Tim Lieder

59.Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert - Neil Gaiman has always been a smart writer. That isn't always a good thing as his short stories can feel more clever than good. Like he comes up with a clever idea but doesn't know what to do with it. But at his best, Gaiman's intelligence shines through in a way that stays with you long after the story or novel is over.

He also has the Chutzpah to think that he can do the "final" Batman story decades after Frank Miller gave us The Dark Knight Returns (of course, Miller's hubris in making sequels to that story is also a source of amusement). Directly referencing Alan Moore's "final" Superman story where Superman gets rid of his powers and lives in happy retirement, Neil Gaiman had to approach Batman as a final story where the reboot made sense. Like Superman, this is the end of the long running series and even though the character would come back next issue, this was the way that things end.

So Gaiman does the end of Batman in a Gaiman way where everyone at Batman's funeral (Joe Chill is at the bar) is telling stories of Batman. Only their story of how Batman dies differ immensely. Catwoman tells the story of a thwarted romance where she doesn't talk to Batman for years until he shows up at her cat store with a wound from a mugger. Others tell their stories of Batman from their perspectives.

My favorite one was Alfred trying to take care of Bruce as he was Batman, including Bruce's depression from fighting muggers and kidnappers, by hiring actors to play the whackier villains. With Alfred as the Joker. It's a fun twist on the stories, at least until the actor hired to play Riddler goes nuts and kills Batman.

So after a ton of stories about Batman dying, Batman and his mother talk and then he gets born again. Because he's Batman. The ending is nonsense, but the rest of it is fun.

The book also includes some of Neil's Batman stories. His Black and White Batman has the same energy as the funeral one where Batman and Joker are waiting backstage running lines. Joker complains about his lines not being funny enough and then points out that "reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated" as a tedious joke that wasn't even that funny when Mark Twain made it. Then they do the scene and after its over Joker compliments Batman for the really cool splash page when he jumps through the window.

Then there is the story from Secret Origins where Riddler is left sad and lost because he is the tv show Riddler and it really doesn't seem fair that everyone else had to start killing people to make it in modern Gotham. He misses all the silly villains and can't stand it that Joker is killing people now. It's a fun story and I just read it twice this month.