The Comic Book Thread

[marurun]

I actually think Batman is an incredibly boring and frustratingly contradictory character, and the Joker is a hot mess of a villain who I don’t like in the least. Despite all this, there are some fantastic Batman comics. Batman draws a lot of great writers who craft some really compelling stories. And the setting of Gotham really contributes what with the mob and corruption and whatnot. So I end up reading and enjoying a lot of Batman material despite not caring so much for the character himself or his iconic arch-enemy.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I don’t mind Batman. I agree that the Joker is an incredibly boring character, though.

[Ack]

I think Batman works best as these sort of unconnected stories from numerous writers. It feels more like a modern version of mythology this way. Trying to connect it all with one continuity kind of ruins things, because people can take the myth how they want and run with it.

Ziggy, you want a wild take on Batman? Look up Bat-Manga, a set of Japanese comics published with DC's sanction in the 1970s, which DC them forgot about. The story of their existence and rediscovery is as good as the comics themselves.

[REPO Man]

I enjoyed Gotham High and Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass.

[Raging Justice]

I'm a huge Batman fan, but two things have always bothered me about the character

1. Robin.

Literally everything about Robin is a contradiction of all of the things that Batman represents. The silly name that is in no way scary or intimidating. The fact that they are usually kids, which is again, not scary or intimidating. The brightly colored costume, which in addition to not being scary certainly doesn't help with being stealthy, something that Batman is known for. You can't blend into the shadows and pounce on your enemies from the darkness of the night in a bright red and green and yellow outfit.

Everything about Robin screams NOT BATMAN. I found myself liking each of the different Robins the most once they STOPPED being Robin and took on their own distinct personas i.e. Nightwing, Red Hood, etc. (incidentally I also loved when Dick Grayson briefly become Batman in the comic books. Feels like it was his destiny to take on that role, even if it was only temporary).

By contrast to Robin, Batgirl is a perfect representation of everything Batman is, just in female form. She really should be his sidekick, not Robin

2. The no killing thing

My main issue with this is that anyone who fights evil in real life be they cops, soldiers, federal agents, special forces...whatever, understands that taking a life is something that they may have to do at some point. It just comes with the territory. The idea of having some no killing code while doing a job that requires you to face dangerous, evil, people or just face people who have a reason to kill you (like an enemy soldier) is just absurd. It's the sort of thing that can ONLY happen in a comic book, not in real life. If you fight bad guys on a regular basis in the real world, you better be ready to have to kill at some point. This would be even more true if the kind of insane, uber dangerous, criminals and villains we see in comic books existed in the real world.

Also, and this isn't really a criticism of Batman, but rather an interesting fact, he's not the first character of his kind. Batman was based in many ways on elements of other fictional characters that existed before him like The Shadow. He's just the most popular take on the dark, mysterious, vigilante, who fights crime character type. I think even Zorro was in some ways an inspiration for the Batman character.

[marurun]

The amount of brain damage Batman has caused through beatings cannot be truly reckoned with.

[Raging Justice]

The amount of brain damage Batman has caused through beatings cannot be truly reckoned with.

Yeah, that's the funny thing about Batman, he doesn't seem to mind hurting you...even torturing you. It's just that actual death is a bridge too far

There's a lot of stories where Superman takes issue with Batman's treatment of villains, though I'm sure Superman has probably give people some brain damage as well...and probably broken bones and spines

I actually find if funny how some of the video games try to hide the fact that Batman is actually killing people. Throw a goon off of a really high location and the game does a splashing sound implying that there was some body of water down there. Run over someone with the Batmobile and an electrical discharge happens implying that the BIG, FRICKING, CAR somehow just shocked the enemy like a taser. He's totally still alive though

I always loved how Tim Burton's Batman just didn't seem to care. He did things to people that there's no way in hell they could have survived. Those movies felt a bit more honest. Although, I have not yet seen The Flash movie that just came out (which apparently brings back Burton's Batman portrayed once again by Michael Keaton) . I don't know how he's portrayed in that movie.

[Raging Justice]

Another fun fact about Batman, I believe there was a time very early in the character's history where he used a gun

I have to research this, but I remember watching something on youtube once that pointed out a very early story where he used a gun and used it with intent to kill. I just can't remember the specifics. I'm pretty sure there's a comic book story too where's he kills a man by hanging him

As time went on, it was eventually decided that Batman would be a character that refuses to kill and abhors guns. Thus, we have the modern version of the character. He's changed quite a bit over time, including sillier, campy takes on the character before Frank Miller got ahold of him. I feel like Robin is left over from those times, but really doesn't fit with the darker version of Batman we have today

[marurun]

I mean, Batman came out of noir detective tales, so having a gun early on wouldn't have been any kind of stretch. He's basically a PI with a costume.

[RCBH928]

I do not read comics, I actually thought there were dead and making money off the franchise from movies and tv shows but in defense of Batman he is probably my favorite " hero" simply because he is much more realistic. A super hero is fun but later I found it to get ridiculous as they kept making characters each with a unique capability it just withers the overall significance of a super hero character. Shooting lasers, freezing, fires, wind, flying, you name it. I also can't explain why some super heros like spiderman are more popular than Green Arrow.

I must add that the "world" of the super hero adds a lot to the character. A lot of the reason I like Batman is because the settings of Gotham city but I am more in the Tim Burton/Gothic Batman and not the cheesy "comic" batman from the 60s tv show. I think the original was the cheesy comedic one? I never read the comics.