Batman: Bruce Wayne, Fugitive

Batman: Bruce Wayne, Fugitive #new 2

by Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Devin Grayson

Indicted for killing his sometime girlfriend Vesper Fairchild, Bruce Wayne is sent to Blackgate Prison...only to escape, launching a citywide manhunt. Now Batman has now gone to ground -- renouncing his true identity and operating deeper in the shadows than ever before. It falls to his extended family -- Nightwing, Robin, Oracle, Batgirl, Spoiler, and Alfred to figure out who really did commit the murder. While the clues point to a possible setup, no one can deny that those same clues might point to Batman's actual guilt.

This new, single-volume edition includes never before reprinted stories. Collects BATMAN #603-607, DETECTIVE COMICS #768-775, BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #29-32 and BATGIRL #29 and 33.

Genres: Comics, Batman, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Mystery, Fiction

418 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2002

About the author

Greg Rucka, is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Six months ago Vesper Fairchild was murdered in Wayne Manor . . . for anyone who still needs to hear it - I didn't commit this crime. But now I know who did . . . and more importantly, I know why." -- Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman, to his assembled crime-fighting apprentices

As a sequel or continuing narrative, this volume regrettably failed to sustain some of the momentum and interesting qualities that were built up in the initial Batman: Bruce Wayne, Murderer?. (And FYI - said two books total just over a combined 1,000 pages, so a reader is looking at investing a chunk of their time in this storyline.) It was good, but just not great - I mean, with that above-mentioned dramatic quote the audience is likely expecting to be knocked ass over teakettle with some sort of revelation about the murder angle, but that doesn't really develop with the rather unexciting 'reveal' of the actual culprit. Sure, the book was relatively fast-moving (more so than the initial volume) with a fair amount of decent action scenes, but certain plot threads - the Azrael character, the Checkmate organization, etc. - sometimes seemed kind of superfluous. However, there were occasional flashes of exceptional writing - like the retired and elderly former Gotham City homicide detective recalling the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents, or the dialogue in the wintery confrontation scene between Bruce Wayne and former bodyguard Sasha Bordeaux - to keep things slightly better than average.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Indicted for the murder of his girlfriend Vesper Fairchild, Bruce Wayne escapes Blackgate Prison and “goes on the lam” leaving it up to Batman to find her true killer. Except, heh heh, Bruce Wayne IS Batman so nothing really happened! Ehhhh… So who really dunit?? Spoiler: nobody bloody caaaaarress!

Bruce Wayne: Fugitive is the ultra-shitty conclusion to what I imagine is the equally shitty Bruce Wayne: Murderer? storyline. The writers do nothing with the “Bruce Wayne is a fugitive from justice” angle because he’s Batman and Batman’s never in any trouble nor leaves Gotham so that’s a tension-free dud of a plot. Nor does anyone question how exactly Bruce Wayne could escape Blackgate. Like, nobody went, “Hey… that’s something BATMAN could do!” Whatever, this is dogshit.

The investigation into Vesper’s murder is vastly overlong at 400 pages and utterly tedious donkey bollocks that just rehashes the same info with various characters without going anywhere. We know the real killer can’t be Bruce so any attempt at that pretense is a total waste of time while the actual murderer’s reveal was yawn-tastic.

Batman’s origin is repeated for the umpteenth time, he punches some faceless goons, Azrael and Nightwing kick off, some cop gets wrongly incarcerated in the worst storyline here and one of the half-dozen or so writers involved in this drek has a stab at a half-assed romance between Bruce and Some Woman. Oh and that joke of a secret organization, Checkmate (a Chess-themed cadre of dummies) make a pointless appearance.

Bursting with crap writing/art/story, Bruce Wayne: Fugitive is a criminally dull Batman comic - absolutely worthless, definitely not recommended to anyone, anywhere!

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was so good omg, we see Bruce meeting a detective named Sloane and see how he is one of the good ones who might have helped him in his childhood and realizing Bruce is just as important and then Batman realizing he has to clear his name and the whole thing is awesome and seeing how Checkmate factors into it, Batman reuniting with the bat-family, apologizing even, then the culprit: David cain and how Luthor is involved and also something with Azrael.

