History ComicBook / WhatEverHappenedToTheCapedCrusader

* UndyingLoyalty: Alfred, of course, in "The Gentleman's Gentleman". [[spoiler:He's willing to play along with Bruce's fantasy of being a superhero to cope with his grief that he invents fake villains and tragedies, and he himself becomes Bruce's Moriarty by becoming the Joker himself.]]

It is difficult to say exactly what the truth of the events is. It could all be a DyingDream, an actual dream, a psychic vision, pretty much any interpretation you can come up with is possible, though the book seems to subtly favour the DyingDream position. This interpretation would make it so that the spirit's final speech to Batman reveal that whenever Bruce dies, his soul is reincarnated as a new Bruce in a new universe to become Batman again, as something has deliberately set this up and stopped his soul from entering Heaven or Hell.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In the trade-paperback bonus story "When Is A Door?", one of the Riddler's laments sounds like those of fans of the 1960s ''Series/{{Batman}}'' show. After defending the "camp" aspects that people sneer at these days, he bemoans:
-->'''Riddler''': No one ever hurt anybody. Not really. Nobody died. You look around these days — [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore It's all different. It's all changed.]] [[DarkerAndEdgier The Joker's killing people, for God's sake!]] Did I miss something? Was I away when they changed the rules?

** Also deconstructed in the trade paperback when The Riddler ponders why everything changed from the LighterAndSofter times to the DarkerAndEdgier times, such as The Joker suddenly becoming a murderer.

* MultipleChoicePast:
** It's all about lampshading this, and pointing out that there are some parts of Batman's past that remain constant despite what else changes.
** In the graphic novel, one of the stories bundled with the main story has The Riddler noting that he could be Eddie Nash, or Edward Nygma, and several other identities. He also notes that for some odd reason, the old Batman villains (referencing the TV show) suddenly became violent, including The Joker. During his interview, he keeps swapping his various outfits, from the original TV show costume through to later versions.
** In another of the stories a psychologist is sent to interview ComicBook/PoisonIvy, and tries to sort out the different origin stories in the files and newspaper reports on her. Ivy bursts out laughing and says that sometimes she just makes stuff up for a joke, and she's surprised people took her seriously.

* AndYourRewardIsInfancy / GroundhogPeggySue: [[spoiler: At the end of the story, Batman is reincarnated as ''himself''; his reward for being Batman is that he gets to be Bruce Wayne for eight years before he has to be Batman again.]]

* GroundhogPeggySue

** SanitySlippage: Doesn't stop the kid from collapsing into a nervous breakdown from the perceived [[MortonsFork Catch-22]].

''Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?'' is a 2009 two-part Franchise/{{Batman}} story written by Creator/NeilGaiman and illustrated by Andy Kubert. It was to be the 'last' Batman story after the character's death in ''ComicBook/BatmanRIP'' and ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' and ended up more a summation of the Batman myth and a meditation on his character and its various interpretations. It was highly praised on its release, but remains fairly obscure considering the author's and the character's popularity, probably due to it still being relatively new.

It is difficult to say exactly what the truth of the events is. It could all be a DyingDream, an actual dream, a psychic vision, pretty much any interpretation you can come up with is possible, though the book seems to subtly favour the DyingDream position. This interpretation would make it so that the spirit's final speech to Batman reveal that [[spoiler:whenever Bruce dies, his soul is reincarnated as a new Bruce in a new universe to become Batman again, as something has deliberately set this up and stopped his soul from entering Heaven or Hell.]]

* ContinuityPorn: A good example of how TropesAreNotBad. The funeral is not simply that of Batman, but every version of Bruce Wayne. As a result, every story and every character is a nod to one continuity or another. There's even a reference to the Adam West Batman, and how he was "Holy".

The stories and illustrations pay homage to many of the major periods and styles of Batman and interpretations of his character and relationships. After full stories from Alfred and [[Comicbook/{{Catwoman}} Selina Kyle]], the book then gives us only glimpses of those told by other characters. One thing known is that all of the stories conflict with each other. For example, ComicBook/TheJoker's story has him killing Batman in a scene very reminiscent of ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'', Clayface's has him sacrificing himself in order to save Clayface and Franchise/{{Superman}}'s has Bruce insisting that Clark take him into certain death, so that he can capture the villain's attention and divert them from killing innocents.

* UnexpectedCharacter: Superman is the only character not part of the Batman Franchise to appear in the story, though he has been inextricable from Batman's history; see: ''World's Finest''.
** [[spoiler:Martha Wayne]].

