Batman- The Grant Morrison Odyssey: New 52 Style V8

Part 1: Batman & Son
Part 2: Club of Heroes/Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul
Part 2.1: Devil-Bats & The Bridge to RIP
Part 3: RIP
Part 4: The Missing Chapter/Last Rites/Final Crisis
Part 5: Batman Reborn
Part 6:Blackest Knight/Batman vs. Robin
Part 7: Batman & Robin Must Die!!!
Part 8: Return of Bruce Wayne Part 1
Part 9: Return of Bruce Wayne Part 2
Part 10: Batman Inc. Part 1
Part 11: Batman Inc. Part 2

New 52 Part 1
New 52 Part 2
New 52 Part 3
New 52 Part 4
New 52 Part 5
New 52 Part 6
New 52 Part 7

Another powerful Chris Burnham image for the cover of this issue and one that features a variation on arguably THE most important quote in the history of Batman, "...He Shall Become A Bat!".  Here is the original source of that line from Detective Comics #33 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane:

And here is another version of this scene from the seminal Year One story by Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli:

It is THE defining line of dialogue in Batman history, the one that set up the future of Bruce Wayne's life and here, for this issue nearly 75 years after his debut, it is borrowed for the cover.  That is putting some serious weight on the contents if you ask me (which you kind of did just by reading this blog).

The weight of Batman's history is again brought to bear as soon as you open up the cover and look at the first page.  The very first text boxes you read also harken back to that historic 'Tec story from 1939:

In this case though, the disguise pictured is not the cape & cowl of Batman but rather the Suit of Sorrows worn by the Michael Lane version of Azrael. There is a lot of history wrapped up in these elements of the story so I will try to keep it as concise as possible.

The Suit of Sorrows was an armor gifted to Batman from Talia Al Ghul circa Detective Comics #838 that charts its origins to the 12th Century and The Crusades.  It bestowed its wearer tremendous power but apparently also drove its original owner insane.  The Order of Purity, a splinter sect of The Order of St. Dumas that spawned the Jean Paul Valley Azrael, retrieved the suit at some point and it would eventually fall into the hands of the Al Ghul's.  Batman attempted to use  it but felt the same pull as its original wearer so he sealed it up in the Batcave where it remained until its disappearance/theft during the chaos of the Batman:R.I.P section of this saga.

Michael Lane, the flagellated man spouting Nostradamus quotes, was one of the "3 Ghosts of Batman" (the one I referred to as Devil Bats in earlier blogs) but prior to that was a GCPD cop who was experimented on by Dr. Hurt/Thomas Wayne. Prior to the experiments though he suffered tremendous loss leading to a mental breakdown as his son died, his wife committed suicide, and his siblings were murdered in a satanic ritual.  All this set him up to ultimately be picked by The Order of Purity to become their Azrael which led down a confusing path in which Lane at some point told he is a descendant of Christ and tries to burn down Gotham City. He discovers he's been manipulated by Ra's Al Ghul and goes off into hiding.  That bring us to now...

Batman looks to Lane for assistance and finds the man, obviously engaging in some flagellation looking at that back, and spewing  a reference to St. John and The Dark Night of the Soul (in short a "spiritual crisis in a journey towards union with God").  Lane makes reference to his destiny to be the Devil's herald on Earth, a potential future for Lane as told in Batman #666 that also included the now deceased Damian as Batman, his walls plastered with a series of pictures that are mostly nondescript except for one:

That image in the first panel is another allusion to Lane's potential future as Devil-Bats but for Bruce it serves as a reminder of his vision, the one that spawned the creation of Batman Incorporated in the first place.  It calls back, presumably, to the end of Final Crisis and the beginning of Return of Bruce Wayne with Bruce's talk of dying in a cave. Saying that in that moment Bruce witnessed the end of the world at his son's hands could be interpreted as issue #666 being a look at that vision, of the reader seeing some of Bruce's experience post-FC many months before the story was even written.

Despite his own loose grasp on reality/sanity, Michael Lane's statement that "We're all your sons" is a dead-on perspective of the entire concept of Batman Incorporated (even though Bruce claims it's been liquidated). Whether it's Robin and Nightwing or Man-of-Bats and Red Raven, they are all spawned from the ideals that Batman put into play when he first donned the cape & cowl. He is father to them all but sadly it was only his genetic offspring that paid the ultimate price in this crusade...

