Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore re-imagine the death of Batman and Superman

BATMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE CAPED CRUSADER Deluxe Edition (Titan hardcover, £18.99)

Neil Gaiman, author of the sublime Sandman series and novels such as American Gods and The Graveyard Book, asks: 'Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader?' in an elegy first published in comicbook form this year.

It's a Gotham City take on 'Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?' written in 1985 by Watchmen and V For Vendetta creator Alan Moore, and now reprinted in a complementary deluxe edition.

Published on Friday August 24, both deal with the death of heroes, boast a huge cast of characters and feature artwork which lovingly recreates the work of famous DC Comics artists of the past.

"I love Batman," says Gaiman simply. "There may be other characters I like. There may be other characters I like better. And there are characters I invented, and I love all of them like children.

"But I loved, and still love, Batman unshakably, unquestioningly, as one loves a parent. He was the first. He's always been there."

Until now, that is.

The story opens as friends and foes gather at the funeral of the Dark Knight, each stepping up to the open casket to tell of their part in his demise.

Catwoman, the Penguin, the Mad Hatter, the Scarecrow, Two-Face. The Joker, of course.

They're all there, alongside a grieving Dick Grayson, Commissioner Gordon and Wayne family retainer Alfred.

But the stories each tells of the fall of the Batman are different.

Selina Kyle speaks of a doomed love affair; the Joker rues a demise that failed to raise a smile. And faithful Alfred's revelations are the most shocking of all, suggesting the hero he served lived a lie.

The poignant proceedings are viewed, Christmas Carol-like, by the disembodied Batman and a mysterious woman who remains just out of his sight until all is revealed, quite literally, at the death.

This is Gaiman at his best, weaving a dream-like spell which raises as many questions as answers, and matches perfectly the sumptuous artwork of Andy Kubert, presented on gloriously glossy pages.

"Batman stories don't end with smiles and winks," says Gaiman. "If I were going to tell the last Batman story, it had to be something that would still be the last Batman story in twenty years or a hundred."

SUPERMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW Deluxe Edition (Titan hardcover, £18.99)

Moore's series was also intended as a last Superman tale - but to tie up all the loose ends before the character was relaunched by John Byrne in 1986.

Editor Julius Schwartz explains: "It was incumbent upon me to clear up all the things that had been going on in the previous years. Did Lois Lane ever find out that Clark Kent was Superman? Did they ever get married?

"What happened to Jimmy Olsen, to Perry White, to all the villains?"

Northamptonshire author Moore famously hired himself over breakfast. Recalls Schwartz: "He rose out of his chair, put his hands around my neck, and said: 'If you let anybody but me write that story, I'll kill you!'

"Since I didn't want to be an accessory to my own murder, I agreed."

In the book, Superman comes under attack from former foes including Lex Luthor, Brainiac and The Legion Of Super Villains. Fearing the worst, he gathers those he loves around him in the icy Fortress of Solitude.

There follows a drawn-out siege during which a number of much-loved characters die, others discover new truths about themselves, and the Man Of Tomorrow breaks his sacred vow never to kill.

Already unmasked as Clark Kent during an attack on the Daily Planet newsroom, and shamed by his hot-blooded moment of violence, Superman is left to make the ultimate sacrifice himself.

There is, however, a twist in the tale, which is presented throughout by Curt Swan in the brightly coloured, more simplistic style, of the era.

Neither of these two epitaph entries was written as a 'what if'. Both were composed as career curtain closers on the most famous superheroes of them all - but a word of caution from Moore.

"They are, of course, imaginary tales," he says. "Aren't they all?"