I haven't had time to do any extended reviews lo these past two weeks, but so much did I love this, I just had to take the time.

We got a sample of what was going to happen in this from the last issue of Final Crisis, where Batman, the failed psychomerge and the clones were mentioned.  We pick up where we left off in the last issue of Batman, with Darkseid's minions using The Lump as a proxy to steal Batman's memories and upload them into fresh clones, all while distracting Batman's mind with false realities to distract him from the their thieving.  While this is much, much easier to read than RIP, fans who read that arc know that Batman's mind is not to be trifled with.

Try as they might, they cannot get Batman to accept the false memories, and his incredible will continues to reassert itself.  The Lump reveals himself in Batman's mind, fully intending to give Bruce the psychic smackdown, but it's too late.  He's realized what's going on and unleashes all of the trauma in his mind at once, and overloading the clones using only memories as a weapon.  At this point, Darkseid's minions decide the best thing to do is to kill The Lump with "soul killing" bullets.  As the mental version of The Lump begins to die in his mind, Batman promises he will remember him in exchange for his help.  The Lump then destroys the console controlling the machine that holds Batman captive.  We end the issue knowing that Batman is awake, pissed off, and has, in his belt, a bullet than can kill a god.

I got the shivers right there.

Morrison paints rich flashbacks that pull the entire history of Batman together, and manages not to be too heady... although there is reward here for the more seasoned Bat-fan.  The art is also excellent, nearly on par with the art throughout RIP.  I've enjoyed these two issues immensely, and now I can't wait to read the conclusion of this is Final Crisis.