Who Killed Vesper Fairchild? Part 3

By: Tony Whitt
Date: Monday, February 25, 2002

So far, it?s become clear that the best installments of the "Bruce
Wayne, Murderer?" crossover currently featured in all the Bat-titles are the
ones that go with the "true crime" motif and less with the
"superhero possibly turned murderer" theme. Greg Rucka, Devin Grayson, and Ed
Brubaker have done their usual excellent job with the stories, while
Chuck Dixon, who has the unfortunate task of doing installments for no
less than three separate titles, seems to have the most trouble.

This becomes obvious in Part Six, ROBIN #98, which features some
of the most glaring internal continuity errors in the entire storyline.
Tim's grounded at school and feeling helpless because there's nothing
he can do to help with the Bruce situation. Dick's already in Gotham,
and Barbara's doing her usual job of picking through suspects, leaving
Tim at a loss. He feels even more at a loss, however, when Alfred packs
up and decides to go help...

Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. We already saw Alfred leave at the end
of DETECTIVE #766, did we not? And in that final panel, did
Alfred not leave a note on Tim's boombox saying "Tim, He needs me -
Alfred"? True, Alfred could have made the trip back and this could be a
second departure, which makes sense, given that Tim is now privy to
Dick's conversation with Bruce in NIGHTWING #65. No doubt Dick
told Alfred about it. But that doesn't explain why this leaving
should be "The Final Betrayal" that the cover dramatically tells us it is.
It also doesn't explain the other major blunder in this
installment, in which Spoiler goes to the Batcave to find it locked up, after
which she realizes she knows where she can get some help. Um...actually,
she's already found that help, in the BIRDS OF PREY installment-which Chuck Dixon also wrote. Man, and I thought
my writing schedule was grueling. Dixon needs a flowchart for all this
stuff. By the way, if you gathered there was nothing of any major
importance that sheds light on the case in this issue, you're right. Unless

you want the continuity errors to drive you nuts, skip it.

BATMAN #599, however, does more to shake our belief that Bruce
Wayne never murdered Vesper Fairchild than any other installment. Ed
Brubaker's script follows Bruce around Blackgate as he endures the
OZ-like depredations one would expect a classy billionaire in prison to
endure. He must also deal with the ongoing media blitz, the reporters
delving into his past, and those same reporters walking on his parents'
grave. All the while, the Batsignal shines outside the window like a
ringing telephone. Finally and dramatically, the Bruce mask falls away,
much to the detriment of three skinheads who attempt to attack him in
his cell one night. Brubaker has an excellent grasp of the truly
frightening personality break that allows Bruce Wayne and Batman to share the
same body, but that very same break makes his guilt even more of a
possibility. It doesn't help matters that, for the entire time we're in
Bruce's head this issue, he never once says "I didn't kill her." While we
discover no new information that may shed light on the truth, this
installment is one of the most powerful of the entire storyline.

Until we get to DETECTIVE #767, of course, and are treated to yet another chapter set in Blackgate, and another chapter written by Greg Rucka.
Here we follow Sasha Boudreaux as she goes through her own private hell of
doubt and confusion. Bruce is in the same facility, yet he refuses to
acknowledge her presence. His attack on the three skinheads only makes
her wonder even more if he could have committed the murder during that
brief time they were apart. But when she lets her guard down and gets
attacked herself, something happens that erases any doubts in her mind.
At least she's feeling better about it. Rucka shows us just how
deep Sasha's feelings for Bruce run in this issue, and how devoted she
is to the idea of keeping "the secret," even at the cost of her own
freedom. Granted, there's a possible minor continuity error as Sasha's
lawyer tells her about the skinheads?she was told in the last chapter,
perhaps not by the same lawyer, and in this issue she says she's heard
about it already. But apart from that, this installment and the last
dovetail beautifully, focusing more on the players and less on the game.

NIGHTWING #66 takes us out of the prisons?or at least, out of
the prisons in Gotham?and back into the outside world, where Dick and
Barbara continue their investigations. Barbara is convinced Sasha knows
"the secret," but her anger over Bruce's shutting them all out makes her
wonder if he possibly could have done it. Dick refuses to believe this
and works on his own investigations, but as even Barbara puts is, "Every
question seems to spawn more questions." The people who know about his
dual identity and could possibly have framed Bruce Wayne are all
accounted for, so who could have done it? Meanwhile, a prison burns in
Bludhaven, but that's not as important really. Dixon seems to get his legs
back a bit with this installment, but the differences between his two
chapters and those of Rucka and Brubaker are like night and day.

But if you thought we were any closer to an answer, you're wrong.
There's still three more chapters to go, ladies and gentlemen. It's going to
be a long month...