finneganswake 's review for:

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne by Georges Jeanty, Frazer Irving, Chris Sprouse, Guy Major, Andy Kubert, Mick Gray, Pere Pérez, Alejandro Sicat, Karl Story, Grant Morrison, Waldon Wong, Ryan Sook, Jared K. Fletcher, Travis Lanham, Tony Aviña, Michel Lacombe, Lee Garbett, José Villarrubia, Yanick Paquette, Nathan Fairbairn

2.0

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Some weird and intriguing depictions of Batman as a caveman, pirate, Wild West gunslinger - generally masculine historical archetypes which perhaps influence the modern figure of a vigilante. Not my favourite read but pretty neat conceptually. When you combine it with the noir-ish vignette regarding Bruce Wayne's parents, it all feels like an exploration of the rich history of Batman, the factors that amalgamate into the monumental figure he became by the 2000s. In other words, the story works both from a lore and meta perspective. Morrison is clearly very passionate about the history of Batman and (as I share that preoccupation) I am greatly enjoying their run.