Batman Questions

Technically he's only had one adopted son die. The other dead kid was his bastard son.

Damien is dead?!

Was Damian his "bastard" son? I thought he was grown in a tube by Talia by combining her DNA with Bruce's.

I know the inspiration for Damian (and Ibn Al Xuffasch from Kingdom Come) was Bruce and Talia's son who's shown at the end of Son of the Demon. But he's NOT that kid, right? Given that the baby boy in that story (whom Talia said, before she lied to Bruce and told him she'd miscarried, she was going to name Thomas) was conceived and born in the usual way.

Interestingly, l'il Thomas Wayne was, according to everything I'd heard about it, actually considered to be in-continuity, at least before the events of the New 52.

edited 11th Apr '14 10:16:07 PM by Robbery

Was the Damian thing started when first trained with the League of Shadows or did they do some kind of age acceleration? Because if it is the latter I think it would have been better to just have him conceived the traditional way back when he first met Talia.

That leaves the issue of comic book time. Bruce has been Batman for (Damien's age + X). Given that they've youth-ed him for New52, Damien could only be about 3.

They could have Bruce running into Ra's and Talia during his training to solve that.

"Ibn Al Xuffasch". As an Arab speaker, I find the term very funny.

Ah, I guess I'm think more in terms of Batman Begins where Bruce trained with the League of Shadows before becoming Batman.

Mark Waid, writer of Kingdom Come, assured us that Ibn al Xuffasch meant "Son of the Bat." I take it that's not what it means? Or that that's not the best translation of it?

It's exactly what it means, it's just that it sounds very silly. Bats aren't scary; they're barely above moths in terms of barely-interesting night wildlife. Snakes, scorpions, now those are a problem. Lions and hyenas and jackals used to be a problem, but not any more. Owls are a little bit intimidated. But anyone who'd confess to being scared of bats would be asked if they're an idiot. Even mice and rats are more dangerous/annoying/repulsive than freaking bats.

Also, it's a bit of an Inherently Funny Word. Like "banana" or "chimichangas".

edited 14th Apr '14 8:25:27 AM by TheHandle

i have a Batman question: does he still have all of his Batmobiles?

Oh, I gotcha. So the connotation is different? Whereas in the West bats have this dark and sinister reputation (mostly undeserved, but I'm sure stemming at least partially from vampire myths) in the Arabic world they're just considered pests? So would calling yourself "Batman" in the Arabic-speaking world be akin to calling yourself "Raccoon Man" in the US?

Good thing for Batman he looks a mite devilish, I suppose...

Indeed. Or Mouse-Man. Even in French and Spanish, chauve-souris (literally, baldmouse!) and murciélago are hardly scary words.

But anything can be scary or impressive if implemented right.

I wonder if Batman ever invokes having JLA villains underestimate him? Because it would be easier to beat the bad guys if they're focusing on the more obvious threats.

Frankly, having Batman in the vicinity of the likes of Superman or Green Lantern is outright ridiculous, Badass Normal or not. Watch Man Of Steel and tell me how Batman could have kept up with that shit without becoming collateral damage. Kryptonians would descend on him like a ton of bricks and that's not a metaphor.

edited 14th Apr '14 2:07:56 PM by TheHandle

There's some reason Batman's become a Memetic Badass. It does get a bit annoying when people keep saying he should beat everyone with prep time.

edited 14th Apr '14 2:18:25 PM by bookworm6390

He tried to beat Superman in The Dark Knight Returns, with a lot of help, and he lost and died of a heart attack. He tried it in Luthor Man Of Steel and got his ass kicked. He tried it in that one Jim Lee Justice League VS Dark Seid story and got his ass kicked.

He also got his ass kicked against the Swamp Thing.

Swamp Thing is awesome.

I wonder why he and Superman aren't explicitly friends. I'm sure they'd get along famously.

So, neither of us are "Batman can beat everyone" fanboys. You see them a lot in youtube comments and lurking on comicvine. Has Batman ever hacked into an alien spaceship Independence Day style?

Looks more like an Oracle gig to me.

Ironically, have the "Batman can beat anyone" fanboys overpowered him? Can a character with no super powers be overpowered?

See, most of us are human beings, so we kinda like seeing human beings not being completely dwarfed and powerless between aliens, Amazons made of clay, dwellers of the depth and galactic patrollers. Is that a power fantasy? Yes, but so are aliens, Amazons made of clay, dwellers of the depth and galactic patrollers.

That's what Luthor is for. Batman could be a Badass Normal without being better than any unpowered specialized human at any speciality ever, and without treating everyone around him like they're idiots. Nightwing seems to manage that just fine.

Everyone loves Nightwing.

Why isn't he the chairman of the Justice League? He's even nicer than Superman!

Why does Batman sometimes have trouble fighting random thugs and then be great at helping fight JLA villains? And what is the best way of using the members of the JLA to keep any of them from looking incompetent? And not using Plot Tailoredtothe Party.

Someone (I think it was Peter David) once pointed out that Batman is NOT an ordinary person. Whether or not he has super-powers, he pulls off stuff regularly that would kill an ordinary person. He's not remotely realistic. He's a comic book super-hero whose "powers" are an impressive array of honed skills and lots of useful gadgetry. Don't think of him as a human among super-humans. Think of him as a super-hero among super-heroes. In super-hero-land, costume + will = superhero. O'course, everyone has their own limits beyond which they can no longer suspend their disbelief, so if you can't buy all of that, then you probably ain't gonna buy Batman.

I've ALWAYS hated the "Batman can beat anybody" mindset. I don't mind Batman being a force to be reckoned with; I insist upon it, in fact. What bothers me is when writers seem to feel the need to write him like Amon from The Legend of Korra, as a guy who can essentially walk through even the most powerful opponents unscathed and defeat them with a withering stare and his indomitable will. I generally liked the DCU animated film where the JLA met their Crime Syndicate counterparts, except that they all (practically literally) needed Batman (who had bowed out of the action in the beginning only to sail in again later) to ride to their rescue in the end. I'm not inclined to like the presence of any character who seems to be used to make the others look like incompetent buffoons. Why must everyone else be less so he can be more?

Prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman and Batman WERE friends. Best friends, in fact. They work beautifully as such, in my opinion, and I've never entirely understood the desire by so many writers since to depict them as otherwise. One writer (I forget who) once said that Batman and Superman had as much in common as Paris Hilton and Noam Chomsky, which just served to illustrate his own lack of imagination. It's much more interesting, much more satisfying, IMO, to show them as friends then as...what? Rivals? Antagonistic allies?

I believe Nightwing WAS chairman of the League once, briefly. Back during Joe Kelly's run.

edited 14th Apr '14 4:26:25 PM by Robbery

That's what Amon wants you to think.

But boy was he awesome.

edited 14th Apr '14 4:30:16 PM by TheHandle

Why is mr. "I work alone" the one with all the sidekicks? Informed Loner much?