This week's issue #853 of Detective Comics is part 2 of a story entitled "Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader?"  Part 1 was published a few months ago in Batman #686.  The tale is scripted by Neil Gaiman with art by Andy Kubert, Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair.

      As part of the ongoing "death of or missing" Batman theme throughout the DC Universe at the moment, renowned writer Neil Gaiman provides us with a very metaphorical, fever dream-like tale that serves as an homage to the overall history and concept of The Batman in general.  The plot centers on a funeral wake for Batman, in which the historical cast of friends and foes attend and take turns offering eulogies to The Caped Crusader. 

     Gaiman brings two very creative and entertaining fantasy spins to the storyline.  First, he provides Batman himself as the unseen story narrator, witnessing his own funeral along with a mysterious unidentified woman, while continually wondering aloud whether or not he is actually dead. Secondly, the reality of Batman himself changes from page to page, as each speaker gives an entirely different and contradictory explanation of the circumstances of Batman's supposed death.  Even the costume of the Batman lying in wake changes in each eulogy scene, reflecting one of the many Batman fashions presented by DC over the decades of our hero's career.

     Both my fellow reviewer Dave LeBlanc, who reviewed part 1 in Batman #686, and I give enthusiastic recommendations to this creative addition to the Batman legacy.  Creators Gaiman and Kubert don't mean the tale to be taken literally as a real-world episode in the life of Batman.  The shifting Batman artistic representations and alternating explanations of his death are simply a very effective tribute to Batman as variously represented in each era of the overall history of our hero's publication.

     I was particularly moved by the second half of the issue, in which Gaiman and Kubert reveal the identity of Narrator-Batman's anonymous companion, who then assists him in wrapping-up this tale in a very literary and symbolic conclusion.  To avoid any spoiler details, I'll just comment that the conclusion dovetails very nicely with the concept of DC giving the Batman some time off for the forseeable future as The Battle For The Cowl plays-out for a year or two, after which the cycle of The Batman will begin anew with the return that we all know is inevitably coming after this current absence-of-Batman period concludes.

     Whether you are a casual fan or a hard-core Batman devotee like myself, pick-up a copy of this issue (along with part 1, of course!) and enjoy the high quality of the renowned creative team's gracious tribute to one of the premier characters in all of comicdom.

          
     I've written a handful of reviews over the past several months on comic issues published under various Marvel titles within the current Dark Reign story universe, in which Norman Osborn is running a shady version of SHIELD called HAMMER, while leading a new team of heroes secretly reconstituted from villains.  As such, for the sake of variety, this will most likely be my final review of this multi-title storyline for at least awhile.

     This current issue of The Mighty Avengers offers two sub-plots to the unfolding Dark Reign saga.  The first consists of Osborne holding an administrative meeting with the other five behind-the-scene villains who secretly plot with him regarding the various Dark Reign activities.  Writer Dan Slott is one of my favorite Marvel storytellers, and gives us here an interesting verbal sparring amongst the secret six villains, as on the surface they have a conversation about cooperating togther while beneath the dialogue they jockey to outmaneuver the group to each one's personal advantage.

     The more action-oriented second sub-plot focuses on The Young Avengers, as they come together and start to function as a working team to address scenarios around the world.  They are initially dogged by old-school Avenger Quicksilver as he tries to find his missing sister The Scarlett Witch, ultimately resulting in Quicksilver joining the group.

     This is an enjoyable comic to read, both as a stand-alone comic book and as an addition to the ongoing Dark Reign series.  As I mentioned above, Dan Slott is as good as it gets in scripting a strong Marvel superhero tale, having proved himself so well, to me at least, in the first year of the She-Hulk title run from a few years ago.  I enjoyed very much learning a bit about The Young Avengers, whom I'm not very familiar with.  It will be interesting to see how they handle teaming-up with the volatile Quicksilver as the story progresses in upcoming issues. 

     On a final note, keep an eye out for a very intriguing sudden development on the very last page of the issue pertaining to Norman Osborn; the story reveals an unexpected side of Osborn, likely to have major repercussions for the overall Dark Reign storyline both in this title and all of the others in the Dark Reign series.