Bruce Wayne: The Road Home - Where does this go in the timeline?

[BadBoy House]

I'm currently working my way through Grant Morrisons Batman run but noticed on Amazon today a tpb called Bruce Wayne The Road Home. Where does this fit in to the timeline in terms of the reading order?

I appreciate that it's not written by Morrison but I presume it must fit somewhere?

[Godlike13]

I have no clue. That's always been a mystery to me. I think they just wanted to milk us, even if the story didn't really even support it.

[T Hedge Coke]

It doesnt' fit comfortably/sensibly anywhere. You just, if you're really trying to be chronological about it, jam it in somewhere regardless of it not synching with other comics about the same events/era.

Or, just read it on its own, as its own narrative, on its own strengths.

[ForeverYoung8]

I kinda place it right after Batman & Robin #16, but before Batman: The Return.

It's not perfect, but it's the only place I can fit it. Basically it's like Bruce announcing Inc, then goes on a roadtrip to watch / test his allies in "Road Home", and then gathers them together in the Cave for their orders in "The Return". Does that make sense?

[Man-Thing]

It doesn't. At best it takes place between panels in Batman & Robin.

[Retro315]

This from my memory, and it's been a few since I've read Road Home so I can't say I've really nit-picked lately (but I did back when I read it).

Actually, even though Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne and Batman and Robin Must Die! are part of the same Morrison story and have elements that tie into one another (actually, starting in Batman # 700-702 and Batman Versus Robin) ... Bruce Wayne: The Road Home kind of fits in between "Return of Bruce" and "Must Die!"

In Return of Bruce, Bruce comes back from time to the Justice League and meets up with Tim. He gets ready to go back to Gotham, and yeah it shows him putting on a Batman costume ... but Must Die! begins (chronologically) with Dick and Damian returning to Gotham to where Joker has been holed up under police quarantine in the Grand Hotel (for an unknown period of time). We know that Dick and Damian actually left Gotham after discovering Joker's identity because they turn up in Bludhaven in Return of Bruce, searching the bunker. An unknown amount of time actually passes before they go back to question Joker and the whole Dr. Hurt Returns ordeal begins. And when Bruce turns up at the end of the story, they're hardly surprised to see him. More like they've been expecting him.

In Bruce Wayne: The Road Home, I feel like I remember they have an indication that he's back, and in the Batman & Robin issue he doesn't deceive them the same way he deceives his other allies with the "Insider" costume. But he uses "Insider" to test the rest of the gang and thwart Ra's al Ghul from some sort of strike.

Comics being hyper-compressed or decompressed, it's easy enough that the whole "Road Home" mini-event took place in a couple nights, and easily a few days, up to even a week could have gone by between the transitions from Versus Robin/Return of Bruce and the Must Die! finale. (Which also explains why Morrison didn't even have to bother showing things like sentimental reunions.)

So perhaps like this;

Batman & Robin: Batman vs. Robin
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
Batman: Bruce Wayne: The Road Home
Batman & Robin: Batman & Robin Must Die!
Batman: The Return