How to collect Morrison's Batman as Omnibi?

[PyroSikTh]

I'm bored, and I've been re-reading Morrison's Batman run recently, so my mind got to thinking about how I'd ideally like it to be collected. My idea is probably best suited to an Omnibus format, and I realise there's two (out of three) Absolutes for it, but I always thought the Batman and Robin Absolute was flawed by not having Time and Return. Also I think DC would miss a real beat if they collected it strictly in release order. Here goes;

- Volume 1: Batman RIP
Contains the entire first third of the epic; Batman and Son, Clown at Midnight, 666, Three Ghosts of Batman, Black Glove, DC Universe exert, RIP, the Missing Chapters, and Last Rites (#655-658, #663-669, #672-675, #0, #676-681, #701-702, #682-683) in that order.

- Volume 2: Batman Reborn
Contains the Batman and Robin era; Batman Reborn, Revenge of the Red Hood, Time and the Batman, Blackest Knight, Batman vs Robin, Batman and Robin Must Die, Return of Bruce Wayne, Black Mass (#1-6, #700, #7-15, #1-6, #16) in that order.

- Volume 3: Batman Incorporated
Contains the home-run of the epic; Batman: The Return, Batman Incorporated, Leviathan Special, Demon Star, Gotham's Most Wanted (Return, #1-10, #1-10, #12-13) in that order.

Thoughts? What would you do differently?

[Billy Batson]

I'd collect Batman Inc. Vol. 2 #11 even if Morrison didn't write. I doubt an extra issue would hurt.

[Diggy]

Sounds good. Would be really cool.

[t hedge coke]

I'm not sure putting RIP: The Missing Chapter right after RIP is the best way to go. Unless, Return of Bruce Wayne is also in that first omnibus, making it the "Bruce Wayne Experience" with the second omnibus being Dick/Damian., which leaves it a kinda skimpy omnibus.

In the end, like The Kingdom or Seven Soldiers of Victory, no matter how it's collected, jumping around between stories/arcs is going to be immensely rewarding.

Interleaving RoBW and B&R chapters, as is sometimes suggested, would be terribly detrimental, though, in my opinion. It'd break up the rhythms of the two stories, which, at best, have parts taking place chronologically close together, like two separate stories set in the same war.

[earl]

"Interleaving RoBW and B&R chapters, as is sometimes suggested, would be terribly detrimental, though, in my opinion. "

Considering that's how it came out for the most part, that's how it read if you read it as they came out with comics. I'd have the Return of Bruce Wayne issues at one point alternate with the Batman & Robin issues, that way they are more like a novel where each chapter changes the point of view of the larger story line. I'd also edit in some pages of Final Crisis into the story with perhaps a new page created to make it flow.

If DC was smart, they should just let Grant Morrison decide on the reading order and let him make that decision, since he knows how he had it planned.

[Claude]

I'd also edit in some pages of Final Crisis into the story with perhaps a new page created to make it flow.

Nah, I'd leave space in Reading Order for it to go "Volume One", "Final Crisis (New Edition with Last Rites)", "Volume Two" etc. Although there are a couple of pages of 52 that lift right out into a Morrison Run Prelude so neatly that I'm surprised they've never been collected as such.

Or, alternatively....

Volume One:
"Pages From 52"
Batman And Son
Black Glove
Batman RIP

Volume 2:
Final Crisis (Including Last Rites)
RIP Missing Chapters
Return Of Bruce Wayne

Volume 3:
Batman and Robin Reborn
Time and the Batman
Batman vs Robin
Batman And Robin Must Die

Volume 3

Batman: The Return
Batman Incorporated Vol1
Leviathan Strikes
Batman Incorporated Vol2

[dern]

I'd skip right over omnibus format and go straight to Absolute to match the other collections. Then, all you'd need is an R.I.P. absolute with the first part of the run up to R.I.P., followed by a Return of Bruce Wayne absolute that collects that miniseries plus the R.I.P. missing chapters and Time and the Batman.

[Kingcrimsonprog]

Or one giant, impractical, thick book with absolutely all of that in it.

[PyroSikTh]

I'm not sure putting RIP: The Missing Chapter right after RIP is the best way to go. Unless, Return of Bruce Wayne is also in that first omnibus, making it the "Bruce Wayne Experience" with the second omnibus being Dick/Damian., which leaves it a kinda skimpy omnibus.

RIP Missing Chapters is, in my opinion, the best ending for RIP as it actually has his death (always bugged me about the RIP story). Also the ending of RIP Missing Chapters is a pretty good cliffhanger for Return of Bruce Wayne in the next omnibus.

I'd also edit in some pages of Final Crisis into the story with perhaps a new page created to make it flow.

