Batman R.I.P is a decent series and some of what happens in 52 is interesting. Where R.I.P falls flat is the ending where it is revealed that, once again, Batman was fully prepared for the situation when the whole point was that it was supposed to be one where he was caught entirely by surprise. The Joker pretty ruins the all of the suspense when, after the villains have completely won, he leaves and explains that now Batman is going to climb his way out of the grave they stuck him in and kick everyone"s ass. So he"s leaving.
What happens? Batman climbs out and kicks everyone"s ass. He totally turns the tables due in part to superior prep time. Then there is an Agatha Christie 10 Little Indians style explanation involving all kinds of shit you didn"t get to see. It"s garbage and it doesn"t flow into Final Crisisat all.It fits so badly that they had to supply extra material to explain wtf was going in and when. Final Crisis was also problematic because it had nothing to do with The Death of the New Gods thing they ran months prior.
Bad bad bad.
What should have happened is that in the conclusion of Batman R.I.P he kills someone, probably Jezebel Jet. He"s drug addled, sleep deprived, he"s suffering from hypnotic suggestions, powerful hallucinogens, and so on. Mentally and physically he has been torn down by a masterful opponent to the point where Batman basically doesn"t exist. Batman of Zur En Ra, an alternate persona and mental safeguard he created prior is calling the shots but due to the inhuman stress the series concludes with Batman (the modern post-Crisis reboot Batman) taking a life. Batman still wins but once he recovers he has to deal with the knowledge that he is now a killer. The conclusion that he comes to is that he cannot be Batman any longer.
There. Now Batman has had a major and character altering event happen to him that is believable yet also small at the same time. You can do crossovers involving all manner of heroes of the DC universe trying to convince Batman to continue fighting crime, that the good he does outweighs this one mistake, that no one could possibly blame him for what he did given his mental state at the time, everything. It won"t matter. Batman"s ideals are unbending. We do not take lives. Period. That is what separates Us from Them. Batman"s incredible will is now keeping him from continuing rather than driving him forward. He disappears into exile.
Now, when you bring him back is when there is some major event where basically everyone is absolutely and totally fucked, have already lost, etc. where the only person who can save them is Batman who reluctantly enters the fray, saves the world, and comes to terms with what he did. Then you can do a series of comics (six perhaps) where you show what he was doing while in hiding.
Instead we"ve got this incredibly overwritten mess from Final Crisis onward, an unfinished The Return of Bruce Wayne series, a ton of crossover comics that don"t make much sense, Dr. Hurt getting totally punked out despite being portrayed prior as being THE FUCKING DEVIL, and now Bruce Wayne in basically Iron Man"s armor with super speed and flight and shit?
Here"s an idea, if people cannot follow the story even having read the bulk of the metric fuckton of shit you"ve put out, there is a problem. This is why people hate comics.
