Batman: Bruce Wayne--Murderer Turned Fugitive Omnibus

by Kelley Puckett, Patton Oswalt, Ed Brubaker

Genres: Comics, Batman, Graphic Novels

1184 pages, Hardcover

First published October 9, 2002

About the author

Kelley Puckett is a comic book writer. He is the creator of the character Cassandra Cain, the Batgirl who succeeded Barbara Gordon and who was succeeded herself by Stephanie Brown, as well as the second Green Arrow, Connor Hawke.

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's be real—an omnibus filled with Ed Brubaker writing Bruce Wayne? That's a fucking dream come true, especially if you're a fan of his work on titles like Criminal or Kill or Be Killed. Brubaker is, to me, the master of crime stories, and I was absolutely set on catching up with this back in the 2010s.

Now, rereading this entire event in order, it's even better. The initial setup is brilliant: Bruce Wayne is convicted of murdering an old lover. Everything points to him because the culprit knows so much about who Bruce Wayne truly is. Since Batman is a pretty big secret, the fact that this person knows everything makes for a truly fun "whodunit" in the beginning.

The second half of this omnibus focuses entirely on Bruce Wayne becoming Batman. There's no more Bruce; now, it's just Batman. This is a very dark take on the character, as he essentially gives up his humanity to become Gotham's protector, 100%. This progression makes a lot of sense if you've read events like Knightfall and No Man's Land leading up to this.

There are some weaker moments in the later half, mostly because it feels a bit disjointed. The inclusion of the Robin story in this omnibus doesn't really make much sense; it has very little to do with Bruce or Batman. And I will say that the ending felt more like it was setting up Checkmate rather than delivering a conclusive Batman story.

However, when it comes to character work, Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka truly capture who Batman is: a detective, a man, a superhero trying to just do what's right. The supporting cast, from Nightwing to Barbara to even Sasha, all work incredibly well around Bruce.

While it's not perfect, I still think this omnibus is great and well worth the read. I'm giving this one a very solid high 4 out of 5.

[OmniBen · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review) 2.75/5
Well... That was certainly disappointing. Given the 60 gillion issues of Batman there are out there, and the scant handful of omni's we get of this character, I rightly thought that this material would be a fantastic. Surely DC's flagship character would only ever get the best of the best. Well, seems 'the best' had a couple of years off in the early 2000's, cause this barely scraped mediocre for the majority, and was only good for a half dozen issue at most.
As average as large chunks of the writing is here, it is the art which absolutely lets this book down. I'm not sure what the editorial policy was at this time, or whether this messy, cartoonish slop was in vogue and so was being done to death, but the storytelling suffers significantly because of it. Stephen Liber does some gorgeous pencils, so how the managed to butcher it so badly with the inks and colours I'll never know, but every other penciller on here shouldn't be within a country mile of the flagship character. They'd be lucky to get a back up story in the annual of a D list character if I was in charge, but that's my own little fantasy. The three part short story thrown in at the very end of the book has better art, inking and colour work than EVERYTHING else in this book, yet has little to nothing to do with the story itself. Kind of says it all regarding the rest of this.
To give us this, given the dozens of runs and titles that fans have been clamoring for for years, feels like a slap in the face. Something modern DC are quite adept at. The fans deserve better. Batman deserves better. I deserve better. I'll keep it, but boy oh boy was I close to letting this one go. 2.75/5


OmniBen.

[TheMadReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have been a masterpiece. The beginning of this story started off very strong and intriguing however, the end result was weak and…a borderline let down. The concept was cool and Chuck Dixon’s and Greg Rucka’s issues were most interesting to me. Brubaker didn’t deliver on his end. Let’s not even talk about the Geoff Johns issues.

I’d give this 3.5/5 the real question is, was it really worth an omnibus with so many other great Batman stories out there?

