Mark D. White

I don't know what anyone thinks, or if anyone else cares, but I found it strange that I never had anything to say on Bruce Wayne's time away (no pun intended–well, maybe a little intended). The stories that Morrison, Winick, Dini, Daniels and the rest told of Dick, Damian, and the rest of the gang while Bruce was elsewhen were generally good, and the fact that none of them ever made Dick completely comfortable in the cowl was gratifying. The Return of Bruce Wayne left me completely cold, and is best forgotten in my view (as is Final Crisis). The series of The Road Home one-shots, on the whole, were fantastic (other than the hideous Insider persona).

But today's Batman: The Return was terrific…

SPOILER WARNING… continue at your own bat-risk…

The opening sequence with the bat struggling to reach Wayne Manor and inspire Bruce was… well, inspiring. And Finch's art throughout was breathtaking – he amazed me on earlier work such as New Avengers: Breakout and his Brightest Day covers, but nothing prepared me for the beautiful darkness of his work here (aided admirably by inkers Batt and Ryan Winn and colorist Peter Steigerwalk). Simply stunning work by all involved–an utterly beautiful piece of comic art.

And I am no Grant Morrison fan (may the god bullet strike me on its way back in time), but I think he did a great job of setting up a new status quo about which I was extremely skeptical. Bruce is still the take-charge, no-BS Batman I know and love–no mamby pamby post-Infinite Crisis, give-me-a-hug-Tim, here's-a-teddy-bear-for-your-daughter-Selena, New Earth Batman-as-Care Bear (witness his verbal takedown of Damian in this issue). He's expanded his operations not because he can't do it all himself but because he can do more himself if he has help. He hasn't given up or gotten weak–he's gotten smarter (which is scary). As he says, "Starting today, we fight ideas with better ideas. The idea of crime with the idea of Batman." Wow.

I still maintain reservations about how the idea of two Batmen is going to work, and I'm not on board with the return of the (glowing?) yellow oval or the all-grey costume. I'm fine with Damian as Robin because I don't think Tim should go backwards–he's past being Robin. But I was never comfortable with Dick as the (or a) permanent Batman, especially if Bruce is back. (Ditto for Bucky Barnes as Cap now that Steve Rogers is back–don't get me started.) I think Nightwing is a brilliant character that deserves to be his own person, not his version of someone he can never be. But after reading Batman: The Return, I'll wait and see.