Publication history
While the core story is presented as self-contained within the limited series, DC has published a group of related stories in various one-shot issues and limited series.
The comic titles Nightwing , Robin , and Birds of Prey were cancelled and Batman and Detective Comics went on hiatus for three months beginning in March 2009. The Battle for the Cowl plot focuses on the aftermath of Final Crisis and Batman: R.I.P. and the battle for Gotham. [1] [3] [4]
Other publications tied into this storyline are a three-part Oracle miniseries, [5] a three-part Azrael miniseries, [6] [7] and two bookends titled Gotham Gazette that encompass the changes in all of those series. In addition, DC published five one-shots focusing on key characters in subsequent story lines [8] featuring the Man-Bat, Commissioner Gordon, the Network, the Underground and Arkham Asylum. [9]
At New York Comic Con 2009, DC Comics' creative personnel announced the launch of several new series to coincide with the new Batman and Robin adjusting to Gotham City's altered status quo. [9]
Plot summary
Prelude
The prelude to the story begins with Grant Morrison's Batman and Son , which starts off with the Joker being shot by a man pretending to be Batman. Batman then realizes that since his return after a one year absence, he has eliminated all supercrime in the city. Talia al Ghul then wrests the Man-Bat formula from Kirk Langstrom leading to Batman confronting Talia. Talia reveals that Bruce is the father of her son, named Damian Wayne. Damian then tries to replace Tim Drake as Robin. After a confrontation with Talia on a boat ends with Talia and Damian getting hit by a torpedo Bruce simply leaves. Damian then returns to Bruce in the Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul, though Ra's's resurrection cannot be stopped, Damian learns about the rest of Bruce Wayne's sons. In Batman R.I.P, Bruce confronts the Black Glove and attacks Simon Hurt in a helicopter that explodes. Bruce survives and spends some time looking for the body of Hurt, but is called away by Superman to investigate the death of the New God Orion. In Final Crisis, Bruce ends up being captured by Granny Goodness and Darkseid's minions attempt to clone Batman. Batman ultimately escapes, his clone commits suicide, and Bruce takes the bullet used to kill Orion and shoots Darkseid with it, breaking his no gun policy, but his decision allows the Black Racer to substitute Barry Allen's fate for Darkseid. Darkseid however simultaneously hits Bruce with the Omega Sanction, sending him to the past. Superman takes Bruce's body, actually the body of the only successful clone, to Nightwing. Chaos breaks out in Gotham as Batman is no longer operational and Dick refuses to become Batman because Bruce told him not to in Batman's Will.
Central storyline
Due to his involvement in Hurt's plan to kill Batman, Michael Lane believes himself to be responsible for the crime and trauma brought to Gotham City. He confesses this to his priest who takes him in to the Order of Purity to become the next Azrael. In his first act as Azrael, Michael Lane defends the properties of the Azrael suit from Talia al Ghul, in turn preventing her from giving it to Damian Wayne. Azrael then manages to not only defeat Talia, but also retrieve the Sword of Salvation from her. Azrael is then attacked by Nightwing, believing him to be responsible for the death of a police official. Azrael manages to convince Nightwing that he is not responsible for the murder.
Nightwing becomes as cold as Bruce had. Despite Tim's requests, he refuses to take up the mantle of the Bat. This leads to an imposter taking up the mantle, but this one uses brute force and shoots his victims to death. Black Mask II soon takes control of Arkham's inmates with implants that will kill them if they do not obey him. Among his recruits are Scarecrow, Jane Doe, Firefly, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc and Victor Zsasz.
After Damian is attacked by Killer Croc, Nightwing rescues him, but is in turn attacked by the imposter Batman, Jason Todd. When Damian attempts to prove himself to Dick by attacking Jason, he is shot by the latter and severely wounded, saved only by Alfred. This leads to Tim Drake assuming the mantle of Batman and tracking Jason down to a demented version of the Batcave. There he too is attacked and severely wounded by Jason, who awaits the arrival of Nightwing.
