I know this may shock you, but there will be a new storyline called Batman R.I.P. I have a feeling that DC is gonna kill of Batman. If Batman dies, who will protect Gotham city? Also, in Final Crisis, they say heroes die, but legends live forever. I have a felling they might kill of other heroes, too.

I very much doubt that they'll kill off Batman. He's a staple to the DC universe and even if they made Dick Grayson the new Batman, people would still be severly pissed. Maybe they'll kill off another member of the Batman family...

On which earth? Theres like, infinity of them

Oh sure, why not? The Death of Superman was a huge commercial success for DC, wasn't it? They should probably kill all of their big characters at least once.

Like anybody stays dead in comics anyway... at this point I don't care who they kill. One of the reasons I don't even read comic books anymore is the cynical usage of these kinds of stunt to drive sales, instead of writing a good story. The death of an icon should mean something... but it never does.

Fenn
Like anybody stays dead in comics anyway... at this point I don't care who they kill. One of the reasons I don't even read comic books anymore is the cynical usage of these kinds of stunt to drive sales, instead of writing a good story. The death of an icon should mean something... but it never does.

That pretty much sums it up right there.

He'll be back, anyway. In comics, Heaven has a golden revolving door.

Does anyone remember the Knightfall story arc? It's the one where Bane broke Batman's back and Azrael became the new Batman. The fans hated it, I don't think DC wants to go down that road again.

patrickdevine
Does anyone remember the Knightfall story arc? It's the one where Bane broke Batman's back and Azrael became the new Batman. The fans hated it, I don't think DC wants to go down that road again.

I only caught up with the Knightfall series quite recently. (Yup - still trawling through a lot of the oldies but moldies!) I am so relieved you said the fans didn't like it even when it was new because, plot wise, it's a real stinker!

In the first place we're asked to believe Bats would choose a psychopath to replace him, rather than any one of the 100 or so better qualified candidates. Some genius that Bruce Wayne, huh? In the second place, it allows Bane to break his back and yet we're supposed to believe Bats can return to active duty as fit and agile as ever. That's actually worse than killing off and magically resurrecting heroes. At last magic can do that. ;)

They cant kill of batman, they just can't imagine how much money they would lose. It's a probably just a name

I agree. Since Batman is ultimately based in realism, if they kill him they're not gonna be able to bring him back.

mlai
I agree. Since Batman is ultimately based in realism, if they kill him they're not gonna be able to bring him back.

Not true. Jason Todd was part of the realistic Batman universe and he returned after biting the bullet. Tons of heroes who are "human" return. Green Arrow, Hawkeye, and Bucky were also powerless dudes who returned from being dead. (Was Bucky powerless? I think he was, but I'm not positive.) I hear that they're toying with bringing Spoiler back. I'm sure that if they have Batman pushing up daisies, Zatana's gonna say "Gnirb namtab kcab ot efil." or Talia will shove him into one of those pits or something and he'll go right back to swinging off of rooftops and punching crazy people.

That being said, I really doubt that they'll kill him off in the first place.

Fenn
Like anybody stays dead in comics anyway... at this point I don't care who they kill. One of the reasons I don't even read comic books anymore is the cynical usage of these kinds of stunt to drive sales, instead of writing a good story. The death of an icon should mean something... but it never does.

Yeah, I totally fell for that when Superman: Doomsday released on DvD.

They might pull a Captain America with Batman. What I mean by that is: he actually dies but then some other person dons the role. Probably with some new gimmick too. The new Capt. America has a gun.

mlai
I agree. Since Batman is ultimately based in realism, if they kill him they're not gonna be able to bring him back.

It all depends on what you mean by realism. Not to mention the different versions of Batman comics. Most have some supernatural beings in it or mutants. That guy, Vanghoul (or however you spell his name) was an immortal.

Well, they already (almost) killed Bruce Wayne before in the Knightfall [en.wikipedia.org] story arc and it went over fine, so I don't see why they can't do it again.

Why kill batman? Just kill Robin!!!!! lol!

Vdude, I swear... Stop posting comic stuff in the media forum k? -_-

So this is what everyone's talking about?



Heh, and here's me thinking that was just a joke about Heath Ledger in the Batman movie... :(

That is so not the way to properly break someone in half. I don't know who's the idiot who messed up such a monumental issue/panel. Forget martial arts, even someone who just watches pro wrestling knows that's not how you do a backbreaker.

mlai
That is so not the way to properly break someone in half. I don't know who's the idiot who messed up such a monumental issue/panel. Forget martial arts, even someone who just watches pro wrestling knows that's not how you do a backbreaker.

Especially considering there is no leverage in that position. Do we assume that Bats falls onto Bane's leg? Bane's holding him like a husband would do a newly wedded wife...

With that said, I think it's going to be some sort of IN THE FUTURE story but considering I rarely read anything from the Big 3 I couldn't tell you how DC acts. I will say that I'm interested in Deathmask which is a new Batman line done by a manga artist who has one of the best tone works I've seen. Besides this new one, the only Batman comic I've read that really feels dark and gritty was Batman HUSH.