And the whole sequence of events is so well set and I love the whole thing and then the thing with Sasha and their complicated love story and all and I kinda like her new status quo as an agent of Checkmate and the challenges it brings and then the stuff with Bruce trying to help people and a great ending to the whole Murderer/Fugitive saga and a great ending with Cass and her father David, plus Batman vs Deadshot too in the middle and showing how he is such a great hero!

I loved this whole thing and sure it took me some time to read but I like that and honestly I would have more of these type of stories as it really fleshes a lot of things out and shows why Bruce is equally important and the challenges he faced here were different and is a usual break from the grim dark stories. The art while iffy was still good considering it is of its time but still good read. I definitely recommend it!

[Sud666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batman: Bruce Wayne, Fugitive is the follow up to the massive Batman: Bruce Wayne, Murderer? While not an amazing volume, this second volume improves on the original in many ways.

First, the size is manageable enough that you need not lift weights to pick it up. It is still a large volume. So Bruce has broken out of jail and is Batman, but ONLY Batman. At least that was the confusing motif of the previous volume. Well, after talking to a dying police officer who investigated the Wayne murder, Batman decides to ditch the dumbass idea of "No Bruce Wayne". This part of the story arc was pretty interesting. Where the volume has issues, as with the first, is when the story arcs off into different, and far inferior, titles. The random Batgimp (sorry Batgirl, but her facemask looks like the Gimp from Pulp Fiction) and Oracle interactions were painful. Nightwing and Red Robin (BTW Red Robin with the hood? That's an awful uniform) fare not much better in their crappy issues either.

It is only when "Bruce is back" does the stupidity end and Batman, with the help of Nightwing and friends, unravels the mystery of who killed whom and who tried to frame him. The answers lead to Checkmate. That part of the story is ok. A big mess with some government guy named Cain (Uhh that looks awfully like a SHIELD uniform), Batgimp, Batman and Deadshot. Sheesh...it's not terrible but not great.

Finally the volume ends with Batman dealing with his former bodyguard who has now been turned into a Checkmate operative. Again, not great but at least it completes the circle on the story.

The "main" story part is better. The unraveling the mystery and the detective parts were good. It's all the secondary cross-over parts that suffer. The rest of the story is ok. The ending with Batgimp and Cain? Meh. I hope Batgimp goes away, but likely she'll be a fixture. The art is anywhere from ok to decent. Neither pleasing nor offending.

Thus ends the convoluted two part massive story of Bruce Wayne and his frame up for Murder. Rucka's Batman was interesting.

[Lono · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume picks up from where Batman: Bruce Wayne Murderer? left off. I would certainly recommend reading that title first if you’re interested in this book or you will likely be pretty lost as to what’s going on. While I thought Batman: Bruce Wayne Fugitive wasn’t quite as good as its forerunner, I still really enjoyed a lot of the issues collected in this volume. This edition collects the 3 previously released collections of the Fugitive storyline and is probably the way to go if you are interested in the entire story. In this book Batman considers the final fate of Bruce Wayne, his relationships with his “family”, and wraps up some of the loose ends (like who killed Vesper) left at the end of the previous collection. Rucka also plants some seeds for future stuff (DC’s Checkmate and he connects with Ed Brubaker with whom he would later work on Gotham Central with). This whodunit comes to a somewhat satisfying conclusion with the ultimate reveal occurring about halfway through the book. The remainder of the collection addresses the fallout that follows. It was OK. Probably is better for someone with a little bit of knowledge regarding the characters involved and their prior history with Bats. The thing I appreciated most about this collection were some of the one and two issue arcs that stood out from the rest and were a lot of fun.

Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns, Chuck Dixon, Kelly Puckett, Devin Grayson, and Denny O’Neil all wrote portions of this title. As expected, the stuff by Ed, Greg, Geoff, and Kelly appealed to me the most. The art chores were handled by several artists that I am very fond of. Scott McDaniel, Damion Scott, Sean Phillips, and Roger Robinson all stood out as exceptional amongst the laundry list of contributors.




