Dear Wal,
As I said before, I’m a Batman person, and once again I’m guilty of jumping on the bandwagon. But could I not, after seeing The Dark Knight? Nolan did a masterful job of adapting Bats to the screen, and I’m as eager as the rest of the world to see the sequel, if a bit hesitant. Can what I largely consider to be the best superhero movie of all time be topped? Supersequels have a tendency to disappoint, but I’m getting off subject. Check out HISHE on TDK:
Batman. Well, why do I like Batman?
His detective skills are one of my favorite things about him-he always finds the answers. One of my major complaints about Superman was that he never seemed to have much of a plan, Batman’s always has a plan, a way to get out of any situation, he’s prepared for everything he can possibly think of. Some of the best Batman tales are ones that challenge his skills, push him to his limits and present him with situations he didn’t expect, like in Mark Waid's Tower of Babel when Talia steals his files on the Justice League and their weaknesses.
That’s another thing I love about him-he’s willing to take down anyone, hero or villian, in his way. I feel like though he always appears to tread the line, he’s always going to end up on the side of the good guys. If he didn’t, the DCU would’ve been under his thumb long ago. Just think of how Owlman in Grant Morrison’s Earth Two controls Gotham City with an iron hand. I haven’t come across any instances of him actually going bad other than that, like seriously falling over the edge. He’s been accused of plenty, manipulated and controlled to do something bad. If he does get mind controlled, he always manages to pull himself out of it before he does something he’ll regret. Feel free to comment if you know of an instance where this doesn’t happen, it would be fascinating to read a story where Batman goes bad.
I’m a sucker for tormented characters, and Bats is about as tormented as it gets. His parents were shot and killed, the Joker killed Jason and shot Barbara...the list goes on. Despite his cold exterior, he’s incredibly sentimental. It gives him a depth that Clark’s golden values just don’t have. One of the things about Smallville that annoyed me the most was that Clark was portrayed as too conflicted. Even though we all know ten years of Bruce gallivanting around in Europe learning kung fu and what-not would have been excruciating, at least Bruce as such a conflicted character would’ve worked better than Clark.
The villians...well, we all know about the Joker. He’s one of the best villians in comics, a perfect contrast to Batman. Some the best, darkest Batman tales center around the Joker as a villain, but he shouldn’t overshadow some of the other members of Batman’s rouge’s gallery. Tragic villians like Mr. Freeze work just as well against Batman as outright crazies like the Joker. Mr. Freeze is a villian I'd like to see more in comics. Let me say that again, in the comics, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze in Batman and Robin scared me for life. Once again, I go for the more complex characters with depth. Freeze’s psychosis has a more believable cause than many of Batman’s other villains, his love for his dead/dying wife (I'm not sure...is she dead at this point in the continuity?) drives him to do what he does. I’ve only ever seen Freeze in BTAS (Batman: The Animated Series) and in Dave Lapham's Batman: City of Crime (one of my favorite comics, actually) and of course in Batman and Robin, and other than the last example I like what I’ve seen. Freeze's depiction in BTAS was brilliant, and solidified Freeze as one of my favorite villains.
Now, the Riddler to me has always seemed pretty lame..until I read Hush. That book was the first example I’ve seen of the riddle actually using his brains for something other than really stupid, easy riddles. He was the real villain of the story in Hush as far as I’m concerned, Hush himself was pretty disappointing. The final scene where Batman confronts the Riddler about his scheme is one of my favorites. I think he should be used more as a criminal mastermind type villain and less as a crazy waving a gold question mark and a cheesy death trap.
I’m going to do something completely uncharacteristic now. I’m going to complain about all the things I dislike or like slightly less about Batman. I told you I was obsessed, but I’m not blind. First of all, why does he have so many partners/sidekicks? There are what, four robins now, Huntress, Azreal (I know he died..but with the new 52 who knows how his story’s been contorted.), several batgirls, Catwoman, Spoiler..you get the idea. The best Batman stories in my opinion are the ones where he works alone and maybe calling on the Batfam for help in a few situations.
I understand the idea of him building an adopted family after having his childhood taken away from him, and I get that sometimes he does need a robin, but it’s just a little too over the top for me. For one, how does a robin relate in any possible way to a bat? How is a robin even supposed to be intimidating? I guess if I got to know the robins better that I might empathize a little more with them. I’m usually pretty good at reading up on a character I haven’t met before, but suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Don’t worry about continuity, trust me; I’ll understand pretty much anything that’s going on in a DC book.
Another thing that bugs me is the cape, it’s a great effect and I love when he swoops down on some unsuspecting goon with his cape spreading out behind him just as much as anyone, but it’s incredibly impractical. For a character like Superman, a cape doesn’t really matter that much because he’s invulnerable, but Batman’s human. Batman looks just as cool without a cape, just look at Terry’s costume in Batman Beyond. A cape is a serious hindrance, especially when it seems to spontaneously change length. In The Long Halloween, for example, there are a few panels where in the previous panel his cape was all the way to the floor and swirling as if it were alive, and then in the next panel it’s ankle length. I know it’s Tim Sale’s artwork, and he is one of my favorite artists, but I’m OCD and little details like that bother me. Don’t get me wrong, I love the effect his cape has, but I can’t quite suspend my disbelief in that respect. I don’t know, it’s kind of a pointless subject to rant about. Capes and superheroes just go together, especially in the DCU.
There are pros and cons to Supes and Bats, but you’ve got to love them. They’re two classic characters it’s impossible to resist.
/endrant
P.S. You know what’s funny. My rant about Batman wasn’t nearly as long as Superman’s. Hmmm.
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