Poll: Batman, The Visible Rot of DC

[Zixxilon Kellidar]

Seriously, I'm so sick of him, FED UP! There was a time and age when liking Batman was cool. Because of his psychology, the very deep characters, and the symbolism. He wasn't fighting superpowered villains, just gangsters and psychotic freaks. And then they added him to the Justice League, and everything slowly went downhill. Fans demanded more from Batman, they wanted him to be able to take on the likes of Darkseid, toe to toe, and they even wanted him to be able to BEAT SUPERMAN! NUMEROUS TIMES! Can you believe the arrogance of these Batman fanboys? They want to keep giving him more and more powers and leniency. Their attitude of "Batman is the greatest, he can never lose, and if he dies, I'll throw a baby temper tantrum." has tried all the patience I have left.

I am sick of them running DC comics now. I'm sick of the people at DC letting these fanboys run Batman likes he's the god of the universe which, oh wait, HE IS! Apparently, they added a clause that went something along the lines of "If Batman ever dies, the universe slowly implodes on itself." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! Spiderman and Wolverine NEVER needed this kind of arrogant excuse to justify them living, EVER! It absolutely disgusts me how overpowered Batman is for a guy who buys his powers, and btw, is a complete sociopath who has not made a single dent in Gotham's crime rate. He's simply a grown man-child who embezzles money from his own company to partake in a hobby of beating up villains. He doesn't care about the innocent people, because he'd rather not kill at all, and therefore allow the villains nearly free reign to cause as much havoc as possible. So why is he liked? Because Batman fans are illogical, and don't understand that he's a blight, and I hope someday, they nerf him or kill him off, and let one of the more logical Robins take his place for good.

Seriously? Screw Batman. Tell me your thoughts on this.

 

[uneek]

My thoughts on this is that you're really sick of how people these days have handled Batman badly and you're taking it out on the character himself. I don't know what else to say.

 

[Zixxilon Kellidar]

Because the rules of this forum FORBID me from flaming the fans directly. If I did, they'd shut this thread down and give me a flag. So I have to be creative about how I tackle it. Otherwise, I don't get to have my say.

 

[FalloutJack]

Zixxy, I think you're taking this a bit too seriously. Too many boneheaded things have been done already to the Dark Knight as is (See that one topic in Cracked.com for more info.), and we don't need someone pointing MORE fingers.

 

[DustyDrB]

I don't like superhero crossovers either, but I just pretend they don't exist. Problem solved.

 

[Crazy]

Without Robin and his witty catchphrases Batman will only be a man in tights.

 

[Saladfork]

Batman is the only DC hero worth reading about.


There, I said it.

 

[Zixxilon Kellidar]

Batman is the only DC hero worth reading about.


There, I said it.

If there wasn't just one novel of it ever written, I'd argue Watchmen. But again, it's not a constant comic series, so it doesn't count. =/

 

[WolfThomas]

Grant Morrisons JLA was perfect example of how Batman should be written, he's a wildcard, can't beat any of the League's villains in a straight up fight, so he's always plotting and keeping himself several steps ahead. Never fully responsible for their victory but always contributing at a pivotal moment.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I don't like superhero crossovers either, but I just pretend they don't exist. Problem solved.

I like to think each hero exists in their own continuity. Having them come together and work together can be fun and exciting but in the end I mentally return them to their 'territory' with their rogue gallery and personal lives.

As for what the OP is talking about, expecting Batman to go toe to toe with Darkseid without very extreme conditions effective the latter's powers is ridiculous. But fanboys are fanboys...

 

[Vault101]

hence why I dont like superheros

I do like batman though (like holy shit I had no Idea how twisted it could get at times)

 

[DustyDrB]

I don't like superhero crossovers either, but I just pretend they don't exist. Problem solved.

I like to think each hero exists in their own continuity. Having them come together and work together can be fun and exciting but in the end I mentally return them to their 'territory' with their rogue gallery and personal lives.

As for what the OP is talking about, expecting Batman to go toe to toe with Darkseid without very extreme conditions effective the latter's powers is ridiculous. But fanboys are fanboys...

It's just completely jarring to me when they appear together. I remember watching some of the 90's Spider-Man cartoon episodes and would just quit watching whenever Blade or Captain America showed up. I guess the only exception is video games, because I did like the first Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

 

[MegaManOfNumbers]

Welcome to The Escapist.

Quite a way to introduce yourself isn't it?

There really isn't anything wrong with the Batman mythos is there? Just as long as they stop interacting with the supernatural the series is cool, but that shit kinda has to happen because Bats shares the same universe as a bunch of superpowered freaks.

This really is a shame; I liked the Nolanverse Batman movies; The Asylum games; and books like Batman: Year One, Long Halloween, and Dark Victory for - though having supernatural elements - grounded themselves in reality. It keeps a tight storyline structure and makes the abnormal more amazing due to juxtaposition. Which is undone when supernatural characters and plotlines come by, diluting the driving theme of the Batmanverse:

"How can one man change the world around him? And Why?"

 

[The Salty Vulcan]

Grant Morrisons JLA was perfect example of how Batman should be written, he's a wildcard, can't beat any of the League's villains in a straight up fight, so he's always plotting and keeping himself several steps ahead. Never fully responsible for their victory but always contributing at a pivotal moment.

