"The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul" is an eight issue

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Music Albums * ''Cross Over'' (album), a 1987 album by Dan Peek, or the title song * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'', an album by Intrigue * ''Crossover'', an album by ...

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of a plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing narrative, storyline in episode, episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strip ...

published by the comic book publishing company

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. It involves the return of notable Batman villain

Ra's al Ghul Ra's al Ghul is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. Created by editor Julius Schwartz, writer Dennis O'Neil, and artist Neal Adams, the character first appeared ...

, and is his first appearance since his apparent death in ''Batman: Death and the Maidens'' in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. It also connects back to the "

Batman and Son "Batman and Son" is a 2006 comic book story arc featuring the DC Comics character Batman. Written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Andy Kubert, the story was published in four parts in the comic book ''Batman'' starting in #655 and ending in #658. ...

" storyline, which introduced

Damian Damian () may refer to: *Damian (given name) *Damian (surname) *Damian Subdistrict, in Longquanyi District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China See also *Damiani, an Italian surname *Damiano (disambiguation) *Damien (disambiguation) *Damon (disambiguation) *Da ...

as the son of Batman and

Talia al Ghul Talia al Ghul (; , ) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. The character was created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Bob Brown (comics), Bob Brown, and first app ...

Plot

and her son

Damian Wayne Damian Thomas Wayne is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. He was created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert. Damian Wayne is the biological son of Bruce Wayne/Batman. His mo ...

discover that

has returned from the dead and is searching for Damian. Ra's hopes to use Damian's life force to keep himself stable. Damian runs to the Batcave to seek help from the Bat family as the League of Assassins closes in on his whereabouts. Batman, who has been in Asia, returns home to help. Despite their best efforts, the Bat family cannot stop the League's ninjas from kidnapping both Robin and Damian and taking them to Ra's in Tibet. Damian leaves Robin alone with Ra's Al Ghul, who offers him a chance to bring his parents back to life. Meanwhile, outside Lhasa, Batman and Talia are getting closer to Ra's only to run into more of his henchmen. Batman, Talia, and

I-Ching The ''I Ching'' or ''Yijing'' ( ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. The ''I Ching'' was originally a divination manual in ...

find a secret entrance to Ra's's headquarters. On meeting, Ra's and Batman begin to fight, but since Ra's body is already dead, nothing hurts him. He then brings out Robin and Damian, offering Batman a choice on which one's body he should take. Batman offers his own body, but Ra's refuses, craving a younger one. Batman takes Ra's to

Nanda Parbat Nanda Parbat () is a fictional city in the DC Comics universe. It first appeared in '' Strange Adventures'' #216 (February 1969), created by Neal Adams. It is named after the Himalayan peak Nanga Parbat, with the first name mixed with another H ...

wherein lies the Fountain of Essence. The temple of the Fountain is under attack by the

Sensei The term "先生", read in Chinese, in Japanese, in Korean, and in Vietnamese, is an honorific used in the Sinosphere. In Japanese, the term literally means "person born before another" or "one who comes before". It is generally used ...

, who is revealed as Ra's al Ghul's father, and more fighting ensues. Batman knocks Sensei into the Fountain of Essence, which kills him for not being a pure soul. The monks of Nanda Parbat check Ra's Al Ghul's body, but the spirit of Ra's possesses one monk's body and walks away. Robin, still haunted by Ra's offer to restore his loved ones to life, seeks out The White Ghost, who tells Robin that he can restore them, but only if Tim swears his undying loyalty to Ra's Al Ghul and forsakes Batman. Robin agrees, and is sent to a chamber with a Lazarus Pit to be "reborn". There he is confronted by Nightwing, who swears to stop him. Between attacks, Robin debates with his adopted brother. I-Ching mediates to stop the fight. The three find Talia and fly to Nanda Parbat, where Ra's is about to claim Damian's body as his vessel at last. Batman intervenes to defend his son and the two begin to defend themselves when their reinforcements arrive. Damian chooses to assist Batman over escaping with Talia. The monks seal themselves off totally from outsiders. Ra's life is finally preserved by White Ghost, actually his disowned son Dusan. Aboard the jet with Dick, Tim and Alfred, Bruce ruminates on the value of family. In an epilogue, Ra's moves his base of operations to Gotham City. Batman infiltrates Ra's' new headquarters and easily defeats his horde of ninjas and Ra's himself. Batman takes an unconscious Ra's directly to Arkham.

Publication history

The story was featured in publication across the four main Batman-related titles, and ran through December 19, 2007. The creative teams for the four books and their corresponding parts in the story are: * ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'' #670-671 - Prelude and Part 4 by

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, Humanism, humanist philosophy and counterculture, countercultural leanings. Morrison has writt ...

and

Tony Daniel Antonio Salvador Daniel (born 1977), known by the Anglicised professional name Tony S. Daniel or simply Tony Daniel, is an American comic book writer and artist, known for his work on various books for DC Comics, including ''Teen Titans'', '' F ...

* '' Robin'' #168-169 - Parts 1 and 5 by

Peter Milligan Peter Milligan (born 24 June 1961) is a British comic book writer who has written extensively for both British and American comic book industries. In the UK, Milligan has contributed to numerous anthology titles including '' 2000 AD'', ''Revol ...

and Freddie E. Williams II * ''

Nightwing Nightwing is a superhero alias used by multiple characters in American comic books published by DC Comics. The most prominent bearer is Dick Grayson, the original Robin, who adopts the Nightwing identity to assert his independence from Batman. ...

'' #138-139 - Parts 2 and 6 by

Fabian Nicieza Fabian Nicieza (; December 31, 1961) is an Argentine-American comic book writer and editor who is best known for his work on Marvel titles such as ''X-Men'', '' X-Force'', ''New Warriors'', ''Nomad'', ''Cable'', '' Gambit'', '' Deadpool'' and ' ...

and

Don Kramer Don Kramer is an American comics artist. He has worked for both Marvel and DC, as well as on independent projects. Titles at DC include a Doctor Fate miniseries with Chris Golden, '' JSA'' with Geoff Johns and a run on ''Detective Comics'' with ...

* ''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' (later retitled as ''Batman Detective Comics'') is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is ...

'' #838-840 - Parts 3, 7 and Epilogue by

Paul Dini Paul McClaran Dini (; born August 7, 1957) is an American writer, animator, and comic book artist. He has served as a producer and writer for several Warner Bros. Animation/DC Comics animated series, most notably ''Batman: The Animated Series' ...

and Ryan Benjamin /

Dustin Nguyen Dustin Nguyen (born Nguyễn Xuân Trí) (September 17, 1962) is a Vietnamese– American actor and martial artist. He is best known for his roles as Harry Truman Ioki on '' 21 Jump Street'' and as Johnny Loh on '' V.I.P.'' Recently, he starr ...

All parts except the epilogue were collected into one

volume Volume is a measure of regions in three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch) ...

: ''Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul'' (256 pages, May 7, 2008, ). ''Detective Comics'' #840 can be found in ''Batman: Private Casebook'' (160 pages, December 23, 2008, ).

References

External links

WW Chicago: Mike Marts on the Return of Ra's to Batman's World

Newsarama ''Newsarama'' is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website ''GamesRadar+'', also owned by Future US. Hi ...

, September 10, 2007
Interview with editor Mike Marts

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

, September 13, 2007 {{Grant Morrison, Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul Comics by Grant Morrison Comics by Paul Dini Comics by Peter Milligan