Some highlights were Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (of Criminal fame) doing a one issue standalone together that was pretty sweet, Scott McDaniel drawing Nightwing and Deadshot again, and a couple of really cool Batgirl issues. Damion Scott has a really unique graffiti style of drawing that, while it’s not for everyone, I LOVE. One issue in particular with Nightwing and Batgirl doing a great “CSI” thing that was pretty kickass. Fans of Bruce Wayne Murderer? will definitely want to pick this one up. It has a couple of slow spots (Denny O’Neil's Azreal portion was pretty feeble) and the art in the first to issues of the “Atonement” arc and a couple of other spots was eehhh. Otherwise, I dug most of this edition and would recommend this as a follow up to Bruce Wayne Murderer?, to any Bat-enthusiast, or fan of Brubaker or Rucka.

[Arianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't felt a single emotion in a month and this made me feel at least... five different ones? That's my raging endorsement of this comic book.

This might be an unpopular opinion but I think Bruce's characterization throughout this arc is exceptional. The dynamics with his various associates are strong, even when they're not examined in depth. Sasha's story is tragic and I found it to be the most compelling part of the book.

"Bruce Wayne, Murderer?" included way to much filler that was completely irrelevant to the main plot whereas this book is a lot tighter and more interesting. The only part I found lackluster is when they brought back Azrael and his psychosis, I felt like it could have been a big moment of growth for Bruce instead of the big pile of nothing it was.

[Dr Rashmit Mishra · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can read this review along with other on my blog at https://ablogaboutbook.wordpress.com/...

The Concluding Chapter of the Fugitive saga , answers a lot of questions and delivers on some points and even brings back some light into the life of Bruce Wayne and yet on many level it falls a little flat in comparison to it's predecessor which I reviewed HERE!



Authors - Greg Rucka, Kelley Puckett, Chuck Dixon

Illustrators - Devin Grayson, Ed Brubaker, Pete Woods , Trevor McCarthy , Steve Lieber , Phil Noto , Lonardo Manco , William Rosado , Dave Johnson , Rick Burchett , Roger Robinson , Scott McDaniel , Rick Leonardi , Damion Scott

What I liked :

The book had a lot of good thing to look forward to as not only was the revelation of the criminal a bit of unexpected the mind behind the set up was really a shocker . But aside from the simple conclusion of the story there were many other good things going for this series .

One of the key things that was specially endearing for this book was the book focused on the possibility of a world with no Bruce Wayne and just a Cold , Calculated and more Effective Batman . The book delves into why the world needs Bruce Wayne as much as it needed Batman and does it spectacularly .

In the end the best thing that the book did was humanize Batman and bring a ray of hope and light back into the character that seemed to have disappeared since the events of No Man Land and Death of Jason Todd and Paralysis of Barbara Gordon .

What I Didn't Like :

For as good as the mystery , the Humanizing and characterization maybe the book was dulled out for some strange reason and this was done by addition of lots of irrelevant and off topic filler stories . This broke the rhythm of the story one too many time and became quite annoying .

Some of the actions of various characters also didn't make much sense on many point and the whole Sasha thing was also very weird and abrupt .



The Art was just horrible and inconsistent and I have talked about it in my part 1 review as well , the reason for the inconsistency was the amount of artists used and the story spanning through multiple issues . The various art styles were very annoying and most of the art styles were actually pretty bad .

Part of the charm behind the book was readers pondering how Batman will get out of this whole mess and then get his name cleared without revealing he is Batman and the first part was done very well but the part about clearing Bruce Wayne's name was done very abruptly and felt pretty anti-climatic

Conclusions:

While the first volume of this epic and lengthy story was very much one of the best plot-wise , this book fell short because of it's filler stories that kept breaking the rhythm of the book . That said the overall mystery and the key plot was really nice and the story was still very good and I would still recommend the two part books for Batman fans, but compared to how good the first book was, the 2nd one was a little flat and it became a somewhat above average book instead of what promised to be a superb story

[Atlas · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was a real nice G-Novel...looking forwarde to the next comic that I`ll read :)

[Daria · Rating 5 out of 5]

YET AGAIN AMAZING. I haven't enjoyed a Batman saga in a while, and honestly? This was an absolute joy to read. (besides the azrael bit which. by God. the world would be a better place if we stopped inserting Jean Paul in all of the Batman storylines)

First of all. Everything to do with Cass?????? Fucking insane. The strongest part of this entire story was her. Her acting as Vesper Fairchild and getting beaten up by Dick to figure out how she was killed? Brilliant. Her seeing Batman as a murderer and feeling another father figure slip through her fingers? Insane.
Her visiting Cain at the very end and ending up beating him up and telling him that if he kills ever again she kills him? Ahhhh. Wow. Wow. Batgirl slayed this arc.

