Pick of the Week: Batman #680 'Batman RIP'

Posted by Stephanie Cox Oct 8, 2008

The "Batman R.I.P." story arch is about as easy to follow as season 3 of Lost. Composed of 6 Batman issues by writer Grant Morrison and artists Tony Daniel and Sandu Florea and a few crossover in the DC Universe, "Batman RIP" is causing fans to turn to Wikipedia and other online forums to figure out just what the heck is going on here.

This week's Pick is the fifth installment in the series involving the an enemy group called the Black Glove, who are intent and emotionally and mentally destroying Batman. The leader, Dr Hurt, is convinced a psychological death of Batman would be far more effective than simply trying to physically kill him. Somehow the Joker is involved and provides clues through enigmatic card hands.

It's not clear what is real and what is a dream in Batman's now-ravaged psyche and this issue gets downright creepy at points Joker splits his own tongue with a knife in one disturbing sequence' while Batman stumbles around in a drug-induced stupor, sporting a hand-sewn purple batman costume.

Check it out this week if you've only got 3 bucks to spend at the comic shop for the eeriest Batman and Joker get, though I won't promise you'll be able to figure out entirely what's going on (though, after reading the series, I'm not sure I've figured it out either).

Batman R.I.P. Checklist:

Batman #676-681

Detective Comics #846-850

Nightwing #147-150

Robin #175-176

Batman and the Outsiders #11-13