Enlarge By Alex Ross, DC Comics Batman, a comic-book staple since the early days of the genre, will have his legend put to rest in February by Neil Gaiman. Will success kill Batman? Just as The Dark Knight closes in on $1 billion worldwide gross, DC Comics is ready to have Bruce Wayne "die" — or at least give up the cape — in his monthly comic. Batman #681, due Nov. 26, wraps up writer Grant Morrison's Batman R.I.P. story line, in which the crimefighter is so shaken by a secret from his past that a new Batman must be found. What makes this "death" go beyond the usual circulation booster is the talent involved. Helping to bury Batman will be best-selling novelist Neil Gaiman, who created the goth-cult Sandman comic 20 years ago. Gaiman is writing a two-issue tribute to the character, starting with Batman #686 and tentatively titled Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, due in February. "This is my last Batman story," he says. "And in some ways, it could be seen as every last Batman story." Working with artist Andy Kubert, Gaiman will try to reconcile the various versions of Batman, some wisecracking, others brooding, over the Dark Knight's 69-year history. "There are infinite Batmans," he says. "It has been really hard on Andy because I keep asking him to draw in so many different styles." DC Comics asked writer Alan Moore, creator of Watchmen, to similarly wrap up Superman's first half-century with Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? in 1986. The character was retooled shortly thereafter. Comic-book deaths are usually short-lived. "No franchise ever closes down for good," Gaiman says. His return to comics had everything to do with the Batman character. "You never forget your first," he says. "My entire love of comics came from 1966, being 5 years old and the Adam West TV show starting in the U.K.," says Gaiman, who's English. "Superman is sweet and fun to write, but Batman is more than fetishistic. … Batman sees his parents killed by criminals and vows to do something about it. "Every day that there are still criminals out there, he's losing." Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more