So…Batman’s dead. Kinda. During DC Comics’ recent Final Crisis crossover, Batman breaks his “no guns” rule and shoots Darkseid, using some kind of “god-killing” bullet. (don’t ask me, it doesn’t make much sense) As Darkseid dies, he fires his Omega Sanction beams from his eyes and apparently kills Batman.
Well, until two weeks later, when we see Bruce Wayne in the distant past, sitting next to the body of Anthro-the first Cro-Magnon human being, drawing the bat signal on a cave wall.
So, it’s no secret that Bruce Wayne will be back as Batman, probably no more than a year from now. It’s a little dissappointing that DC’s “Trinity” (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman) are considered untouchable. Sure, Superman has died and Batman’s been replaced for a while, but these changes rarely stick for more than a year or two. When Barry Allen died, he died for over 20 years. When Hal Jordan went bad and became Parallax, Kyle Rayner became Green Lantern for 10 years.
I love Batman. He’s my favorite comic book character. Period. Still, I really like seeing someone under than Bruce Wayne under the cowl. Sometimes it’s done poorly, like the KnightQuest saga back in the 90’s, when Jean Paul Valley took over the role, with a Joe Quesada-designed costume that no one really liked. Other times, we get something brilliant like Batman Beyond. Let’s hope that the new Batman falls into the latter mold.
More after the jump.
The Battle for the Cowl starts on March 4th, with a Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead? special by the always excellent Fabian Nicieza, wrapped in a pretty cool looking Dustin Nguyen cover.
I was pretty hyped for The Battle for the Cowl when I heard that it was only going to be three issues. Then, they released a checklist of the issues, and I realized it was going to be something much bigger. Still, I guess I was foolish for thinking that they could actually take a big storyline and actually only encompass it to one mini-series. When has that ever happened?
Here’s the checklist:
MARCH
- Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead?
- Battle for the Cowl #1 (of 3)
- Azrael #1
- Oracle: The Cure #1
- Battle for the Cowl: Commissioner Gordon
APRIL
- Battle for the Cowl: Man-Bat
- Battle for the Cowl #2 (of 3)
- Azrael #2
- Oracle: The Cure #2
- Battle for the Cowl: Arkham Asylum
- Battle for the Cowl: The Underground
MAY
- Battle for the Cowl: The Network
- Azrael #3
- Oracle: The Cure #3
- Battle for the Cowl #3 (of 3)
- Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive?
Of course, that’s not even including the MANY series starting in June. Ugh. At $3-4 bucks a comic, it’s sad to think we have to spend $15-20 a month just to get the full story for Batman. That’s what I liked so much about the Morrison/Dini runs on Batman and Detective these last couple of years. You could buy one or the other, and not feel like you were missing out.
Well, that’s where your friendly neighborhood IoMers come in! Can’t afford anything but Battle for the Cowl proper? Don’t sweat it! Every week, the morning after new comic book day, you will find an update status on the Battle for the Cowl, summarizing that week’s new issue and giving our thoughts and the storyline so far. Everyone is welcome to join in on the conversation!
And starting this week, I’ll be giving my thoughts on each one of the contenders for the next Batman, with the pros and cons, as well as discussions about the main characters of the series!
