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BATMAN #679


Price: $2.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 22.7%

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Comments

  1. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 11, 2008 at 5:50 pm

    I’ve seen some previews for this and let me just say (in the words of Josh): This looks fucked up!

    In a very good way, I cannot wait to see where this arc takes us next.

  2. Avatar photo NealAppeal says:
    August 11, 2008 at 6:02 pm

    @NextChamp me too. I’m pretty stoked. And if this turns out to suck, it’ll be okay, because this week is enmormous.

  3. flapjaxx says:
    August 11, 2008 at 6:10 pm

    This issue seems like its going to be a lot of zany fun. It really seems like Morrison is going to cram in as much craziness as possible right up until the end. After this issue: confrontation with the Joker in 680, and then the Black Glove is revealed in 681.

    Also, (as seen in the preview) the bit where the gargoyles talk to Bruce about the power of cities… this is a replay of parts of early Invisibles issues (#3 and #4, I think), where Tom explains similar things to Jack Frost.

  4. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 11, 2008 at 9:53 pm

    Does this come with LSD to help you comprehend it.

  5. Avatar photo CharlieBlix says:
    August 11, 2008 at 10:33 pm

    This IS LSD Kory

  6. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    August 11, 2008 at 10:57 pm

    I’m putting this in my list but if I find anything else interesting interesting while browsing I’m dropping this.

  7. Avatar photo MisterBlank says:
    August 12, 2008 at 12:26 am

    This is going to be 50 different flavors of win

  8. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 12, 2008 at 1:30 am

    I haven’t seen previews of this, but if you guys say it’s gonna be more fucked up than the last issue? That’s not good news for me, I was this issue would bring things back to "normal". I’m one of the many who is not liking the "trippy" shit. 

    But, I wont judge it before I read it!

  9. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 12, 2008 at 1:32 am

    *I was hoping this issue would bring things back …

    My other comic new years resolution — read my posts before I click submit.

  10. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 12, 2008 at 2:41 am

    @Wade: Well considering, from the previews mind you: That he still thinks he’s the Batman from Zur-En-Ah; Bat-Mite is now his sidekick; and he’s talking to Gargoyles….I’m sorry to say but you might need to skip this issue. lol

    Seriously though, that’s only the first 5 pages! I cant wait to see where we go from here. It’s not a train wreck mind you; I love this fucking arc. But in terms of a mental standpoint this is a huge trainwreck for Bruce….it’s only gonna get worse from here folks.

  11. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    August 12, 2008 at 5:33 am

    I found that the previews made it somewhat clearer why those elements were there whereas the first three issue seemed more of a mish-mash of stuff. The 5 pages previewed seemed more like storytelling and less collage.

  12. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 12, 2008 at 6:41 am

    I’m curious to read the Robin/Damien team up.  That could save the book for me.

  13. Avatar photo SDcomicfan says:
    August 12, 2008 at 6:51 am

    god i can read and reread all morrisons stuff all day its great stuff to read twice and see all the crap you missed the first time around.

  14. JRS says:
    August 12, 2008 at 10:12 am

    I think I’m enjoying this series and that it will pay off in the end, but I’ve not been as satisfied with these issues as I have been Final Crisis. Then again the last issue made a lot more sense once I someone on the site explained the Zur-En-Ah angle, maybe I’m just not enough of an expert in Batman lore.

  15. Avatar photo rift1128 says:
    August 12, 2008 at 10:52 am

    Where is everyone reading the preview?

  16. Avatar photo MrGlass says:
    August 12, 2008 at 1:34 pm

    ok the last issue of Final Crisis started to bring the story together hopefully this one will bring the story together too.

  17. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 13, 2008 at 12:04 am

    Aw man … I saw the preview. More multi-coloured madness. 🙁

    @rift — The preview is on Newsarama.com

    I wish I had the patience to wait until I had all the issues of this story before I read this issue, because I think by the end it will all be OK. I’m not too amped about reading another issue of Batman on drugs, one issue was more than enough for me.

  18. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 13, 2008 at 8:30 am

    I’m gonna burn some incense and listen to some Pink Floyd while reading this with my reading light coming from a lava lamp.  This should help me enjoy it.

  19. Avatar photo rift1128 says:
    August 13, 2008 at 11:02 am

    I might be slow but did anyone else notice that the homeless guy who helped bruce in issue 3 of RIP was also almost killed in issue 1 by the batmobile? Batman helps him up after scaring him and knocking him over?

  20. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 13, 2008 at 1:37 pm

    I did’nt even notice that and I went and double checked and you were right, it was the same guy.  I also looked at the first page from the first issue and I looked closely and Robin looked like Damien, which means Tim will be Batman and Damien will be Robin.