Lane, in his quasi-religious ramblings, again nails some points home as he brings up the Number of the Beast (666), drops the assorted names which Damian's clone has been referred to (Heretic, Unborn, Fatherless), and caps it all off with the big bad of this piece: Leviathan.  Now, in Lane's perspective, Leviathan is a sea monster from The Old Testament with a big reference point being "Job 41:1–34" but as we know, for Batman, it is the organization ran by Talia Al Ghul.

Speaking of the she-devil...

...as Bruce takes the Suit of Sorrows off Lane's hand, Talia is shown in the Swiss Alps, with a specific reference to the Jungfrau summit (which apparently translates from German as virgin).  The most interesting aspect of this page, aside from the wonderful landscape by Burnham, is the usage of the red/black chessboard.  The color scheme calls back to aspects of R.I.P while the chessboard not only represents the "game" being played by Talia now but also make me think specifically to the panel from Batman & Son below, the panel that represents the true start of this entire Inc arc:
  

Although he isn't shown in full, it must be noted that (I believe) this issue of Batman Inc marks the New 52 debut of Ra's Al Ghul. 

 

Visually, I love the addition of the black veil over Talia and from a story perspective, it is also important to note that Damian's death was NOT her intent but rather, in her mind, Batman's fault because he "refused to make a choice".  The sequence on the above page also serves to illustrate that this "game" for Talia is about both of the primary men in her life: Batman and Ra's.  It's like she is looking to make a point to both of them and, in the case of Ra's here, she is infuriated when it is implied she's overlooking something.  The Knight taking The Queen, combined with the almost Joker-like "HAHAHAHAHAHA", serves a perfect close to this interaction...

Yet with the following page, in contrast to Ra's mockery of his daughter's quest, we see how much Leviathan has infiltrated Gotham City.  The GCPD and National Guard are overwhelmed, Bruce Wayne and his Batman Incorporated are in the middle of a political nightmare, and Gotham's Mayor Hady has effectively outlawed Batman in the city.  That ban provided this image, the top panel reminiscent of the end of The Dark Knight film if you ask me:

And in the vein of Dark Knight, to my eyes, Burnham's take on Lucius Fox is reminiscent of Morgan Freeman:

In the Lucius sequence, we are taken from a press conference in which Fox somewhat addresses the Batman Inc connections to Wayne Enterprises, we see the photonic crystals first introduced in Leviathan Strikes!, Bruce mentions how he needs to turn himself in (ish #1 of this volume), tells Lucius Damian is out of the country, and we get a moment purely in the vein of Lucius' movie role in the above page's unveiling of the massive prototype. 

 We then jump back to Talia, as if we are following our two leads in the steps to their inevitable confrontation, as she punishes the men responsible for opening fire on Damian during his battle with The Heretic by having her "son" murder them all. Her words, if taken at face value, speak to how highly she actually thought of Damian which stands in stark contrast to how she treated him once he picked Dad over Mom. We also see how Leviathan has its hooks in Mayor Hady and how it can manipulate the very basic necessities of the GCPD.

We join Nightwing & Red Robin as they meet up with The Knight (the former Squire) and Ranger as they track down Wingman/Jason Todd/Red Hood who was nabbed by The Hood and turned over to the Headmistress from Leviathan Strikes! all girls school.  What we learn in this sequence though, likely to the surprise of the reader, is that this group is actually in opposition to Talia & Leviathan. In fact, they are attempting to remove a bug Talia has placed on JT.

Jump over to the man behind Talia's Ninja Man-Bat army, Kirk Langstrom, as members of the GCPD bust in on him in search of Batman.  Kirk protests Batman's presence there but as we see in this amazing Burnham page...

 ...Bats was indeed there (I just love the depiction of the bullets on that page), as Kirk insists he was only producing an aerosol antidote to the Man-Bat serum.

We then jump back to Talia & Heretic in a sequence that gives us a look at just how much of a child this clone-monster truly is at heart:

He wants what he wants and he wants it now and will do whatever he has to in order to get it, even hurt his own mother apparently.  Yet much like the way in which she wired up Damian in Batman & Robin Vol. 1 to be remote controlled by Deathstroke, she also has her clone-son wired up to prevent him from even engaging in the "disobedience" that Damian did.  Talia herself must be disgusted with this creature she has created though because being called "mother" by the clone-beast only agitates her further while being called "Lady Talia" seems to be what draws the electroshock to an end.

