Graphic Novel Review: Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader?

Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? is a short graphic novel that served as the “end” of the Batman title and Detective Comics.  It represents the psychological issues Batman deals with during the end of Batman R.I.P. storyline.

I was given this as a gift. I was not familiar with it, but I was pleasantly surprised. The story covers the funeral of Batman. All of his friends and enemies are present. Each take turns talking about how Batman died. Each story is different from the last and each is drawn in a different style to honor the great artists throughout the Batman mythos.

This was not a typical Batman-catching-a-bad-guy story. It was a way to celebrate everything we remember about Batman. I was especially touched and entertained by Alfred’s story where he tells the crowd he hired actors to play Batman’s villains and Alfred himself took on the role of the Joker to entertain a mentally disturbed Bruce Wayne. While each story is told of  Batman’s death there are also a lot of cameos  from Batman’s past such as an old man version of Joe Chill (the man who killed Bruce Wayne’s parents), Superman and others.

Also included are two origin stories of the Riddler and Posion Ivy. The writer is Neal Gaiman (Sandman, The Graveyard Book) and the art is done by Andy Kubert. You can pick it up on Amazon Here or a local  comic book shop near you Here. For more on Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? check out Wikipedia.

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