  21. Avatar photo rift1128 says:
    August 13, 2008 at 1:55 pm

    Your right. I looked at it and its kinda creepy. Its funny when going back  over these morrison issues there is so many hints but so much that is easy to miss. Like the picture that looks like damien is so subtle its crazy.

  22. Avatar photo Andrew says:
    August 13, 2008 at 2:03 pm

    Man, I hope in this issue that get off the island! 

  23. Avatar photo hunkiechan says:
    August 13, 2008 at 2:24 pm

    this story arc made me start reading batman. occasionally i don’t get certain panel or page because i just started reading comics

     

  24. Avatar photo CharlieBlix says:
    August 13, 2008 at 3:37 pm

    This was a great issue.  It cleared a lot of things up.  I havent read all of my stack yet but this is looking like it could be my POW.

  25. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 13, 2008 at 4:06 pm

    This issue had some good dark humor into it. Batman talking to gargoyles or using his ‘Batradia’ was pretty funny.

    But overall it was more of a set-up issue for me…and the best (or worst considering the reader) is yet to come next issue.

  26. Avatar photo FACE says:
    August 13, 2008 at 6:00 pm

    I’m probably alone on this but I’m gonna miss tripped-out Batman talking to inatimate gargoyle statues while carrying a broken radia that tells him when and if someone’s being on the level with him when all is said and done. Never had I seen a psychedelic freakout portrayed in sequential art until #678. Never may I see it again. The shoulda called it T.R.I.P. 

     

  27. Avatar photo FACE says:
    August 13, 2008 at 6:09 pm

    "They shoulda called this T.R.I.P." – my bad.

  28. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    August 13, 2008 at 6:49 pm

    This is the first issue that I felt I understood well enough to fully enjoy.  This arc is really coming together. 

    The art is phenomenal.

    Robin was completely badass in this issue.

    Serious contender for POW for me.

  29. Avatar photo Muady says:
    August 13, 2008 at 8:16 pm

    Omg. What is that creepy green hand holding up the Batmite puppet?!

  30. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    August 13, 2008 at 8:39 pm

    It was better but the story is only getting started in thi issue. That’s a looooong setup.

  31. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 14, 2008 at 2:07 am

    I liked this issue more than the last (but that’s not saying much) and it’s cool that some things were explained, but I’m more than ready for Batman to be sane/sober again, get out that horrible costume (& "back-up identity"?) & put the hurt on Dr Hurt & his crew.

    @ FACE – T.R.I.P. !! Awesome.

  32. Avatar photo Eyun says:
    August 14, 2008 at 8:31 am

    I loved this! For me it’s all piecing together beautifully. I believe in G-Mo!

  33. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 14, 2008 at 8:31 am

    So…Batman created a alternate personality in his psyche to prepare for a psychological attack?  Yeah, that clears things up a bit (not).

  34. flapjaxx says:
    August 14, 2008 at 8:40 am

    My least favorite issue of Batman since #675, but I would still give it 5/5. The art was better than I thought it’d be based on the preview. Call me a snob who’s too cool for school, but I didn’t see where this issue really developed the story much. Most of the revelations I had figured out already. Or maybe I just read too many message boards. I guess laying out clear exposition about all these things, as Bat-Mite did, was necessary. But I just didn’t see that many clues to the WHY? and WHO? of this story (assuming that Hurt is lying about who he is). I think there’s a clue on page 9, though, and I’m not talking about Bat-Mite’s dialogue.

  35. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 14, 2008 at 8:47 am

    If Dr. Hurt turns out to be Thomas Wayne,  G-Mo you will be my sworn enemy.

  36. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    August 14, 2008 at 9:03 am

    @ Kory – I agree.  If Thomas Wayne is alive and "evil", I will never read another issue of Batman or anything else Grant does for the rest of my life.  I might even hunt him down and force him to grow hair so he can’t pull off the "I’m cutting edge" act quite so well.

  37. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 14, 2008 at 9:33 am

    I don’t know if I’ll quit reading.  It will definitely anger me, but Geoff Johns will retcon it out in 5 years.

    I’m not a G-Mo hater (I love Final Crisis!) but Bruce Wayne/Batman is my favorite hero and I think it will be a mistake to turn Bruce’s hero, the man he strives to be, into an evil bastard.

    And I’m a little sick of Batman being written as a psychotic sociopath.  The animated series Batman was perfect, he was angry, calculating, driven yet he still had a optimistic side. 

