Thanks to davextreme at the Uncollected Editions forum for the snapshot that I was able to transcribe.

************

Little did I suspect when I accepted the BATMAN writing assignment back in 2006 that I’d wind up spending the next seven years writing the longest continued comic story I’ve ever attempted. I thought I’d said most of what I had to say about the character with Arkham Asylum, Gothic, and Batman’s appearances in JLA. Clearly, I was wrong.

The original pitch was for 15 issues winding up with BATMAN R.I.P. but something happened along the way, as I was researching his rich history, I became fascinated by the idea that every Batman story was in some way true and biographical — from the savage, young, pulp-flavored “weird figure of the dark” of his early years, through the smiling, paternal figure of the 1940s and the proto-psychedelic crusader of the ’50s, the superhero detective of the ’60s, the hairy-chested globetrotting adventurer of the ’70s, to the brutally physical vigilante of the ’80s and snarling, paranoid soldier of the ’90s.

By taking his entire publishing history as the story of his life, I was able to approach Batman from a different angle, and the multifaceted character that was revealed became the subject of my story.

What would such a man be like, realistically? This was a man who had saved countless lives, faced innumerable perils, and even prevented the destruction of the world itself. This was a master of martial arts, meditation, deduction, yoga, and big business. This was a man who had tamed and mastered his demons and turned personal tragedy into a relentless humanitarian crusade.

Taking that man seriously meant I had to throw out a few of the accepted ideas about Batman as a semi-unhinged, essentially humorless loner struggling with rage and guilt. The totality of his history and accomplishments made that portrayal seem limited and unconvincing, so instead, my Batman was a true superhero at the height of his powers and the peak of his abilities, surrounded by a network of friends and associates, all of whom had been inspired by his lead.

I chose to build my story around the basic trauma, the murder of his parents, that lies at the heart of Batman’s genesis. It seemed to me there would be a part of Bruce Wayne that resented his parents for leaving him and especially resented his father for not being Batman that night, so the principal villains were an archetypal bad father figure in the form of Dr. Hurt and a dark mother in the form of Talia, our villain for the concluding chapters of the story.

This master theme of damaged and ruined families was nowhere more in evidence than in the creation of Damian, the first “Son of Batman” to be acknowledged in the canon. In many ways this has been Damian’s story as much as it has been the story of Bruce Wayne, and it’s a story that had its end planned a long time ago — for what son could ever hope to replace a father like Batman, who never dies?

And so, via Batman, Batman and Robin, Return of Bruce Wayne, and Batman Incorporated, this epic tale has finally reached its finale.

Thanks to all the artists who helped realize the story — Andy Kubert, JH Williams, John Van Fleet, Tony Daniel, Ryan Benjamin, Lee Garbett, Frank Quitely, Philip Tan, Cameron Stewart, Andy Clarke, Frazer Irving, Scott Kolins, Chris Sprouse, Ryan Sook, Yanick Paquette, Georges Jeanty, David Finch, Scott Clark, and of course, Chris Burnham.

Thanks to the inkers, colorists, and letterers, and to my indefatigable editors.

Thanks to the readers who joined in the fun and contributed to the thought-provoking debates and analyses online.

The conclusion is finally here, with only one issue to go. One issue which takes Batman to dark places he has never had to visit before. One issue and I’m done, while Batman himself continues into as yet unimagined future adventures. He’ll still be here long after I’m dead and forgotten; long after all of us have come and gone, there will be Batman. It’s been a joy and a privilege to spend so much tim in the company of pop culture’s greatest character but it’s going to feel weird waking up and not having Bruce Wayne’s calm, commanding, ever-so-slightly cynical voice in my head.

BATMAN FOREVER . . .
GRANT

DC One Million: The Core Story

Chronos 1,000,000 (prelude) (and sets up the time gauntlet pay-off at the very end)
DC One Million 1
DC One Million 2
Superman: Man Of Steel 1,000,000
Superman 1,000,000
Superboy 1,000,000
Batman: Shadow Of The Bat 1,000,000
Nightwing 1,000,000
Detective Comics 1,000,000
Impulse 1,000,000
Starman 1,000,000
JLA 1,000,000
DC One Million 3
Batman 1,000,000
Catwoman 1,000,000
Robin 1,000,000
Wonder Woman 1,000,000
The Power Of Shazam 1,000,000
The Flash 1,000,000
Aquaman 1,000,000
Green Lantern 1,000,000
Martian Manhunter 1,000,000
Action Comics 1,000,000
The Adventures Of Superman 1,000,000
Superman: Man Of Tomorrow 1,000,000
Resurrection Man 1,000,000
DC One Million 4

Whew! That wimpy trade paperback DC put looks pretty lame right now, doesn’t it? The rest of the DC1M issues are completely standalone and could be (if so desired) bound separately in any order (actually, I take that back: the Legion & Legionnaires issues might tie together, but someone else will have to confirm that):

Azrael
Chase
The Creeper
Green Arrow
Hitman
Legion of Super-Heroes
Legionnaires
Lobo
Supergirl
Young Heroes in Love
Young Justice

There is also a DC One Million 80-Page Giant that you do a few things with:

-Take the Grant Morrison pages out and add them to the end of the main book, or if you don’t mind a thicker book, use the whole thing.
-If you bind the standalone issues in their own volume, put it at the beginning.

Chris Roberson revisited the 1M timeline in Superman/Batman #79-80, and would be a great addition as well.

I just bound the core story, but there are definitely options for those who want everything.

Volume 1

JLA 1-9
JLA/WildC.A.T.S. 1
JLA 10-15
New Year’s Evil: Prometheus
JLA 16-17, 22-23

Volume 2

JLA 24-26, 28-31, 34, 36-41
JLA Classified 1-3

The Grant Morrison Companion

Secret Origins #46 (1989)
JLA: Midsummer’s Nightmare 1-3
JLA Secret Files 1
Tomorrow Woman 1
JLA Annual 1
JLA Secret Files 2
JLA 18-21
JLA Annual 2
JLA 27
JLA 35

The Companion has all of the fill in issues and ancillary stories from the era.  It starts off with a story Grant Morrison wrote about the JLA’s headquarters 8 years before they took over the series.  The rest of the issues are arranged in chronological order, which might not be exact publishing order.

JLA Annual 3 is in my JLApe volume.  JLA #32-33 are in my No Man’s Land volumes, otherwise they would go in the Companion.

DC One Million fits exactly between volumes 1 and 2. That was by design.

Batman and Son
Batman 655-658
Batman 663-669

Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul
Batman Annual 26
Batman 670
Robin 168
Nightwing 138
Detective 838
Batman 671
Robin 169
Nightwing 139
Detective 839-840, 842

(Obviously, not the most necessary GM book, since he only writes two issues. Still, I included it for completeness’s sake.)

R.I.P.
Batman 672-675
DC Universe 0 (three pages with Batman and Joker)
Batman 676-681

Final Crisis
DC Universe 0
JLA 21*
FC 1
FC: Requiem*
FC 2-3
Superman Beyond 1-2
FC Secret Files*
FC: Resist*
FC: Submit
FC 4-5
Batman 682-683
FC 6-7

(* denotes issue not written by GM, although he did contribute a text piece to FCSF, and only co-write DCU 0).

Batman and Robin: The Hole in Things
Batman and Robin 1-12
Batman 700-702
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne 1-6
Batman and Robin 13-16

Batman, Incorporated

Batman:  The Return #1
Batman Inc #1-8
Batman Inc: Leviathan Strikes! #1
Batman Inc (volume 2) #0-10, 12-13