Batman: A Marvel character in the DC universe?

Something /co/ pointed out that really got me thinking:

The problem there is what's been mentioned before, namely the disconnect between "Batman as written for the JLA" and "Batman as written for his own title". The former portray him as the unstoppable genius who can defeat any League member, while the latter go with the film noirish, normal guy who fights non-powered freaks. It's a real issue because, as you've just noted, it makes Bruce look like a colossal jackass.

Then years after making it mainstream in JLA, Morrison brought Batgod into the main Batman comic. Ugh.

edited 30th Mar '15 6:26:36 PM by Bonerfart

the way i'd fix that would just be to portray batman more of a tactician who provides backup and leadership from their satellite, does detective work for them, trains league members in martial arts or applied sciences, hacks into computer systems, performs lab work, gets them connections and technology via his wealth and company, etc and only goes out on the field when it's a "street level" mission or when there's no choice. he'd still be a great asset, but work in more of a "support" role instead.

also, i don't feel that batman's paranoia is ENTIRELY unjustified because by the nature of the fact that they're superhero comics, clones, mind control devices, reality warping, etc are all things that he's seen before.

edited 30th Mar '15 7:16:30 PM by wehrmacht

I'd just pump his regular Rogues Gallery up so they're more on his level- Flash regular Rogues level, at least. They're supposed to be incredibly smart and devious in their own right, so let's just see more of that- when they show up next to other DC villains, they don't have to be dismissed as 'the powerless wackos', they'd be a force to be reckoned with in their own right, making up with their overall lack of powers with actually impressive gadgetry, tactical acumen and deviousness, much like Batman himself. They are supposed to be his dark reflections, after all.

The problem isn't so much that his paranoia is unjustified as he should have a way to deal with actual supervillains.

The Batman villains are regularly played like that...outside of the Batman books. In fact it's one of biggest problems with The Joker. He's held up as a character that all other supervillains (barring Luthor) fear, yet there's next to no justification for it. He'll bully and intimidate other villains during crossovers, only to continue folding up as soon as Batman lands a punch in the regular Batman book.

Eh, out of Joker and Ra's, and Bane in a good day, most of the Batman rogues tend to be treated as annoying jokes by the rest of the DC villains.

Most of them don't really deserve high status in the supervillain community. Riddler, Penguin, etc, these are not major threats to somebody like Luthor or Vandal Savage, or any of the DCU's other big players. I have more of a problem with The Joker's unjustifiable high-status than I do with their low status.

R'as, conversely, deserves the high status he gets. He's a 700 year old man with millions of dollars, hundreds of henchmen, a worldwide Ancient Conspiracy working under him, and access to most of the world's best, non-metahuman assassins. That's a potent threat, even to the likes of Luthor, Savage, etc.

Wanna compare Batman and The Punisher? Get back to me.

The problem there is what's been mentioned before, namely the disconnect between "Batman as written for the JLA" and "Batman as written for his own title". The former portray him as the unstoppable genius who can defeat any League member, while the latter go with the film noirish, normal guy who fights non-powered freaks. It's a real issue because, as you've just noted, it makes Bruce look like a colossal jackass.

There's also the issue that Bruce is somehow incorruptible compared to the other League members and that a story about Batman being a villain wouldn't work.

there IS that one story in JLU about the justice lords but even that story had Justice Lord batman realize he was wrong and help regular batman dethrone them.

And those occasional times where he went all obsessive and did things that jeopardized the League and (on at least one occasion) the world at large.

As for the whole "why doesn't The Flash / Superman take out all the bad guys in one day" meme, besides the fact that neither of them do that in their own city either, Gotham is well established as a problem that's not going to stop being the way it is just by punching all the criminals in the face. Batman does a lot more "zero in on problems as they start and make sure they don't make the city any worse" than he does actually cleaning up the city.

edited 9th Apr '15 11:39:40 PM by KnownUnknown

But like I said in that other thread, Superman has already resolved to just do the best that he can with his massive powers, which has never been portrayed as anything less than being able to solve 95% of the world's problems if he actually tried. It's just that little 5% he'll have to deal with however he wants to.