Bruce's interaction with the cop? And him telling Batman that he doesn't believe Bruce killed Fairchild? And just being overall heartbreaking? (It being completely obliterated by Azrael because why wouldn't it be?) Genuinely sweet. His character development in this story was amazing to witness, someone actually understands batman.
Similarly when he reconciles himself with everyone AND APOLOGISES???? Sobbed. He's just a guy. A guy with so many issues but a guy nonetheless. When he gives Cass a little birthday present at the very end because it's been a year since she's been batgirl? Bawled.

Sasha's prison arc was also great, although the end was a bit. Well. Much. Idk. Romance with Batman always feels so displaced.

Finally, the killer being revealed??? And the motives???? And the confrontation with Batman about it???? 10/10. Truly an amazing batman arc.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

SCORE: 55 | C+
TRIGGERS: graphic violence
REVIEW: This book is just boring. I enjoyed Bruce Wayne - Murderer?, and there are some moments here and there which remind me why I decided to continue reading this story, but that's not enough to save this. Not only does the storyline feel bloated, full of exposition and downright forgettable at times, it really suffers from the fact that it has so much potential which it doesn't live up to. As stated in my review of Bruce Wayne - Murderer?, I love a good crime story. Sadly, Bruce Wayne Fugutive seems to lose the magic and delivers a mediocre story, writing which can feel extremely bland and art which it doesn't feel very deserving of. Batman has so many great stories out there, and I would suggest looking elsewhere to get your fix of The Dark Knight.

[Tom Ewing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a masterpiece, but I handed it an extra star for bringing back bittersweet memories of when Batman (and DC in general) had strong writers allowed to work through grounded plots with coherent editorial planning. Criss-crossing between half a dozen titles beyond the core Batman book, Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive compares favourably to most events in that almost all of them contribute something useful to the main plot. (Let us not speak of Azrael: Agent Of The Bat).

The core idea is strong - though I think a bit more could have been done with Bruce-in-prison - and if the solution to the whodunnit feels a little shruggy now, that’s partly because the last decade has seen most of the carefully built up continuity it rests on scrubbed from the record. At 1000 pages it’s hardly fat-free, but it’s leaner than you’d imagine, and has more interesting things to say about the character than either the Snyder or King runs managed.

[Supratim Dhar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the finest Batman story I have ever read. Inspiration comes from unexpected places and people. Batman almost had shed his alter ego but a policeman who gave some comfort to little bruce changed it. Even Dick or Barbara couldn't do it.
At the end Bruce seemed more human than ever. Touching all the emotions and smiling; even for a short amount of time; it's worth it.

[Chaitra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bruce Wayne and his bodyguard Sasha something are suspected of murdering Vesper Lynd, she of the radio show. Actually the murder happened in Bruce Wayne, Murderer? which I saw in my library and didn't pick up because I thought this collection was newer and that it included issues about the murder. By the time I figured out it didn't, I was past caring. And in any case, it's not all that hard to piece it together.

What did get left off was why the Bat Fam minus Oracle suspected him in the first place, but they did. In this collection, they decide to recreate the murder and see if they can figure out who did it. In this edition, Bruce Wayne has supposedly skipped out of the country, and Sasha is serving her sentence because she's loyal that way. I liked who the killer was, and one of the Bat Family member's reaction to that. I also liked Sasha.

According to the author's note, the main idea behind this book apparently is Sasha, and by making Bats dubiously fall in love with her, they were trying to give him a tiny bit more emotion than a piece of brick. But all it did for me is show yet again that Batman is a jerk. Hush did a better job, even though he's a jerk in that one too.

[Aidan]

While the execution and pacing issue to issue varies, the core ideas at the heart of this crossover are some of the best use of Batman’s broader continuity I’ve seen, the true culprit was surprising and made complete sense, and we got a clean conclusion both to threads begun back in No Man’a Land and to Bruce’s increasingly antagonistic relationships with those around him. The Rucka issues are still the best and have a bittersweet ending for Bruce and Sasha. Always wish we got more of her, so I’m excited for Checkmate. Its tough seeing this era of Batman essentially come to a close especially since so much of this new status quo gets reversed or ignored prior to the whole universe getting a complete reboot, but I’m excited for the remaining Rucka and Brubaker material before that happens.