Here, as in the Year One version of the "I shall become a Bat" story (which Morrison also used in other parts of his opus), we have a bruised and battered Bruce seated in a chair, only now he is already Batman. So what does this mean?  It means its time to step-up his game with an altered Suit of Sorrows and a needle of the Man-Bat serum jabbed into his neck.

Back to Talia as she prepares for the endgame at 11pm:

 

On top of the roof with the very pool in which she trapped her "beloved" while her son died, this daughter of Al Ghul continues to play her part in this drama, even going so far as to once again don the Leviathan skull mask.  It completes her transformation into a stereotypical villain for Batman to fight.  Unfortunately for her, this Batman barreling at her is far from typical!

To Be Continued...

Batman- The Grant Morrison Odyssey: New 52 Style V6

What Came Before:

Part 1: Batman & Son
Part 2: Club of Heroes/Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul
Part 2.1: Devil-Bats & The Bridge to RIP
Part 3: RIP
Part 4: The Missing Chapter/Last Rites/Final Crisis
Part 5: Batman Reborn
Part 6:Blackest Knight/Batman vs. Robin
Part 7: Batman & Robin Must Die!!!
Part 8: Return of Bruce Wayne Part 1
Part 9: Return of Bruce Wayne Part 2
Part 10: Batman Inc. Part 1
Part 11: Batman Inc. Part 2

New 52 Part 1
New 52 Part 2
New 52 Part 3
New 52 Part 4
New 52 Part 5

This is it...the issue that DC comics elected to spoil in advance in the NY Post after rampant speculation that the story was building to this point. Hell even if they hadn't spoiled in in the Post, the cover alone was as spoilerific as it gets anyway.  With an image like the one above emblazoned on the cover, THIS was an issue that should have been black polybagged, not Age of Ultron #10.  I'll save my tangent on spoilers until after this overview though...ON TO THE STORY!!!

First up, the cover is a great homage from Chris Burnham to the Alex Ross painting for R.I.P:

Then we jump onto the very first page with this image that I just found incredibly cool:

It's the green tint, Damian's words as he sees Grayson, the visual of Dick and Commissioner Gordon battling an army of children, it just stands out to me as quite memorable.  The following page's visual of Damian, in his Robin armor, blasting over the scene and knocking a kid out just adds to the punch of this scene.  The choice of story title, The Boy Wonder Returns, is both sad and triumphant though.  It is quite a logical choice given that Damian has been benched from being Robin since the first issue (hence the Redbird stint a couple issues back) and he's hopping back into his proper tights for this issue.  Yet, because of the choice to go full-on spoiler for this one and knowing his ultimate fate, it is also a title packed with sorrow knowing it is a short term situation.

Damian rockets off towards Midtown where Wayne Tower is located and his father was left sinking to the bottom of a pool while locked inside a safe.

I can't help but use as much of Burnham's art as possible because I do love it so, particularly the last two panels and the way he depicts the raindrops hitting the pool water with the safe visible under the surface.  That love for the art continues with the next page below with the fashion in which Batman is shown trapped inside the safe:

The pool water used as the background, the awkward paneling reflecting the uncomfortable position in which Bruce finds himself trapped, the raw and bloody knuckles, the close shot of his white lensed eyes and bared teeth, plus the safe sitting in the empty corner of the page...it creates a claustrophobic scene.

As for the trap itself, it is a positively "Bond villain" style situation but that is something in no way coincidental.  Talia is taunting Bruce, putting him in a trap she knows he will escape eventually but doing so just to keep him occupied.

Jason Masters steps up for some fill-in work as Red Robin (Tim Drake) arrives at the Leviathan controlled Wayne Tower.  It's Tim's attention to detail (noticing another woman is wearing Ellie's name tag), combined with Ellie screaming, that saves him from an assault but the save is short-lived. Turns out the entire upper balcony of the lobby is ringed with assassins of both the gun-toting as well as arrow-shooting variety and while some fancy footwork on the giant quarter takes some out of the equation, Tim still finds himself at the mercy of Leviathan's members until...

