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hexedsupernova:
Taking a short break from archiving to be ANGRY because I, your local fool, made the mistake of reading some of the comments on that DC post I reblogged and I just. BuT tHe CoNtExT no fuck you. Fuck you, I don’t care about the context.
I’m gonna tell y’all a secret that isn’t even a secret: I don’t care for Batman. I don’t care for the culture of Batfandom, I haven’t kept up with a Batman book in well on 8 years, I’m fine and well not reading anything heavily entrenched in Batlore ever again.
But I love the Batfamily.
I owned entire runs of their books (Robin, Red Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl featuring Cass AND Batgirl featuring Steph, Batman and Robin, both Birds of Prey runs, Batwoman’s Detective run, Batgirl Year One, and more) before I had to choose between a large comic collection and being able to pay my parent’s debts and not get evicted. My favorite Robin, my first Robin, was Jason Todd. Every last one of these assorted vigilante figures became my children, and I love them. And you know what? You know who else loves each and every one of his kids? Bruce Wayne.
He’s not the best dad. He pushes his kids past their limits a lot, he’s not the most open person, and my god would he benefit from stepping back once in a while to reorganize and restructure the way he goes about fighting crime…but he’s also not Bing fucking Crosby. He tries to set a good example for the kids he mentors (depending on the writer). He loves every single one of those kids, and shows it in different ways. He’s there for them, sometimes secretly, because he knows that helicopter parenting/mentoring isn’t helpful for anyone. He had a kid show up out of goddamn nowhere and immediately went yeah okay, here’s your bedroom, please don’t play with swords in the house.
But this isn’t just a Batman problem.
I’ve been seeing it from a lot of different fans of DC books, all the same complaint, “[this book] is setting up [my favorite hero] to be alone for some reason, even though [he/she] is generally surrounded by people who love and support [them].” I’m hearing it from Batman fans, Superman fans, I’m saying it myself as a Flash fan.
And I’m tired.
A lot of people stopped reading DC books during the New 52 specifically because the levels of edgelord tomfuckery had gotten so high. Tim Drake had always been Red Robin, and his real name wasn’t even Tim Drake! Bart Allen was a criminal with amnesia from the future! Talia al Ghul raped Bruce and that’s how Damian was made! Death of the Family! Damian Wayne is murdered by his own clone! The original Batwoman murders Talia al Ghul! The entirety of Convergence! Forever Evil! It was goddamn exhausting. Rebirth was supposed to be this lighter, brighter time, but that went out the window almost immediately. No one wants fun, character-driven stories that instill joy anymore, don’t be ridiculous.
Back in 2013, when I was writing about comics as like…a semi-job, I wrote a piece about Batman. It was called DC, Please Stop Focusing On Batman.
So there’s this guy, Batman. Been around for almost 80 years. Kinda broody, parent issues out the wazoo. Maybe you’ve heard of him. Actually, I’d be surprised if you hadn’t heard of him, at this point.
Batman, for those of you who might be having delusions otherwise, is DC’s biggest character. He’s been the subject of eight animated television shows over the years, over a dozen live-action and animated movies, and in the New 52, his ‘family’ has more ongoing books than any other section, and none of them have been cancelled yet. Batman Incorporated ended, but it was always meant to do that. The Batman section of the New 52 has 12 ongoing books. That leaves 40 ongoing books for the rest of the DC Universe. Not to mention how, in the digital-first comics, we’ve got Li’l Gotham, Batman Beyond Unlimited, Legends of the Dark Knight, Batman ‘66, and Batman: Arkham Unhinged.
As further proof to Batman’s near-total domination of DC, allow me to present the crossover events so far since the reboot started: Night of the Owls, The Culling, Rise of the Third Army, Rotworld, Death of the Family, H’El on Earth, Throne of Atlantis, Wrath of the First Lantern, Batman: Zero Year, Trinity War. That’s one Batman crossover event a year, guys. Not to mention that Zero Year crosses over with non-Batman titles, like Flash and Green Lantern Corps. Why? Who cares! Batman! DC, please. And with the reality of a Batman/Superman movie in the not so distant future looming over us, it’s only bound to get worse.
So I implore you, DC. Take a look around your vast kingdom. Toy with some of your other properties, for once.
“But Batman sells!” You protest. “Kids love Batman! Adults love Batman! Everyone knows Batman!” No. Let me put it this way.
If you have hamburgers once a week throughout your childhood, you’ll have fond memories of hamburgers. You’ll also like hamburgers a lot, provided you only had them every once in awhile. And then, when you hit adulthood, suddenly, hamburgers are everywhere. There are a million variations on the same hamburger, and in order to feel like you’re getting the best hamburger experience, you decide to try them all. Eventually, it becomes too much. You’re drowning in hamburgers. And the worst part? Most of them are terrible, with wilted lettuce and moldy bread. Every now and then, you find an excellent hamburger, cooked exactly how you like it, with the freshest ingredients. However, when buying that burger, the server informs you that you’ll need to buy a whole bunch of other hamburgers, many of them rotten, in order to properly enjoy the burger you wanted. DC, you are the server. Batman is the hamburger.
I’m getting a little tired of hamburgers. Let’s get a salad, or some tomato soup, or hell, some tacos. You’ve got a big universe, DC. Capitalize on it.
In the six years since I wrote that bit, the Bat-mania has only gotten more pronounced. And now, the ouroboros has begun to devour itself, destroying everything that ever made anyone happy to see it.
Let Bruce Wayne hug his kids. It’s not going to destroy the Batman mythos to show panels of him hugging and being kind to his fucking kids. What is going to destroy the legacy of Batman, however, is this ridiculous notion that he’s a Dark Knight who has to do everything alone always and forever. Batman has had a sidekick since 1940, who are y’all trying to fool.
hexedsupernova:
Taking a short break from archiving to be ANGRY because I, your local fool, made the mistake of reading some of the comments on that DC post I reblogged and I just. BuT tHe CoNtExT no fuck you. Fuck you, I don’t care about the context.