[Victoria Hawco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most ridiculous cover ever. Still pretty good.

[Ángel Rodes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Bien por el lado detectivesco y la historia de Sasha, pero se me ha hecho muy largo y he acabado leyendo bastante por encima. Mucha paja para la falta de confrontación final.

[Liz.Loki · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

"I am Bruce Wayne. I always have been." CRIED I loved this comic so much!

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

Nice to see the conclusion and the real killer of Vesper Fairchild.

[Lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a disappointing conclusion to me after Bruce Wayne Murderer?
I felt as though the story wrapped up much earlier than the book ended and it was a scramble to make it seem it longer

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

A thoroughly underwhelming finale to a thoroughly underwhelming crossover. I just can't believe how hard this storyline falls off a cliff. As I mentioned in my review of Bruce Wayne, Murderer?, the beginning of this whole saga was so good. Compelling, mysterious, human. The writers were really dealing with how Bruce Wayne being framed for murder would cause havoc amongst the Bat Family, both logistically and emotionally.

Then, somewhere towards the end of the previous book, it fell apart. The emotional element was completely dropped in favor of Bruce randomly becoming an asshole who did not act even remotely like himself, all based on an emotional change he has off-panel, which is never really dealt with. This volume picks up in the middle of that, and never manages to save the story.

First of all, the actual solution to the mystery is upsettingly weak. After 1.5 large volumes, where the murder seemed like a mystery that could never be solved, all of a sudden they just kind of solve it on a dime. The reveal of the true killer isn't shocking or interesting or rooted in anything we've seen throughout the story. It's just an out-of-left-field info dump followed by a short fight.

Then, after this, we get several issues of "fallout," none of which manage to tell us anything we didn't already know about the case, or reveal anything new about the characters. The final 3-4 issues of this collection honestly feel like filler, which is a pretty wild way to go out.

In any case, this whole saga was an interesting idea that was unfortunately not executed very well, which seems to be about how these kinds of events worked in the early 2000s. Disappointing!

[Nate]

The first half of this book is basically leading up to the confrontation with the perpetrator. Oracle and the others whittle down the clues while Batman gets over his angst and finally works with them. Aside from the Azrael stuff, there are some strong issues here, especially “Turning Point” by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Batman talks with the man who investigated his parents murder in what’s probably the best single issue of the entire storyline. Unfortunately I found the reveal to be somewhat underwhelming. I’m not disappointed by the person or reason behind the frame, but the confrontation is very rushed. It was over in no time and I felt it could’ve used another issue at least.

After this, we get a number of epilogue issues dealing with the aftermath. Greg Rucka notably starts his Checkmate storyline with Sasha Bordeaux, while she and Bruce reconcile with bittersweet results. I have to say, Rucka made Sasha a more interesting character than she had any right to be across his Detective run. My favorite issue in the epilogue section, however, is Devin Grayson’s “24/7” where Bruce does good deeds over the span of a day. It’s a rare Batman story that’s truly happy from beginning to end.

Murderer and Fugitive remain one of the better Batman crossovers of the era. Bruce goes through a lot of changes and is forced to confront who he is and what he has become to those around him. He’s an infuriating asshole at times, but his journey is fairly compelling (though I still don’t like that he broke out of jail for seemingly no reason). Identity is a major theme, along with the whole mystery aspect, and it comes together nicely by the end. This is also a solid farewell to Rucka and Brubaker before they go on to do their best Batman work in Gotham Central.

[Aler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts off amazingly by continuing Nightwing and Oracle's detective work from the previous book and bringing some resolution. The highlight is the Batgirl issue with the OG Batman Who Laughs cover where everybody goes into the explanation of this perfect crime, but from there the threads begin to unravel. There are many a loose end to tie up from the first story, and unfortunately they are not very neatly resolved. The Bordeaux storyline comes back in full swing but its resolution is itself deflated. Checkmate enters the fray looking badass but ultimately fizzles out unceremoniously. The pathos of Sasha Bordeaux's 'decision' falls completely flat and many of the emotional minutiae that are supposedly underpinning Batman's reacceptance of Bruce Wayne are somewhat flimsily done. That journey isn't made as clear as it should have been. I think ultimately this conclusion suffers from too many chefs. There are far too many irrelevant storylines and the gravitas of the reveal of the true murderer is marred by the many intermissions that each writer and standalone comic meanders through. I was very excited for the fantastic edge-of-your-seat conclusion to 'Murderer' but in many ways this fell a bit flat - if only for its weak pacing. This story itself is probably an 8.2 and the overall BW:M storyline an 8.5

That all being said, this storyline would make a FANTASTIC film if a genius mind could trim some of the fat into a thrilling script. I'm eagerly awaiting that movie.

