Batman General Discussion

If there's one compliment I'll always pay to the Zdarsky run, it's that the art and designs have been top-notch all the way through. I'm so glad Jorge Jimenez has hung around and kept drawing the book consistently, his art is just amazing.

I found an interesting set of graphs about Batman's current comic percentages and how the percentages changed over time.

EDIT: Also the amount of reboots and comics he's been in in general, with the amount seeming to increase exponentially.

Edited by lalalei2001 on Mar 23rd 2024 at 11:48:48 AM

I'm reminded of DC's direct to DVD era. The Wonder Woman movie sold just as well as the Justice League movies, but it did not sell as quickly, so Warner Brothers said "Batman and Superman only" from then on out. By that they meant 90% Batman, 5% Superman and 5% characters related to Batman or team ups involving Batman.

Like, if everything had to always sell fast well, we'd never have Pokémon Gold and Silver, because Red and Blue sold slowly. I know we eventually got another animated Wonder Woman thing, with Silver Swan. A nice, logical but unexpected choice of antagonist. But compared to main rival Disney, Warner Bros doesn't seem that big on making brands. Imagine if Disney said Frozen was one of the slowest selling films of all time so we're just dropping it! Pour everything into Pixar releases!

It's a prime example of "LINE GO UP" thinking of the kind that dominates business nowadays.

It's like how they refuse to greenlit any Flash movies despite his popularity, so they instead resort to making him the protagonist of team-titled movies like JSA, Crisis on Infinite Earth's, and giving Flashpoint Paradox a Justice League subtitle.

And they make him the guy who fucks up time at the expense of anything else.

Yep. Speaking of, it's REALLY annoying how it seems like DC refuses to adapt any Flash stories other than Rebirth and Flashpoint of all things. None of the actually GOOD Flash arcs, just repeats of Reverse-Flash killing Barry's mom and Barry fucking up timelines; they'll even rewrite characters and arcs to be more like those, like how the CW show made characters like Hunter Zolomon or Savitar into copies of Reverse-Flash.

They should do an adaptation of Flashpoint (1999) next just to confuse people :P

Back on Batman, what stories would you like to see adapted that haven't already been done?

I think some Golden Age Alfred stories would be super fun to see.

Edited by lalalei2001 on Mar 23rd 2024 at 12:20:38 PM

What, the shorter, stockier, mustache-less, comic-relief Alfred?

Yeah! Alfred trying and accidentally succeeding at being a detective would be tons of fun.

I'd also love a Bat-Cow story or something about Ace the Bat-Hound. Animal sidekicks are <3

Edited by lalalei2001 on Mar 23rd 2024 at 12:51:20 PM

The funniest thing I find about those graphs is Superman being mostly consistent. The least funny thing is, well you know. Wonder Woman spikes with Marston-Peter(and ghost writer). Even in her better runs following she's still a comparative minority. There could be a quality over quantity argument but I know better, it's really "can't let the Marston estate have this!".

It is too bad the last Batman film was lukewarm on reception though. That one had Riddler as the villain. Could have finally been the time for a better member of the rogues gallery to overtake the clown for a stretch...on the other hand, Riddler being a gleeful murderer doesn't really sit right with me either. I know he kind of started out as wanting to show off the perfect death trap, but I like the idea of that being a one time thing and him being completely honest about not really wanting to hurt anyone, but Batman never forgiving on really trusting ever again for it.

Uh do you mean The Batman (2022) by Matt Reeves?

That wasn't lukewarm received, the reception to it was very positive and praised overall especially Riddler's portrayal as the main antagonist.

Edited by slimcoder on Mar 24th 2024 at 12:10:27 PM

Preview solicits for Batman Dark Age 1, 2, and 3 are out.

1: Meet Bruce Wayne, Gotham’s favorite delinquent son. In an origin story like no other, witness the boy become a dark knight shaped by a city in turmoil as it marches towards its prophesied doom. Set against the backdrop of actual historical events, Gotham comes alive, filled with the iconic characters who've loved and hated Batman over the years like you've never seen them before. Spinning out of the Eisner-nominated Superman: Space Age, Mark Russell and Mike Allred return to give audiences a look at Batman as a figure in American history fighting for justice in a world gone mad.

2: Guilty as charged! When a young and aimless Bruce Wayne finds himself incarcerated, he looks for a way to shorten his sentence and return to his charmed lifestyle. Little does he know, signing up for a tour with the army in Vietnam will change him forever. Witness the birth of the Bat under the watchful eye of the one-and-only Sergeant Ra's al Ghul!

