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BATMAN #702

Grant Morrison and Tony Daniel continue their captivating untold tale of Bruce Wayne and his adventures between BATMAN R.I.P. and FINAL CRISIS! Discover the shocking secrets that point toward THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE that we couldn’t show you until now!

Written by GRANT MORRISON
Art and cover by TONY DANIEL

Price: $2.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 5.6%
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Avg Rating: 4.0
 
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Comments

  1. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 23, 2010 at 2:43 pm

    This issue better bring something good other then filler like last time.

  2. Avatar photo WheelHands says:
    August 23, 2010 at 2:56 pm

    I’m not singling you out TNC, but I really didn’t get all the "filler" complaints about last issue. Doesn’t "filler" in this particular instance just mean "more story"?  The entire point of these two issues is to serve as filler for the gaps between RIP and Final Crisis. Why do so many people seem surprised and jipped?

  3. Avatar photo mikeandzod21 says:
    August 23, 2010 at 2:59 pm

    I just wish we weren’t going back to Daniel writing after this arc. Those issues were the worst comics I’ve read since the worst
    Of the Chuck Austen X-Men

  4. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 23, 2010 at 3:00 pm

    @WheelHands: Cause there doesn’t really need to have a two issue story to explain the gap. Maybe a couple of panels more would’ve done nicely when RIP ended and FC began with Batman…..but certainly not two issues worth.

  5. Avatar photo Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:
    August 23, 2010 at 3:07 pm

    @WHeelHands: Correct. Filler = Story.

  6. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 23, 2010 at 3:09 pm

    I mean what is this issue going to explain?

    We already know what happened to Bruce before he got shot. 

  7. Avatar photo Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:
    August 23, 2010 at 3:20 pm

    @TNC: It’s going to tell you a story. It doesn’t necessarily have to reveal or explain anything.

  8. MisterJ says:
    August 23, 2010 at 3:20 pm

    @TNC-The solicitation outright tells you that the contents are what you would term as ‘filler’, so maybe you just should not purchase this….

  9. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    August 23, 2010 at 3:22 pm

    @TNC – Think of this like your fun "This Week in History" columns on murmur.com.  We already know they happened, but your summaries are interesting.  We already know what happened at the end of RIP/FC, but how we got there can be interesting.

  10. Avatar photo Scruffy says:
    August 23, 2010 at 3:24 pm

    I really liked the last issue. None of it felt like filler to me, it seemed like an important part of the story and that story is just being told in a different order to what you would usually expect. I think the fact that we already know what happens to Bruce adds a sense of importance and impending doom which might otherwise have being missing. I’m excited for this issue.

  11. froggulper says:
    August 23, 2010 at 3:34 pm

    @Conor: It doesn’t NEED to reveal anything, but it’s certainly the odd duck out of Morrison’s run, since most every PAGE of every other issue gave us more clues and new information than the entirely of Batman 701 did.

    You guys are right in that it isn’t exactly "filler", but it doesn’t seem to have much of a purpose either. Every other issue of Morrison’s run wasn’t just "there"; every other issue revealed tons of new information, so I can certainly see where TNC is coming from.

    I’M not complaining, though. I’m looking forward to this issue because I like Morrison’s writing even if it isn’t telling me anything new. Bruce’s monologue last issue was good enough for me. And I think it’s interesting to see what Tony Daniel comes up with on art.

    I think the overall purpose of these two issues is just so this FC-related info can be conveyed under the "Batman" banner. As it is right now, if someone wants to read Morrison’s run, they have to take a side-trip over to Final Crisis. But after these two issues, that same information comes under the "Morrison’s BATMAN" title. The whole run will make more sense once they collect it, because otherwise they’d have to reprint certain pages from Final Crisis for a new reader to follow the transition.

  12. Avatar photo Scruffy says:
    August 23, 2010 at 4:36 pm

    I agree that the whole run will be make more sense once this story is done. In Final Crisis it seemed like there was more story to tell on the Batman side of things and now we are getting that story. That’s probably why I’m enjoying this so much.

  13. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    August 23, 2010 at 4:36 pm

    You know…you don’t have to read this if you don’t want to. If you feel filler = sucky crap crap, then you can skip this and be content with what Morrison has already given you in R.I.P. and Final Crisis.

  14. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    August 23, 2010 at 5:51 pm

    Yeah, I’m sort of stuck here, as last issue really wasn’t more than a lazy story connecting two dots that didn’t need to be connected to get the picture, but being it’s only a two issue story, I wouldn’t feel too put out buying it. 

