This one’s popping up all over the place … colorist Chris Sotomayor posted online the cover to Batman #685, one of the post RIP issues.
The cover is available after the jump, for the SPOILER phobic ….
If you check out some of the places I linked to up top, popular speculation is that the Batman and Robin on this cover — which is a homage to the Batman #1 cover by Bob Kane — are Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne. What do you think?
Batman #685, which if I’m doing the math right comes out in January, would be the issue written by Neil Gaiman and drawn by Andy Kubert.
Update, Sept. 15, 10 a.m.: Sotomayor has removed the cover from his website and deleted the message board thread I linked to up top.
September 13th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Am I the only one that is super excited about this? This is a big change–and I hope it sticks around for quite a while. This will be a very great dynamic that is rife with lots of fatherly and brotherly tones.
I haven’t really enjoyed RIP–but I can’t wait for the payoff.
September 13th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
You may not be the ONLY one super-excited about this, but I can safely say I’m not. I passed on RIP, and thankfully so based on what I’ve seen. Therefore, I can’t really get excited about what follows. I’ll be back whenever Bruce becomes Batman again.
I’m still puzzled at DC deciding to do all this with TDK out this past summer. They definitely missed out on the chance to draw in a lot of those new readers the publishers are always talking about trying to attract.
September 13th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Let’s be honest, that could be anyone in the Batsuit. However, that is clearly NOT Tim in the Robin costume.
I try not to attack the recent editorial directions that both Marvel and DC have taken. Big shake-ups can be incredible (the death of Steve Rogers) or kind of lame (still not sure what happened in Countdown), and only time will tell how a particular arc, event or direction will be regarded.
But, Batman isn’t Flash or Green Lantern. Some characters are more than the sum of their costumes. Only Clark can be Superman. Only Diana can be Wonder Woman. And, only Bruce can be Batman. (And, the more cynical part of me says DC wouldn’t do away with Bruce for any extended period of time out of fear of seeing any future Bat-film box office go bye-bye.)
September 13th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Popular speculation aside, does this cover reveal much of anything? Damian and Tim look an awful lot alike, depending upon the artist and so Dick and Bruce. It looks like a pretty standard Batman and Robin shot to my eyes.
I’ve been around the block enough to know that DC has been changing up the dynamic of the Bat-family by alternating legacy characters in and out of roles for years now. Jean Paul Valley became Batman, Dick became Batman, Stephanie Brown became Robin, Damian became Robin, Harold became Batman.. (er, wait…)
It’s always happening. The shift alone isn’t big news, but if the shift brings about some sort of true change or alters the story-telling mechanism in some way, THEN it’s something to really pay attention to.
September 13th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I’m also excited about this. I don’t expect it to last but we’ve had Bruce Wayne stories for almost 70 years and we will have them for 70 more years. I’m all for a different flavor even if it only lasts for a few months or years.
September 13th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
@D. Peace… that is defintiely Damian as that is how Kubert drew Damian. Check out Batman and Son, there is no doubt who that is in the Robin costume.
September 13th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Even if that is Damian, I’d hardly call it binding; considering the title of the story is “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?”, it may very well be an imaginary future a la the Moore/Swan inspiration.
September 13th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
David Uzumeri – I was unaware that was the title of this story. That, to me, is a very strong indication this will be an out-of-continuity possible-future tale.
September 13th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Just to add to the argument that it’s a far-future story… Look at the architecture in that skyline. It doesn’t look like present day Gotham, does it?
September 13th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
In a recent interview Grant Morrison reveled the Final Crisis takes place after the events of RIP, and that the Batman we see in FC is Bruce Wayne. I’ve seen nothing to make me think Bruce isn’t going to stay Batman.
Also, the “whatever happened to…” title didn’t originate with Alan Moore’s story, that had been the name of the backup feature in “DC Comics Presents” (the third monthly Superman title before the 1986 relaunch).
SaintofPandas: That’s the Anton Furst designed Gotham skyline we’ve been seeing for years.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I think it’s Batman and Robin, and that it tells us nothing about who is in either costume.
