Writer: Peter MilliganArtist/Inks: Kieron Dwyer/Dennis Janke
Publisher: DC
Published: 1990
Cover: Mike Mignola
Batman's back. Back again.
Grant Morrison has finally returned us Bruce Wayne from the hands of time. In the process he has reinvented the Bat Origin Mythos, inspired/based on the 3 issue Batman story Dark City. I'm not going to get into too much detail on this connection as other blogs will do a much better job than me. However a quick recap is necessary to help understand the opening pages of Batman and Robin #16. In Dark City a bunch of cultists have prepared a woman for sacrifice in a hidden basement of a barn. This ritual is to summon the demon Barbathos...but the cultists chicken out, bolt and seal the trap door to the ritual room, leaving the woman to perish.
During the final issue of the Dark City mini series, Batman has been manipulated into returning to that same room where he frees the ghost of the woman. Take a look at the below image...take a good long look at this climatic moment of the Dark City run that Grant Morrison has used to usher in the New Batman of the 21st century...
Pretty good right...good guys win...but wait...why, in the last panel, is Batman not wearing any pants?! I can picture it now:
Batman: "So before I rescue you from this burning inferno, I'm gonna need to slip into something comfortable." Zip "Goodbye pants - hello freedom!"
And there you have it...the story that set the stage to re-define our beloved Batman; our beloved Pants-less Batman.
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