I have read a lot of comics over the past 55 years and I don’t think I ask for much. Everybody has their own preferences for artists and writers, but I like a well-plotted out story, which makes sense. Consistency is not the hobgoblin of little minds when you are dealing with a 70-year continuity in the comics universe. I can accept any premise as long as the story flows from it consistently. I can accept coming from a larger planet with a red sun causing the last son to have super powers. I cannot accept tossing plastic Ss or teleportation after 50 years or so. I can accept being bitten by a radioactive spider giving someone super powers, but not a demon reordering the entire universe so someone’s marriage can disappear.

So Batman 682 hits the store and I go “WHA?!?!?!”

The next day I get my regular call from DC, which usually means they are trying to sell me something. I, also, get to ask them any questions that we get that we can’t answer. So I asked my rep what he hell is going on in this book. Is Bats dead or not (comic dead, that is)? It seemed he got his helicopter blown up in 681, but ends up being tortured in 682. Does RIP take place before or after Crisis? He’s in Crisis so it’s unlikely RIP takes place before, but the world is supposed to be quite a different place after Crisis and it doesn’t seem to be here. What gives?

So, I got three different people from DC arguing and we all came to the same conclusion. We don’t know. I can live with the story being a jumbled mess that is supposed to make one think about what the author is trying to say, but this goes way over the line. Maybe in 683 he’ll be Bat-Baby and we can start all over again.