Batman and Robin Must Die! (Review)

Writer: Grant Morrison

Artists: Frazer Irving, David Finch, Cameron Stewart, et al

Publisher: DC Comics

Collects: Batman & Robin #13-16; Batman: The Return #1

When Bruce Wayne "died" at the hands of Darkseid in 2009's Final Crisis, rather than die with him, the Bat-franchise exploded into so many ongoing series that I honestly lost count. But there was one that stood above all the others: Batman & Robin, starring former Boy Wonder Dick Grayson as Batman, and recently revealed offspring Damian Wayne as Robin. Fun, colourful and action-packed, fans and critics alike loved this series a lot more than anybody could have expected.

But now Bruce is back, and I couldn't shake the feeling that the kids would have to pack up their toys now that Daddy was home as I unknowingly dove into the ominously titled Batman and Robin Must Die!
And that is the greatest thing about Grant Morrison's time writing Batman: It feels like anything could happen and nothing is set in stone. It's like a rollercoaster in the dark, and I don't know when it's going to stop.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne (Review)

Writer: Grant Morrison

Artists: Chris Sprouse, Frazer Irving, Yanick Paquette, Georges Jeanty, Ryan Sook, Pere Perez, Lee Garbett

Publisher: DC Comics

Collects: Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1-6

When Bruce Wayne appeared to shuffle off this mortal coil at the end of Final Crisis two years(!) ago, most of us who had been reading superhero comics for a while knew it was only a matter of time before he returned. What we didn't know was how much we would come to enjoy Dick Grayson's career as Batman in the meantime.

As we found ourselves growing to like the former Boy Wonder more and more with each new adventure, Bruce's return became less and less anticipated. Yet it still loomed on the comic book horizon, and we felt a strange sense of dread and shame as it approached.

But we cannot put off the inevitable any more. This is comics, after all, where nothing lasts forever and nothing ever ends. And so, The Return of Bruce Wayne, as its title suggests, has our eponymous and amnesiac hero trapped in the past, jumping ever closer to the present and to his former position, all the while trying to solve a millennia-old mystery and recover his memories in the process.