Last year, DC Comics ran a crossover event called Final Crisis. When DC Comics gives the name Crisis to something, it's supposed to tell you BIG changes are coming. During Final Crisis, Darkseid attacks the Justice League and it all comes down to one last man, Batman. Over the years, Darkseid has pissed off the Justice League to such extremes and demonstrated just how evil he is to the point where Batman decides he will break his rule of not killing anyone. With the help of a literal god-killing bullet, Batman shoots at Darkseid while at the same time, Darkseid fires his Omega Sanction eye-beam at Batman. Right before the Omega Sanction hits Batman, he lets loose the most epic line in the past decade, "Gotcha." Darkseid dies and Batman's body has been fried to the point of being a skeleton in a Batman costume. Superman rages at the sight of this and the Justice League mourns Batman's death. But on the final page of the Final Crisis comic, we see a shot of Bruce Wayne in a cave in prehistoric times...Over the next few months, it is revealed that Darkseid's Omega Sanction does not actually kill people, it causes various effects of Darkseid's choosing. In this case, Darkseid transported Batman to prehistoric times and switched his body with that of a clone Batman. Darkseid stole many of his memories and also caused Batman to jump forward in time bit by bit until he arrives in the present and will supposedly cause a major disaster. As of this writing, the comic series Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne has 4 issues, with 2 more waiting to be published. Each issue covers a different time period and a different style Batman. #1 is Caveman Batman, #2 is Puritan Batman, #3 is Pirate Batman, #4 is Cowboy Batman, #5 is Noir-Detective Batman, and #6 is Modern Batman. Throughout his time traveling, Batman has a common opponent, the immortal Vandal Savage, revealed in one of his "past lives" to be Blackbeard. Ever since Batman arrived in early Gotham Town in the Puritan days, Bruce Wayne has also interacted with one of his ancestors, while deliberately leaving clues to the future as to his location in time and space. The cause of this has also perpetuated a Bat legend in Gotham that is being passed on.
In the mainstream comics, the time-space locations of Bruce Wayne reveal the shape of a bat, showing that Bruce Wayne seems to have some control over where and when he will next arrive. Grant Morrison has a story to tell about Gotham and the Wayne family, but issue #2 was definitely the most lazily written. It seems to me that Morrison wanted the various incarnations of Batman, but was forced to include a Puritan Batman for some reason. Overall though, I'm liking the series and I always love stories about Batman working with limited technology or showing to others his incredible detective mind. The next issue takes place in Gotham City's past, quite possibly around the time Batman's parents were murdered.....
RoBW #1: 5/5
RoBW #2: 3/5
RoBW #3: 4/5
RoBW #4: 4/5
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