  38. flapjaxx says:
    August 14, 2008 at 9:44 am

    Trusting that Morrison’s going to make it work, I’ve often thought that I’ll probably enjoy the end of this story no matter who the Black Glove turns out to be (though I still think it’s Joe Chill!). I’m not one of those readers who says "I’ll never read a comic series again if [such-and-such] happens!". I’ll read anything as long as the story’s good. Hell, they can make Tim into Batman and Alfred into Robin for a year–and I’d give it a chance if the right creators were involved.

    But with that said, Thomas Wayne would have to be the lamest Black Glove possible. It’d just upset the Batman story–and the Batman fans–for no reason. It’d be clear senseless shock–same with the Black Glove being Alfred. So I don’t think it’s going to happen. As it is, I think Morrison’s just doing this to playfully rile us all up–and it’s working. On a narrative level, I think t his "Hurt=Thomas" idea is also going to be used as a psychological weapon against Bruce. Pretty good tactic, I’d say.

  39. Avatar photo CharlieBlix says:
    August 14, 2008 at 11:02 am

    I thought he made it clear in this issue that Thomas Wayne was not Dr. Hurt.  Alfred says "I knew Thomase Wayne sir.  You are NOT Thomas Wayne."

  40. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 14, 2008 at 11:20 am

    @charliebix- Just because a character says something like that does’nt necessarily make it not true.  I have thought that the Dr. Hurt is Thomas Wayne is a red herring, but we’ll a ll find the answer to that question in the next two issues.

    By the way, dccomics.com has a preview caption for the conclusion Batman #681.  It says there is a ‘final, heartrending confrontation between Bruce Wayne and Jezebel Jet’.   Interesting.

    Could’nt they have thought of a better name for Jezebel Jet. 

  41. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 14, 2008 at 12:01 pm

    @flapjaxx: Again, it sure makes Alfred go for a lot of trouble to show he’s the leader of the group. Getting tied up, beaten up to a bloody plup, champaine all over him, and hit with a bottle over his head….Yeah that sounds like a great plan to show your the leader of a group who is screwing with your mind. lol

  42. Avatar photo CharlieBlix says:
    August 14, 2008 at 12:38 pm

    @TheNextChampion.  Add to that the fact that hey do most of that when no one is there to see.  Why would they keep kicking the crap out of Alfred when no one was looking if he was the leader.

  43. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 14, 2008 at 1:24 pm

    If Alfred is the Black Glove…G-Mo I swear HULK SMASH!

  44. Avatar photo CharlieBlix says:
    August 14, 2008 at 1:35 pm

    I’m not worried about G-Mo doing something that changes the past of any of the characters all that much.  It’s clear that this Dr. Hurt is just crazy and wants to be a part of Batmans past.  I hope that the last part of the run focuses more on Batman and Joker.  I like the idea of these two crazy people interacting.  Crazy Batman Vs. The Joker = freaking sweet.

  45. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 14, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    I just had an epiphany while I was eating my lunch and I think I may have figured out who the Black Glove is.  Back in Nightwing #145 he was shown escaping Arkham and it went nowhere, they just showed it happening, it was never expounded upon.  This person’s family has been featured prominently in G-Mo’s run.  This person also was just resurrected.

    That’s right you guessed it….RA’S AL GHUL.  Remember you heard it here first.  It makes perfect sense, who else knows Bruce is Batman, who else has the resources to forge documents, what enemy besides Joker knows Bruce so well and would want to fuck with his life so much.  I may be wrong because I have’nt read most of G-Mo’s run, but it’s a scenario I have’nt heard anyone bring up and it is’nt that obvious, yet it is when you think about it.

  46. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    August 14, 2008 at 2:36 pm

    @Kory – It seems really soon for them to do another storyline with Ra’s as the big bad.  It is possible, however.  My impression is that the big bad was the guy in the mask who claims he is Thomas.  That isn’t Ra’s is it?  If so, I am disappointed in his suit.  He is usually such a snappy dresser.

  47. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 14, 2008 at 2:54 pm

    My theory is that the guy in the mask is a puppet.  The true Black Glove is a puppetmaster pulling the strings behind the scenes.

    My theory came from the fact that Ras escaped from Arkham and the only fall out was that they were in the batcave and it was an afterthought I think Alfred said ‘oh, and Ras Al Ghul escaped’.

    And the scene where he escaped had nothing to do with the story.  It was just there, It has’nt had anything to do with the last two (one was a conclusion, the other started a whole new arc altogether) so what was the point of wasting 4 pages showing it.  I read it again and saw it as foreshadowing, showing us that this guy is out there.

  48. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    August 14, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    I don’t remember Alfred saying that.  Which issue was that in?  The first RIP issue?  I will have to go pull that out.