3: A Robin rises from the ashes! Bruce Wayne discovers he may wield more power without a mask as he reenters society to rave reviews. But when an ambitious Carmine Falcone takes over Gotham with the help of his False Face Society, Batman realizes the only way to win the war is with allies. Will the next generation be up to the task? Or is Gotham doomed to continue living in this dark age?

The Reeves Batman movie is by far my favorite live-action adaption of Batman - with only the first Burton movie coming anywhere close - but I do gotta admit that Riddler was a poor choice for the role Reeves had in mind for a main villain. Paul Dano did a fantastic performance, and reimagining the riddle aspect as Zodiac Killer/Unabomber-style scheming was inspired, but ultimately I feel like the role (and the ties it has to the film's themes) could've been better fulfilled by different villains, maybe someone like Ratcatcher, Black Spider, or Hush. As is, Dano's Riddler feels like he has barely anything in common with the comic Riddler in a movie that was otherwise very good at staying true to the spirit of the comics.

And as my suggestions above show, we definitely need media that gives the wider rogues gallery attention outside the big names. It's been too long since got stuff like the Morrison run or Beware The Batman that really made use of the weirder, more obscure lore and characters.

Damn, this all sounds awesome. It seems like an even more experimental take on the franchise than Space Age was for Superman. I'm especially intrigued by the Vietnam War aspect they're apparently going with.

Edited by immortaleditor on Mar 24th 2024 at 8:56:40 AM

I guess that is a consequence of no one in my current social circle being fans of DC really. Still, a lot of them were...intent on seeing that Batman movie. I don't want to say hyped because they were mocking the previews, posters, teasers, trailers, but they really wanted to see it!

One guy said of the film "bad Riddler cosplay" and him being a cameraman, editor, director and costume designer, I figured his opinion was valid. Still, his fandom of DC can be summed up as "I really like Riddler in spandex", "Superman's rock weakness is funny", "The Lynda Carter show is where it peaked", "I was friends with George Perez so I give the brand a bigger pass than I should. Perez did Marvel too and that was better." Back when Batman Begins was in theaters though he was raving about Scarecrow and the practical effects used in his scenes, so based on that I figured they must have dropped the ball on Riddler. Plus over on the Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League thread, on this very forum, people were decrying DC as a "failing brand" mentioning the last Batman movie only being "so so"(which to be fair was kinder than anything typed about any other "recent" releases).

That gave me the impression reception was lukewarm. If I'm wrong, fine, I admit I should have done better research than relying on the opinions of people who don't even like DC and TV Tropes forum users upset about an overpriced third person shooter.

Edited by IndirectActiveTransport on Mar 24th 2024 at 12:16:44 PM

They just showed the Penguin spinoff trailer like a day ago. I think it's pretty liked.

I'm also not a fan of their take on Riddler, but the movie isn't really about the villains.

Fat Alfred is in the Batman: Caped Crusader series, but odds are he won't be buffoonish.

Amusing cause it contrasts with our last cartoon Alfred in Beware who was a massive Jason Statham guy.

Edited by slimcoder on Mar 24th 2024 at 3:01:51 AM

Alfred is a really interesting example of how a character can change radically between depictions while still keeping the core of it. He's been goofy comic relief, Bruce's posh British childhood caretaker, bulky Jason Statham action hero types, and more.

Alfred is called Bruce Wayne's butler, but he usually acts as his valet. Technically speaking, a butler is the head of a household staff, while a valet is a personal attendant. There's no reason he can't be both—he is both, in fact— but he most often behaves like a valet. Alfred's set of skills isn't even especially out of the ordinary for a valet, especially in the modern era where it's pretty common that a valet should be a security professional.

Originally he had been a music-hall actor who's father had been Thomas Wayne's butler, and who became Bruce Wayne's butler because of his father's dying wish. Even after his physical appearance changed, I think that remained his backstory until Frank Miller made him an ex-British army combat medic. Subsequent writers have given him a background in military intelligence, too.

Chances are Wayne Manor does have a staff that we never see that generally keeps the busy work done like cleaning the whole place and supplying food.

Which they probably only come in during specific hours to maintain plausible deniability that like say Bruce is sleeping in due to a hangover or something.

Who keeps the batcave well maintained?

Like, don't those bats shit?

Hilariously enough, I distinctly recall a story arc from way back in the 90s or early 2000s where Alfred actually contracts a fucking disease from the bats in the Batcave.

Any idea what story? That sounds like a fun read.

Batman Gotham Knights 41-42

Specifically, Alfred contracts a mutated form of ebola from the bats in the Batcave, forcing the Batfamily to both come up with a cure and treat all the bats in the entire cave with said cure.

The same arc also includes a rather interesting subplot about child protective services investigating Bruce out of suspicion that he's an abusive guardian to the various sidekicks because of the suspicious circumstances Jason died in.