A Companion Reader

Time Masters 4, meet “The Return of Bruce Wayne” or vice versa. As I mentioned I was a little new to the comic “floppy” and I recently discovered that a mini series, recently finished, and written by Grant Morrison, was connected and inspired another mini series, Time Masters: Vanishing Point, “The Search for Batman.” I find it interesting that the very first in the series of “The Return of Bruce Wayne” deals with the idea of a “Quantum Leap” Bruce Wayne figure. Not to sound too cliche, but we find the characters, Superman, Green Lantern, Rip Hunter, and Booster Gold searching Batman, racing against time to help him back to the future.
In “The Return of Bruce Wayne,” Batman seems to suffer from a sort of amnesia, but still has all the detective, and battle instincts that he normally has. I found it particularly interesting that one of the characters in this part of the story mentioned the presence of a previous “Man of Bats.” I have not wrapped myself up in another series, although I must say that “Time Masters” makes a great companion guide to the “The Return of Bruce Wayne.” I also begin to wonder if these two series are questioning ideas of fate, does Batman, or Bruce Wayne control his future fate? Is his journey through the past the reason his future self is able to create the bat cave? As Batman travels through time, does he create a template for his future/past self to recreate the bat cave or even discover this world that transforms him into the Dark Knight? Is it a secret that he keeps from other Super Heroes? I know that the majority of these questions are just my own speculation. Although, I do find the story lines to be interesting, the art is similar and a little better in “The Return of Bruce Wayne.” I enjoy the way the two story lines have integrated themselves into one another. Although, I don’t think there is a seamless transition between the two story lines. I think this is due in part to the fact that one story is written by Grant Morrison while the other has been written by Dan Jurgens (He does a pretty damn good job here in this mini series.) Another aspect of the Morrison comic that I found to be intriguing was the use of identity. Bruce Wayne, or Batman, assumed the role of “Man of Bats” or Batman. I would argue that Morrison is attempting to suggest that Wayne would ultimately assume the role of Batman regardless of his time period to protect the weak. Although, as it turns out he has his own criteria of what is considered to be right and wrong. So I wanted to ultimately suggest that the writer’s own beliefs or morals emerge through the voice of Batman or Bruce Wayne in some fashion. While I enjoy reading these comics I cannot help but wonder if Wayne would always assume the identity of Batman, always using it as a sort of symbol, or if like the majority of the first in the series of “The Return of Bruce Wayne,” would he keep the identity of Bruce Wayne? Again, bringing me back to the questions of identity, which identity (Wayne or Batman) thinks the other is the “actual” or real identity? Let me explain briefly, does Batman think he is the real or the true identity, or does Bruce Wayne think he is the true identity?

(Until Issue 5…)