Batman R.I.P. back issues...

This is in relation to something Cory said in a previous podcast. I'm just now getting into comics and I'm waiting til I get some extra cash to catch up on some stuff. I'm starting with Batman R.I.P. through Battle for the Cowl. I remember Cory saying he started with Batman R.I.P. I had that in mind to start out with too but Cory just sort of confirmed that for me. He mentioned that he read some back issues leading up to R.I.P. to help him better understand it. I'm just wondering what they were.

Here's my list in order starting with Batman R.I.P.

01 Batman R.I.P.
02 Final Crisis Part 1
03 Batman Last Rite Part 1
04 Batman Final Crisis Part 2
04 Batman Last Rite Part 2
05 Batman Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader (which I have already read)

And with Battle for the Cowl my checklist is as follows...

01 Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead?
02 Battle for the Cowl #1
03 Azrael #1
04 Oracle: The Cure #1
05 Battle for the Cowl: Commissioner Gordon
06 Battle for the Cowl: Man-Bat
07 Battle for the Cowl #2
08 Azrael #2
09 Oracle: The Cure #2
10 Battle for the Cowl: Arkham Asylum
11 Battle for the Cowl: The Underground
12 Battle for the Cowl: The Network
13 Azrael #3
14 Oracle: The Cure #3
15 Battle for the Cowl #3
16 Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive?

So I don't have any of these but they're on my list to buy. Luckily most of these are being sold as one book now. So I have a lot of these saved on my Amazon list to buy later. Just waiting a bit til I get some more money and I'll get 'em all at once.

But my question IS...

Is there any back issues that I need to read to make sense of R.I.P. or anything leading up to Battle for the Cowl that I left out? Let me know please... I'm REALLY getting into all of this. The podcasts are getting me super excited about the newer stories now.

Thanks in advance
-Garrey

Hi Garrey,

Batman RIP is a really good story arc to start reading about Batman. If budget is not an issue for you, you might also want to read the Batman and Son story arc. Both these stories are written by Grant Morrison. Basically, when Mr. Morrison took over the writing duties of the Bat-books, his plan was to write 5 or is it 6 main story arcs? Anyways, if I'm correct, here are the main story arcs listed for your reference:

1. Batman and Son (Batman #655 - 658)
2. Batman: The Black Glove (Batman #667 - 669, 672 - 675)
2. Batman: RIP
3. Batman and Robin
4. Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
5. Batman (After Bruce Returns)

Note: Battle for the Cowl is a really good story arc by Tony Daniel that fills the gap between Batman RIP and Batman and Robin.

Hope this helps!

That does help. Thanks! Batman and Son (Batman #655 - 658) and Batman: The Black Glove (Batman #667 - 669, 672 - 675) I'll def. try and read. I had planned on going into Batman and Robin and then the newer Return of Bruce Wayne storyline and anything after that that (may be in continuity). I just needed something to give more info on R.I.P. til now. I'm just tired of being behind on this lol. Every podcast I listen to I'm like "Dammit! I wish I knew what they were talking about lol. But thanks for that. I'll def. take the recommendations.

-Garrey

Totally agree with Andrew - R.I.P. can we quite a challenge if your not sure of some of the characters. Reading Grant Morrison run from when he jumped on board is the best bet.

jondoe297 wrote:

Totally agree with Andrew - R.I.P. can we quite a challenge if your not sure of some of the characters.

Reading Morrsion can be a challenge if you DO know the characters, Bob lol.

-Gary

We can always go to Claudie - she understands it more than we do lol

Indeed lol.

-Gary

So for sort of an update on what I've read out of this I've read the whole Batman and Son story where Bruce finds out about Damien. Right now I'm still waiting for about 4 more issues to come in the mail before I continue reading and moving on with the Black Glove story. So far though the Black Glove is really getting me interested and impatient for my other issues to arrive lol. So far I have about half of the list I made and what Andrew added to it.

On a side note Batman #675 seems to be a quick seller. I buy pretty much all my stuff from Amazon and when I went to buy #675 I, apparently bought the last one and I've not seen it available for sale on there since, used or new. Anyone know why? Just curious. Could just be something with Amazon I dunno.

