Batman #697 - DC

So far I've enjoyed this story-line that Tony Daniel has given us here. But . . it really didn't surprise me a whole lot that Black Mask was Jeremiah Arkham. Well . . maybe I should rephrase that. The Black Mask thing was kind of a surprise. But . . it didn't surprise me that Jeremiah had gone over the edge. From the Arkham mini-series you just kind of had a feeling that he was hanging on by a very thin thread. Although . . after reading this, I guess the argument could be made that it wasn't entirely his fault. It seems that the Black Mask is posessed. We don't know exactly what's going on, but . . when Jeremiah was wearing it, he seemed to be arguing with himself . . in two very distinct personalities. So . . either the mask is posessed, or Jeremiah is seriously unhinged. And, while I don't doubt that, I think it's more of a problem with the mask. So, now that Dick has defeated Black Mask, and Jeremiah is sitting inside of his very own cell, Dick seems to have taken the mask back to the trophy room. So you have to ask . . who'll be the next one to put it on? You know it's going to happen sooner or later. It's just a matter of . . who? Like I said . . I've enjoyed Tony's run here. I thought he's done a great job. Especially after following up someone like Grant Morrison. Unfortunately, it looks like he'll only be here for 2 more issues. Issue #700 will be written by Grant. But Tony will still be on board for the art. As far as #701 goes . . I have no idea . . yet.