** In another of the stories a psychologist is sent to interview ComicBooks/PoisonIvy, and tries to sort out the different origin stories in the files and newspaper reports on her. Ivy bursts out laughing and says that sometimes she just makes stuff up.

* TheButlerDidIt: "The Gentleman's Gentleman's Tale", Alfred is revealed to be the Joker, having created all the supervillains from retired actors in order to keep his master entertained. Naturally the trope is lampshaded.

* TheButlerDidIt: One of the different versions is that Alfred was the Joker. Naturally the trope is lampshaded.

* HeroicSacrifice: A disproportionate number of Batman's deaths are due to the fact that Batman ''always'' put the lives of others before his, whether that means that of a single child or half the city of Gotham.

* UnexpectedCharacter: Superman is the only character not part of the Batman Franchise to appear in the story.

-->'''Bruce:''' I’ve learned... that it doesn’t matter what the story is, some things never change. Because even when they aren’t talking about me, they are. Because they’re talking about Batman. The Batman doesn’t compromise. I keep this city safe… Even if it’s safer by just one person… And I do not ever give in or give up.//
Sometimes I fall in battle. Sometimes I die hugely, bravely, saving the city from something that would destroy it. Sometimes it’s a small, ironic, unnoticed death — I die rescuing a child from a fire or tackling a frightened pickpocket.//

The stories and illustrations pay homage to many of the major periods and styles of Batman and interpretations of his character and relationships. After full stories from Alfred and [[Comicbook/{{Catwoman}} Selina Kyle]], the book then gives us only glimpses of those told by other characters. One thing known is that all of the stories conflict with each other. For example, SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker's story has him killing Batman in a scene very reminiscent of ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'', Clayface's has him sacrificing himself in order to save Clayface and Franchise/{{Superman}}'s has Bruce insisting that Clark take him into certain death, so that he can capture the villain's attention and divert them from killing innocents.

* AntagonistInMourning: Played straight with SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker and Ra's al Ghul. Hinted to a lesser degree/possibly subverted with Clayface and Mad Hatter. (Depending on how much the former is actually moved to change by Batman's sacrifice, or if the latter actually feels the death too much).

** Also deconstructed in the trade paperback when The Riddler ponders why everything changed from the LighterAndSofter times to the DarkerAndEdgier times, such as TheJoker suddenly becoming a murderer.
* LiteraryAllusionTitle: ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow''.

** In the graphic novel, one of the stories bundled with the main story has The Riddler noting that he could be Eddie Nash, or Edward Nygma, and several other identities. He also notes that for some odd reason, the old Batman villains (referencing the TV show) suddenly became violent, including SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker. During his interview, he keeps swapping his various outfits, from the original TV show costume through to later versions.

* SarcasmFailure: TheJoker experiences this on [[spoiler: finally killing Batman]].

'''''Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?''''' is a 2009 two-part Franchise/{{Batman}} story written by Creator/NeilGaiman and illustrated by Andy Kubert. It was to be the 'last' Batman story after the character's death in ''ComicBook/BatmanRIP'' and ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' and ended up more a summation of the Batman myth and a meditation on his character and its various interpretations. It was highly praised on its release, but remains fairly obscure considering the author's and the character's popularity, probably due to it still being relatively new.

* LiteraryAllusionTitle: ''ComicBook/WhatEverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow''.

* SeriesFauxnale: In the same vein as ''WhatEverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow'', this was written as "the final Batman story." Given the nature of the story though, this can still be argued as the finale to the mythos.

* ShoutOut: NeilGaiman does one to [[ComicBook/TheSandman his previous work]]:

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In the trade-paperback bonus story "When Is A Door?", one of the Riddler's laments sounds like those of fans of the 1960s ''Series/{{Batman}}'' show. After demanding the "camp" aspects that people sneer at these days, he bemoans:

** One version of Batman's death has him killed by an actor who was only pretending to be a supervillain but got too much into the role.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In the trade-paperback bonus story "When Is A Door?", one of the Riddler's laments sounds like those of fans of the 1960s ''Series/{{Batman}}'' show.
-->'''Riddler''': No one ever hurt anybody. Not really. Nobody died. You look around these days — [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore It's all different. It's all changed.]] [[DarkerAndEdgier The Joker's killing people for God's Sake!]] Did I miss something? Was I away when they changed the rules?