Confused by Batman R.I.P

[GigiFusc]

DEFINITE SPOILERS BELOW. PLEASE DON'T READ ON IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT.

Ok, so I'm being a bit dim if I'm honest, so please forgive me. One of my reading weaknesses is that I take things too much at face value and don't take the time to consider what's going on in the lower or higher layers of writing.

So I read RIP. Have to admit I thought it started off a bit inconsistent for me - good bits and bad bits. It definitely gets better as it goes on. And by the end he's in free flow.
BUT. It has left me a bit confused.

- Is the bad guy actually Thomas Wayne? In the story, Batman says he isn't so I thought he wasn't. But then I read comments from Morrison saying that they were about to make the biggest reveal in Batlore in 70 years. So now I'm not longer sure.

- Is Batman dead? The TPB continues after the helictoper goes down with issues showing Batman and Alfred talking about different stuff and they show snippets of Bat history etc etc. That part was well written, but is he dead or not? If he is dead, where in the Bat timeline does it go next? Is this when Jason took over for a bit until Bruce came back??

[Coal Tiger]

Yes, it was Thomas Wayne. But not that Thomas Wayne.

The answers to your questions are in the rest of Morrison's run. Who was Doctor Hurt/Thomas Wayne? It gets explained in the end of his Batman and Robin run (pre-flashpoint)

What happened to Batman after the Helicopter hit the water? It gets explained in the "Time and the Batman" trade, Batman #701 and 702, specifically.


I think it would be better if you read it yourself instead of someone on a message board explaining it to you.

[H4l3quin]

1)That guy's(Doctor Simon Hurt) real name is Thomas Wayne but he isn't his father.Simon Hurt is Batman's ancestor.
2)You must read Batman R.I.P. The Missing Chapter 1&2 (Batman 701 and Batman 702) and Final Crisis.

[GigiFusc]

Ah ok. So some of my questions are answered in the Final Crisis storlyline?

Thanks. I'm going there next then.

[Kurtzberg]

DEFINITE SPOILERS BELOW. PLEASE DON'T READ ON IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT.

Ok, so I'm being a bit dim if I'm honest, so please forgive me. One of my reading weaknesses is that I take things too much at face value and don't take the time to consider what's going on in the lower or higher layers of writing.

So I read RIP. Have to admit I thought it started off a bit inconsistent for me - good bits and bad bits. It definitely gets better as it goes on. And by the end he's in free flow.
BUT. It has left me a bit confused.

- Is the bad guy actually Thomas Wayne? In the story, Batman says he isn't so I thought he wasn't. But then I read comments from Morrison saying that they were about to make the biggest reveal in Batlore in 70 years. So now I'm not longer sure.

- Is Batman dead? The TPB continues after the helictoper goes down with issues showing Batman and Alfred talking about different stuff and they show snippets of Bat history etc etc. That part was well written, but is he dead or not? If he is dead, where in the Bat timeline does it go next? Is this when Jason took over for a bit until Bruce came back??

No, and No. The bare bones explanation with some spoilers:

No, he is not, he is Dr Simon Hurt, who who Bruce initially believes is actually be Mangrove Pierce, an actor, acquaintance and occasional impersonator of Thomas Wayne. Hurt turns out to be Thomas Wayne, but not that Thomas Wayne, rather a much older Wayne ancestor who was a demon worshiper who accidentally got caught up in this whole Darkseid/Hyper-Adapter deal. He may be immortal, because many, many, many years later was found by Thomas and Martha wayne, and committed to a mental hospital under the guise he was their son Thomas Wayne Jr, a reference to an old pre-crisis story about a mentally ill brother of Bruce's.

No, Batman did not die, or not really. You need to read Final Crisis and various other Morrison material like the Return of Bruce Wayne, but essentially Batman confronts Darkseid and is "killed" by Darkseid's Omega beams. This sends him back through time, and as an amnesiac Bruce races forward through time, chased by Darkseid's Hyper-Adapter, he becomes a ticking time bomb that will destroy reality should he return to the present.

[JAG2045]

The missing chapter in 701-702 show Batman after the crash and dealing with some things before getting a call from Superman about Orion's murder in Final Crisis

[darkseidpwns]

If those are your only questions then you're not dim at all, just keep reading Batman and Robin and experience the greatness for yourself.

