This is the continuation of the Bruce Wayne: Murderer? story line. Bruce has broken out of jail and has decided that his true identity is a liability. There is no more Bruce Wayne. Only Batman. Batman is also unwilling to work with his allies--he's going it alone. The rest of the bat-family continues to try and prove Bruce's innocence without his blessing.

The Highlights: Appearances -good writing! The bat family also discovers more details about the murder, and how someone snuck into the bat cave.

Things to Consider: This is the middle of a story, so don't start with this one! Also, be prepared to buy the next one as well, because there are two more volumes after this. There is some outstanding art in this one, but not all of the artists were my cup of tea.

The murder mystery won't be resolved in this collection, but it's a fun ride and a good continuation.

The compilation entitled "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive" continues the murder mystery begun in the "Bruce Wayne: Murderer?" compilation, and the story continues to be a fun ride. While the whole cut-and-paste aspect of theses collections still takes some getting used to (only the pages directly dealing with the murder mystery are reprinted from the comic books where the story first ran- five pages from one issue, twelve from another, etc.), things unfold smoothly enough. The closing pages are especially well done, as Batman gets renewed inspiration from the homicide detective who investigated the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents many years before.

***This is a review of Fugitive Volume 1 only***

Be sure to pick up "Bruce Wayne - Murderer?" before ordering this book. That's where you'll get all the exposition (Bruce is framed for murder, goes to prison, breaks out, etc.). That book is spotty, but still worth picking up. It has so many writers on it, there doesn't seem to be a single vision for the book.

On to this book, "Fugitive #1"...

This book is much, much better. We still have a bunch of writers (Grayson and Brubaker are the standouts, and even Dixon is OK) but it somehow works here. The story has a more natural flow to it than the last one. There's a lot of the "Bat-family" in this (Nightwing, Robin, Oracle, Batgirl, etc.) trying to clear Bruce's name. Not very much Batman here. It's a solid mystery with some fun detective work. I didn't even mind the Robin and Batgirl chapters (these are usually pretty crummy titles).

There is no resolution at the end of this book, so you'll have to buy the later books to get answers to all the questions raised here.

I had a great time with this. Check it out!