Once again Damian saves the day, gets away with the child abuse since it's kid-on-kid violence, and shows just why he quite the little badass as he takes down kids & adults alike with his fancy armored suit.  Still, Dick gets the chance to throw Damian's opening line of this issue back in his face as he saves him from a volley of gunfire.  This gets followed up with a page that, given the spoiler-context with which most everyone entered this issue, while the page is given an entirely different gravity than if it was being read without knowing how the story would end:

Dick Grayson, though generally known as Nightwing, was the Batman that Damian fought beside.  He was the partner that allowed Damian to grow, not Bruce Wayne.  In some ways, although they would probably think of themselves more like brothers, Dick Grayson was the true father to Damian Wayne.  Well, both he and Alfred I suppose, since it was their joint efforts during Dick's run under the cape and cowl that allowed Damian to become something more than a child of the League of Assassins. Under the tutelage of Dick and Alfie, Damian became the hero we are seeing showcased in this specific issue.  He is still a bit abrasive but the manner in which Damian talks to Dick is a far cry from what it was back in the Morrison's volume of Batman & Robin.  There is respect there now, an admiration for fighting at each other's side, and dare I say it...a genuine love for his father/brother.  Damian sums it up the best in the fifth panel, "So far I'd say you've been my favorite partner".  Sadly, since we know how this story ends, we also know that the "so far" isn't really necessary...there isn't going to be anyone else added to that partner list.

Burnham, in his ever-growing awesomeness, even throws in a few visual callbacks to the Batman and Robin team with the next page:

Compare that first panel to Frank Quitely's work from Batman & Robin (Vol. 1) #1:

The only thing missing from the Burnham page of Batman '66 sound effects is the double punch that was used so frequently during Morrison's B&R work:

 Guess I spoke to soon because enter The Heretic with Oroboros machine in hand:

Didn't quite work out and neither does Dick & Damian's attempt to battle his behemoth clone of Damian. Ellie though, she does her part and sneaks up to steal the Oroboro out from under Heretic as he's occupied with beating his brother/twin to death.

Damian, as he said to Dick before their leap into battle, continues to push that if he can see his mother than he can settle this situation.  He firmly believes, even with this monster in front of him, that if he can just talk to her then the problems can be resolved.  That is the BOY aspect of this Boy Wonder I suppose...a surprising fout of hope is Damian.  Even as the onslaught continues, he pleads for her to stop this.  It's truly heartbreaking to see this child essentially begging for his life to his own mother.  After everything she put him through, after raising him in the League of Assassins, after nearly becoming a vessel for his grandfather Ra's Al Ghul, after using technology to take over his body, even after all of that, Damian somehow still believes his mother loves him.  Maybe she does somewhere inside, but as she allows Heretic to assault her true son, with violence like this...

...it is hard to believe that there is one ounce of love left in her heart.  Her desire for vengeance against Damian's father has utterly consumed her, more completely than even Bruce's desire that caused him to become Batman in the first and continue to push him to don the cape & cowl each night.

The detail in the above page is also brilliant.  Whether it be artist's choice or script, any backbreaking image used in a Batman comic holds resonance for long-term readers (or anyone who watched Dark Knight Rises I suppose) but the beauty of that scene is that, unlike his father, it doesn't stop Damian. Why not?  Likely because of that same surgically repaired spine that Talia and Deathstroke used to co-opt Damian's body back in Batman & Robin.

I also get the sense that, if not for the involvement of the gun & arrow wielding assassins, Damian would have had a fair chance of taking down his clone brother.  Even as he is riddled with arrows and bullets, the only biological son of Bruce Wayne remains defiant to his killer, spitting blood in the face (his own face really since this is a clone) of Heretic, but sadly...weakly...begging for his mother to call it off.

The violence and blood of the page are almost uncomfortable, something at a level we rarely see in a Batman comic but one that has been the norm for this leg of the journey.  Right from the get-go, with the fight through the slaughterhouse in the first issue, this has been a particularly violent and blood-soaked run.

This is why Talia kept Bruce occupied, this is why she figured out how long it would take him to escape the trap, so that Bruce would know he was absolutely powerless to get their in time and save their son from being murdered.  I suppose the same way he was absolutely powerless to save his parents from being executed by Joe Chill (or whoever in the New 52) or to save Jason Todd from his death at The Joker's hands.  I suppose the torture of the moment goes two ways as it's also so Damian dies knowing that NEITHER of his parents helped him.  His father was not there to stop it and the only way his mother could have been more responsible was if she was the one holding the sword.