[SicariiDC]

I was coming in here to make a thread that I'm not feeling grant Morrison's run at all, and I haven't put down an arc or a book yet of all the pre new 52 batman stuff but I'm in the middle of batman rip and I'm thinking of just saying hell with it and start the Snyder run...
I been going thru the entire batman chronology and reading all the major arcs and this run is so revered, I'm shocked I don't like it.
I consider myself a bright guy, def think outside the box, but I just don't like it...I liked war games better than this...lol

[JBatmanFan05]

I was coming in here to make a thread that I'm not feeling grant Morrison's run at all, and I haven't put down an arc or a book yet of all the pre new 52 batman stuff but I'm in the middle of batman rip and I'm thinking of just saying hell with it and start the Snyder run...
I been going thru the entire batman chronology and reading all the major arcs and this run is so revered, I'm shocked I don't like it.
I consider myself a bright guy, def think outside the box, but I just don't like it...I liked war games better than this...lol

It's ok to not like something, I'd at least read the whole run through to the end of Inc because of Damian's death and Spyral and all.

For me, Morrison's works are something that you never fully appreciate on the first read, but they infect your mind and you gradually love them more and more over time as they reveal themselves to you more.

Morrison's run is not like War Games, Hush, NML, Under the Hood, etc. Morrison is not that kind of conventional or street level writer. He loves the old school weird colorful world of Batman from the 50s to the early 80s (which was crime mystery sometimes, sci-fi sometimes, James Bond superspy sometimes). And loves more abstract puzzles and subtle connections and hidden meanings/themes about Man vs God, life & death, overcoming nihilism, etc.

[SicariiDC]

It's ok to not like something, I'd at least read the whole run through to the end of Inc because of Damian's death and Spyral and all.

For me, Morrison's works are something that you never fully appreciate on the first read, but they infect your mind and you gradually love them more and more over time as they reveal themselves to you more.

Morrison's run is not like War Games, Hush, NML, Under the Hood, etc. Morrison is not that kind of conventional or street level writer. He loves the old school weird colorful world of Batman from the 50s to the early 80s (which was crime mystery sometimes, sci-fi sometimes, James Bond superspy sometimes). And loves more abstract puzzles and subtle connections and hidden meanings/themes about Man vs God, life & death, overcoming nihilism, etc.

I may have spoke to soon...or just not been in the mood...cuz now that its coming together, its a beautiful thing...but at first I was lost

[JBatmanFan05]

I may have spoke to soon...or just not been in the mood...cuz now that its coming together, its a beautiful thing...but at first I was lost

I'd go this route after RIP and Last Rites (I myself personally count Final Crisis (the current softcover order) as part of Morrison's Batman run too):
Chris Burnham's B&R & Return of Bruce Wayne and 700-702 reading order: (Which I used for my custom bind of the run)
BR 1-9
B700 (in Time and the Batman tpb)
BR 10
ROBW 1
BR11
ROBW2
BR12
ROBW3
B701 (in Time and the Batman tpb)
B702 (in Time and the Batman tpb)
BR13
ROBW4
BR14
ROBW5
BR15
ROBW6
BR16

Then finally: Absolute Batman Inc....the finalized art and text for Batman Inc that you cannot buy in any cheaper smaller volume(s) yet...the smaller one-volume might be released in 2017 though after the upcoming B&R HC coming this year that is the B&R Absolute's contents but in a cheaper regular sized HC.

[t hedge coke]

I'd go this route after RIP and Last Rites.

And, I'll jump in to suggest not jumping around. If a comic says ______ pt 2 of 3, follow it with _____ pt 3 of 3, not Totally Other Story #5.

But, if it's not clicking for you right now, don't force it. Come back later. And, keep in mind that when these were published, they weren't dumped out all in one day, but doled out mostly monthly over the course of years. You may want to give yourself some breathing room or time to think between stories or just whenever.

[son of booyah]

RIP has its cool moments, but Batman and Robin is imo the highlight of his run. Club of Heroes is also excellent, and that's well before RIP - I wouldn't worry about not liking it, but if you read through it fully you might like it what comes after it more.

Also, if (if) you read RoBW, which imo is not entirely necessary to enjoy Batman and Robin, you HAVE to finish that series before the end of Batman and Robin. I personally didn't and I regret it as the end of Batman and Robin itself is a gut punch, but combined with RoBW it's a knockout.

[Adset]

And, I'll jump in to suggest not jumping around. If a comic says ______ pt 2 of 3, follow it with _____ pt 3 of 3, not Totally Other Story #5.

But, if it's not clicking for you right now, don't force it. Come back later. And, keep in mind that when these were published, they weren't dumped out all in one day, but doled out mostly monthly over the course of years. You may want to give yourself some breathing room or time to think between stories or just whenever.

underrated point. i read morrison's arc it as it came out monthly, and i've since gone back and binge-read it. that's a LOT of morrison to take in in a short period of time. despite loving the story, i burnt out a little trying to read it all uninterrupted. it all fits nicely if read as a trilogy, maybe take a short break in-between parts.