[Tom Duffy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda meanders as a lot of these cross-title story arcs tend to. I was hoping there'd be more of a Gotham Central-police procedural vibe to this overall but the creative team doesn't spend a ton of time on the actual mystery of the murder. It's more focused on Batman once again shutting out his family for mostly no reason, taking whole issues away from the central conflict to focus on other crimes Batman's solving. It's bizarre to me how little we actually understand what Bruce thinks or feels about what's happening to him throughout this. He is typically a man of few words in most depictions but it really baffles me how quickly he seems to resign himself to burning the Bruce Wayne persona. They're trying to say something about how Batman ultimately needs Bruce Wayne to be whole but the setup and payoff of that idea don't really cohere into a satisfying arc. Bruce KNOWS he's innocent! Why would he just sit there and let the world steamroll him? I hadn't read this whole storyline for years and I always assumed he escaped prison so that he could solve the murder himself but for some reason that's not what happens!

As always, the saving grace is the artwork. Some of it is better than others but Scott McDaniel and Damion Scott were two of the real powerhouses of 2000s Batman comics so it's always awesome to revisit their work. Overall I'm disappointed. I really wanted to love this one but it just didn't totally work for me. It's still 2000s Batman so I'm inclined to be lenient but yeah, not what I was hoping for!

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was great, it was well written and I really liked the kinda cartoony art style. Considering all the writers involved it was actually surprisingly cohesive. The Brubaker sections are definitely the best, followed closely by Rucka. While I didn’t care much for the Ted Kord stuff it wasn’t bad. Rucka and Steve Lieber’s readable story of impurities in drugs killing people veers into strange territory, but has little to do with whether Wayne is guilty or not, and moves that plot not an iota. Neither does the following Mortician material from Grayson, Robinson and then Leonardo Manco’s stylish art.

The short of it is that the entire story opens well here and closes strongly towards the end in Fugitive, but is bloated by plenty of mediocre or peripheral material, and an entire platoon of writers and artists are used, leading to jarring switches in style. Though I usually hate crossovers in general but I really like how the story switches between different characters while still continuing the overall plot. In my honest opinion this is a must read for Batman fans at least.

[Langston Lardi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid early 2000’s Batman run, one that starts very strong and the mystery keeps you engaged for most of the book, and I appreciate that the ending answer to our mystery wasn’t what I expected to be, only thing stopping this book from a higher rating is something I noticed with even the Hush omnibus, that being that once the mystery of grand plan or villain is revealed the story then wraps up so fast that we can’t really revel in the twist or go along with it as it wraps up so fast. Then the remaining issues we get after the main plot is wrapped up are some additional stories which are never bad, just usually never great. The main story itself is very enjoyable, seeing Bruce Wayne on the run, and seeing the early 2000s bat fam try and clear his name and save him against his own will. Never a dull story in here and each issue is engaging enough to make you want to read the next one. Especially the nightwing and of course Batman issues. Overall recommend to any Batman fan/collector, so long as you go in expecting some good to decent Batman stories then you’ll have a good time.

[Ethan J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good Batman story due to how it deals with the strain that Batman has put on the Bat-Family by being, well, himself. He views Bruce Wayne - himself - as an unfortunately necessary evil, he views the people closest to him as a liability, and he thinks that the costumes and secrets are the only thing in life that truly make any sense. What holds this back from being a truly great Batman story is the padded out middle and pitfalls of a crossover such as bloated subplots. The ending didn't entirely feel satisfactory, within the confines of this story at least, but I was seriously impressed by how it tied together so many of the important themes and characters from such a massive era of comics.

Amazing collection that I think will be a new mandatory piece for any Bat-collectors.

[Joakim Ax · Rating 4 out of 5]

It´s been a good time since I last read the Bruce Wayne Murderer/Fugitive story. I would say that this time was the best even though it´s probably my third time reading it to completion.

It´s a classic who done it and it explores on of the settings that Brubaker is very familiar with placing his main characters in. How would our hero cope in prison. Succumb to the flawed system that made them take up their vigilante ways in the first place or do something about it from within?

This read suprisingly even quicker in the omnibus format. All the small stories that woulnd´t add to the main narrative tucked in the back as extra-material almost. A book table of content and numbered pages. You know the bar is low when you start seeing those things as note-worthy.