Nah, I'd leave space in Reading Order for it to go "Volume One", "Final Crisis (New Edition with Last Rites)", "Volume Two" etc.

That's what Missing Chapters is for, so that you don't have to read Final Crisis at all. It covers all the major story beats relevant to Batman, including his actual "death".

I'd skip right over omnibus format and go straight to Absolute to match the other collections. Then, all you'd need is an R.I.P. absolute with the first part of the run up to R.I.P., followed by a Return of Bruce Wayne absolute that collects that miniseries plus the R.I.P. missing chapters and Time and the Batman.

Problem with that, and why I haven't picked any of the Absolute's up, is because Return of Bruce Wayne must be read before Batman and Robin 16, so it creates book swapping, which is even more of a pain with books as big and clunky as Absolutes. The Batman and Robin Absolute just doesn't feel like an Absolute to me because it's missing a crucial part of the story.

[nepenthes]

Sure The Missing Chapter makes a good capstone to RIP in many respects however alot of people seem to forget that one element of the plot firmly places it after the events of Batman VS Robin. At the conclusion of that arc Dick and Damian discover Bruce's belt and cowl have been handed down from prehistoric times and stashed away in the Manor. The narration in The Missing Chapter is revealed to be a recording Bruce left to his rescuers, the recording is played and information key to the secrets of RoBW revealed only when Dick and Damian find the belt.

I'd collect the whole thing very close to its original order of release (not exactly though). I don't think this interrupts the individual story threads: it's how we experienced it monthly and it worked fine back then. In fact the build up and tension as you skip across the various building climaxes heightens the urgency and complexity of the gradual reveals, which were deliberately layered by Morrison to fall in order across the separate titles.

Therefore would go something like this;

Batman Forever Vol.1: R.I.P. (23 issues)
FT 30,47: Fifty-Two excerpts - combined in some sort of framing device, perhaps arranged to resemble a flashback
655-658: Batman and Son
663-669: Clown at Midnight, 666, Three Ghosts of Batman
672-675: The Black Glove
DCU 0: The Dead Man's Hand prologue
676-681: RIP
FC 1-4: Final Crisis 1-4 excerpts - I know its recapped later but something needs to be shown here to convey what are pivotal moments at this point of the story. Again, the story was originally constructed and released this way.
682-683: Last Rites
FC 6-7: Final Crisis 6-7 excerpts - End on Clark carrying the charred corpse out of the bunker and the reveal of Bruce in the cave

REBORN COMPANION goes here (I'll come back to this later)

Batman Forever Vol.2: REBORN (24)
BR 01-03: Batman Reborn
BR 04-06: Revenge of the Red Hood
BM 700: Time and the Batman - occurs before Dick and Damian learn of the corpse, leading into the next arc
BR 07-09: Blackest Knight
BR 10: Batman VS Robin 01 - the time travel mystery begins
RoBW 01: Shadow on Stone
BR 11: Batman VS Robin 02
RoBW 02: Until the End of Time
BR 12: Batman VS Robin 03 - Dick and Damian find the belt
701-702: RIP: The Missing Chapter - revealing the cosmic Motherbox stuff which becomes more important towards climax
RoBW 04: Dark Knight, Dark Rider - the story of Van Derm and the wooden box that ultimately unravels Hurt
BR 13: Batman Must Die 01
BR 14: Batman Must Die 02
RoBW 05: Masquerade
BR 15: Batman Must Die 03 - Bruce arrives unexpectedly
RoBW 06: The All Over - reveal Bruce's solution at the end of time
BR 16: Black Mass - the big crazy climax
TR 01: Batman: The Return - epilogue and set-up of a new era

Batman Forever Vol.3: INCORPORATED (27)
INC 00: Incorporated #0: the formation of Batman Inc
01-08: Mr Unknown, Scorpion Tango, Medicine Soldiers, Numberland
09-10: Leviathan Strikes
BR 00: Batman & Robin #0; origin of Damian Al Ghul
01-06: Demon Star
BR AN: Batman & Robin Annual #1: Bruce and Damians last trip together
07-09: Death of Damian Wayne
10,12: Gothams Most Wanted
BR, 18: Batman & Robin #18: Requiem Silent Issue
INC 13: The Devils Daughter the oroboros

[Coal Tiger]

My only issue with that list is that Morrison didn't write all of those.

[PyroSikTh]

Sure The Missing Chapter makes a good capstone to RIP in many respects however alot of people seem to forget that one element of the plot firmly places it after the events of Batman VS Robin. At the conclusion of that arc Dick and Damian discover Bruce's belt and cowl have been handed down from prehistoric times and stashed away in the Manor. The narration in The Missing Chapter is revealed to be a recording Bruce left to his rescuers, the recording is played and information key to the secrets of RoBW revealed only when Dick and Damian find the belt.

