Batman #701 - DC

This issue starts to fill us in on the story . . the missing chapter of the RIP story-line, that we've had yet to see. It's the part that we've been missing between when Dr Hurt sent Batman off crashing into the Gotham River. You know, where Dick found his cape and cowl and thought that he might be dead? Well, it fills us in on what was going through Bruce's mind between that and when he was called into the case, by Superman, of Orion's death. Hurt's words keep running through his head. First about his cowl, 'The next time you wear it will be the last.' And later also about his profession when he told Batman that his next case would be his last unless he gave up and joined him. And now, as we know this all leads to his capture and erasure by Darkseid, he has indeed begun to investigate his final case. This story will wrap up next issue, which leads directly into Octobers books where Bruce Wayne will finally return from his trip through time. I gotta say, from the previews I've been looking at, October and November look to be a pretty exciting, and overflowing months for the Batman family of books. Rest assured that Grant Morrison will still be chronicling Batman's adventures. But not necessarily in this title. It appears that Tony Daniel will once again take on the scripting and pencilling of this series. All I can say is . . if Grant can't be here . . I can't think of anyone who would do a better job than Tony. And that's really just the tip of the iceberg. There's going to be a lot of news coming out in the next couple of months about all the shake-ups and reformation in the Batman line of books. It's going to be an exciting couple of months to be a Bat-follower.