by Randy Lander

BATMAN #600 Highly Recommended (9/10) DC Comics "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive Part 1: The Scene of the Crime" Writer: Ed Brubaker Pencils: Scott McDaniel Inks: Andy Owens Letters: John Costanza "The Mystery of the Black Bat" Writer: Ed Brubaker Artist: James Tucker Letters: Eric Shanower "Joker Tips His Hat" Writer: Ed Brubaker Artist: Stefano Gaudiano Artist/Letters: Eric Shanower "The Dark, Groovy, Solid, Far-out, Right-on and Completely With-it Knight Returns" Writer: Patton Oswalt Artist: Sergio Aragones Artist/Letters: Eric Shanower Colors: Gregory Wright & Wildstorm FX Editor: Bob Schreck Price: $3.95 US/$6.50 CAN While most writers seem to suffer from crossovers, even the best ones, Ed Brubaker seems to have gotten a bit of a shot in the arm from the "Bruce Wayne: Murderer?" story, and the "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive" story benefits from that energy as well. There's an intensity to the character interaction that I didn't feel in the months before, and the confrontations between Batman and his allies in this issue carry a number of surprises and very effective emotional moments. McDaniel's work isn't quite as accomplished at depicting emotion as I would have liked for the story, but his strength with action storytelling comes in very handy for the main story. As for the rest of this double-sized anniversary issue, while I don't have the fondness for giant anniversary issues that Brubaker talks about in his text piece, I do have a fondness for the creators who worked on them, and all of the stories were both excellent tributes and fun stories in their own right. Ever since Frank Miller got his hands on him, Batman has moved from being driven to downright deranged, and recent Bat creators have exacerbated that personality shift, turning an obsession into more of a danger to those around him. That all comes to a head this issue, as minor conflicts of personality that have been running with Robin and Batgirl finally spill over onto Nightwing, and the whole thing is an incredibly intense confrontation between the various allies. The result is a lot more mystery in the question of "Did Bruce Wayne actually kill someone?" as well as a change of direction for Bruce Wayne: Fugitive right out of the gate. While I had assumed it would be the police looking for Wayne, it seems that it may also have Batman's allies looking for him. In addition, there are many hints in this issue that the murder of Vesper Fairchild wasn't what it looked like. Though it may in fact have been a murder, there are disturbing hints that Batman set it up, that he allowed it to happen to free himself. The clues in this issue, though they may all be red herrings, will spin those of us who are trying to figure out the mystery as it goes along in new and intriguing directions. While McDaniel's art is not ideally suited to the emotional subtleties of the confrontation between Batman and his allies, once the conflict turns physical, he is truly in his element. The fight ranges through the Batcave, which feels impossibly and impressively huge, and the sense of violence in the artwork helps to convey the emotional turmoil that comes with the physical violence. In addition, Batman's more stand-offish attitude comes across in the way he carries himself, both in the fight and in the closing segment of the issue. The rest of the issue is made up of three stories that purport to be "lost" tales from past eras. In fact, they're created by Brubaker and a couple of impressive guest artists, aside from the last one which is by television writer Patton Oswalt and legendary artist Sergio Aragones. That story, by the way, is hilariously funny and worth the price of admission all by itself, particularly if you have a fondness for 70s jokes. The other two stories, a dead-on riff on a Sprang-era story and an equally impressive 60s-style Batman tale with art by Stefano Gaudiano, are a lot of fun, whether you enjoy them as a throwback to an older style of story or a tongue-in-cheek parody of the same. Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.