That's very true, but I've been reading through on my proposed order recently, and it just feels like another hint at whats to come. I mean let's face it, the run is full of little details you don't pick up on until later when it becomes important. The narration in Missing Chapters reads like that; "How'd they find it? What are they going to do now?"

Furthermore, that narration actually begins at the end of RIP when he talks about when he realises it was all a trap and Jet was a part of it, so you read the start of it prior to Batman vs Robin anyway.

My only issue with that list is that Morrison didn't write all of those.

Pray tell, what didn't Morrison write from any of the proposed lists?

[nepenthes]

That's very true, but I've been reading through on my proposed order recently, and it just feels like another hint at whats to come. I mean let's face it, the run is full of little details you don't pick up on until later when it becomes important. The narration in Missing Chapters reads like that; "How'd they find it? What are they going to do now?"

Furthermore, that narration actually begins at the end of RIP when he talks about when he realises it was all a trap and Jet was a part of it, so you read the start of it prior to Batman vs Robin anyway.

I hear you, and yeah in many ways it does work well to have The Missing Chapter providing that resolution to RIP immediately rather than dragging it out, however when weighed against everything else I just know that there's probably a dozen more little connections like this that I've forgotten about also. Above all we know from Morrison himself that the run was very deliberately written to weave and intersect. That's why I'd include some form of FC excerpt at the end of RIP to smooth out that whole section, even though its explained again later on; as you said in your OP that story beat needs to be there in some shape or form.

Here's the trick; DC could frame the FC excerpts by creating a couple of brand new pages where Alfred is reviewing files on the computer. We see from his perspective the original FC artwork of Bruce getting the JLA call, performing the autopsy, capture by Granny Goodness, getting stuck in that machine thing. And this would dovetail nicely with the impostor narration when we then dive into Last Rites in full, a story which also actually ends with the real Alfred on the computer saying how the Batman will always rise again etc. After that final splash page in Last Rites we'd turn over to further files left up on the computer that show Bruce confronting Darkseid, being zapped and then his corpse carried out in a another big splash. One more page shows the computer being shutdown, ending the framing device. A few pages of black. The trade should then have "To Be Continued in Volume 2" type page, with the central image being Bruce in the cave from FC 7. It just takes a bit of clever design and trade dressing.

Pray tell, what didn't Morrison write from any of the proposed lists?

In my Incorporated Volume I've include a handful of Tomasi issues that would add just a little more weight to the father/son relationship and to Damian's death. Morrison glosses over alot of the more heartfelt stuff and again the idea would be to replicate the original reading experience as much as possible. Fact is all of this other stuff WAS going on while Incorporated was hurtling towards its tragic end, and these particular issues are among the very best of the concurrent New 52 B&R series, written by someone who keenly in sync with what Morrison was doing (Tomasi was his former editor on Batman in fact and instrumental in hiring him for the title- see, it all comes full circle in the end!)

[PyroSikTh]

In my Incorporated Volume I've include a handful of Tomasi issues that would add just a little more weight to the father/son relationship and to Damian's death.

That's fair enough then. I must have missed those.

[PyroSikTh]

Batman Forever Vol.2: REBORN (24)
BR 01-03: Batman Reborn
BR 04-06: Revenge of the Red Hood
BM 700: Time and the Batman - occurs before Dick and Damian learn of the corpse, leading into the next arc
BR 07-09: Blackest Knight
BR 10: Batman VS Robin 01 - the time travel mystery begins
RoBW 01: Shadow on Stone
BR 11: Batman VS Robin 02
RoBW 02: Until the End of Time
BR 12: Batman VS Robin 03 - Dick and Damian find the belt
701-702: RIP: The Missing Chapter - revealing the cosmic Motherbox stuff which becomes more important towards climax
RoBW 04: Dark Knight, Dark Rider - the story of Van Derm and the wooden box that ultimately unravels Hurt
BR 13: Batman Must Die 01
BR 14: Batman Must Die 02
RoBW 05: Masquerade
BR 15: Batman Must Die 03 - Bruce arrives unexpectedly
RoBW 06: The All Over - reveal Bruce's solution at the end of time
BR 16: Black Mass - the big crazy climax
TR 01: Batman: The Return - epilogue and set-up of a new era

I just came back to have a closer look at this, and you missed out Return of Bruce Wayne #3, which has mention by Batman and Robin of Joker.

I literally just finished re-reading Return of Bruce Wayne on my read-through of the run, and in retrospect maybe I would split it up a little bit, but I want to re-read Batman and Robin Must Die first before finalising exactly how I want it split up. I definitely think RoBW #3 should be read amongst Must Die somewhere, but not sure exactly where yet.