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Very few writers would be able to toy with the history of Batman like Grant Morrison is doing without coming across like a retcon of everything that has been held dear to the character. Thomas Wayne may have been mentally unstable. Martha may have been a drug user. As for Bruce? He might be The Black Glove - the villain who is out to destroy Batman.
Or not.
Morrison is crafting a clever mystery that makes as many false assumptions as it does revelations into the history of Bruce Wayne. The most pressing mystery is the one that surrounds The Black Glove. He's a mysterious madman who seems to know everything about Batman. Is he Alfred? Is he Bruce? Is he Thomas Wayne, who may have faked his own death, killed Martha, and has now returned to kill his own son? Is Bruce really his son? Could he be Alfred's son? And who really is Alfred? These are all questions raised in this issue, and none are presented in a fashion that makes them seem silly or out of place in Batman's history.
Bruce Wayne's current girlfriend, Jezebel Jet, is not like every other woman in Batman's history who has embraced the secret life of The Dark Knight like a rock star girlfriend. Jet is scared, not only that something bad might happen to him, but also that his act of masquerading as a crime fighter might be a sign of a mental illness. She's the voice that questions whether or not Bruce might be his own worst villain and adds that the amount of money he pours into the Batcave in a month would be enough to pay off he country's national debt.
As if all of this wasn't enough to create major problems for Batman, he comes under attack from The Black Glove. A post-hypnotic suggestion shuts his mind down and Alfred returns to find not only that Bruce and Jezebel are gone, but that the Batcave is burning. The issue closes with Alfred under attack by The Black Glove's henchmen, and we are left without an assurance of his survival.
The artwork by Tony Daniel can seem somewhat inconsistent at times with Bruce looking a little different from scene to scene, but the storytelling is impeccable. Never before has someone seemed to make a scene flow through the Batcave as well as Daniel does. If his anatomy is suspect, his layout is masterful.
With the liberties that Morrison is taking with the history and mythos of Batman, I should be cringing and cursing and vowing never to read another issue of his run. But Batman R.I.P. continues to defy the odds and remain one of the best stories in comics today. Batman 677 is $2.99 and currently available at your local comic book shop.