Visually speaking this is another impressive page from Burnham, somewhat like the shattered glass page from a couple issues back. It's extra disturbing to me that Talia is just a mouth and words in this entire sequence but those words are as painful, in their own way, as the stab wound. Damian has a physical sword through his heart while Talia is driving verbal daggers into that of his father. The fact that she still refers to this as a game is just so...horrid.

If I recall correctly, that image of Damian's death drew heavy criticism for it's level of gore, violence, and I know some were disturbed by how absent Damian's face was from the scene.  Well, after some searching, I tracked down the original image on Bleeding Cool:

Picture that image colored and tell me it wouldn't have been far more disturbing.  The sword has penetrated THROUGH Damian and we see his face, his little terrified face, as life slowly slips away and Damian dies knowing his parents were not there for him.  That is horror...

...and in the midst of the horror, as this stage of her plan finally comes to fruition, Talia shatters like the glass framing the last two pages.  For one brief second she allows herself to feel something for her son's death but it is, as she states, just "..a moment of weakness..."; she really is dead inside isn't she?

And poor Ellie, the former prostitute now Wayne Tower receptionist, the girl that Batman saved from near-certain death on the streets, she sits as observer to the entire tableau.  It's not the first Robin we have seen die but given the condition of Damian's body versus that of Jason Todd's...

or Stephanie Brown...

...it's a violently powerful image of death, brutal.  I think it is a moment that, had I not had it spoiled, would have made me cry. It brought tears to my eyes, that's no lie, but nothing flowing down my face as was the case with Nightcrawler or Magik when they died in the X-Books.  Another fashion in which the NY Post article, and the comic book media blitz that followed, may have ruined some of the experience for this humble reader.

Now in the midst of that heartbreaking image to close the issue there is also fear.  Fear of what's to come as represented by the fade-to-black panels of Batman's face.  Does that represent the death? Does it represent Bruce losing himself to the darkness within?  We only know by picking up the next part of Batman Incorporated!

In the meantime, you can check out my Damian Wayne memorial blog entry here! Or check out my work on Sequart right here!

As for that spoilery stuff, my quick take is that, as I understand the comic book market, while ruining such a monumental plot point as Damian's death will boost your publicity in the moment, it wouldn't do ANYTHING for sales of that issue.  By the time they spoiled it, orders had long been placed by the shops so they've already got the money from the first printing.  I suppose then the desire is to generate revenue from the inevitable reprints? I truly don't know.  Perhaps publicity is the only goal in doing such a thing, such is the world of the corporation...

Batman- The Grant Morrison Odyssey: New 52 Style V4

What Came Before:

Part 1: Batman & Son
Part 2: Club of Heroes/Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul
Part 2.1: Devil-Bats & The Bridge to RIP
Part 3: RIP
Part 4: The Missing Chapter/Last Rites/Final Crisis
Part 5: Batman Reborn
Part 6:Blackest Knight/Batman vs. Robin
Part 7: Batman & Robin Must Die!!!
Part 8: Return of Bruce Wayne Part 1
Part 9: Return of Bruce Wayne Part 2
Part 10: Batman Inc. Part 1
Part 11: Batman Inc. Part 2
New 52 Part 1
New 52 Part 2
New 52 Part 3

When last we met, we were exploring the future of Damian Wayne in a world that spun out of the story depicted in Batman #666 as created by Morrison & Andy Kubert.  That same world, if you're interested in exploring it further, is...supposedly...the focus of the current Damian: Son of Batman mini-series Kubert himself is currently both writing and penciling.  To me it doesn't feel like the same world, but that's just my opinion...

With this issue we return to present day and to the original scene of the crime, quite literally in fact, as Talia Al Ghul and Leviathan have taken up residence across the street from the rebuilt Monarch Theater. Ya know, the spot where a young Bruce Wayne watched The Mark of Zorro with his parents and then..

A bad place indeed for Bruce Wayne...

The story actually kicks off with one of my favorite Chris Burnham panels, the very first one on this page:

Just something about that angry face and the fact that Batman is doing something as routinely normal as shaving while driving to work.  His occupation may entail something far more life-and-death than the average commute, but it is nonetheless a guy shaving in his car while driving to work.  In addition to the art, the "brunch" line adds a bit of levity to this extremely serious situation but also displays that confidence that is so integral to the Bat-God persona Morrison has created for Bruce Wayne. He has been built up by Grant as the man prepared for everything, hundreds of steps ahead of any opponent, and the confidence that brings is encapsulated in just one word.

