So they're killing Batman.
Famed comic writer Grant Morrison has said that last issue in the ongoing Batman RIP series will see the end of Bruce Wayne as Batman.
These words, coupled with popular online rumours that Robin will defect to the dark side and be the man who leads to Batman's horrible end, have fans in a tizzy.
But it really isn't time to worry just yet.
For one, these comic 'events' happen all the time. And as we learnt in the 90s when Superman returned from the grave, A-listers are rarely the people who die.
In a bid to sell more comics both major publishers Marvel and DC have invariably been coming up with massive events, on a nearly-annual basis. Events involve storylines that go through each of their top-rung comics (and a bunch of obscure titles usually ignored otherwise) and despite these sagas often encompassing galaxy-altering revelations and character deaths, things are routinely turned 'back to normal' a few weeks after the arc is over, blaming it on memory losses and parallel universes or even involving characters returning from the grave. It's pretty Balaji-soap like, to be honest.
And despite Marvel having 'killed' Captain America last year in a move that shocked fans around the world -- and Steve Rogers remains dead and unlikely to return -- DC isn't stupid enough to kill Batman. No way.
Batman is bigger than Superman and the entire Justice League put together, and the company isn't likely to finish off their biggest icon just when he's also responsible for their biggest movies.
We're betting Bruce might get hurt -- or be rumoured to be dead with no corpse in sight -- and will give up the Batman costume. But only for a while, because he has to come back.
Because what would the rest of DC's jokers do without him?
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