Comic Book Resources

Probably my favorite bit.

Hell, that was the best part.

I'm confused. How was it worked into the plot?

Blake: Re-read Thomas Wayne's dialog right before Bruce says "What?" on the last page.

Huh. Ok.

I saw it too but thought it was a hallucination.

It wasn't?

Whew.

Was it just me or was Bruce's speech balloon of "what?" colored yellow for everyone too? Like how the Batman of Zur En Arrh's balloons look?

I liked the story mostly, but "Zorro in arkham" was lame. For one, it sounds barely at all like Zurr en arrh. This is pedantic, but honestly, a "k" is a hard sound to miss. More importantly, why did the phrase need to have some higher significance? I don't think anybody following the story and aware of the 1950's zurr en arrh issue really wondered about the phrase. I think Morrison was trying to tie to theme of apophenia, logic from nonsense, but there's already another, better logic for the phrase which also explains the crazy batsuit.

To me, the thing comes off as a waste of a page, a page that could've definitely been put to better use, maybe giving the Joker a more clear and more interesting defeat or maybe doing something more with the Club of Heroes, whose presence seems really contrived and whose sole purpose in the issue was to give exposition and foreshadow.

"I liked the story mostly, but “Zorro in arkham” was lame. For one, it sounds barely at all like Zurr en arrh. This is pedantic, but honestly, a “k” is a hard sound to miss."

You don't think "Zorr in ar" sounds like "Zurr en arrh"?

You mean it's not a reference to the Tzenah urenah -- the Yiddish language commentary on the Torah traditionally aimed at women? 'Tzenah urenah' literally means 'go out and see'. Honestly thought when I first read it that this bit of esoterica was what GM intended.

I didn't get the Zurr En Arrh thing before this column & clearly didn't give it a ..., trying to understand it, I came with a crazy explanation.

Zorro like all know means Fox, Renard in french & if you read it in one word you get Zu Rrenarrh ( the renard) funny coincidence.

You don’t think “Zorr in ar” sounds like “Zurr en arrh”?

No. I don't think "Zorro in arkham", the whole phrase, can be misheard as "zurr en arrh". Thomas Wayne would have to be slurring pretty hard for Bruce to miss the "k" sound. The significance of the words are that they're the the last his parents said to him before being shot. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense for him to remember the penultimate three syllables but not the last syllable his parents said to him. Since that makes no sense, at least to me, it defeats the purpose of the scene, which is to give reason to the nonsensical term.

Like I said, that was just a minor, pedantic point. The bigger reason why I didn't enjoy it is because I felt "Zurr en Arrh" didn't need any further explanation and that the page could've been used to flesh out some other things in the book that I felt were a little skimpy.

So, like, whatever?

Cass, thank you. It's mildly clever at best, but really a stretch to call if anything more.

That was probably my favourite part of the issue. I actually had to re-read those last few panels straight away to make sure I wasn't reading something into it that wasn't there- if I was, at least I'm not the only one!

Typographical art sidenote:

I keep thinking that I know that font used in that last panel from somewhere. Some movie poster/ad campaign, although my memory's misled me as to it being either The Omen or Twilight Zone.

To paraphrase Cheap Trick:

"Batman's all right, Robin's all right, they just seem a little weird...
Zurr en arrh! Zurr en arrh! But don't give yourself away..."

I haven't read the issue, yet, but what if you're saying it through clenched teeth (or being muffled), that it sounds like (you are ----?).

Just a theory.

When you are caught in a stressful situation, 2 things are apt to happen. Either you remember every detail in a very precise way, or everything tends to blur together. I would argue that seeings your parents gunned down could cause enough stress that your father's last words might become blurred together. 'Zorro in Arkham' would then easily become 'Zor-n-arr', or Zur En Arrh.

Took a while to get it but it was an awesome.

Hmmmmm... Okay, I'm officially retarded. I would have never gotten it. :-/

Mildly clever at best just about sums it up.

Sorry, but it was lame. Just another lame part of a really lame run by Morrison. Hard to believe the guy who wrote Arkham Asylum, the Gothic arc in Legends of the Dark Knight, some excellent work in JLA, and (of course) All Star Superman, has crapped all over Batman like he has over the past couple of years.

Unfortunately, he's ruined the book and the character (Bruce Wayne, the one true Batman) for me. Now that Didio's allowed Morrison to impose his will on the Bat-books and the DCU I'm done with it until Bruce is back and Morrison's stuff is more or less ignored, or even retconned. A shame, because I've mostly loved Detective Comics all this time. Paul Dini's work has been excellent, including the Heart of Hush storyline. That's what deserved all the attention that RIP itself got.

Well you won't have too long to wait. Even DiDio isn't pretending that Bruce Wayne is really dead:

"Batman and alter ego Bruce Wayne are not dead, according to DC Comics executive editor Dan DiDio.

The caped crusader apparently falls to his death in a helicopter explosion at the conclusion of Grant Morrison's Batman R.I.P., moments after adversary the Black Glove reveals that he is actually Batman's father, Dr Thomas Wayne.

However, Batman boss DiDio confirmed that Bruce Wayne will wear the cowl again. "He's not dead, though he'll definitely be gone for a while," he said.

"Batman and Bruce Wayne have been here long before me and they'll be around long after me.""

From here: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/a137056/comics-boss-batman-is-not-dead.html

So much for the hopes of true succession, then.

For all of you who refuse to judge this book outside of some big event or shocking change in status quo...

Sorry.

Anyone else get chills on reading the comment above about renard, the fox? If not, you've clearly not read Morrison's Animal Man recently.