Also, I like the sneaky Batman Incorporated communications pin that Commissioner Gordon has hidden under his lapel...marking him as an official member of the organization.

The Robo-Bats make their return as Batman begins his one man assault on Talia's base whilst Gordon makes reference to "factions in the department blaming Bruce Wayne for encouraging this"; a statement that harkens back to the beginning of the first issue of this volume. The "Garland of Skulls" title given to this issue is an allusion to the Kali references that have been littered around this series in reference to Talia:

 Bruce and his Robots enter The Monarch, telling Gordon and his men to stay behind until he gives the all clear, "It's a family affair. Gotham got caught in the crossfire...I have to go talk to the mother of my son.".  This is the scope of Talia's wrath, destroying everything in sight as she said back in Batman & Son when the groundwork was laid for this tale, this is larger than anything with which the GCPD has dealt.

So Talia has turned this into yet another game, another quest for Batman, and, as she says, it is based on a Zen Parable of the Goatherd.  According to good old Wiki (a bull is the standard but given the presiding theme of goats thus far...):

1. In Search of the Bull (aimless searching, only the sound of cicadas)
2. Discovery of the Footprints (a path to follow)
3. Perceiving the Bull (but only its rear, not its head)
4. Catching the Bull (a great struggle, the bull repeatedly escapes, discipline required)
5. Taming the Bull (less straying, less discipline, bull becomes gentle and obedient)
6. Riding the Bull Home (great joy)
7. The Bull Transcended (once home, the bull is forgotten, discipline's whip is idle; stillness)
8. Both Bull and Self Transcended (all forgotten and empty)
9. Reaching the Source (unconcerned with or without; the sound of cicadas)
10. Return to Society (crowded marketplace; spreading enlightenment by mingling with humankind)

From a visual standpoint:

The idea of this game of Talia's, presumably setting the structure of Batman Inc. as we go forward, will line-up to some degree with this parable.  In light of this elaborate means to take care of Bruce, it is quite humorous...ironically so I suppose...for Bruce to comment "Can't we just have a conversation, like normal people".  In the world of Batman this, the worst break-up in the history of life, this IS the normal.

The first two steps of the parable are covered on the page pictured above before we cut to the roof of the St. Malphus building.  Remember the building blew up in issue #4 and the Outsiders/Dead Heroes Club were all up there? Well they are not in good shape as Freight Train has wood driven through his stomach and is leaking blood like a character in Burnham's Officer Downe book. Looker is down, Batwing is trying to resuscitate Halo it seems, and The Knight is clutching Squire's body yelling at Batman how she can't breath.

As Bruce looks at the third image in the sequence, he protests for Talia to leave them alone but her policy is that ANYONE associated with Batman Incorporated is a victim-in-waiting:

I wasn't planning on using this page but that last panel from Burnham basically screamed to me that it needed to be included.  It's a powerful image looking down on our hero as he does indeed get his conversation with the disembodied voice of his great love Talia. The fact that she discusses Bruce Wayne as a separate entity from Batman is intriguing for me because it represent one of two things: either she genuinely sees them as two separate people or she is purposefully continuing to conceal his identity since, I get the impression, her voice is being heard over speakers or something akin to that.

Also the notion that she has done more for the poor by arming them, by giving them "purpose", then Bruce Wayne has ever done is a very interesting way to look at things.  I wonder if that is how military organizations around the world feel recruiting less fortunate kids fresh out of high school? Or worse, turning children into soldiers (sidebar: check out these Unknown Soldier articles by Desmond White for a look at that travesty)?

Looking back over the pages of this series, especially the last two I've included, it's pretty easy to see why Chris Burnham was one of just two people that I sought out at New York Comic Con for sketches.  I'll put a picture of what he did for me up here when it's most appropriate...

Batman finds the next picture in the sequence after taking down all of Talia's soldiers and her voiceover on the action only further illustrates just how taken she is with Bruce in spite of everything. Words like magnificent don't fall easily out of an Al Ghul's mouth but her she is, in the midst of putting him through the wringer, calling Bruce Wayne just that.

