The Return of Bruce Wayne

Bruce Wayne's been dead (sort of) since Final Crisis, and has managed to stay out of current continuity for a little over a year. Gotham has changed since then: Dick is Batman, Damian is Robin, Tim is Red Robin, Stephanie Brown is Batgirl and Oracle's still in a wheelchair.

Yesterday, Bruce Waynes' whereabouts have been revealed with the first issue of "The Return of Bruce Wayne." He's in the stone age without any recollection of who he is. Imagine the old show "Quantum Leap" with a DC Universe twist. He's still Bruce Wayne from each leap, he's just unaware of who he is. (Did I just date myself with that QL reference?)

In this story, Bruce is unaware of who he is, with only fragments of subconscious memories of who he is was. His only material possessions are his utility belt, Superman's cape and his pants. I'm a little unsure how his material possessions were able to remain with him during time travel, but I won't hurt my brain attempting to think about it. I'm still not sure why he has Superman's cape. Bruce quickly finds himself in the middle of a territorial war among feuding tribes in the stone age. Like riding a bike, Bruce Wayne dives directly into the hero role helping those in need. In this case, the weaker tribe. In the process, Bruce manages to pick up a pseudo Robin along the way, who was coincidentally on his own journey of "becoming a man."

There were plenty of overbearing Bat references in this book, from the cave Bruce emerged from to the over-sized Bat hyde he found and later wore as a makeshift cape and cowl. The costume looked great, as if Batman and Conan had a collision course. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the dialogue. It was an amalgamation of caveman talk meets modern english. I understand that we as readers have to understand what's going on, but it would've been cool to see the dialogue much more primal with simple words. It would've forced them to be more creative with their artwork (not that it wasn't).

Overall, it's a good quick read. It gives you a very clear idea of where they are headed with this storyline. If you're a fan of Elseworlds books, this will definitely be up your alley.