  15. edward says:
    August 23, 2010 at 6:51 pm

    it’s like deleted scenes on a DVD. Watch them if you want. But we’re all nerds so we always watch them

  16. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    August 23, 2010 at 7:28 pm

    @edward – Well said.

  17. Avatar photo mrmister says:
    August 23, 2010 at 7:38 pm

    @conor – i understand and for the most part agree with the point you are trying to get across, but not here. this two issue mini-arc was specifically billed as something that would explain and reveal "missing" info from morrison’s overall batman epic.

  18. Avatar photo comicBOOKchris says:
    August 23, 2010 at 8:29 pm

    So we get a more complete picture of the Morrison Batman opus? Hell yeah!

  19. Avatar photo Franktiger says:
    August 23, 2010 at 8:57 pm

    Before Martian Manhunter came back, and after the Question was made a female and Bruce was ‘killed’ in Final Crisis, I felt Grant Morrison was involved in some sort of conspiracy to make the Dark Knight Returns impossible as a potential future in the DCU, and was in cahoots with Geoff Johns in making Kingdom Come the actual future of the DCU.  Now that J’onzz, Bruce, and Barry Allen are back, not sure about that anymore, and they could always eventually make the Question a male again.

  20. Avatar photo Urthona says:
    August 23, 2010 at 11:01 pm

    So not understanding the complaints…I really liked last issue too.  One of the better Batman stories recently.  Just don’t get the negativity, right off the bat it was interesting to show how Bruce survived the fall, didn’t it?  I thought that whole bit was cool.

  21. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 24, 2010 at 12:10 am

    @stulach: Hmm good point…..thanks for the plug too 😉

    @edward: That’s even a better point! (no offense stuclach)

    The problem, for me anyways, is that there is nothing to suggest anything has to be connected. We already knew Bruce got out of that crash and found his way back to his routine. The only problem was that Final Crisis occurred a few short days later and he wound up getting kidnapped and Omega Sanctioned. To just see him do random stuff for a couple of days before getting kidnapped just doesn’t feel necessary. I have no doubt Morrison can make it entertaining, but the problem was that even Morrison didn’t bring much to the table to not make this feel like complete filler.

    Basically, if these two issues were so important beforehand, why weren’t they told much earlier?

    Also, looking at the preview, Tony Daniel took some steroids and his pencils look like garbage. 

  22. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 24, 2010 at 12:11 am

    Sorry I thought of this after the last comment:

    Did we really need to see Bruce sleep for three days? That doesn’t feel so important to me.. 

  23. Avatar photo ludusmaximus says:
    August 24, 2010 at 12:43 am

    So, I didnt read Final Crisis.  As someone who started at Batman RIP and has been reading morrison Batman since then that first issue was a huge help to me, and I’m looking forward to the next one.

  24. Avatar photo comicBOOKchris says:
    August 24, 2010 at 9:44 am

    Let’s not get mad over more of a good thing.

  25. Avatar photo WinTheWonderboy says:
    August 24, 2010 at 12:22 pm

    So, is Tony Daniel going back to writing the book after this issue? I don’t understand why such a poor writer gets to stay on such a huge iconic book.

  26. Avatar photo vadamowens says:
    August 24, 2010 at 1:13 pm

    Well, I’m assuming a lot of people prefer Daniel, otherwise he wouldn’t be on the book.

  27. Cedric says:
    August 24, 2010 at 2:03 pm

    I needed some time to accept a Morrison issue that not revealed anything new like his other issues. That being said, it’s still a fun story, it’s interesting to hear Bruce his thoughts during the whole Final Crisis Event. How do you deal with al that weirdness right?

     I do have to say I miss Tony Daniel’s old style. R.I.P was drawn topnotch to my opinion, but this seems less sharp and way too much muscles on Bruce.

  28. Avatar photo robbydzwonar says:
    August 24, 2010 at 10:18 pm

    The only other title on my pull list is ACTION, so I sure as hell am not complaining.  I don’t want this week to get any fucking lighter!!  I would much rather see Batman & Robin #14 then this so called filler story though…

  29. Avatar photo buck2889 says:
    August 24, 2010 at 11:13 pm

    I just loved how the story showed a sort of vulnerability in Bruce we never get to see in Morrison stories.  We always see bad-ass Bruce, but this issue really showed him as a man and not a superhero.  And as far as Daniel’s work goes, I enjoyed his Life After Death arc, but 698 and 699 were just hurried and pointless.  And I liked his old art style better, but his new grittier lines are growing on me.