  49. flapjaxx says:
    August 14, 2008 at 2:59 pm

    @ClarlieBlix @ TheNextChampion: Yes, personally I feel pretty confident that the Black Glove won’t turn out to be Alfred or Thomas Wayne or any other horrific choice (Tim! Dick! Barbara! Jim Gordon! Superman! Aunt Agatha! all real choices people have theorized about seriously). And yes I think that Alfred’s response should calm us down… but earlier today I also read a message board where someone refuted that by saying "Yes, but notice that even though Alfred says Hurt isn’t Thomas Wayne… he never specifically makes it clear that he isn’t Bruce’s real father!" I’m enjoying this chaos immensely, though.

    @Kory: Yeah, I’ve heard the Ra’s theory before. It fits in that Ra’s would be capable of doing this. But Morrison’s had this story on top since 2006, so why would DC basically pre-empt it by having a Ra’s crossover a few months before the RIP arc? Earlier in Morrison’s run, if you want to go back and look, there actually are some clues that could be construed as pointing to Ra’s. . . . but there’s clues pointing to tons of people. Hugo Strange, Lex Luthor…

  50. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 14, 2008 at 3:00 pm

    Nightwing #145.  The issue had nothing to do with RIP, but it showed this weird scene with Ras escaping which I felt did’nt belong.  It was so out of place that I felt it was setting something up for RIP.

  51. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 14, 2008 at 3:04 pm

    @flapjaxx-  G-Mo could be writing his whole run around Batman and Ras.  It could play out like Lord of the Rings with little stories spread throughout but the major villian still being Sauron at the end.

  52. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    August 14, 2008 at 5:23 pm

    Is anyone else getting the sense that the main purpose of this arc is to make sense of the cheeky elements of the Batman mythos? If so, is it really necessary? I mean does anyone really feel that bat-mite was a bane to the Batman lore? (yes, I did that on purpose)

  53. Avatar photo Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:
    August 14, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    Bat-Mite rules.

  54. Avatar photo WilliamKScurryJr says:
    August 14, 2008 at 8:59 pm

    OK, it came together for me in this issue — the previous few issues were piffle, but there was some much-needed LINEARITY in this one. Batman has a failsafe for a psychological attack, and it’s the alternate Zur-En-Arr Batman. I’m satisfied. That’s all it took to save this storyline for me. But you have to TELL me what’s going on, I can’t guess through a Silver Age haze.

    I can’t say the Tony Daniel art was helping things out at all — time to get a new penciler, dewds!

  55. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 14, 2008 at 9:01 pm

    Agreed, some of the panels made it hard to follow what was going on.  Maybe that was on purpose.

  56. Avatar photo Muady says:
    August 14, 2008 at 10:53 pm

    It just occured to me that the solicit lied. There is no Robin & Damien team-up in this issue. Guess the PR-folk jumped the gun.

  57. Avatar photo JediShaft says:
    August 15, 2008 at 1:27 am

    How can this be by the same writer as All star Superman???

  58. Avatar photo thescimitar says:
    August 15, 2008 at 1:54 am

    What is the creepy green thing on Bat-Mite’s back?

  59. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 15, 2008 at 3:17 am

    @Kory — I agree about Batman being written as psychotic is way over done. I hate the assumption that Batman is insane. He’s crazy because he dresses up as a bat & fights crime? Yeah, if he did it in the real world, he would be crazy as shit, but in the world of comics, it’s a real career option. Why is he crazier than Green Arrow or Manhunter or anyone else who does the same thing?

    I don’t think the clue about Ra’s escaping in Nightwing would be a fair clue, because it happened in another book, by another writer … but it’s G-Mo so anything is possible (literally).

    My two guesses for who the Black Glove is —

    1. Bruce Wayne. It’s all in Batman’s head, the whole story, and this is some type of test he set up for himself.

    2. The Joker. Even though this is obvious, maybe that’s why it works. Like someone else said, the guy in the mask is just a puppet, and maybe the Joker is pulling the strings.

    I don’t think it would be Thomas Wayne, because a) that woule be retarded, b)The Black Glove looks too young to be Bruce’s father c) that would be retarded , and d) it would be fucking retarded.

  60. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 15, 2008 at 9:03 am

    So what you’re trying to say is it would be retarded.  Agreed.

    Maybe the Black Glove is the old lady from the Adam West Batman show Aunt Harriet.  That would rule!  Or better yet Police Chief Miles O’Hara,  that would warm my heart.

