9 Reasons Why Grant Morrison’s Batman RIP Is A Masterpiece

7. Zur-En-Arrh!

Zurenarrh Enter: the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh and his sidekick, Batmite (this is also the point in the book where Morrison lost a lot of people but I'll talk about negative audience reaction later). Zur-En-Arrh was a real storyline from the 1950s Batman comics where there was a planet with two Batmen and he was super-strong, invulnerable and immortal (and if you want to read that story, pick up The Black Casebook, published alongside Batman RIP that collects the stories that inspired Morrison) - in other words, the perfect avatar for Batman to adopt in his weakened state. Dressed in red, yellow and purple (almost like Robin's colours), Batman and the impish Batmite - a floating, cartoonish figure whom only Batman, zonked out on drugs, can see - set about figuring out who he is and what's going on. They see a giant grid on the Gotham skyline - a checkerboard grid - with each grid representing a piece of Batman, an experience, a storyline, all of which make up the whole. (This is a small detail I loved but Bruce carries with him a broken AM/FM radio he calls the Bat-Radia which tells him things - insane, but an amazing touch). This leads to Zur-En-Arrh fighting Joker on a checkerboard floor, Jezebel Jet revealing herself to be part of the Black Glove, and the "death" of Batman. The checkerboard, the red and black, life and death, Batman and Bruce Wayne, it all ties together.
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I reads and watches thems picture stories. Wordy words follow. My blog is http://samquixote.blogspot.co.uk , and if you want to see all the various places I contribute to, or want to send me a message, you can find links to everything here: http://about.me/noelthorne/#