On that final page of Final Crisis #6, we see Superman carrying Batman’s dead and skeletonized/mummified body – the condition of which is due to being hit by Darkseid’s Omega Beams. Struck by the time-and-space-bending Omega Beams of the Newgod Darkseid, an amnesiac Bruce Wayne is cast back in time to the dawn of history. Wayne will have to overcome amnesia and “history itself” in order to make his way back to present-day Gotham City and retake his rightful place as Batman. This story is told in the 6 part series called Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne. Writer Grant Morrison tells the story with great intrigue and suspense. It was hard to see what direction he was going till the last issue. Each stop in history Bruce left a clue for the future Batman to receive and learn that he would be a time traveler sent through time by Darkseid’s Omega Blast to the past. In time Bruce Wayne stopped Darkseid’s plan. The plan to destroy the universe by building the threat of Omega Energy as he went through time.
Bruce was willing to sacrifice his own life to save the universe but ultimately was rescued by members of the Justice League and other modern day heroes. Wayne awakens from the coma, purged of the radiation, and dons his cape and cowl once again, commenting that Gotham’s disease has spread beyond its borders and that once again, Batman is needed. The further changes in the Batman’s world is covered in a one shot issue comic called Batman: The Return and also Batman Incorporated which looks like a new monthly comic. Both sold in November. Batman himself has changed, no longer a lone crime fighter but building a network to fight crime all over the world. Just how he will do this remains to be seen. A great read and new direction for the Batman legend. Batman has always kept things as simple as he could and involved as few people as possible in his crusade to fight crime, but now his life becomes very complicated with his attempt to go world wide to stop the bad guys. He becomes the C.E.O. and President of Batman Incorporated. He will create a hierarchy that won’t be easy to control and only as good as the people he places around the world.
I for one think it is a good direction to go involving more people and making Bruce Wayne dig deep within himself with his great vision of controlling crime around the world. It is very far-reaching and Bruce just may be the one to pull it off. I am looking for something quite different from the Justice League in scope and approach. As writer Grant Morrison at least in the start is driving the direction of the Batman franchise, can’t wait to see what he has in store for us in the new decade of the Batman World. See you at the comic shop for my copy of Batman. Stay tuned comic faithful for more. 🙂 Walt