I agree and disagree with that. True, it ultimately makes the character all that more effective and terrifying (he's willing to consider the options the other's wouldn't after all) while still keeping him the human component in a team of Gods. In that sense, he works very well. My problem is when he's in Gotham. When done well, he's the lone figure; going to incredible lengths and risking everything to see justice. When he isn't done as well, he becomes a one man army and becomes increasingly less interesting and ineffective.

 

[JesterRaiin]

BTW : Does any hero of old still fight common evil ?

I saw a few modern Batman comics and each and every was about our favorite flying rodent fighting some supervillain. Good half of said villains were enemies closely tied to Batman's past, knowing his real identity and determined to break him mentally.

I was full of WTF*cks...

 

[Ordinaryundone]

BTW : Does any hero of old still fight common evil ?

I saw a few modern Batman comics and each and every was about our favorite flying rodent fighting some supervillain. Good half of said villains were enemies closely tied to Batman's past, knowing his real identity and determined to break him mentally.

I was full of WTF*cks...

Most street level heroes spend at least some time on "patrol", taking down common crooks and averting minor disasters. They don't focus on it because there is no tension. No one would ever have Batman or Spider-Man beaten by some random run of the mill mugger, so their appearances are mostly just to reinforce the idea that, yes, Gotham and New York have crime outside of the supervillains.

OT: Your problem isn't with Batman, it's with superhero crossovers in general. Marvel has the same problem, particularly with Wolverine. He's got a lot of fans, and writers know that they will buy books with Wolverine in them, even if it's not his usual series. Hence why Wolverine was on the Avengers and SHIELD for a while. It's actually a pretty clever selling tool, and I've picked up some stories I normally would not have read because of cameos or tie-ins, but it does play holy hell with canon.

It's easier to just pretend that each hero lives in their own universe, or one soley populated by other heroes around the same power level. My problem isn't with Batman fighting Darkseid, that is just silly. My problem is with Batman wanting to clean Gotham, and then refusing help from guys like Superman or Captain Marvel who could do the job in a week, tops. When Batman is one man standing against all the crime and evil, it's a great concept. When I'm supposed to believe that that right next door is a guy who A. Will not kill and B. Is invulnerable and can move planets, it really makes Batman look like a dick for insisting on doing things the old-fashioned way and putting lives at risk.

 

[JesterRaiin]

BTW : Does any hero of old still fight common evil ?

I saw a few modern Batman comics and each and every was about our favorite flying rodent fighting some supervillain. Good half of said villains were enemies closely tied to Batman's past, knowing his real identity and determined to break him mentally.

I was full of WTF*cks...

Most street level heroes spend at least some time on "patrol", taking down common crooks and averting minor disasters. They don't focus on it because there is no tension. No one would ever have Batman or Spider-Man beaten by some random run of the mill mugger, so their appearances are mostly just to reinforce the idea that, yes, Gotham and New York have crime outside of the supervillains.

Yeah. There's no point in trying to catch a petty thief when you clash with Doomsday in the morning and join Superman for a few lagers afterwards. :|

Still, what's the point of inventing new monsters and villains just for the sake of maintaining the series in motion ? I mean, other reason than greed ?

 

[Cowabungaa]

Batman is the only DC hero worth reading about.


There, I said it.

There's some killer Superman stories out there you know, and the Sandman is technically a DC character too. Technically.

 

[CrashBang]

What? What? Where is your evidence that DC are pandering to the fans?
Morrison's long run on Batman over the last few years has been fantastic and constantly interesting, putting Dick in the Batshoes and introducing some amazing new villains and story arcs.
Since Flashpoint, Scott Snyder's Batman has been one of my favourite stories in The New 52, with the Court Of Owls proving to be a fantastic villain and the writing is sharp, witty and flows fantastically.

DC doesn't care about what the fans want and are not pandering to them by making Batman awesome. Batman is awesome because the writers behind him are awesome and consistently come up with new and interesting ways to explore his capabilities, his mind, his city and his relationships.

There is nothing wrong with Batman right now. The problems you're whining about is the thing that MovieBob brought up about it being cool to like Batman and Batman being a huge and drawn-out meme right now. That's not DC's problem and I'll continue to love the Batman stories for as long as the writing holds up.

EDIT:

Batman is the only DC hero worth reading about.


There, I said it.

Have you been reading any of the stuff Geoff Johns, Scott Snyder, Grant Morrison, Gail Simone or Peter Tomassi have been putting out over the last 5+ years? Johns alone made me fall deeply in love with The Flash, Green Lantern and, most recently, Aquaman (which is currently my favourite series of The New 52). Superman has been falling on his face for quite some time but Morrison's Action Comics is going strong right now and his All-Star Superman series was brilliant a few years back.

It's probably clear that I'm a huge DC fan and haven't touched Marvel in years or ever given 2000AD a shot but the reason is that DC has the best team of writers and artists in the business right now and they have done since the turn of the century. Good writing = good characters.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Eh, personally I've always thought Batman was only good for creating drama for the much more interesting batfamily.

But then, they decided to reboot DC continuity, and went to the good old days when comics were exclusively for 12 year old kids whose parents failed to get them to read anything better in the process.