[Jefferson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essa é uma continuação direta de Batman: Murderer, ambos fazem parte do mesmo arco.

Bruce escapa da prisão e fica muito irritado pelo que aconteceu com ele. Batman decide abandonar Bruce Wayne e decide viver apenas como Batman, mas depois encontra um motivo para retornar o Bruce Wayne dentro dele. O foco principal aqui é descobrir quem foi que armou contra Bruce.

Como disse no review da primeira parte desde arco, aqui em Batman: Fugitive acontece os mesmos erros, há muito entrelaçamento de série principal de outros personagens que muitas vezes focam em coisas que não tem nada haver. Fica uma mistura de situações da vida de personagens da Bat-família com a busca do culpado por armar o crime contra Bruce Wayne, que deveria ser o único foco deste arco. Mas creio que esse tipo de problema não era exclusivo desta história, mas da maioria, se não todas, as histórias desta época.

Um ponto forte que gostei muito é a Bat-Família usando tudo que aprenderam do Batman para buscar o culpado por armar o crime contra Bruce Wayne e mesmo que todas as evidências levem a culpa para Bruce, juntos conseguem pistas para acreditar que não foi Bruce que matou Vesper.

3 Estrelas. No geral achei do mesmo nível de Batman: Murderer. Eu daria 4 estrelas se não fosse a falta de foco na história principal e a enrolação.

[Brad McKenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

If they added the first third or so of the Bruce Wayne: Murder with this book, it would have been a lot better.

I loved the introduction of the cop that was on the Thomas and Martha Wayne killings. There have been so many retconing of the origin of Batman that I'm surprised this aspect hadn't been explored before now. I just wish there had been more to this subplot. Though, to be fair, getting Batman to realize the importance of being Bruce Wayne is kind the crux of this story. But I thought they passed over this facet of his history too quickly.

I also like how the "killed" Sasha and then had the Checkmate organization bring her back. I'd not heard of Checkmate before this series and am intrigued with it. I also liked how she decided to go all in with her new identity and when Bruce comes to mend fences, she said, leave me alone. For a wonder, he does. Love will do that.

Lastly, the entire frame being done by David Cain on behalf of an unknown (but perhaps poorly kept secret *cough*President Luthor*cough*) just so he could see if Batman was worthy of his daughter was really good. I love the Batgirl character and see how she constantly grows beyond her trauma.

Good stuff.

[Comics Instrucciones de uso · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me sorprende este irregular libro, debido a que fue publicado cuando a cargo de las numerosas series de Batman estaban varios guionistas super estrellas, como Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka y Devin Grayson. Me pregunto de quién habrá sido la idea original: ¿de los propios guionistas? ¿de los editores? El asunto es que aquí vemos a Batman renegando de su identidad de Bruce Wayne luego de su acusación de asesinato. Lo más interesante es cómo sus aliados: Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, etc., se esfuerzan por resolver el asesinato ¿lo cometió realmente Batman o es una trampa? En cambio la conducta de Batman no se entiende, no llega a calzar con el carácter: esa terquedad es impropia suya, pero sobre todo es reprochable lo que hace al final (no lo detallaré) con la estimable Sasha Bordeaux, quien estaba en la cárcel por su culpa. Lo único que me queda pensar es que Greg Rucka estaba poco interesado en esta historia, y sólo le importaban los planes que tenía más adelante para Sasha (ella será más adelante la protagonista de ese gran comic llamado "CheckMate"). Por último la inserción de Azrael en la historia (que en esa época estaba a cargo del gran Chuck Dixon), es absurda, no aporta nada. Una historia irregular, con cierto atractivo, pero con no pocos momentos enervantes.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fitting conclusion to the Bruce Wayne: Murderer? story, but the coda to the main story seems out of place and drags the story well past where it should have ended.