Damian is then sent by Alfred to find and rescue Tim, though to make sure that he does not get further injured, he is sent with Squire. The two of them rescue Tim together. Meanwhile, Dick enters an all out brawl with Jason which leads to a fight on top of Gotham's sky train system. Dick manages to defeat Jason, but the latter falls into Gotham River telling Dick that they'll be meeting soon enough. Dick then returns to the Batcave and assumes the mantle of Batman.
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book Detective Comics on March 30, 1939. In the DC Universe, Batman is the alias of Bruce Wayne, a wealthy American playboy, philanthropist, and industrialist who resides in Gotham City. His origin story features him swearing vengeance against criminals after witnessing the murder of his parents, Thomas and Martha, as a child, a vendetta tempered by the ideal of justice. He trains himself physically and intellectually, crafts a bat-inspired persona, and monitors the Gotham streets at night. Kane, Finger, and other creators accompanied Batman with supporting characters, including his sidekicks Robin and Batgirl; allies Alfred Pennyworth and James Gordon; love interest Catwoman; and foes such as the Penguin, the Riddler, Two-Face, and his archenemy, the Joker.
Robin is the alias of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson to serve as a junior counterpart and the sidekick to the superhero Batman. As a team, Batman and Robin have commonly been referred to as the Caped Crusaders and the Dynamic Duo. The character's first incarnation, Dick Grayson, debuted in Detective Comics #38. Conceived as a way to attract young readership, Robin garnered overwhelmingly positive critical reception, doubling the sales of the Batman titles. Robin's early adventures included Star Spangled Comics #65–130 (1947–1952), the character's first solo feature. He made regular appearances in Batman-related comic books and other DC Comics publications from 1940 through the early 1980s, until the character set aside the Robin identity and became the independent superhero Nightwing.
Nightwing is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The most prominent is Dick Grayson, who takes the name when he leaves his role as Batman's partner and sidekick Robin in his adulthood.
Richard John "Dick" Grayson is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman, Teen Titans and Justice League. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940 as the original and most popular incarnation of 'Robin', Batman's crime-fighting partner. He is the eldest child of Bruce Wayne, Batman's alter ego, the first child to be adopted by Batman. In Tales of the Teen Titans #44, the character, after becoming an adult, retires his role as Robin and assumes the persona of Nightwing. Grayson has donned the cape and cowl to replace Wayne as Batman; his most notable spell followed Wayne's supposed death in Final Crisis, and sees Grayson adopt Damian Wayne, Bruce's biological son and his adoptive younger brother, as his Robin.
Ra's al Ghul is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. Created by editor Julius Schwartz, writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, the character first appeared in Batman #232's "Daughter of the Demon".
Talia al Ghul is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. The character was created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Bob Brown, and first appeared in Detective Comics #411.
Timothy Jackson "Tim" Drake is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick, he first appeared in Batman #436 as the third character to assume the role of Batman's crime-fighting partner and sidekick Robin. Following the events of Batman: Battle for the Cowl in 2009, Drake adopted the identity of Red Robin. In 2019, Tim returned to his original Robin persona and briefly used the mononym "Drake".
Jason Peter Todd is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in Batman #357 in March 1983, he was created to succeed Dick Grayson as Robin, Batman's partner and sidekick. He initially shared a similar origin to Grayson, being the son of circus acrobats who are killed by criminals in Gotham and adopted by Bruce Wayne, Batman's alter ego, as his son and protege. Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths event and the rebooting of DC's main comics universe, Jason's origin was changed to being a pre-teen street urchin and petty thief who Bruce adopted and mentored after finding the boy attempting to steal the tires off of the Batmobile. This origin has since become the standard for subsequent iterations of the character.
"Batman and Son" is a 2006 comic book story arc featuring the DC Comics character Batman. Written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Andy Kubert, the story was published in four parts in the comic book Batman starting in #655 and ending in #658. The story was the beginning of Morrison's run in the Batman comic as well as their long-term take on the character of Batman through multiple titles over the next seven years. The arc introduced Batman's son, Damian Wayne, bringing him into the mainstream continuity of the DC Universe.
