boom

I thought it was particularly interesting.

The only BIG problem with this was the release date.  How is this out when there's still one Return of Bruce Wayne left?!  Also if you read all the one shots, they work better. 

I agree with your summary of this issue ( I was a bit lean and gave it a 4). I initially thought that you didn't have to read the one-shots in order, so I started with Red Robin first. You can get the gist of what's going on with each one shot without reading them in order, but I really wished that Batman: The Return Home was finished first before these one-shots came out. Also, I wished that the current Batman and Robin arc was finished.

If you read all of the one-shots I think it makes much more sense. Out of the four that came out last week I liked the Batgirl one the best *dodges fruit* I think they did a good job with Steph whereas I feel the Batman and Robin one didn't have enough Batman and Robin in it. The Red Robin one was petty good but I feel like I'm missing major pieces, which is nothing new in the Batman titles lately. I'm hoping it will all be cleared up in the coming issues. :)

Nobody's gotten to that point yet, we haven' gotten 6 yet. There was a reason these were schedualed to come out after Return 6.

Based on this review, this seems like a seriously lack luster issue. Something seems wrong about revealing Bruce's inner monologue. I really don't know why they are releasing so many books about Bruce's return before he actually returns. It feels anticlimactic.
 
The idea of the journalist revealing the identity of the hero is a long standing tradition nearly as old as the comic heroes. I'm just not buying Vicky Vale's motives. She wants to expose a hero in order to raise her own profile? So, criminal and political corruption in Gotham is no longer existent? You'd think a city such as Gotham would be filled to the brim with possible stories.
I think it would of been far more interesting to have Vicky go into the streets of Gotham and meet the citizens. It could of been a good excuse to humanize the series. Show the audience how crime in the city is effecting the people. In the process she could run into people Batman saved in the past and tell some cool flashback stories about Bruce as Batman.
 
One thing I find irritating about US comics today is that they are always in such a rush to tell the story of action-based events. At times they leave out the finer details, and they leave it up to one shots to fill in those gaps. Many comics have become so action, action, action they are leaving out the human elements.

Eeeh, one-shots always seem tough especially when the heroes already have their own series, not to mention a one-shot that's part of a series of other one-shots could get really messy. 
Bummed to see this one disappointed, especially since it seemed the Red Robin one-shot was pretty good.

This issue was really boring- I could barely keep myself focused

would you recommend picking up all of The Road Home books?

Yup, Babs summed it all up nicely.

I agree with Babs on all points she mentioned.  
 
Out of the 4 released last week it was the weakest one, DC really should have waited until after RoBW #6 was out to release these one shots. 

This seems just like when Steve Rogers came back. Before the the last issue of Captain America Reborn, we also saw him back in Iron man and the first issue of siege i think. Why do comics do this? I know I am going to answear my own question, but it is basically all about business. grrown.

now batman can be good again with bruce back. was kinda lame without him

It felt the same way to me. I was expecting a bit more from this but it ended up as a "Why was this put out?" sort of deal to me. I just want to read the last Return of Bruce Wayne. lol

Good review babs, thanks for taking out the time.

" @Mumbles: Agreed. "

" now batman can be good again with bruce back. was kinda lame without him "

well even if it's not essential, you get a cool image by connecting one shot covers here

" @Mumbles: Agreed. "

Geez Babs alittle harsh.

 
I liked this one and the Red Robin one a lot. They all build on eachother as a group it makes a good story the Batgirl and Outsiders are weaker but these two I thought were really good.

are babs eyes blue?

This book was awful and DC is ignoring their talent here by releasing these one shots just to cash in on the Morrison train. Return of Bruce Wayne finale is not even out yet!

well it is the return of "bruce wayne" so yeah it might not seem like bruce cause hes different....u cant expect someone to travel through time and not change plus that whole testing your proteges was is to see if they live up to the batman inc 

" I agree with Babs on all points she mentioned.    Out of the 4 released last week it was the weakest one, DC really should have waited until after RoBW #6 was out to release these one shots.  "

I gotta disagree with you Babs, i think this was one the best Bruce Wayne one-shots(along with Batgirl for 1st position, Outsiders 2nd and red robin last). Its Bruce doing his thing, observing from the shadows without dick and damian noticing, to get the true picture of how they work together  and determine if they should still continue to be Batman and Robin or not. The other great thing is the suit he is using, it has a lot of great features that mimic powers and the equipment some familiar JLA members have/use.  
All in all, it was a great read.

Why did you ruin the ending for people???

I really wish comicvine would give books like this, that are obviously not being "felt" a 1.  or something.  2.5 and 4.5 get thrown around alot, and the reviews of the books vary drastically. 

Looking through the comments, I'm trying to understand what wasn't good about Batman over the last year or so. 
 
Oh, that's right - the inability for people to detach themselves from the idea of Bruce as Batman and instead allow the MYTHOS of the character, the legend and the symbol that Bruce initially wanted Batman to be take over.  That's the way I've ALWAYS seen "Batman" - it's a guy in a suit that uses this suit, persona, and fear to fight crime and bring down corruption.  The fans are the ones that put Bruce into this place of "Batman is the real person and Bruce is the alter ego".  I think it's kind of crappy that people want to put that character in that scenario. 
 
Personally, I thought that Morrison has written Dick as Batman with a good level of finesse as well as offering a look at how someone tries to step into these legendary shoes.  The interaction with Damien and Dick has also been pretty great, and in general, the entirety of the Bat family books have been pretty stellar.  If we hadn't had Bruce leave, we wouldn't have gotten the INCREDIBLE Red Robin standalone series.  We wouldn't have had this great Morrison arc.  We wouldn't have had Stephanie Brown as Batgirl.  We wouldn't have had the amazing revelations of Jason Todd. 
 
Frankly, Bruce being gone brought a lot of change to the DCU, and now that Bruce is coming back, I really hope they change the character for the better and stop making him a whiny emo bitch.  I mean, we get it:  your parents are dead, you can't have anyone to love you, and you've created a cavalcade of nutcases looking to be total jerks.  At the same time, you happen to be something that many of them fear, you have a whole family that surrounds you that you shun more than accept, and you have every opportunity to be married and have a life.  Look at Superman. 
 
I'm hoping that Bruce is made into a worthwhile character with his return, as I stopped reading Batman initially because he was a one-note character. 
 
As for this one-shot, I agree.  3 of 5 is completely reasonable.  Some things happen in this issue that will be good to know for future things in the story arc, but overall, it wasn't a "OMG MIND SPLOSION" issue.

All these Batbooks, Batevents and Batminis around :/
Why must I be a fan of the Bats! XD

These one shots are out too soon!, I also think it's a real shame that Alfred and Cassandra didn't get a one shot as well!  :(  

I was not impressed. These one shots just aren't really doing it for me. Why couldn't they have made Bruce Wayne The Road Home a mini-series? Why the one-shots? Seems goofy. Argh. The best one so far is definitely Batgirl. The worst one so far is definitely the Outsiders.

This is so complicated just have Bruce Wayne live a long time like Captain America and Wolverine same goes for Dick Grayson and have him stay Nightwing  Bruce and Dick are original characters leave them alone!!!!!!!!