  30. Avatar photo diebenny says:
    August 25, 2010 at 12:46 am

    I don’t understand all the talk about this being "filler" or all the Tony Daniel hating.  His art is great, and his arc on Batman was pretty damn good.

  31. Avatar photo JesTr says:
    August 25, 2010 at 2:13 pm

    Sometimes "filler" stories can be good. I didn’t care for R.I.P. or FC and hated the way both of the stories flowed in single issues. So this revisiting of the time between the stories and connecting it to the current situation is awesome in my book. However, after these Morrison issues are done I’m dropping the book because this is my least favorite of the Batman books.

  32. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 25, 2010 at 6:46 pm

    Okay if we’re gonna go with just telling a story, it was boring.

    As an overall mythos to Morrison’s Batman…..it was boring.

    As a general issue of Batman…..you get the picture.

    I got bored of this by page 4 and the horrible, shitty art by Daniels did not help me get through this. I know there is good filler stories out there and I’ve read them…..but this is not good filler. Don’t even bother reading this issue if you haven’t bought it yet.

    1/5

  33. Avatar photo daccampo says:
    August 25, 2010 at 8:05 pm

    Whew — couldn’t disagree more with many of you.

    If you define "filler" as a story that fits between other issues, sure this is filler. But there were HUGE narrative problems with both Final Crisis and Batman RIP and they way they converged, and this may cover that same territory, but it completely shines new light on many aspects of the story. It neatly fits together various elements and gives us great insight into ideas that Morrison just coasted over in the other two series.

     One of my favorite bits in this issue…

    — spoilers–

     … was when we realize that Darkseid is this platonic ideal in human form, a myth that has happened time and again, and his interaction with Batman makes time pliable, turning everything into Myth. This ties Gaiman’s "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" back into the plot, which is pretty damn cool.

    But more importantly: this two-parter gives us back the narrative (in the form of Bruce’s narration), and it gives us back the stakes from Bruce Wayne’s side, something that was lost in the gauntlet of Final Crisis. Sure, if you’re just looking to connect the dots, you can skip this, and you’ve already been given the plot points. But if you’re looking for a story, well… this one was a necessity for me, and it goes towards undoing a lot of the negativity I had toward the execution of FC/RIP. 

    That’s my take anyway. 

  34. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    August 25, 2010 at 9:35 pm

    What ho! There’s the relevance. Seems all the ideas were packed into this issue. I didn’t absolutely love it, there were a lot of bad art issues (Superman’s ham-sized hands on the first page!). Some really cool ideas going on here though. 4/5 for me.

  35. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    August 25, 2010 at 9:40 pm

    @Daccampo Forgot to say, I absolutely loved that!

  36. MisterJ says:
    August 25, 2010 at 10:05 pm

    I really liked this.  Lots of big ideas in here that I thought were entertaining and provoking.  The ‘essence’ of a bullet?  Cool idea.  And ANYTHING that relates to the first two issues of FC is fantastic to me.  (the idea of a gun that fires through time and is sighted by Metron’s chair is one of the reasons that I love comics!!) 

    As had been said, if you are looking only to fill up a wiki page, this book is not for you.  If you are interested in hows and whys, it is a good issue.

  37. edward says:
    August 25, 2010 at 11:27 pm

    @Daccampo: It’s 18 months after the event, dude, no one’s sitting at home wondering about the  narrative problems with R.I.P. or Finil Crisis. It’s filling time until bruce comes back and Batman & Robin has run it’s course. Not that’s there’s anything wrong with that

     

  38. Avatar photo devildog says:
    August 25, 2010 at 11:35 pm

    I don’t know why everyone is so concerned about EVERY issue being a HUGE plot point.  If that happened, there would be no character development or examining motivations behind the action.  Then you would have a mindless book that continuously trys to one up itself issue after issue.  Like many of you, I have had serious issues with Morrison’s run– mostly it being confusing as hell.  But, after having reread most of his RIP stuff, have found that it is best read as one continous train of thought and is an interesting story.  I’m sick of every Batman story being the same, if anything, Morrison is showing us something new.

  39. Avatar photo Mykey says:
    August 26, 2010 at 3:04 am

    My pick of the week. The Best I’ve read Batman written in a long time.

  40. Avatar photo daccampo says:
    August 26, 2010 at 3:23 am

    @prax – yeah, I gave it a 4/5 as well. 

    @edward – While we have no idea what really goes on behind the scenes, you can perhaps craft a plausible theory that involves MOrrison asking for two issues, or even editorial asking Morrison to come up with something to "fill" two issues.

    None of that goes to my point.