September 14th, 2008 at 1:46 am
I’ve always thought the title “Batman RIP” was a swerve since they’ve said Bruce makes it through the storyline. So it could just mean a transformation of the Batman identity. Nightwing will still be published as well as Titans where Dick is still present. Trinity probably won’t be effected either. “Prodigal Son” had Dick take the mantle before, so what’s the point of doing that again? Most of the fan base will grab a pitchfork and torch if Jason Todd gets the mantle. I don’t see Bruce giving up being Batman either. I’m truly curious how this is all going to pan out.
September 14th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Damian Wayne? You mean the “add a kid” plot device? That’s ballsy. Why Dick would become Batman doesn’t completely make sense to me. He feels more like a kick ass guy rather than a detective. Tim Drake is more like someone who should eventually take the mantle.
September 14th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Do you really get Neil Gaiman to write a batman and Robin story by offering him Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne?
September 14th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Homage? That cover really doesn’t look much like Batman 1 at all.
September 14th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
remember when they brought sam in on different strokes as the new little kid
September 14th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
LOL @ the people who think DC are making a terrible decision in shaking up the Bat-books because of the readers they might have drawn in due to THE DARK KNIGHT. People who watched and liked that movie aren’t going to go out and pick up floppies; they’re going to go to more accessible bookstores and pick up trades, which primarily feature the old school Bruce Wayne Batman. They’re going to go pick up THE KILLING JOKE or THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. Floppies might get a small, unsustainable movie-bump, but did you see the kind of sales THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS had post-movie…? Jesus Christ, that’s a push!
September 15th, 2008 at 12:17 am
I think Robin’s body is just foreshortened in the pick, making him look smaller but with a proportionately larger head. And he clearly is foreshortened at least a little, so it’s not a stretch to say that the apparent small frame is just a result of more extreme perspective. In fact, if you base his overall height on his left thigh–which has not been foreshortened as much as the rest of his legs-area–compared to his torso, his proportions come out to be more like Tim’s than Damian’s.
September 15th, 2008 at 12:20 am
And as was aluded to previously, the title’s homage to “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” tends to lend itself to this being more of a “Batman: The End” story anyway so if it is Dick and Damian or Jason and Damian or Tim and Damian or whatever, it could very well only be for this particular story.
September 15th, 2008 at 2:00 am
This is a sad return to the cynical marketing-driven sales stunts of the 90s. Remember when Superman was “dead?” When Btman was some crazy french guy? When the JLA was made up of a bunch of ghetto kids?
Bruce Wayne is Batman. Period. End of story. And if he isn’t in this picture, he will be again some day soon. In the meantime, I won’t be spending $ on stupid stunt marketing.
Give me decent storys and art about the characters I know and love over super-mega-gosh-gee-whiz-I’m-so-excited/pissed- that-[favorite secret ID name here]-isn’t-[favorite costumed identity name here]-any more ad nauseum, amen.
September 15th, 2008 at 11:17 am
I liked a lot of DC in the 90′s. Reign of Supermen was awesome and so was night fall. I learned about the green lanterns with kyle rayner. I never read a barry allen comic before JLA year one.
Those were decent stories.
September 15th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Comic fans are thier own worst enemy. When change is bad, and doesnt help the character, they rebel against it, when change is GOOD, and enriches the mythos and strength of the character, they rebel against it. This is a choice example.
Everybody knows Bruce will be back, but I’m more interested in what he does on his latest tour of “off-duty”. The most memorable portions of “Knightsend” was when he trained under Lady Shiva. When it comes to building up Bruce into something more dangerous than previously, this is the route they normally take. I’d wager the Bats we’ve seen for the past ten or fifteen years was the one retrained by Shiva…now it’s time for TALIA, his bat-shit insane terrorist twonk of a soul mate, to bring about the next phase in his life….if that is indeed where Morrison is heading.
I think that Robin is definatly Damien, the artwork absolutely fits his characteristics…and if so, it makes a ton of sense. The guy’s been groomed for the spot since he debuted.
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:30 am
Sad to say I just don’t care anymore.
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