The story picks up with the Bat Family, now knowing who framed Bruce Wayne for murder, attempting to set all things right. The main story, though, is about Bruce repairing his public reputation as well as his relationships with the Bat Family. This is presented as a series of compelling character pieces. I found this to be incredibly enjoyable, and the Rucka - Brubaker writing team really knows how to write character pieces.

The conclusion to Sasha Bordeaux's story arc was not particularly satisfying to me, and the post-climax issues just seemed tacked on. Scott McDaniel returns to pencil some issues, and his visual style is about as pleasing as repeatedly spraying yourself in the eye with concentrated lemon juice. Some of the other art, especially in Batgirl, is overly-cartoonish.

On the whole, the book is really good, thanks to the writing of Rucka and Brubaker, and really worth reading for any Bat Family fan.

[David Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman fans are in for a real treat! The murder mystery continues as Batman (who has now sworn off being Bruce Wayne) continues to fight crime and putting the murder behind him, while Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl and Oracle work to clear Bruce Wayne.

While strangely aloof in the first novel (Bruce Wayne; Murderer?) Batman starts to become a little more cooperative in this novel. It's never fully explained why he (Batman) suddenly brushed aside all his allies, which was a big question I had as I read, seems like IF he's innocent, he would welcome their help. However. in this novel the mystery starts to come together as the clues add up to a shocking conclusion. Did Bruce Wayne really commit murder? If not, what does he know or does not know about it? If Bruce Wayne is innocent, then how did the culprit get into Wayne Manor? How did he/she know Bruce Wayne's every move and that he is Batman?

Readers will keep turning the pages as the Bat-Family unravels this great mystery which (Spoiler Alert) even has ties to No Man's Land and the mystery is solved with shocking results.

[Andrew Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice compilation of what was formally three volumes. I appreciate DC doing this larger compilations of great arcs, especially as digital editions become more prevalent.

Anyways this early 2000s crossover event continues from "Bruce Wayne: Murderer? The mystery slowly begins to unravel of what happened to Vesper and the Bat-Family investigated the murder, utilizing all of the crime solving techniques Bruce had taught them all. It's a satisfying tie back to see Bruce's prodigies all band together to help him, even though he's being a stubborn ass by shedding his Bruce Wayne identity and going full Batman 24/7.

The story wraps up in a manner that I found to be satisfying and was wonderful conclusion to Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker's runs on the Batman titles. If you enjoy more of the atmosphere from this cross over, the limited run series, Gotham Central, provides much more of the police procedural feel.

[Carlo Gnutti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Continuazione di “Bruce Wayne: assassino?”, ma c’è pochissimo sviluppo della trama orizzontale, a favore di miniserie abbastanza indipendenti e scialbe. Nei due numeri con Nicodemus, per esempio, si capiva subito che dietro alla maschera ci fosse il politico Thomas Hart.
Anche i disegni sono molto altalenanti: il numero più bello in assoluto a livello grafico e’ “il becchino parte 2”, coi disegni di Leonardo Manco, ma non sono male neanche il primo numero, disegnato da Scott McDaniel, in cui i personaggi assumono delle pose molto plastiche ed eleganti, ed il numero con Batman e Superman, disegnato da Roger Robinson, in cui c’e’ un ottimo uso delle ombre.
I numeri della testata Nightwing invece hanno dei disegni davvero orribili
Nell’ultimo numero del volume si cita direttamente Batman Anno Uno.

[Sotofunkdamental · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy buena lectura, que te mantendrá realmente interesado en la historia, dividida en dos partes (Bruce Wayne: ¿Asesino? y Bruce Wayne: Fugitivo). Argumento: "Acusado de matar a su ex novia Vesper Fairchild, Bruce Wayne es enviado a la prisión de Blackgate... solo para escapar, iniciando una persecución por toda la ciudad. Ahora Batman se ha ido, renunciando a su verdadera identidad y operando más profundo en las sombras que nunca. Le corresponde a su familia extendida: Nightwing, Robin, Oráculo, Batgirl, Spoiler y Alfred descubrir quién realmente cometió el asesinato. Si bien las pistas apuntan a una posible configuración, nadie puede negar que esas mismas pistas podrían señalar la culpabilidad real de Batman".