Batman #683

Overall- What to write, what to write... I guess I'll just stick with the basics to start. In one of Darkseid's labs, two scientists are trying to create exact clones of Batman, since they see Batman as the perfect warrior. In order to do this, they are using a creature called the Lump, which is able to pick through the memories of someone and gleam all of their memories and secrets. The scientists figure if they can create an army of Batmen with the original's memories, Darkseid would have a near unbeatable army.

Lump shifts through Batman's memories, but Batman, realizing there was something wrong, fights Lump's telepathic intrusion, until Bats is finally able to force Lump to reveal itself in his mind. Bats discovers that Lump had taken the form of Alfred in Batman's memories, since Alfred was always there and was always trusted by Bats. Lump, now revealed to Bats in his mind, fights Batman by forcing him to live through some of his most painful and worst memories. Batman, being Batman, which is to say one tough son of a bitch, fights through the terrible memories and convinces Lump to reveal Darkseid's plan to him.

Lump tells Bats that Darkseid wants Batman's memories in order to power an army of Batclones. Batman force feeds all of the pain and hell he has lived through in his life into Lump, which in turn goes into the clones, ruining them and driving them insane. Lump also begins to die due to the force of Batman's raw emotions and memories. Batman convinces Lump to help him before dying, stating that if Batman lived on, Lump would always be remembered, even in death. Lump manages to get out of it's chair in the laboratory and destroys the control panel keeping Batman sedated and tied to the wall, before collapsing and dying.

The issue ends with Alfred(the real one)standing in the Batcave thinking about his last conversation with Batman, just prior to the events of Final Crisis. Batman had survived the helicopter crash in Batman #681, and was contacted by the Justice League who needed his assistance in figuring out who killed the New God Orion. The final page is a full page picture of Batman with the tag line, "Follow the Dark Knight to his Last Adventure in Final Crisis #6"...

I really enjoyed this issue, as well as the previous one. I still can't believe DC will pull the trigger on killing off Bruce Wayne/Batman, but then again, I never thought Marvel would kill Steve Rogers/Captain America, so who knows. It sure looks like Bruce is going to take the big dirt nap, but I'll believe it when I read it. For me, even though I grew up a full fledged fan of Marvel Comics, Batman is THE most iconic figure in all of comic books.

If he is killed off in Final Crisis #6, I sure hope DC knows what exactly they are getting themselves into... As evident by the enormous success of the Dark Knight movie, as well as Batman's constant appearances in all other forms of media, Batman has proven to be a character who transcends comic books. All I'm saying is tread carefully here DC. While I'm sure Final Crisis #6 will sell like crazy, with all of the rumors of Batman's impending demise, I just don't think killing off Batman for the sake of selling a few extra issues of Final Crisis #6 is worth the risk of alienating fans of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

The bottom line is that I am really hoping that DC resists the urge to kill off the Dark Knight, because in the long run, I think this move will be looked at as a grave mistake. As for this comic itself, I'll give it a score of 9 1/2 out of 10. Well, here's hoping Bruce Wayne survives Final Crisis #6, no matter how doubtful that is beginning to look...