Writer- Grant Morrison
Pencils- Tony Dainel
Inks- Sandu Florea
Color- Guy Major
The Thin White Duke of Death is the title for issue #680 of Batman and is the 5th issue of the story “Batman RIP” running through the main book. Batman RIP is the current Batman storyline running through the Batman family of comics (Batman, Detective Comics, Robin, Nightwing, and Batman and the Outsiders) but realistically is it’s own animal entirely. The other books seem to be thematically picking up pieces of the story and work themselves around it and not necessarily vital to reading RIP.
Morrison’s run on Batman has been met with mixed reactions and much controversy. People have either found Grant’s Batman to be “absolutely brilliant” or “complete and utter garbage”, there’s no in-between and fans feel very strongly one way or the other. Not only is the series continuing to draw in new readers from Morrison’s fan base, the speculation of the fate of Bruce Wayne’s fate has brought in new and old readers as well. DC’s even gone as far to pass out promotional buttons at cons this year featuring Nightwing, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, and Hush with the words “I Am Batman” beneath them.
To sum up the story thus far, Batman pays a visit to the recently disfigured Joker in Arkham Asylum (DC Universe #0). He questions him about the Black Glove, a mysterious person or crime organization apparently gunning to destroy Batman. The Joker responds in a cryptic series of clues that begin to lay the foundation of the story. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne has been romancing the fashion model Jezebel Jet, who uses her celebrity to provide funding for the small African nation she is in charge of. She’s recently discovered that Bruce is in fact the Batman, and in the first issue of RIP (Batman #676) questions him about what he will do when it’s all over and . Bruce sidesteps this question and instead becomes suspicious of the invitation they have received inviting them to the mysteriously rich elite Black Glove Dance Macabre themed party. Jet sees this as a fund razing opportunity, whereas Bruce sees this as a ploy to lure the Batman into the hands of the Black Glove.
Speed up a couple issues where, Bruce has been assaulted, drugged, and left as human refuse with his mind confused as to who he is. Bruce manages to pull himself together in an unexpected manner and assembles a ragged makeshift Batman costume and gear from scraps and trash. Bruce seems to be going crazy as his mind creates a back-up Batman persona to protect himself that is advised by a floating “Bat-Mite” (who has some kind of parasitic insect attached to his back). Batman begins hunting down the members of the Club of Villains (criminal opposites of the Club of Heroes, an international group of Batman inspired heroes) who is lead by Dr. Hurt, a psychiatrist who conducted hallucinogenic isolation experiments on Batman years ago in the name of “Space Medicine”. Hurt and the Club of Villains are tied into the Black Glove and are in the process of hunting down Robin in their plans to destroy Batman. Nightwing is captured and drugged and taken to Arkham Asylum, where the guests of the Black Hand have gathered to witness the destruction of the Batman.
The current issue shows the guests assembling to watch and gamble on the outcome of whether Batman will survive or fall. When Batman is revealed to the guests betting on the outcome, the guests think they are being conned as they can’t believe it’s Batman, due to his bizarre appearance.
As Batman makes his way to Arkham to save Jezebel from the Black Glove, the Joker is released by Dr. Dax, who reveals himself to be Le Bossu of the Club of Villains. In addition to Jezebel, Nightwing is also being held in the asylum, drugged and unconscious by the Scorpiana. After an explanation to Bat-Mite as to the color scheme of his outfit is to demonstrate total confidence, Batman makes an explosive entrance, disarming several of Le Bossu and Charlie Coligula’s henchmen. Bat-Mite informs Bruce he will not be able to continue and that it will be up to Batman alone to face what’s to come.
The climax of this issue actually come after the showdown between the Joker and Batman in a twin peaks-esque red and black backdrop. The verbal exchanges back and forth show how damaged and broken these two have become and become an encounter not to be soon forgotten. Without giving anything away, the final pages leave the fate of the characters hanging in a terrible place leaving an extremely unsettling cliffhanger to be concluded in the next issue. The characters at play in these final pages will not walk away from this story without damage, physical, mental, and emotional.
On the plus side, this is not a typical Batman story. Despite the nods to the silver age stories and straightforward narrative, there is a series of layers and metaphors beneath the skin of the plot. For folks looking for something more than standard superheroics, this series is a wonderful look at the character and a truly excellent read.
On the downside, this is not an easy read for most casual readers. It has so much going on that a reader picking up the current issue would be horribly lost. Not only that, the title character is almost unrecognizable in addition to a cast of villains with almost no back-story or point of reference.
Morrison’s work tends to be best viewed as a whole once finished allowing the reader to see the puzzle in its entirety. Regardless of what happens to the Batman by the stories end, I don’t think many will be forgetting this story soon, for better or for worse.
Batman RIP Required reading
DC Universe #0
Batman #676-#681