Batman dark age. its a different universe to space age because bruce is still alive in the future where he is recounting his past. This bruce didn't go to zorro with his family who were killed by the false face society. Bruce is a punk kid who keeps getting in trouble and getting bailed out until he tries to save Selina from an assault but it was a trick and the guy who was working with Selina says bruce tried to kill him and bruces lawyers don't show up so he gets 10 years in prison and because of the morality clause he can't get inherit Wayne enterprises, and at the end we see the shadow head of Wayne enterprises who now gets to run it full time is Pariah who says he has plans to 1985
The Head of the Hydra
For the record Zur is joining the Absolute Power event written by Mark Waid and Dan Mora.
It will see Waller somehow recruiting Zur and Brainiac Queen after House of Brainiac to engage a scheme where she steals the powers of all superheroes possibly with Brainiac tech.
Its also not a Suicide Squad story, its more of a Waller storyline since her forces have moved beyond the Squad and going by the cover of AP those opposing her will be the Trinity.
Edited by slimcoder on Mar 29th 2024 at 12:57:15 PM
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Ooooh, I wonder what'll happen next!
Yeah, Dark Age is really cool so far. Definitely a very weird and inventive take on the concept. Notably, it also seems to bringing back the "mask cult" take on Black Mask that largely fell to the wayside after No Man's Land.
Yeah, that's precisely what I'm talking about. By all means, have Batman have a no-killing rule, but don't then have the villains actively using it to get away with evil shit and kill again, all while gloating and rubbing it in the reader's face that they're able to keep doing this because Batman won't kill them. Because not only is that obnoxious, but it makes Batman and all his allies look like impotent morons who can't just put a bullet into a clown.
Edited by immortaleditor on Mar 29th 2024 at 1:37:11 AM
The Head of the Hydra
Okay so we found out how all this started, back in Death of the Family when Joker injected Alfred with Joker toxin, Alfred revealed everything about Zur and Failsafe. So Joker essentially engineered everything including convincing Penguin to fake his own death all to activate Failsafe and bring out Zur.
Edited by slimcoder on Mar 29th 2024 at 5:02:33 AM
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
Surrounded by weirdoes
Of fucking course.
Edited by Blueace on Mar 29th 2024 at 9:03:21 AM
Wake me up at your own risk.
Team Rocket Boss.
Wow, that is just some hardcore Joker sucking off.
Seriously? He’s behind everything involving Failsafe? Not the Penguin? Just wow.
I'll teach you a lesson about just how cruel the world can be. That's my job, as an adult.
Idea Seeker
I think Reverse Flash is becoming the Franchise Original Sin of having a supervillain being behind a hero's suffering for all their life.
You can't kill art.
Team Rocket Boss.
No that was a fucking meme.
There actually was a storyline where the Joker claimed credit for Batman adopting Jason Todd, by setting it up so Two Face would kill Jason’s dad.
So this isn’t even original.
Edited by RedHunter543 on Mar 29th 2024 at 8:26:55 PM
I'll teach you a lesson about just how cruel the world can be. That's my job, as an adult.
How many issues and writers do I have to go back to understand how Joker managed to pull all of this?
I remember Endgame being a massive horror story about how Joker "cut loose" and stopped playing nice with everyone. Now he was actually putting together steps from way back way back when Alfred was killed. So what was Joker War then? At what point did Joker actually plan to kill Bruce.
Edited by FOFD on Mar 29th 2024 at 8:40:37 AM
Akira Toriyama (April 5 1955 - March 1, 2024).
Team Rocket Boss.
It's interesting how Chip takes the most after the Scott Snyder and Grant Morrison runs.
Like, Joker Year One was also a pseudo sequel to Zero Year's Red Hood One arc.
I'll teach you a lesson about just how cruel the world can be. That's my job, as an adult.
This run already had enough problems without devolving into yet more Joker dick-sucking. "Joker is behind it" is turning into the new "everyone saw the Graysons die", only even worse. Next it's gonna turn out he blew up Krypton as part of a plan to fuck with the yet-to-be-born Batman.
Edited by immortaleditor on Mar 29th 2024 at 6:00:13 AM
Team Rocket Boss.
They aren't even doing anything interesting with this idea. I've been suggesting maybe have the Joker have buyer's remorse when it comes to Zur, because he's Batman without Bruce Wayne.
Like, isn't it an important plot point in the Morrison run that thinking he had to be Batman without Bruce Wayne is ruining his overall effectiveness? I dunno, have the Joker be horrified that he finds Batman BORING without Bruce Wayne's humanity.