Damian Wayne is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert, commonly in association with Batman. Damian Wayne is the biological son of Bruce Wayne/Batman. His mother is Batman's love interest Talia, and his grandfather is the Batman villain Ra's al Ghul. With the al Ghuls citing Bruce Wayne as the optimal successor to their empire, after faking a miscarriage to his father and calling off their marriage, Talia has kept his existence hidden from Batman until Batman #656 (2006). In turn, the character is revealed to have originally been intended to "kill and replace his famous father," as well as serving as a host body for Ra's al Ghul, thus, in theory, unifying the Wayne and Demon factions as intended by the al Ghuls. Damian is Bruce's youngest and only biological child in mainline DC continuity, with him having four older adopted siblings: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Cassandra Cain.
"The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul" is an eight issue comic book crossover story arc published by DC Comics in 2007 and 2008. It involves the return of notable Batman villain Ra's al Ghul, and is his first appearance since his apparent death in Batman: Death and the Maidens in 2003. It also connects back to the "Batman and Son" storyline, which introduced Damian as the son of Batman and Talia al Ghul.
Peter J. Tomasi is an American comic book editor and writer, best known for his work for DC Comics. As an editor, he oversaw numerous comic books featuring the Justice League, including series starring various members of that team such as Batman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, and the Flash. As a writer, he has written titles featuring Batman-related characters, such as Batman and Robin and The Outsiders, and Green Lantern-related series such as Blackest Night, Brightest Day and Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors. He also wrote the screenplay for the animated movie The Death of Superman.
Batman R.I.P. is an American comic book story arc published in Batman #676–681 by DC Comics. Written by Grant Morrison, penciled by Tony Daniel, and with covers by Alex Ross, the story pits the superhero Batman against the Black Glove organization as they attempt to destroy everything that he stands for. It has a number of tie-ins in other DC Comics titles describing events not told in the main story.
Batman and Robin is an American comic book ongoing series, created by Grant Morrison and featuring Batman and Robin. The debut of the series followed the events of "Batman R.I.P.", Final Crisis, and "Battle for the Cowl" in which the original Batman, Bruce Wayne, apparently died at the hands of DC Comics villain Darkseid and features the winner of the "Battle for the Cowl" as the new Batman. The conclusion of Battle for the Cowl shows Dick Grayson ascending to the role of Batman, while Damian Wayne becomes the new Robin.
This article is about the publication history of the DC Comics fictional character Dick Grayson, who has been portrayed in comic books alternatively as Robin, Nightwing, and Batman.
Red Robin is an American comic book ongoing series that was written by Chris Yost, with art by Ramon Bachs, featuring Batman's former accomplice, Robin. The debut of the series follows the events of Batman R.I.P., Final Crisis, and Battle for the Cowl in which the original Batman, Bruce Wayne, apparently died at the hands of DC Comics villain Darkseid. Of all the characters in the so-called "Batman family", Drake is the only one who believes Bruce Wayne is still alive and leaves Gotham City to begin a global search for evidence supporting his theory and hope.
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne is a 6-issue American comic book limited series published by DC Comics beginning in May to November 2010, written by Grant Morrison and featuring a team of rotating artists starting with Chris Sprouse and Frazer Irving.
Batman Incorporated is an ongoing American comic book series published by DC Comics, featuring the superhero Batman. Written by Grant Morrison, the series debuted following the events of Batman R.I.P, Final Crisis, Batman and Robin, and The Return of Bruce Wayne where, after being stranded in the distant past and believed dead, Bruce Wayne has returned to the present day DC Universe. Now, he is prepared to take his war on crime to the next level by essentially "franchising" it and drafting, training and commanding a global team of heroes who will answer to Batman himself, known as Batman Incorporated.
Batman: Bad Blood is a 2016 American animated superhero film which is the 25th film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies and the sixth film in the DC Animated Movie Universe. It serves as a sequel to the 2015 film Batman vs. Robin. The film was released on January 20, 2016 for iTunes and the Google Play Store, and on DVD and Blu-ray on February 2. While not a direct adaptation of a particular storyline, it derived from Grant Morrison's run on Batman, primarily the Leviathan story arcs.
Michael Washington Lane is an antihero character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He debuted in Batman #665 as the supervillain Bat-Devil, before later taking on the identity of Azrael, being the second character to do so, after Jean-Paul Valley.