ALSO (I'm almost done) I know Bob has mentioned before that he didn't feel R.I.P. was the best place to start out. But I disagree. I feel it's a great place. Granted, I am jumping into the comic world with very little knowledge of previous Batman titles or writers. But I think as long as you have a general idea like myself you don't need a whole lot of back stories read to understand things. For me R.I.P. is the modern Batman story that's still happening right now. I mean... I know the whole Batman reborn thing is pretty much at an end but with the new Batman and Robin, The Return of Bruce Wayne all of that is a result of R.I.P., Final Crisis and Battle for the Cowl. And I don't mean to come off as pretentious but there's never been a time (that I can remember) where I wasn't into something Batman. And I remember being in a book store just outside of my town around when R.I.P. first came out and I wasn't thrown off by seeing that. I had just never read much comics so I just figured it was something like "Well I'm sure Batman will be put in the Lazarus pit and be revived or something and be back". But the last year before I started getting into the comics for the first time I started seeing Final Crisis, Battle for the Cowl and I remember one time I was at that book store and seeing "Batman & Robin Vol. 1" and the art looked frickin' sweet and it looked like a really cool story to read and then I read the back of it and it said something about Batman's son Damien as Robin and Dick Grayson as Batman and I'm like "Oh god. That's so stupid." But I didn't realize that all was in continuity with R.I.P. or else I would have felt much more interested.

But anyway... I'm enjoying starting from R.I.P. quite a bit. Can't wait to actually start reading it after I finish the Black Glove.

Ok, I'm done lol

-Garrey

I actually have to agree with you, Garrey. RIP was my re-introduction to Batman as well (and really comics as a whole, I technically started with GL Rebirth or New Krypton like a day earlier, but whatever) and I wasn't lost at all. I mean, there were some extra references I might have missed (like I didn't know about the Super Batman of Zurr-En-Arh or whatever at the time) but other than that I just thought it was cool.

-Gary

Okay, so I read Batman #655 - 658, Batman #667 - 669, and Batman #672 - 675 - all the issues leading up to R.I.P. and I just now finished reading R.I.P. and through out the some of the back issues and in the R.I.P. storyline there is frequent mention of "Zur En Arrh" I read about it on Wikipedia but I'm still not quite sure I understand what it really is. Is this someone manipulating Batman's thoughts? I'm confused. Also... what the hell is Bat-Mite? Is that the little goofy looking Batman that appears in R.I.P. almost like Batman's sub-conscience or something? Some enlightening would do me good. lol

Next up on my list... Final Crisis. I have this ordered. But it's taking FOREVER to get here. Ugg..

scarygarrey wrote:

Also... what the hell is Bat-Mite? Is that the little goofy looking Batman that appears in R.I.P. almost like Batman's sub-conscience or something? Some enlightening would do me good. lol

Bat-Mite was an inter-dimensional imp like creature that happens to be Batman's so-called "No. 1" fan. Throughout the Batman history, Bat-Mite has always been a minor supporting character to Batman. Only until Grant Morrison took over the writing duties that he decided to re-invent Bat-Mite to be part of Bruce Wayne's subconscious mind. Personally, I don't know why Grant Morrison wants to do that and what he hoped to achieve by doing that.

Your guess is as good as mine.

Does anyone know why?

Like Andrew said, Bat-Mite was essentially Batman's version of Mr. Mxyzptlk. He was a "magical imp", from some version/offshoot of the 5th dimension, where Mxyzptlk is from. The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh was actually originally, literally, an alternate Batman from the planet of Zurr-En-Arrh.

However, for some reason, Morrison decided to re-use the names and totally change the concepts. This time, the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh was essentially a "backup" persona in Bruce's mind, and Bat-Mite(or or Bat-Might) was a figment of his imagination. Bat-Mite actually said at one point that he was from the 5th dimension, and the 5th dimension is imagination; so that could mean that not only is he fake, but Mxyzptlk is too (and they have both been a figment of each hero's own imagination).

So, really, Morrison's Bat-mite and Zur-En-Arrh Batman are those characters in name only.

-Gary