    I’m judging what’s on the page, not how it came to be.  And while it does cover the space between previous established plot points, it’s actually legitimately filled with cool ideas AND a decent narrative story. It actually retroactively informs much of what I’m currently reading AND what I read 18 months ago. And THAT’s what makes it "not filler."

  41. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 26, 2010 at 2:59 pm

    To be honest, reading those articles @djd put up did make this issue easier to understand.

    But that doesn’t change my perception of the issue. While NOW I understand (somewhat) what Morrison brought us, it still was not very clear (to me) in the issue. The discussion of the god bullet being all bullets in the world and then the whole thing with the box…..Just confused the hell out of me. Normally I like it when Morrison does this type of writing, but it just got confusing and dull to read way to quickly.

  42. edward says:
    August 26, 2010 at 6:02 pm

    It’s got to "fill" two issues but THAT’S what makes it "not filler"

    Daccampo, everyone 

  43. Avatar photo daccampo says:
    August 26, 2010 at 7:12 pm

    Way to spectacularly misquote and miss the point. And be a jackass at the same time. You’re in rare form.

  44. edward says:
    August 26, 2010 at 7:19 pm

    no, i get your point. i just totally disagree because your reasoning is really weak

  45. Avatar photo comicBOOKchris says:
    August 26, 2010 at 7:34 pm

    If you didn’t read or have no intention of reading Final Crisis, then not only is this not filler, but is in fact two of the most important Batman issues in the Morrison opus.

  46. edward says:
    August 26, 2010 at 7:36 pm

    that’s was a little more snarky than i wanted to sound, btw

  47. Avatar photo daccampo says:
    August 26, 2010 at 8:38 pm

    Oh well then, how can I argue with "your reasoning is really weak?" Especially when your post didn’t offer any kind of counter? Ah, the internet. And yeah, it did come across as pretty f’in’ snarky. 😉 

  48. edward says:
    August 26, 2010 at 9:12 pm

    well, you did call me a jackass so, you know, whatever.

    here’s your reasoning, this story happend between two plot points but i liked it so it’s not filler. solid logic

  49. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 27, 2010 at 1:45 am

    Wonder how many more years this "story" will go for?

  50. Elementaljj says:
    August 27, 2010 at 8:52 am

    Great Batman! I’m glad that they are going back to Bruce because Dick is only a strong character when he’s acting as a role model to Damian and Tim. The details about the magic bullet was a great story.

  51. Avatar photo Scruffy says:
    August 27, 2010 at 10:20 am

    I thought this was great, not quite as focused as the first part but still really good. It was full of great Morrison ideas like the radion bullet and the ancestor box. I was glad to see the batman parts of Final Crisis fleshed out a little more and it was interesting to hear the inner monologue as batman realised the trap he had fallen into and accepted his fate. This was an essential chapter of the Morrison batman run because it connects RIP, Final Crisis and Return of Bruce Wayne together. Previously in order for these stories to be connected the reader had to fill in the blanks for themselves, now the whole run fits together much more smoothly. My only complaint is that it jumps through events quite quickly which doesn’t make for the best reading experience and Tony Daniels art was a step down from his work on RIP. 

  52. Avatar photo LEXPRIME says:
    August 28, 2010 at 12:01 am

    I enjoyed seeing the blanks filled in but its not collected in any hardcover so i will probably never read it again. I wish they would off done this before and collected it in the rip hardcover. maybe they will re release rip..who knows. or they could of just done this in a couple panels in final crisis or something so that we didnt have to have these two issues…but that would of made too much sense!

  53. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    August 28, 2010 at 11:41 am

    @LexPrime I’ve heard one possibility is that they’re going to be at the front of the Return of Bruce Wayne trade. As well, I could see them making a slim trade with Batman 700-702.

  54. Avatar photo cromulent says:
    August 28, 2010 at 12:01 pm

    I wish Morrison would do a connect the dots, untold tale, recap issue like this but for The Filth. What the heck was that all about?

  55. Avatar photo Urthona says:
    August 28, 2010 at 5:19 pm

    No one is touching on it, but I really liked the whole idea of Bruce being seriously intimidated to work on the Darkseid level.  I loved the "things got bigger but simpler" concept.  I didn’t read FC but have garnered most of the story from other books and sites like this, so I loved seeing more.

    Art was fantastic too.  Not understanding the criticism of that either.

    I really enjoyed these issues, thank you very much.

  56. Avatar photo jlddlj11 says:
    September 4, 2010 at 10:22 pm

    I wasn’t a big fan of these last two issues.  Like I really needed a story telling me how Batman got out of the water and on the JL satellitte to get captured. Hmm.

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