Analytical Otaku

Grant Morrison is batshit insane. Everyone knows it. And in his latest flight of insanity, he killed one of my favorite characters: Damian Wayne. Yes, it’s official. Damian dies in Batman, Inc. #8. But I will bet good money that he isn’t going to stay dead. In fact, if you pay close attention, hints at his resurrection are everywhere. Read on, and dry those tears, you big baby.

I’m a huge fan of Grant Morrison. He’s one of the most brilliant writers in the comic industry. Heck, he wrote a story where the Doom Patrol defeated the fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse with Dadaism. Anyone who does that is solid gold in my book. And something you have to understand about him is that he loves playing with expectation. He understands not just the medium of comic books, but the fan culture surrounding it. Remember Batman R.I.P.? Where it was clearly set up that Bruce was going to die, but then didn’t, but then died immediately after in Final Crisis when everyone was off guard? He likes to take people by surprise. And Damian’s death was not surprising.

 And it doesn’t matter how gruesome Damian’s death was. Grant Morrison isn’t afraid to embrace the kookiness of comics. In fact, he relishes in absurdity. He wouldn’t be above writing some crazy plot arc or resurrection story to bring Damian back.

And I think he will. Why? Well, back during the Batman and Son arc, there was a mini-arc about three false Batmen. In an interview, Grant Morrison talked about his inspiration, and how hard it was to come up with new ideas for comics. He wanted to do an arc with imposter Batmen, but found out that it had already been done way back in the Silver Age. No one remembered or cared about that story, so he could have just retold it. But noooooo. He had to reinvent it, adding in some drugs and guns and some sort of apocalypse.

How does this relate to Damian? Easy. The story of Batman losing a Robin has already been told (thanks, Jason). In fact, not only has it been told, but pretty much a decade after that was spent on Bruce angsting over not being there in time for Jason. The story has been done to death. I highly doubt a writer as original as Grant Morrison would be content to rehash the same tale.

No, he has bigger plans. He’s been planning on killing Damian since day one. Ever since he started Batman, Inc. he wanted the story to focus on Damian and Bruce’s relationship, culminating in Damian’s death. Keyword culminating. Damian dies in issue eight, but the series is supposed to last twelve issues. There is still much more story to be told. And really, if he did want Damain’s death to be his great message, his lasting contribution to comics, then he would have saved it for the climax. But he didn’t, which means that he still has plans. There are only four issues left, so the plot isn’t going to shift away to some other struggle. No, the focus needs to stay on Bruce and Talia and their son.

Also according to Grant Morrison, this whole arc is supposed to have divorce undertones. Talia may be an uncaring bitch, but the second after Damian dies, she starts crying. Obviously she is already rethinking her decision. Gee, what’s a woman with access to a Lazarus Pit going to do over the loss of her child? Beats me.

On the other end of the writing spectrum, Peter J. Tomasi, the current writer for Batman and Robin, talked about his future plans for the series. To sum it up, they don’t intend to bring back Tim as Robin. They don’t want to do another “Batman needs a Robin” story. And they refused to comment on any long-term plans, but he did have this to say: “there's a big, epic picture in view over the horizon, but there's plenty of lightning storms and hurricanes for myself, Pat Gleason and our partners in crime Mick Gray and John Kalisz to still fly through before it all becomes clear.” Yeah, it’s vague, and yeah, I shouldn’t read too much into it. However, the Batfamily has been going through quite a few shakeups recently. I’d like to think the writers aren’t stupid enough to throw a new character into the mix while the waters are still muddy. So I don’t think it’s likely that they’ll introduce a new Robin. And Tim is not coming back as Robin. And the title Batman and Robin is not being cancelled.

This is all speculation based, so let me wrap this up with the cold hard facts: Damian makes money. Right now the character is growing in popularity. Popularity sells books. You know what sells even more books? Media hype. Just check out ebay and see how much an issue of Batman, Inc. #8 is going for. The only reason DC would slaughter the golden goose is if they had a way to bring it back laying more eggs than ever. *coughLazurusPitscough*

 So like I said, I am willing to bet good money that Damian makes a comeback within a year. In the meantime, don’t panic. Just enjoy these coming issues for the emotional issues they explore. Don’t be upset over Damian’s death. Instead, enjoy the (hopefully) psychologically complex stories coming out. And try to act a little surprised when they decide to bring Damian back. It makes the writers feel good. 

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