Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1 of 6
DC Comics
Morrison, Sprouse & Story
As Bruce Wayne begins his journey back home we find him at square one in this issue. Bruce is literally babbling, seemingly incoherently, while living during some part of a caveman period. What we have is a standalone story within the mini series about Bruce. Bruce gains some strength in this issue as he endears himself to one tribe while his instincts as Batman help him against another. It's a very good story pitting a very raw Bruce Wayne against opponents that appear to be every bit as dangerous as the normal cast he finds in present day Gotham.
A group of one tribe stumbles upon a ship. While they deliberate the meaning of the ship, the footprints and everything else they observe they find a cave. A cave with bats in it. Bruce emerges, with half of his bat-suit and his utility belt. He can't seem to put together much in the way of conversation but the group seems to be willing to take Bruce in.
Eventually a rival tribe comes along and the alpha dog takes Bruce after delivering a brutal beating to the rest of the group. Bruce, still out of sorts, seems to be at the man's mercy. However, he is Batman. The expectation is that Batman can, and does, get out of every situation. But does he always do it alone? Sometimes his companions help. It seems like Batman makes powerful friends very easily and usually brings out the best in them.
There's a lot to like in this issue. For one thing, the tribe that finds Bruce all have a little bit of his regular world within the tribe. There are characters with strong detective skills and logic, like a Gordon, there is a youth growing into a responsible leader, like a Dick Grayson and so on. To companion that, the rival tribe has the imposing menacing leader. He reminded me a lot of Bane, but he could also have some pieces of other characters in him.
The issue also lays out a lot of clues as to how and why Bruce is stuck in some sort of time jumping situation. The other mystery about what is wrong with his mind doesn't have as clear of set of clues dropped in this issue but I am sure subsequent reads will reveal more and more.
The artwork is a terrific throwback to the classic barbarian comic book artists of Frank Frazetta or Joe Kubert. The aspect that stands out is the blood red backgrounds. The ability to add an extra level to the primitive nature of the time period with the background choices impressed me greatly. This art effort was outstanding and the story was made so much more enjoyable because of it.
Bruce Wayne is alive and stuck in a time loop and this is the first issue of his adventure. Bruce isn't fully Bruce so he needs some help and in this comic he gets some. However, others are in pursuit of him to make the comic book have a nice cliffhanger. You get thirty eight pages of a great artwork and a very cool story. I am definitely looking forward to the next issue to see how Bruce fairs in a different time period.
4.5 out of 5 Geek Goggles