I’m gonna tell y’all a secret that isn’t even a secret: I don’t care for Batman. I don’t care for the culture of Batfandom, I haven’t kept up with a Batman book in well on 8 years, I’m fine and well not reading anything heavily entrenched in Batlore ever again.
But I love the Batfamily.
I owned entire runs of their books (Robin, Red Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl featuring Cass AND Batgirl featuring Steph, Batman and Robin, both Birds of Prey runs, Batwoman’s Detective run, Batgirl Year One, and more) before I had to choose between a large comic collection and being able to pay my parent’s debts and not get evicted. My favorite Robin, my first Robin, was Jason Todd. Every last one of these assorted vigilante figures became my children, and I love them. And you know what? You know who else loves each and every one of his kids? Bruce Wayne.
He’s not the best dad. He pushes his kids past their limits a lot, he’s not the most open person, and my god would he benefit from stepping back once in a while to reorganize and restructure the way he goes about fighting crime…but he’s also not Bing fucking Crosby. He tries to set a good example for the kids he mentors (depending on the writer). He loves every single one of those kids, and shows it in different ways. He’s there for them, sometimes secretly, because he knows that helicopter parenting/mentoring isn’t helpful for anyone. He had a kid show up out of goddamn nowhere and immediately went yeah okay, here’s your bedroom, please don’t play with swords in the house.
But this isn’t just a Batman problem.
I’ve been seeing it from a lot of different fans of DC books, all the same complaint, “[this book] is setting up [my favorite hero] to be alone for some reason, even though [he/she] is generally surrounded by people who love and support [them].” I’m hearing it from Batman fans, Superman fans, I’m saying it myself as a Flash fan.
And I’m tired.
A lot of people stopped reading DC books during the New 52 specifically because the levels of edgelord tomfuckery had gotten so high. Tim Drake had always been Red Robin, and his real name wasn’t even Tim Drake! Bart Allen was a criminal with amnesia from the future! Talia al Ghul raped Bruce and that’s how Damian was made! Death of the Family! Damian Wayne is murdered by his own clone! The original Batwoman murders Talia al Ghul! The entirety of Convergence! Forever Evil! It was goddamn exhausting. Rebirth was supposed to be this lighter, brighter time, but that went out the window almost immediately. No one wants fun, character-driven stories that instill joy anymore, don’t be ridiculous.
Back in 2013, when I was writing about comics as like…a semi-job, I wrote a piece about Batman. It was called DC, Please Stop Focusing On Batman.
So there’s this guy, Batman. Been around for almost 80 years. Kinda broody, parent issues out the wazoo. Maybe you’ve heard of him. Actually, I’d be surprised if you hadn’t heard of him, at this point.
Batman, for those of you who might be having delusions otherwise, is DC’s biggest character. He’s been the subject of eight animated television shows over the years, over a dozen live-action and animated movies, and in the New 52, his ‘family’ has more ongoing books than any other section, and none of them have been cancelled yet. Batman Incorporated ended, but it was always meant to do that. The Batman section of the New 52 has 12 ongoing books. That leaves 40 ongoing books for the rest of the DC Universe. Not to mention how, in the digital-first comics, we’ve got Li’l Gotham, Batman Beyond Unlimited, Legends of the Dark Knight, Batman ‘66, and Batman: Arkham Unhinged.
As further proof to Batman’s near-total domination of DC, allow me to present the crossover events so far since the reboot started: Night of the Owls, The Culling, Rise of the Third Army, Rotworld, Death of the Family, H’El on Earth, Throne of Atlantis, Wrath of the First Lantern, Batman: Zero Year, Trinity War. That’s one Batman crossover event a year, guys. Not to mention that Zero Year crosses over with non-Batman titles, like Flash and Green Lantern Corps. Why? Who cares! Batman! DC, please. And with the reality of a Batman/Superman movie in the not so distant future looming over us, it’s only bound to get worse.
So I implore you, DC. Take a look around your vast kingdom. Toy with some of your other properties, for once.
“But Batman sells!” You protest. “Kids love Batman! Adults love Batman! Everyone knows Batman!” No. Let me put it this way.
If you have hamburgers once a week throughout your childhood, you’ll have fond memories of hamburgers. You’ll also like hamburgers a lot, provided you only had them every once in awhile. And then, when you hit adulthood, suddenly, hamburgers are everywhere. There are a million variations on the same hamburger, and in order to feel like you’re getting the best hamburger experience, you decide to try them all. Eventually, it becomes too much. You’re drowning in hamburgers. And the worst part? Most of them are terrible, with wilted lettuce and moldy bread. Every now and then, you find an excellent hamburger, cooked exactly how you like it, with the freshest ingredients. However, when buying that burger, the server informs you that you’ll need to buy a whole bunch of other hamburgers, many of them rotten, in order to properly enjoy the burger you wanted. DC, you are the server. Batman is the hamburger.
I’m getting a little tired of hamburgers. Let’s get a salad, or some tomato soup, or hell, some tacos. You’ve got a big universe, DC. Capitalize on it.
In the six years since I wrote that bit, the Bat-mania has only gotten more pronounced. And now, the ouroboros has begun to devour itself, destroying everything that ever made anyone happy to see it.
Let Bruce Wayne hug his kids. It’s not going to destroy the Batman mythos to show panels of him hugging and being kind to his fucking kids. What is going to destroy the legacy of Batman, however, is this ridiculous notion that he’s a Dark Knight who has to do everything alone always and forever. Batman has had a sidekick since 1940, who are y’all trying to fool.