That was one of the last Batman stories I ever read, and it DID stink! Azriel had a lame "new" Batman costume...



Kill Batman? I just don't care anymore. I stopped caring when they STUPIDLY killed Cap and then rebooted Peter Parker out of 20 years of history and his marriage... huh!?

dueeast
That was one of the last Batman stories I ever read, and it DID stink! Azriel had a lame "new" Batman costume...

I LOVE the pouch garter lol! Sexy ^^

I just call him "Iron Bat." Maybe they'll make a movie... *ducks, runs* lol!

At least, when the crippled Batgirl, she stayed paralyzed and became Oracle, a potentially better character. Bruce Wayne fully recovered, no permanent pains, nothing realistic, and he was fit enough to beat "new" Batman (Azrael). Silly...

ozoneocean

dueeast
That was one of the last Batman stories I ever read, and it DID stink! Azriel had a lame "new" Batman costume...

I LOVE the pouch garter lol! Sexy ^^

They'll bring him back, or it will be some non-canon storyline. Ras comes back, like, all the fucking time, and so did Robin. Besides, with the new movie coming out, I doubt they will kill off Wayne like Marvel did with Cap'.

It will be an interesting storyline though, I look forward to it. :D

mlai
I agree. Since Batman is ultimately based in realism, if they kill him they're not gonna be able to bring him back.

You'd think they'd have the good sense not to do it for that reason, but they brought back Green Arrow under circumstances that still give me headaches. What was it, the Spectre brought him back, and at the time the Spectre was Hal Jordan, so it made sense because they're friends? Something retarded like that.

Anyway, like lefarce said, there's a movie coming out this year, so if they kill him now to have him be replaced with god-knows-who, the DC editors really are dumber than a bag of hammers.

Sorry for going off-topic...but I once saw a comic where Bats was a vampire...I think there's just a couple of them, but are those actually any good? XD

(Yeah, there's your solution for how Batman comes back to life...but since vampire has already been done...ZOMBIE BATMAN! Fighting crime. Eating brains.)

This rumour has been going on for a little while now. Before the "Batman RIP" storyline was announced the rumour had Bruce Wayne being killed in Final Crisis with Jason Todd taking up the mantel. There was even some talk that they were originally going to kill him off but because of some negative backlash to the rumour and the comparisons being made to Captain America's storyline they've changed their minds.

Personally, I'll believe it when I see it. As others say, with the movie coming out and Cap's death still somewhat fresh in people's minds I think DC would probably avoid that storyline for a little while.

Captain America been there done that.

darrell
Before the "Batman RIP" storyline was announced the rumour had Bruce Wayne being killed in Final Crisis with Jason Todd taking up the mantel.

Hey, what a shrewd move that would be ... Let's take one of our most unpopular characters (who even the readers voted to kill off) and have him replace one of our most popular ... Hmmm - sounds just like the kind of thinking DC would come up with!
;)

I just heard somewhere recently that they were going to have a sidekick character pick up the Captain America mantle. I don't know anything more specific than that because I wasn't listening too closely.

It wouldn't surprise me if they did something weird like have Bruce Wayne retire and hand it over to Robin or something. Knowing DC they'd do something even crazier though and have him pass the name to Nightwing. The retirement idea doesn't seem too far-fetched for them considering things like the fact that The Punisher is pretty much in his sixties now.

edit: Sorry if I'm just repeating people now. I'm terrible with names.

I'm not really sure what's up with the recent insanity in comics. First Cap, then Spidey and now Batman. Stupid....can't they think of something OTHER than contridicting 50 years of history, or killing them? Are there really no new stories left?

lba
It wouldn't surprise me if they did something weird like have Bruce Wayne retire and hand it over to Robin or something. Knowing DC they'd do something even crazier though and have him pass the name to Nightwing. The retirement idea doesn't seem too far-fetched for them considering things like the fact that The Punisher is pretty much in his sixties now.

While I agree that retirement would be the least stupid idea tha DC could implement for Bruce Wayne if they want to shake up Batman with somebody else taking up the mantle, I don't think the comparison to The Punisher is particularly appropriate. The Punisher has basically been aged in real time since his debut whereas Bruce Wayne has for the most part stayed the same age since Batman's creation. Although, like The Punisher, I think that Bats is pretty much too crazy to quit voluntarily.

Fenn
Oh sure, why not? The Death of Superman was a huge commercial success for DC, wasn't it? They should probably kill all of their big characters at least once.

The original Death of Superman was actually pretty good stuff, but every character death since then has been a comics washout.

I don't think DC will kill off Batman as a stunt, either.

But one never knows. Having Superman mimic Spidey and marry his girlfriend was an incredibly bad idea, and they did it. 'Superman Blue' was similarly ludicrous. Bringing back Robin every time they've done that has been ludicrous.

Hard to say. Both large comics companies--while full of talented individuals--seem utterly out of touch, and adrift without a rudder.