This was just weird, for so many reasons, such as:
- Batman using a gun (and with an extremely weak rationale) - didn't we just go through this at the end of Infinite Crisis with Alex Luthor?
- He shot Darkseid in the shoulder? Oh yeah, he's dead all right - no doubt about it. (Geez Louise...)
- Darkseid calls the Omega Sanction "the death that is life" - so by "killing" Batman, he's giving him life? (Maybe he'll be reborn in Damian's body like Ra's wanted to do.)
- This is how Batman's going to die? Really? I don't buy it... Jonathan Kent went in a much nobler fashion.
- Remember, Grant has been telling us for - well, forever now - that Batman is the most prepared mother------ on the planet. Don't count him out.
Several guesses/predictions:
- Maybe Darkseid absorbed Batman's life essence through the omega beams to save his own life, and Batman will be restored in Final Crisis #7.
- Miracle Machine - hel-lo?
- Superman (or the Flashes - Flashi?) will go back in time (maybe with the help of Brainiac 5) to alter time so none of this happens. (And maybe take that awful Raven mini-series with it - and Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom while you're at it.)
- If we're loading up the cosmic U-Haul and moving to an alternate Earth, it may be one with its own Batman. (And, with any luck, no Raven or Superman/Supergirl mini-series.)
That's what I've got - any thoughts?
UPDATE: Wizard has a fantastic interview with Grant Morrison here. (Ignore the "Final Crisis #7 available now" at the bottom of the page.)
5 comments:
I'm bummed out by the whole "Death of Batman" thing. I mean, how lame! I seriously don't think that DC needs any "publicity" for batman what with all the Dark Knight hype & the new TV cartoon...it sucks!
BATMAN FAN? Check Out the Bat-Blog!
http://www.bat-blog.com
Thanks,
Tommy
Thanks for the comment, Tommy, but the link to your blog didn't work...
I've got my own theories too. I still think Bats could become a god of the Fifth World. If the population of Earth is going to flee to another multiverse, I wonder if New Earth will become the New Genesis and Apokolypse of the Fifth World? I have more stuff in my blog.
http://comicperday.blogspot.com/2009/01/final-crisis-6.html
Hi Professor White,
First off, I shop at Commuter Comics in South Orange also! Well, actually I used to before I switched to a store slightly closer to me. But it is conveniently right by the South Orange train station!
Second, I loved your Batman and Philosophy book.
Regarding Batman RIP and Final Crisis, there are certain elements I enjoy and others that make me cringe. It's pretty clear that Morrison loves Batman and thinks he is completely infallible in all respects. That being said, I do love his persistent attempts to demonstrate just how brilliant and methodical he is. The two issue bridge between RIP and Final Crisis -- seriously, how cool was it that Batman beat an attack on his own mind?
I also thought what Morrison did in Final Crisis 6 (specifically with Batman -- the entire issue and series for that matter is an entirely different story) was pretty cool. Having Batman--the human--be the one who confronts Darkseid first was pure genius (also a very nice recall of when the JLA went to rescue Supergirl from Darkseid). It seemed appropriate in that Darkseid clearly has much respect for Batman as well (probably moreso than the other JLA members). I even enjoyed the use of the gun. I feel like Batman knew he was not going to make it out of there and had a sense of humor about it. I mean..."Gotcha" was his last word!
Of course, I am extremely let down by the fact that Batman's "death" had virtually nothing to do with RIP. Nor has anything been illuminated on who Dr. Hurt really is/was. Nor was RIP the actual "death of Batman." Nor was there any revelation that, as Morrison put it, was the most shocking in 70 years of Batman history.
Though I suspect Morrison had a lot to do with this, part of the problem might be marketing. RIP was billed as the culmination of everything Batman. It just...wasn't. If they had said from the beginning that it was basically just a "cool story," I bet people would appreciate it more. They also probably would stop overthinking about Dr. Hurt's identity (at this point, by the way, I am content with just thinking about him as just some guy who hatched an elaborate plan to make the Dark Knight Fall -- with one element being pretending he was Thomas Wayne).
In conclusion, I am just never going to believe anything Morrison says in interviews anymore.
Sorry for the long post!
-Nick
Thanks for your message, Nick, and for the kind words about the Batman book. (And I'm sure Jeff appreciates the plug, and if he wonders where you went, now he knows!) Be sure to look for Watchmen and Philosophy, out Tuesday (shameless plug!).
I agree with you on the R.I.P. fake-out - DC really shot themselves in the foot with that, since the press covered the fake death and not the latest one. (I feel like I should take a shower after typing that line!)
As I wrote in an earlier post, I love the way he came back from the helicopter explosion like it was no big deal at all - he is the best, as Grant went to incredible lengths to impress on us. So I'm hopeful he will have predicted what Darkseid would do, and prepared for it, and the whole Miracle Machine device is a misdirection.
I see what you mean about the irony of Darkseid being brought down by the most human of heroes, but I still don't like the gun - he couldn't have attached the deicide-bullet to a batarang or something? A slingshot? Hell, a pea-shooter - just not a gun (albeit a Kirbyesque gun).
I hope that, just like with the final issue of R.I.P.. "the final fate of the Dark Knight" actually was not revealed in Final Crisis #6, but rather is coming in #7 - and he'll come back like Mister Miracle did from the same "final fate." (If he caan do it, certainly Batman can, no offesne to Shilo!) We'll see, hopefully in a week and a half!
All the best,
Mark
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