[Christian · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a stretch to say that this is a Batman story. Sure, it has to do with Batman, but mostly this is an excuse to write stories about all his little helpers and their opponents. I think it's written primarily for younger girls, and I'm neither young nor a girl. Given that I thought it was a Batman story, written for Batman readers, it's no surprise that I wouldn't like it much. I just couldn't suss that out from the description. The art follows the same pattern.

The writing is alright. However, it's uninteresting and put together from many small parts that were written and drawn by different creators. It feels scattered and I'm not interested or invested in any of the characters. I stopped halfway

[Andy Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

The early 2000s era Batman where he is more grounded and street-level are the best.
Batman today, while still fun, is too busy introducing new characters and having fantasy elements. This story felt like a real challenge for Batman and the whole Bat-family.

[Sadiel Giron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid event overall. Loved the issues by Brubaker and Scott McDaniel.

[Bryson Grenfell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let’s be real; Brubaker and Rucka on Batman was a dream team.

[Kara Whicker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good

[Rashad Bates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batman: Bruce Wayne—Murderer Turned Fugitive Omnibus is one of the most psychologically arresting Batman stories of the modern era—not because of cosmic threats or world-ending stakes, but because it asks a devastatingly simple question: What happens when the Dark Knight loses Bruce Wayne?

The story begins with Bruce Wayne accused of murdering his girlfriend, Vesper Fairchild. What follows is not a traditional “prove your innocence” arc, but something far more unsettling. Bruce doesn’t fight to clear his name. Instead, he rejects Bruce Wayne entirely, deciding that Batman is his true identity and that the man behind the mask is disposable. That choice fractures both his allies and the narrative itself, turning the Bat-family into investigators, skeptics, and, eventually, pursuers.

What makes Murderer/Fugitive so compelling is its moral weight. The omnibus forces readers to sit with Bruce’s emotional detachment and obsession, questioning whether his mission has hollowed him out beyond repair. Gotham becomes less a city to save and more a mirror reflecting Bruce’s inability to live as anything other than a weapon. The supporting cast—Nightwing, Oracle, Robin, and others—are not sidelined; they are essential voices challenging Bruce’s self-destructive logic, grounding the story in relationships rather than spectacle.

Collected in omnibus form, the scope of the narrative truly shines. The rotating creative teams give the story a serialized, almost procedural feel, which suits the manhunt structure of the arc. While that variety can occasionally disrupt tonal consistency, it also reinforces the central theme: Batman is being watched, judged, and questioned from every angle.

Murderer/Fugitive is not a flashy Batman epic—it’s a slow burn about identity, accountability, and the cost of obsession. For readers interested in Batman as a character study rather than a symbol of invincibility, this omnibus stands as one of the most challenging and rewarding reads in the character’s history

[drown_like_its_1999 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batman and his bodyguard Sasha Bordeaux return from a night on patrol and find the body of Vesper Fairchild, Bruce's love interest, dead on the floor of Wayne Manor. With the police arriving quickly after, Bruce is apprehended and soon charged with murder while Bordeaux is jailed as an accomplice. During a prisoner transfer Batman escapes and decides to abandon the identity of Bruce Wayne, considering it a liability. While Batman's allies consider the implications and plead with him to reconsider, they each investigate the murder independently and Bordeaux is pressured by authorities to name Bruce Wayne the murderer. The caped crusader weighs the value of keeping his natural born identity, reflecting on his fractured personality and what he owes to the people around him.

This was pretty well constructed and had some interesting themes to explore but did little exceptionally outside of some standout issues and better than average storytelling. Bruce's characterization is unsurprisingly stoic and unavailable which provides for some quality batfam moments but feels tired and almost callous in this story. However, most other characters are more dynamic and the conflicts with an aloof Batman provides some nice tension. The art is competent and varied, even if nothing particularly grabbed me outside of the ever reliable Brubaker & Phillips issue (which is undoubtedly the best of the event).

[Josh · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

If it wasn't for the occasional narrative cul de sac detour, the rating would be higher!