  61. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 15, 2008 at 11:23 am

    I have no problem that the leader of the Black Glove is Thomas Wayne….It’s certainly a big ‘screw you’ to all Batman fans out there…but it certainly fits for Morrison. But it would be even better if it was all in Bruce’s head. Not only does it show that Bruce is way to paranoid for his own good, but it makes him look like a complete ass that he made his entire friends and family worry about him for no reason.

    Wouldnt it be hilarious that when Batman and Joker fight in the next issue…..Joker gives up cause Bats is too insane even for him? That would be too funny for me on too many levels.

  62. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 15, 2008 at 1:36 pm

    I’m sick of paranoid Batman

  63. Quinn says:
    August 15, 2008 at 9:25 pm

    Black Glove isn’t Wayne, but it is one of the people in the photograph of Thomas, Martha and friends, from a few issues ago.  I love the idea that Ra’s is behind this; it would tie Morrison’s run together perfectly.

    As much as I loved this issue, I’m annoyed by the solicitation.  Did I miss a page, or was there, in fact, no Damian in this issue?  Solitics are meant to confuse, not outright lie.  That’s just bad form.

  64. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 16, 2008 at 2:07 am

    There has been a few borderline outright lies in DC solicits recently eg: writers & artists credited when they wern’t on the book, characters mentioned who arn’t in the books & even calling books "tie-ins" to RIP when they’re really not (Nightwing & Detective). I don’t know if these mistakes are deliberate (the tie-ins obviously are, to sell books) or it’s poor fact checking/editing.

  65. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 16, 2008 at 10:41 am

    About the solicit.  "ends with the surprising return of a character you never thought!"

    Who were they talking about.  Joker?  Thomas Wayne?  Bat-Mite?  Because I was’nt surprised by anyone.

    And Damien was’nt even in it and Robin barely was.  So there must have been some miscommunication somewhere.

  66. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 17, 2008 at 6:46 am

    @Kory – The Joker? I dunno, man. Half the characters in the solicit arn’t in the book. I guess DC doesn’t take them too seriously.

    After reading all the reviews & comments on this book, it looks like all the reasons why I’m not enjoying this story are the very same reasons others are loving it. Words used to describe the story, like — trippy, mind bending, halluncinigenic, labyrinthine plot, weirdness, dreamscape, confusing, puzzling, bizzare, schizophrenic have all been used as compliments. To me, these words are all insults to a way of telling a story.

    So, for a while I thought I was just missing something, not getting it (it happens a lot) but, it looks like we are all seeing these same things, I just don’t like them. Guess it’s just a matter of taste.

  67. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    August 18, 2008 at 7:38 pm

    I just realized that G-Mo’s concept for RIp is similar to what’s been deeply explored by Hitch with Moon Knight. The whole split personality out of necessity thing. Different approach but a similar idea.

  68. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    August 19, 2008 at 12:04 am

    Crap not Hitch, Huston. I always get those two names mixed up.

  69. Avatar photo marshak75 says:
    August 27, 2008 at 5:00 pm

    Ok guys,

     Time for me to step in and offer a theory that could bring order to all of this nonsense.  Who has the knowledge and resources to frame or destroy Bruce Wayne and Batman?? Ra’s Al Ghul?? Sure. Thomas Wayne? ok.   Alfred??  I have doubts.  Come o.  Think outside the box.  It’s only been 2 years or so since Infinite Crisis.  

    A)  Alexander Luthor stated that he had only two options when the Multiverse collapsed in Infinite Crisis.  He could go to Apocalypse or the Pocket Universe.  He chose the Pocket Universe and brought Earth-2 Superman, Lois, and Superboy-Prime with him.   All this is important because whose to say that no else escaped???

    B)  The Huntress and Dick Grayson of Earth-2 were supposedly killed in Crisis on Infinite Earths, but their bodies aren’t under the rubble that supposedly killed them.  Also, who is to say that Earth-2 Bruce Wayne didn’t escape from Earth-2 during all the destruction as well or come back to life thanks to the now infamous "Universe PUNCH"?  It worked for Jason Todd. 

    Conclusion??  My guess is this or some variation of it:  Earth-2 Dick Grayson and/or Bruce Wayne escaped to Apocalypse somehow and allied themselves with Darkseid. They are pissed off that once again, this universe survives without their loved ones.  Namely, Earth-2’s Helena Wayne and Selina Kyle.  They have plotted for the last 20 years to destroy Batman and discredit him.  My guess is that the Black Glove/Doctor Hurt is Earth-2 Bruce Wayne or Earth-2 Dick Grayson.  I also think that since we haven’t really seen Libra do anything impressive besides kill Martian Manhunter with a glowy rod, he could be Earth-2 Dick Grayson as well.  It would provide a happy end to what seems so far a morbid and fucked-up end for this story.

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