What You Need To Know About Grant Morrison’s Batman Run, One Of The Key Comics Behind James Gunn’s DC Universe

Grant Morrison’s “Batman” run felt rather groundbreaking. The issues did many great things — key among these was the celebration of the character’s entire history and the canonization of it all. From Batman’s violent start in the ’30s to his weird, psychedelic ’60s phase, to the gritty and sexy bachelor era of the ’70s and into the very messed up and edgy ’90s. All of it happened, and all of it is part of Batman’s biography. 

Indeed, Morrison grabbed references and influences from even the most obscure corners of the DC universe. They were not above getting weird with Batman, with things like Bat-cow, The Batman of Zur-en-arrh, or the fifth-dimensional Bat-Mite.

Then there’s Damian Wayne, the future of DC and one of its most exciting new elements. Morrison didn’t just give Bruce Wayne a kid, they gave a bigger focus to the entire Bat-family. Nightwing and Damian Wayne’s relationship became a highlight of DC comics, but there was also Damian and Tim Drake fighting over the right to consider themselves Bruce Wayne’s son.

Perhaps more importantly, Morrison acknowledges that batman is a symbol more than a man, and they put the idea that “Batman works alone” to rest by showing how Batman inspires other heroes and collaborates with others. In “Batman Inc.” we see Bruce Wayne assemble an international team of heroes he himself has inspired. No matter what he goes through; no matter if he dies, even after he dies, Batman always comes back. As Morrison themselves wrote in their final “Batman” issue, “Batman never dies. it never ends. It probably never will.”