on a wild goose chase and Dick admitted into Arkham as a psyche patient under a false name, Bruce is left to wander Gotham alone. During this time
he be-friends the ghostly apparition of a man named Honor Jackson whom Batman had helped a short time before. Honor takes Bruce on a tour of Gotham where he
discovers a broken down radio which he dubs his 'Bat-Radia' - the tool used by Batman of Zur-En-Arrh that he once met during one of his Black Casebook cases
(way back in Batman #113). With his Bat-Radia in tow,
Batman (now being kept company by his old chum Bat-Mite) heads back out to find the Black Glove. He confronts two members of the Club of Villains and after
savagely beating them discovers that Hurt and the others are arriving at Arkham for their final 'dance.'
Completely out of his mind and dressed as the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, Bruce and Bat-Mite arrive at Arkham where Bat-Mite tells him he must bid him adieu. Bat
-Mite, an imp from the 5th Dimension (the realm of imagination) cannot travel into the house of madness. Bruce rushes to find Jezebel but finds himself
paralyzed by a neuro-toxin hidden in the black and red rose petals falling around him. While the rest of the Black Glove surrounds Bruce, Jezebel Jet reveals
that she had been a member of the Glove the entire time, luring Bruce into this trap. The Black Glove members dress Bruce up in his 'finest cape and cowl'
and take him out back to bury him alive.
As the Black Glove celebrates their victory, Nightwing is breaking out of custody - just short of receiving a lobotomy from Le Bossu. Outside, Bruce summons
all of his faculties and unearths himself and heads back into Arkham where he meets up with Dick. He reveals that the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh was a backup
personality he had created inside his own brain in case someone tried to attack his sanity. He had really been aware of the Black Glove (and Jezebel's
involvement) since his re-birthing ceremony on Nanda Parbat!
After a giant showdown, Bruce chases after Doctor Hurt, demanding to know his identity while the Doctor prepares to fly off in a helicopter piloted by the
third Bat-Imposter. Hurt curses Bruce, saying that the next time he dons his cape and cowl it will be his last. As the helicopter takes off, Batman disgards
his cape and cowl and jumps onto the aircraft, breaking the windshield and bringing the copter down into a fiery crash in the river. Tim, along with
Commissioner Gordon, Damian, Talia and the Club of Heroes arrive in time to see the explosion but no one is able to find Bruce's body.
Superman arrives at the wrecked Wayne Manor but finds only Oliver Queen drinking Bruce's expensive liquor and mourning their friend. The Bat-Cave is
destroyed, the trophies strewn about and displaced - including the Suit of Sorrows Bruce received from Talia. Batgirl and the Outsiders receive what appears
to be a video message from Bruce stating that he is still on the trail of the Black Glove, but upon examining it they cause REMAC to go bezerk triggering an
explosion that destroys the Outsiders penthouse, killing REMAC and leaving Thunder in a coma and Metamorpho missing. The team blames Batgirl and they decide
to disband. Batgirl in turn decides to begin forming a network of heroes to replace the different facets of Batman that Gotham would be needing in his
absence. After briefly butting heads with Dick over the network, Cass cedes leadership of the Network to Dick.
Bruce had of course survived the helicopter crash but lost track of Dr. Hurt. A short period of time later, Bruce returned to the Bat-Cave where he was met
by Alfred. No sooner had he returned that he had to leave once again after receiving word of the New God Orion's death. He arrives at the Hall of Justice to
study the god-killing bullet that took out Orion only to be kidnapped by Granny Goodness and taken to the Command-D bunker. There he is hooked up to a
machine my Simyan and Mokkari in an attempt to transfer Batman's mind and body onto an army of clones using a telepathic creature named Lump.
As the march towards the Final Crisis continues, the JLA puts out an all-points bulletin for Batman. Shortly thereafter Dick finds himself back in New York
where he is flagged down by Harvey Dent. With word of Batman's breakdown/disappearance fairly rampant, Dent turns to Dick to protect a woman he cares deeply
for. Dick agrees but soon finds out that the woman Harvey once loved is actually being hunted down by Dent's other personality Two-Face. Dick helps the woman
fake her death to escape Two-Face's sights and then stops Harvey before he can go on a homicidal rampage.
Ultimately however, Bruce is able to use even his own emotions as a weapon, driving the clones mad causing them to commit suicide. He then is able to
convince the Lump to turn on Simyan and Mokkari, destroying the lab and freeing Batman. Bruce places the God-Killing Bullet into his utility belt and heads
out to confront the evil Darkseid....
NOTE:
The main story of Batman RIP was written as a book-end to Grant Morrison's larger run on the main Batman title and was written without tie-ins. As such, we've included all of the tie-in issues
in gray to illustrate roughly when the stories take place while keeping the main focus of the arc on Morrison's Batman issues.
Included also is the tie-in "DC Universe #0" with a segment written by
Morrison and penciled by Daniels. |
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