Batman General Discussion

The thing is the Joker has a genuine brand of mental illness, just one that is made up and has no real world counterpart. If Jokerization is any indication, and depending on which origin you want to follow, at least part of it might be blamed on his exposure to chemicals that don't have any real world counterpart either.

But we've seen him being briefly 'cured' at times by a few external factors, and whenever that happens, he's always regretful and terrified of what he's done.

edited 7th Jan '17 5:38:44 PM by NapoleonDeCheese

Judging by his behavior and actions, though, the Joker would not be considered legally insane, so he'd likely be put in jail at Blackgate rather than continually shipped off to Arkham. Unless "legally insane" means something else in the DC Universe (perhaps it does). I chalk it up to DC writers and editors either not knowing or caring what the legal definition of insanity is, and deciding that because the Joker's so horrible and weird he must be insane.

Interestingly, on one of the DCAU videos they had a feature where psychiatrists analyzed Batman and Superman. The consensus on Batman himself was that he was NOT insane, just brooding and intense, That he could possibly do with some therapy, but was not in fact ill.

I just want Tim Drake to be happy again.

Was that the one where someone said "Could use a wife" as a recommendation on how to help him?

He was! Was even on his way away from Gotham for a while. Then he died. Or rather got kidnapped.

I don't think so. Though I vaguely remember someone saying that about Spider-Man/ Peter Parker.

IIRC, Doc Samson was psychoanalyzing the New Avengers at some point and "Needs a wife" is what he got from his session with Spider-Man.

My belief is that not only do they not care about how legal sanity/insanity works, but do so as an excuse to justify Joker Immunity and send him to Arkham Asylum

I'm pretty sure what the Joker has is a hybrid of mental disorders, however anti-social personality disorder is the one constant. If you consider Grant Morrison's idea of "re-inventing himself", he could have dissocative identity disorder. I like the theory he has super-awareness and that's why his personality is so bizarre.

Well, the big twist in the conclusion of "Rooftops" concerning Selina is She did'nt kill all those people after all, she was covering for Holly Robinson, who beats up Bruce pretty badly and flees the city

Then sex just to add to their on and off relationship.

edited 18th Jan '17 10:50:39 AM by Mizerous

Anyone know either a source on the net or a book with a definitive list of Batman's foes? I can understand if they don't include one-shot villains or mobsters focusing on the super-villains/costume freaks.

Specially I like a list sorted by either decade (40's, 50's, 60's, etc.) or by the comic book ages Golden, Silver, Bronze, etc.

edited 18th Jan '17 10:31:31 PM by WorldTurtle2

There's Michael Fleischer's The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Vol. One: The Batman. It's dated (originally published in 1976) but DC re-issued it a few years ago. It's a very comprehensive listing of everything pertaining to Batman up to that point.

So is Bruce just gonna let Holly go? Cause that bitch killed a bunch of people (regardless if they are evil) & fucking slashed his neck almost killing him. I was Bruce I'd get on the first flight to Khandaq to hunt her down like a dog & bring her back so she can receive justice.

We know the drill by now, a later story will probably bring her back just to kill her off immediately, combining C-List Fodder and Stuffed in the Fridge.

Why would Batman go after Holly? If he's going to get all indignant about killing terrorists and attacking him then he'd be throwing Jason Todd into prison.

I'm taking what she did very personally.

Ya don't just slash Batman's throat, ya just don't especially in one of the few times the man's genuinely emotionally vulnerable. So yeah fuck that bitch for what she did to Bats cause that was just beyond mean even if it was to save her own ass.

He'll get over it, he's forgiven Jason for blowing up and collapsing a building on top of him. No need to take it so personally.

Oh he's definitely not sweating Holly, he's so head over heels in love with Selina he'd pardon a tyranically ruled state forced to do bad if she cared about it

For a guy whose fans consider him cold logic embodied, Bruce has a habit of forgiving ridiculous indiscretions when a beautiful woman is involved

It seems a little... odd, that Selina ends up with the death penalty when Joker has killed, like, how many people, and not cared at all?

In April not only is Batman teaming up with the Flash for a four part storyline, but he will also start a six issue miniseries teaming up with the Shadow. It is a collaboration between DC Comics and Dynamite.

It is written by Scott Snyder and Steve Orlando with art by Riley Rossmo.

Hm. I'm gonna be cautiously optimistic about this next Tec arc. If DC finally restores Cass Cain's character after roughly a decade of shitty treatment, that'd be amazing, but I don't want to get my hopes up.

At the very least, I'm just wishing that James Tynion will make her adoption canon again.

Is Nightwing / Dick Grayson a Canon Sue?

While the question of whether Batman / Bruce Wayne is an example of a Canon Sue has become widely asked, it's far more difficult to find similar debates about Dick. I'm a newbie who is familiar with the Batman universe but hasn't yet read most of the backlog and is trying to start, including the 'Bat-family' comics. From that perspective, it seems that the case for Dick being a Sue is incredibly strong even by the standards of popular comic book heroes. Consider these quotes from the Nightwing trope page:

His fans often say they like him better than Bruce because he is well-adjusted, friendly, a team player, and so forth. For me, this makes it sound like he was given every strength Bruce has (power, intelligence, determination), had Bruce's flaws removed (lack of social skills, mental hangups), and wasn't given any new flaws to compensate. I searched to see if he had any consistent flaws, and didn't find much. Most of the attempts at identifying weaknesses were of the humblebrag variety ("He pushes himself too hard," "he cares about those he loves too much," and so forth). All of this leads me to ask: what makes Dick more than an "awesome at everything" fantasy?

edited 11th Mar '17 5:06:45 PM by Bionicman

One actual flaw I've seen pop up a few times is that Dick is very harsh on people who are trying to redeem themselves. If a character used to be a villain, even if it was the result of being drugged or mind controlled, he can treat them pretty badly (attacking Cassandra Cain, trying to force Indigo off of The Outsiders, etc.)

I do agree that he needs more flaws, or at least should have his abilities toned down.

Both of the aforementioned incidents were slotted into Discontinuity pretty damn quick by fans, though I will submit that Dick also has a history of outright disdaining Bruce's faith in Harvey Dent, across multiple continuities.

Then again, Dick is right there over Bruce more often than not.