These are moments that I love, the moments that show the Bat-Family as just that...a family. Dysfunctional as all hell sure but a family all the same. Tim Drake (Red Robin) working on the computer, Dick Grayson (Nightwing) watching and recalling the events of Jason Todd's (Wingman) stint as the Red Hood in Morrison's Batman & Robin run, while Damian Wayne (Robin) rants against Jase (for some reason Dick calling him that is hilarious to me).  Plus we've got Alfred and the pets in Bat-Cow, Titus the Bat-Dog (thanks to Peter Tomasi and Batman & Robin), and introducing to present day, but previously seen in the #666 issue, Alfred the Bat-Cat! 

The family also includes Bruce and, in Damian's case, Talia and they join the party via intercom as the feed of her dialogue with Bruce begins to play out over the Batcave speakers.  Unfortunately for Damian it breaks in with a hard dose of reality as he hears Bruce's voice talk about how he was raised to be spare parts of Ra's Al Ghul; a sad reality illustrated in the Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul story arc.

This spread is rife with references, intentional or not, to other moments not just in Morrison's tenure with Batman but including other Talia stories he did not pen.  The spiders recall Otto Netz, SPYDER, and elements of Levithan Strikes! while the faces on the dummies (like Talia says) are those individuals who were disappeared by Leviathan in the early issues of this series.  The fifth circle is present on the wall behind a tea set-up that reminds me of this moment from R.I.P:

I suppose it is more intended as an allusion to origin of Talia issue depicted below and covered a couple blogs back:

The room goes boom as the clocks all exploded at 10:47 which you may note is the time of Thomas & Martha Wayne's death and the oft-used clock setting Bruce uses in Wayne Manor to enter the Batcave. Also as Batman jumps out the window, we see the sixth image of the sequence, "Riding The Bull Home", while the Bat-Bot army takes on Talia's Man-Bat army in aerial combat.

Bats reenters the building, fending off Talia's guards as he continues to make his way through the building as if he's progressing from level to level in some video game. When we finally see the room in which Talia has been hiding out and delivering her speech, we discover a video wall that first displays the 7th image in the parable's sequence and then images of Gotham City as it is being torn apart.  

We also see that this is not Talia, rather a robot or a dummy (more Netz-stuff), but the words are still being delivered by from her mouth. She is putting Batman in the position to chose whether he saves his son or his city and Damian has to hear the entire thing. He knows his mother does not want him, he knows this is the game she is playing. Also, in the 4th panel on the above page, we see the 8th image of the series...the empty circle.

The next page, back on the roof of St. Malpha's depicts The Knight trying to save Squire by shocking her back to life, but it seems a little out of place due to the giant fist knocking out Batwing.  

Why does that alone make it feel odd?  

Because the following page then shows the owner of that massive fist, The Heretic, standing in a stairwell holding a giant stone.  The stone is connected to chains which are attached to the necks of a dozen or so people and which he tosses down the center of a flight of stairs, presumably executing all of them as Batman sits helpless near the 9th image of the sequence.  Again Damian hears his mother say "Your City. Or Your Son." and given that these are periods instead of question marks, this is obviously not Talia asking Bruce a question...this is her telling him exactly how it is going to be.

Now we cut back up to the roof where Squire has successfully saved the life of Squire only to find himself in the clutches of the monstrous Heretic:

We spent the entire issue teased with the death of Squire but it is Knight who is the first victim, and a high profile one at that, of The Heretic. To her credit, Squire is the first to draw blood on Heretic with her slingshot (some David vs. Goliath stuff in there) just before Batman swoops in to attempt to stop the behemoth.

Talia makes reference to the 3rd Batman from earlier in Morrison's run, claiming to have made him, which can be construed as Heretic being that Batman.  In #666, which has come into play several times over, Damian-Bats kills the 3rd Man whereas here it seems as if Talia is alluding to Bruce's fear that it is Damian himself who ends up the Batman that ultimately brings ruin to Gotham City.

Either way this story comes to a close when we finally see the 10th image of the parable, the crowded marketplace/return to society image, as Heretic tosses Bruce through it and down to the crowded streets below as depicted here:

Shattered glass, kids with weapons storming the GCPD, and a Batman who looks to be plummeting to his death.  What a way to end this chapter!

To  Be Continued....

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