Topic: Worst Batman Thread Ever (Read 50887 times)

Royal☭ · « **Reply #360 on:** September 09, 2010, 03:59:19 AM »

I read the first issue of Cacophony. After Batman almost began to cry while on the job, then a scene where the Joker offered to let Onomatopoeia rape him in the ass, I was done with the book. Also, Onomatopoeia isn't a new villain, he first showed up in Green Arrow. As far as I can tell, all he does is make sound effect noises and not much else. But still, he's a total badass because Kevin Smith wants him to be a total badass who can beat up Batman. The book is just ridiculous in all the wrong ways.

Büge · « **Reply #361 on:** September 09, 2010, 07:30:12 AM »

Quote from: Constantmean on September 09, 2010, 03:59:19 AM

Also, Onomatopoeia isn't a new villain, he first showed up in Green Arrow.

Also written by Kevin Smith.

Royal☭ · « **Reply #362 on:** September 09, 2010, 10:55:42 AM »

Ha, thought I had that in there. The paragraph doesn't make as much sense with that omission.

Thad · « **Reply #363 on:** September 09, 2010, 09:33:45 PM »

I admit it, I laughed at the weird little Joker "presenting" bit.

But moving on to a Batman book that IS actually quite good: Batman and Robin. God damn is it a great comic. It's a damn shame there are only two issues left before Morrison's on to his next thing, as I really don't miss Bruce and there could easily have been another year, two years, three years of Dick and Damian before he came back -- but on the other hand, Batman and Robin Must Die is quite clearly what the last 4 years (Jesus Christ, has it really been that long?) have been building toward.

Not that I expect Batman Inc will fail to deliver. Morrison's already made great strides in unraveling Batman-is-a-Dick (as opposed to Dick-is-Batman), and I expect the Bruce Wayne who steps back out of the past will be a much different one than the one who was sent back -- who was already less of a dick than the one from before Morrison took over the book. I don't think we'll see a full-on Happy-Pants Batman (though that would be awesome), but by the very nature of the book we're going to see a friendlier one.

I sure hope Dick doesn't get short shrift from Morrison at that point, though -- it's great that he'll have two books of his own, of course, but Grant's still the guy running the show.

Royal☭ · « **Reply #364 on:** September 10, 2010, 04:30:49 AM »

Both Dick and Bruce will be wearing the mantel of Batman in Batman, Inc. And I think it's more telling that Dick Grayson will be the Batman in the regular Batman book and Detective Comics.

The Dick as Batman stuff has been surprisingly good, because frankly when I heard Grayson was going to be Batman I thought it sounded like a rather safe, obvious choice. But Morrison writes him differently, and shows him becoming his own Batman than just trying to be Bruce. Plus, with the Batman and Robin series, Morrison has created a Batman/Robin dynamic that hasn't existed for years, and made Damian a more fleshed out character. (Favorite moment so far is when he's investigating the mansion with Dick and asks if they're still going to be Batman and Robin when Bruce comes back.)

Thad · « **Reply #365 on:** September 12, 2010, 02:07:33 PM »

Yeah, recalled the bit in Out of the Past (the best Batman Beyond episode, of course) where "Talia" says she knows Terry's being quiet because he's worried he won't be Batman anymore once Bruce takes a Lazarus dip -- and Terry responds, "Yeah, well, there is NO WAY I'm wearing the Robin suit."

Me, I quite like Dick's interchange with Gordon from #13. "For what it's worth, the guys on the force like you a lot better than him."

Royal☭ · « **Reply #366 on:** September 12, 2010, 03:55:37 PM »

Oh, yeah, definitely. And really, the whole "Who is Batman?" stuff has been around since the beginning. The first issue of Morrison's run has a guy in fake Batsuit shooting the Joker, then moves onto Batman's heir, the idea of the Joker changing identities, the fake Batmen and the Club of Heroes. There's a lot of territory that's been covered, and I'm lovin' every moment of it.

Bal · « **Reply #367 on:** September 14, 2010, 02:19:17 AM »

New direct to video Batman/Superman Apocalypse just came out. Basically a compressed retelling of the current Supergirl's origin. Worth it for a particularly spectacular call back to the classic fight with Darkseid in TAS. Otherwise good fun, and it has Conroy and Daly in their proper places, but it's still not as good as Red Hood was.

Thad · « **Reply #368 on:** September 17, 2010, 08:45:47 PM »

Batman Beyond #4: So uh [spoiler]clone[/spoiler]? That's what I got out of it. The big reveal was much more of a ? than a !

So we finally find out about how Bruce and Dick fell out for the last time. It's brutal and I'd hate it if it were in the main canon, but you know, I think it fits Batman Beyond pretty nicely.

What it doesn't fit is the timeline.

See, it's about Batman and Nightwing taking on the Joker, and Dick explains that Batman "hadn't worked with a partner in years."

Except that Tim Drake killed the Joker, when he was still Robin and Babs was still Batgirl.

So, one of the following:

1. Beechen fucked up;
2. Dick is lying;
3. This is a retcon.

I'm going to give Beechen the benefit of the doubt and assume #2 at this point. [spoiler]It fits best with the ending -- even though that can't really be Dick on the last page, what with being younger and having two eyes and for fuck's sake Dick can't be the big bad, what the fuck is this, Dark Knight Strikes Again? It's still entirely possible that Dick knows more than he's letting on and is deliberately misleading Terry for some reason of his own.