It's doing that boring thing where Joker has all the cards and Batman doesn't stand a chance unless the Joker lets him win. Because the Joker is soooo super special awesome smert, he's getting everything he wants out of Zur even though Zur broke his back and has him locked away.
Heck, we're even told this information in the most boring way possible by having that mentor guy whose name I forgot just exposit this to Batman. So much for being the world's greatest detective if he needs this plot point explained to him.
Edited by RedHunter543 on Mar 29th 2024 at 9:15:12 PM
I'll teach you a lesson about just how cruel the world can be. That's my job, as an adult.
its better than what tom king has been doing with penguin penguin has been "working" for batman the whole time every time he put hm away was just a show and when oswald turns back up in gotham after faking that batman killed him, bruce just tells him you are back for working for me now, like nothing to say to the guy whose death set an evil robot after you>
Team Rocket Boss.
WHAT!? WAIT HOLD UP!
WHY IS PENGUIN WORKING FOR BATMAN!?
I'll teach you a lesson about just how cruel the world can be. That's my job, as an adult.
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
The Head of the Hydra
At first when Penguin was lowly mook working for the mob at the bar he convinced Batman to work with him by giving information for the mob and when the Iceberg Lounge's previous owner was busted, Batman let him run it so he can continue being an informant.
Of course Penguin manipulated him to get it, lying to Batman that he just wants to take care of his ailing foster mother and when his plan works he then proceeds to kill her.
Which in fairness to King I think Batman and Penguin having a sort of working relationship has been established before by other writers, Batman enabling Penguin having the lounge as a way to maintain a consistent information network on crime and having controlling over how far it spreads.
Edited by slimcoder on Mar 29th 2024 at 6:22:30 AM
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
Surrounded by weirdoes
Boy, if they hate Batman, just say so out loud and leave the book instead of making him look this ineffectual.
Wake me up at your own risk.
Team Rocket Boss.
Well yeah, it has been established way back that Batman goes to the Penguin at the Iceberg Lounge to get information on the latest criminal underworld dealings but not to the level that Penguin actually works for him.
Edited by RedHunter543 on Mar 29th 2024 at 9:23:47 PM
I'll teach you a lesson about just how cruel the world can be. That's my job, as an adult.
I have nothing to contribute but ghoulish laughter over this turn of events.
Akira Toriyama (April 5 1955 - March 1, 2024).
yes batman has gotten information from penguin, but that was when penguin stopped doing blatantly illegal things and was in a gray area and bruce went after him when he did, but the entire time being fake and bruce being manipulated by easily the whole time? thats a stretch too far
Edited by Deadpoolrocks on Mar 29th 2024 at 6:31:19 AM
Y'know what annoys me even more about the Penguin thing?
The idea of Batman trying to take over a criminal enterprise and dismantle it from within or turn to better directions or even just putting undercover cop-style moles in crime organizations to get intel is actually a really cool idea. But declaring Penguin has been working for Batman literally from the start is the worst possible way to do it, since it doesn't fit with anything Penguin has done or any interaction he has had with Batman ever, on top of meaning all the evil things Penguin has done over the years - and he's done some heinous shit - is because of Batman purposefully enabling it like an idiot. This is a brilliant concept done in the singular worst way just like Failsafe.
Like, shit, imagine if we got an arc where Batman finally snaps and kills Ra's and takes over the League of Assassins like the latter wanted and tries to make them a good guy organization. Doesn't that sound like an awesome idea for a new direction? Or imagine arc where we follow a hapless goon that gets roped into being an informant for Batman, exploring what it's like to be a henchman and raising intelligent questions about Batman's methods. Instead we get this.
The Head of the Hydra
Thinking about it, I think one issue of Zdarsky's Batman run compared to his Daredevil saga is that its too reliant on past stories.
Like Zdarsky is using a lot of past storylines by Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, and Scott Snyder and this ties into a lot of the problems cause he's using them badly. With Tower of Babel he adds that Batman actually does have a contingency Failsafe, with Morrison he brings back Zur and completely changes his character, etc.
Meanwhile his Daredevil was not so dependent on past runs, at most using Matt's fake brother Mike as a major plot-point but otherwise he wasn't aping any particular writer as hard as he's doing now with Batman.
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
It's not even a problem that he's leaning on lore from past writers it's, as you note, that he's doing it badly. He's bringing back all these cool plot points and ideas from prior runs but not really doing them correctly. It's almost like he's trying to be a continuity-master in the vein of Grant Morrison or Al Ewing or such, but doesn't know how and ends up butchering his own attempts at Arc Welding.
The issue with the no kill rule is when you actively have the Villains rules lawyering it