Even with DC Rebirth going on, i've been wanting to put my teeth into this volume for a while so that I could finally wrap up Scott Snyder's run on Batman before I moved onto the next phase of the Dark Knight. I was fairly critical of the previous volumehttps://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RMUUISVYAQO97/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1401266304which really came down to the fact that I felt as if it should have been longer. This volume fixes that. Place volumes 8 and 9 together in one book and you have a great story. The "Superheavy" arc as a whole is one of the best Snyder wrote in my opinion. I've seen a few people say that it had a lackluster finale, but I really didn't feel that way at all while reading it. The biggest point of contention for the arc going in is that fact that Batman is played not by Bruce Wayne or Dick Grayson, or even Terry McGinnis. It's Jim Gordon spending half of his time in a Batsuit that looks like some kind of robotic bunny. Give credit where its due though, it was certainly a new idea in a franchise that's been around for over 60 years. I myself didn't have much interest in it at first, but as I read volume 8 and as I was finishing up volume 9 I found myself really enjoying seeing Jim placed in this situation, having to stand up and not be the hero for Gotham City during the day, but the hero for the city at night. This is honestly the most interesting that Jim Gordon as a character has been in years now and its made even better because you've still got Bruce Wayne right alongside him, but its not the Bruce Wayne we know. As Alfred says, it's more like the real Bruce Wayne, the man that a young boy might have grown up to become had he never seen his parents gunned down in that alleyway one fateful night after a movie. So, not only do you get to contrast Jim Gordon between Old Bruce, you get to contrast Old Bruce with New Bruce, and you see the events unfold that eventually drive Bruce to once again become Batman. I particularly enjoyed how him deciding to do so was portrayed as both tragic and heroic, while at the same time not necessarily undermining Jim's time as Batman and what he was doing. Is Jim the equal of Bruce? Of course not, but he gives it his all and still manages to be just as integral to saving the day as Bruce is."But anyone could be who you are now! The one you were before, that guy, no one could be but you!"Numerous writers attempt to put their own spin on the Batman concept, to say something profound about the character that they believe to be unequivocally true. Snyder is no different and this is his statement in a nutshell. The core of this arc is about how no one can be Batman except for Bruce. Personally, I think that's bull, but I admire the way that Snyder goes about saying it and I think its well written. You really see this idea argued in-depth during the "Superheavy" arc by Jim, Duke Thomas, and a number of other people. The pinnacle of it is probably the machine that Bruce uses to restore his memories of being Batman, which is probably as comic book silly as you can possibly get. A machine imprinting random bodies/people with Batman's memories and skills so that there could not only always be a Batman, but so that there could always be a Bruce Wayne watching over Gotham City? Come on now lol I found that to be dumb, but like I said it wasn't badly written and it does say something about Bruce's dedication to the city and the idea that there must always be a Batman. Snyder even hints at tying the Joker into it as a constant presence in Batman's life.Speaking of the Joker, i've also been critical of how he continued using him as the major villain in different story arcs, so I liked how for the finale we got Bloom. Bloom really is the perfect counter to Snyder's Batman. Batman is someone that only Bruce can truly be, but anyone can be Bloom, which is why we never learn Bloom's real identity and Bloom's appearance and powers are unique and creepy in a way that draws the reader further into the story. You want to see more of him and hear more about what his plans are, but I also don't think he could ever work in another story after this one. Similar to Bane for Knightfall, this is probably going to be the best use of the character you ever get, the story that he was specifically created for. Everything that comes after is just going to fall short.There's another volume after this one, which i've already purchased, but it seems to me that you could probably skip it if you wanted to. By the end of this volume Bruce is Batman again, Jim is Commisioner, and everything is pretty much the same as it was before Snyder started, with a few things being altered, such as the Batsuit. Similar to Grant Morrison (And Snyder's miracle machine actually reminds me of a similar idea that showed up during Morrison's run) Snyder basically ends things by saying that the adventures of Batman will always continue, just under the pen of another writer. I could say more I guess, about how great the artwork continues to be, about the one shot that shows one of the future Batmen being "born" due to Bruce's machine, about Blooms seeds and the appearance of the Joker, but i'll leave that for future readers to discover on their own. Suffice to say that this is a great volume to read and have and a solid ending to Scott Snyder's Batman run. Overall, i'd say that this is probably my second favorite arc he wrote, right after Zero Year.