R.I.P Bruce Wayne?
 

After reading last month's issue of Batman and looking at the DC comics website, I can't help but think that it's possible that they might finally be killing him off. I know, they killed off Superman and he was back a year later, but DC might be taking a bold new direction with this. Tim Drake or illegitimate son Damien could end up wearing the suit from now on. Marketing ploy? Boredom? Legitimate move forward? What do comic fans here think? Will this be another Knightfall/Death of Superman level hoax or will it be a cool change for the DCU, the way Marvel killing off Captain America seems to have been?

I generally don't go near batman titles apart from glancing at LOTDK but it would definitely be interesting if they killed him off

gut reaction is that it's a marketing ploy, they'll never get rid of him. otherwise how would they explain him popping up in the animated batman of the future.

it's been a few months since your post so please tell me he's dead and zombie bruce is walking gotham at night dishing out justice by eating brains

A few months? No, it's been only days. March 2nd, not February 3rd.

That show is essentially non-canon, like the marvel 2099 series it's set in the future, but not neccessarily the future of the current DC universe.
Aside from the show, the batman "of the future/beyond" only appeared in a comic book of it's own, and appearances in the other ongoing dc cartoons (brief appearances in jla) which aren't strictly canon either.

Must have been a while then...that finished some time ago...

Jury is still out on that one...although the books been better'n it has in a long time since the "death".

Personally...I'd like to see the Jason Todd guy at least temporarily take the mantle, just to see how the headcase would handle it...

Damien would cover the headcase thing pretty well, too.

No! I won't believe it! No!

I'm just as incredulous, but feast your eyes:
http://www.dccomics.com/comics/?cm=9129

Yeah, but he's just allover the place, Todd's more just hateful badass...Damien, he'd be more like the bad guy obsessed with becoming batman and/or trying to kill anyone he perceived as a "rival" that the other guys had to step on....not saying THAT couldn't become an interesting storyline in itself though...

I feel like somebody just hogtied and gutted my childhood.

I felt the same when I saw it on the newsstands.