As the Blackest Night war rages in the DC Universe one of the biggest questions concerning the future has taken a back seat: When Will Bruce Wayne Return?  I’m also interested when, either during or after Blackest Night, the DC heroes will figure out “Hey, Bruce Wayne never came back to life?” Seriously, everybody and their brother has returned in the form of a Black Lantern, where is Bruce now that he’s dead?

Will that idea be the catalyst for a lengthy trip to find Bruce in 2010 or will DC go another way? Will Bruce Wayne actually return from the dead before Blackest Night ends its run? How would that play into the idea that Bruce is currently swinging through the Stone Age etching Bat Signals on cave walls?

When Bruce Wayne first “died” I was irate, even going so far as to write an article here on Crave about how badly DC had blown it. Now, so many months later I’m actually pondering the return of Bruce Wayne from the angle of a person who is excited and impressed with what’s going on in the Batman books right now. True Detective Comics featuring “Batwoman” hasn’t really found a rhythm yet but outside of that everything else is outstanding. To be totally honest this is the most amped up I’ve been about Batman in the last few years.

Watching Dick Grayson try to become his own Batman, the tepid relationship with Damien as the new Robin, Tim Drake (the old Robin) going completely off the reservation as Red Robin, it’s all exciting stuff. I’m even glued to Alfred and the new Outsiders, Gotham City Sirens and the new Batgirl. All of these titles are breathing new life into Batman, giving us new angles and story arcs. I’m even enjoying Hush parading around as Bruce Wayne and I’ve never really been a big Hush fan. Life is a funny thing that way and as much as I love to be right, these are the instances I don’t mind eating a heaping plate of Crow and tipping my hat to Dan Didio and DC Comics.

Still though, Bruce Wayne will be coming back, we all know that.  If comic book history has proven anything it’s that the dead never stay dead, that’s bad for business. Personally I think comic books in general have watered down the death card to the point that death has become passé, but that’s an article for another time. How is DC going to bring back Bruce? Should they bring back Bruce? If so, when should they bring back Bruce? I’m sure the think tank at DC has some ideas but we the readers are left in the dark so I thought I’d pontificate on the idea a bit.

The first idea is that DC sets out to return Bruce to his mantle right after Blackest Night or they at least set up for a lengthy event comic detailing how Bruce gets brought back. Looking at the clues DC has left behind it seems that might be the direction they’re going. In Red Robin Tim has just discovered a Bat Signal etching on a wall in Europe giving his idea that Bruce is alive some validity. When Blackest Night is all over the heroes could realize that Bruce Wayne never came back to life, couple that with Tim’s discovery and then decide to start looking him through space and time.

I do hope Batman isn’t “time hopping” like a certain star spangled Marvel Comics hero because that would just be lame. So the heroes search out Bruce Wayne and over the course of a year or so we as readers go along for the ride. A ride that ends on that faithful day when, like long haired Superman kissing Lois, the original Batman returns to his rightful place.

I can’t believe I’m saying this but I hope that’s not what DC does, in fact I’m hoping (gasp) Bruce Wayne doesn’t return for a long stretch, long enough that we all get comfortable with Dick Grayson as Batman. Let Bruce Wayne return but make it a question that plagues the readers for a few years, it’s worked for DC before.

When Flash died in Crisis On Infinite Earths people were shocked, raising their fists and saying The Flash can’t be dead. He was though and after awhile we all fell in love with Wally West as the new Flash and accepted that Barry was gone. Granted we never saw Barry etching lightening bolts on cave walls but you get my drift. Though DC has handled the return of Barry Allen rather poorly that one panel when he came blasting back into our lives was pretty damn cool.

Bruce Wayne’s return should be that way, unexpected and shocking, something we didn’t see coming. When he returns it should throw the DC Universe into chaos not be a triumph for them because that’s the kind of intricate human drama missing in comics for the most part. Blackest Night has that kind of drama and I think it’s one of the reasons people love it so much.

If you’re worried about stories for the current Batman and his crew fear not because there are tons of them. I came up with a few on my own that might make good arcs for Dick Grayson to have to weather through. The obvious one would be Death In The Family II where the Joker murders Damien. To keep the plots separate have it be the Joker’s fall even deeper into madness since his realization that the true Batman is dead.

Without the ying to his yang the Joker might lose the will to go on (he’s said as much about Batman in the past) which creates real danger. Dick and Damien can just be figuring each other out when this erupts and Dick tries to keep Damien out of the struggle, a fact that drives Damien even further out of sync.