Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

By John J. Joex

Bruce Wayne, aka the Batman, is dead.

He died in issue number six of the Final Crisis series when longtime DC Universe Super-Baddy Darkseid bumped him off (actually, they killed each other).

Farewell Caped Crusader.  You had a good run of seventy (yes seventy!) years, but now its time to mourn and move on.

What’s that you say?  He’s not really dead?  Get outta here!

I saw it, Darkseid killed him.  He’s dead.  He’s gone to meet his maker, he’s a stiff, he’s bereft of life, he pushing up the daises, he’s kicked the bucket.  He is an ex-Batman!!

DC will bring him back, you say?  Surely not.  Why, that would be an in-genuine, manipulative ploy for such a reputable media organization.  They would never do such a thing.  The decision to kill off the Caped Crusader was certainly one driven by artistic merit alone.  They have said all they have to say with the character and decided to let him rest in peace as they move on to new and bigger creative endeavors.

Oh sure, somebody else may don the cowl in Bruce Wayne’s stead for a while, but that won’t be the same character and surely will not receive a starring role in the DC Universe.  The billionaire-crimefighter was the true Batman and they have now officially and completely closed to book on that character.

To simply kill him off only to bring him back sometime in the near future would be nothing but a dirty trick designed to inflate sales for the already popular character and an upstanding company like DC would never do such a thing with any of their characters.  That would be like killing off a flagship character such as Superman only to bring him back a few issues later.  Comic book fans would be up in arms over such a thing and would almost certainly stop buying comics from the company.  No, instead DC decided that the Batman storyline has run its course and should go out while still on top.

Think about it, Batman has already run through multiple comic book titles for seventy years, appeared in a live-action television series and multiple animated adaptations, and conquered the big screen with a successful run theatrical films.  He’s done it all, what more is there to say with the character?  Let him assume his place among retired comic book characters and make way for the next big thing.

And I hear that DC is already hard at work preparing the rollout for his replacement.  Word is, the Dark Knight will be replaced by a revival of the Americommando.  A rather obscure character from the forties, he presents the perfect superhero for today’s world.  A new patriotic crimefighter with his sites set on the terrorist threats to our country.  No more of the moral ambiguities and grey areas that Batman wrestled with, the Americommando represents a positive, black and white, “with us or against” hero for the modern day.  It’s what the people want.

So goodbye to the dark and shady days of Batman and hello to the bright new tomorrow of the Americommando.

And no, there is no way whatsoever that they would bring Bruce Wayne back from the dead (or Darkseid for that matter, he’s never died before).  To do so would be a cheap marketing scheme motivated only by a desire to pull in an even bigger mountain of cash from an already oversaturated comic book franchise.

DC would never stoop so low.

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