But yeah, I'm going with "clone" since it would explain what Waller's doing in the story. Maybe she offered Dick a deal -- to fix him up or something? -- and he backed out -- or she failed to deliver -- and he knows there's a clone of him on the loose and he wants to stop it without Bruce getting involved.[/spoiler]

It's also entirely possible that he's lying to Terry to try to protect him. It's pretty clear at this point that Dick and Barbara think Bruce uses people and discards them and don't want Terry to end up like they did.

...say, we haven't seen the Commissioner in a couple issues, have we? Wonder if she and Dick are still in touch.

Anyway. Whatever Dick's up to, I'd like to see Terry recognize the lie. Beyond emphasizes, over and over again, that he's not as smart as Bruce, but I think he's smart enough to spot the inconsistency in Dick's story and play along until he sees where it goes.

Bal · « **Reply #369 on:** September 18, 2010, 04:04:52 AM »

I'd like this to tie into Epilogue somehow. This counterfeit Dick seems to be obsessed not just with Batman, but with the "Pretender" Terry who is taking what he thinks should have been his role as successor to Batman. Maybe he was an earlier attempt by Waller to replace Batman before ultimately taking a more literal approach and trying to recreate him as she did with Terry.

Ziiro · « **Reply #370 on:** October 09, 2010, 10:08:47 PM »

The Killing Joke

[spoiler]It took me a little bit to realize it wasn't Mark Hamil[/spoiler]

Thad · « **Reply #371 on:** October 09, 2010, 10:38:46 PM »

Man, when did The Brave and the Bold get DARK?

Zach · « **Reply #372 on:** October 13, 2010, 12:37:25 AM »

Episode 4: Invasion of the Secret Santas.

Which episode are you talking about, in particular? The US/Australia scheduling differences have me confused.

Thad · « **Reply #373 on:** October 13, 2010, 10:33:01 PM »

Ha, well yes. But I was referring to the recent deaths of [spoiler]B'wana Beast and the Doom Patrol[/spoiler].

MEANWHILE:

Knight and Squire #1 does exactly what a #1 should: introduce your setting and your cast, and give a fun done-in-one story that still leaves room for more.

More than anything it reminds me of Astro City, in that it features a large cast of "homage" characters with a regional flavor, most of whom stand at the fringes but feel like they all have their own stories to tell, and has a sense of Silver Age optimism and whimsy with a dash of Bronze and Modern dystopia.

It's a lovely book and recommended. I think it's safe to say at this point that I am a Cornell fan.

Healy · « **Reply #374 on:** October 14, 2010, 09:55:24 AM »

So I checked out a book from the library called The Many Lives of Batman, which is a pretty interesting, if flawed, look at Batman from a cultural perspective from 1989, right after the Tim Burton movie came out. Part of its problem, I think, is that it came out before the Timm/Dini TV show, which really turned out to the turning point of the character. It can get a little dry at times (one essay in particular felt like reading sawdust), and I'm not sure what the point of the last essay, an examination of how Batman would remain relevant, was. It's an okay read.

Zach · « **Reply #375 on:** October 14, 2010, 01:58:36 PM »

Quote from: Thad on October 13, 2010, 10:33:01 PM

recent deaths

The latter was exceptionally well played. There's a montage in the [spoiler]Emperor Joker[/spoiler] episode that likewise surprised me. For an American cartoon it was pretty graphic. I guess the show creators have enough goodwill (or they know that the end is near) that they can do what they want. Good for them!

Quote from: Thad on October 13, 2010, 10:33:01 PM

Knight and Squire #1 does exactly what a #1 should: introduce your setting and your cast, and give a fun done-in-one story that still leaves room for more.

Oh! I guess that I'll be picking that up. At this point, all I'm reading in single issues is Batman books, Generation Lost, Secret Six, and Doom Patrol.

Lottel · « **Reply #376 on:** October 22, 2010, 09:50:02 PM »

Brave and the Bold did Emperor Joker. Complete with Musical numbers.

Thad · « **Reply #377 on:** October 22, 2010, 09:53:09 PM »

Quote from: Thad on September 17, 2010, 08:45:47 PM

See, it's about Batman and Nightwing taking on the Joker, and Dick explains that Batman "hadn't worked with a partner in years."

Except that Tim Drake killed the Joker, when he was still Robin and Babs was still Batgirl.

So, one of the following:

1. Beechen fucked up;
2. Dick is lying;
3. This is a retcon.

I'm going to give Beechen the benefit of the doubt and assume #2 at this point.

[spoiler]Nope. Another character corroborates Dick's story in this one, and it seems rather unlikely that she's lying too. So that leaves us with #1 and #3. Lame.[/spoiler]

It was almost a great issue, but it keeps up with the same problems as the previous ones: too many namedrops and too much violence. [spoiler]Killer Croc gets a namedrop for no damn reason, and Mad Stan gets killed off-camera. Swell.[/spoiler] And another hair-coloring error; Babs is back to being a redhead.

There's so much potential here, but argh, it's frustrating.

Bal · « **Reply #378 on:** October 22, 2010, 10:18:08 PM »

At least my theory proved correct and this WAS a prototype to the ultimate Batman Beyond project. What doesn't make sense is why this is still going on (the counterfeit Dick was still being developed when he broke out) when the McGinnis thing has already gone through. Waller has to know McGinnis is Batman now, despite her decision not to have his parents murdered, so why is she bothering with this asshole when the Batman legacy is secured?

Rico · « **Reply #379 on:** October 22, 2010, 11:50:23 PM »

Because comics have to have a bunch of extra layers of shit that the Diniverse conveniently burns right through.

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Author Topic: Worst Batman Thread Ever (Read 50887 times)