This week Grant Morrison wraps up his run on Batman & Robin with a "startling revelation" that sets the stage for the upcoming Batman Inc. title ... and that's popping up in the media. So if you haven't read issue #16 yet and would like to do it spoiler free, don't click the "Continue Reading" button below. You might also want to just avoid the internet completely.

SPOILERS WARNING!

*****

As you can see in the pages below, courtesy of DC's The Source blog, Batman & Robin #16 ends with a returned Bruce Wayne holding an end-of-Iron Man type press conference to announce the new venture Wayne Enterprises is backing -- Batman Inc. Wayne confesses to the world that he's been financing Batman's activities over the years, and now he's going global.

“Some of you may have wondered…How does a man like Batman afford to constantly update his crime-fighting technology? Where does his money come from?

“Well, the answer is me," Wayne says.





The Associated Press spoke with Morrison about the admission:

Morrison told The Associated Press that the decision was made to protect Wayne's secret identity by deflecting attention away from speculation it was he who wore the cape.

"We've sidetracked the media that he has actually been financing Batman all these years," Morrison explained of the long arc he's written that has seen the Dark Knight plunge through time and space and have his mantle taken up by former Robin Dick Grayson. "He is the man behind the Batman, but he is not Batman."

In doing so, Wayne is free to take his crime fighting international by building what Morrison calls a "global, international army of Batmen. Batman in China, Batman in Japan, Batman in Russia. Expanding the Batman brand to areas where he really hasn't been before."

While CBR's Kiel Phegley spoke with new DC e-i-c Bob Harras. "Let me tell you how I reacted when I saw the pages, which was around the same time: I felt again like a 12-year-old kid reading comics," Harras said. "It was totally amazing, totally unexpected and was one of those things where I couldn't wait to see what happens next. It made me feel like superheroes were full of possibilities. It was a totally unexpected direction, but that's what I loved about it."

So what do you guys think?