Non-jerk Batman sightings in recent years.

[Buried Alien]

Much has been made of the idea that Batman has been depicted as a jerk in recent years. Have there been notable sightings of the non-jerk Batman in recent history?


Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Nick Kal]

Is Batman a jerk?

[Buried Alien]

Is Batman a jerk?

That's the assumption we're working upon for the purpose of discussion. I think when most people characterize Batman as a "jerk", they're thinking of him primarily post-NO MAN'S LAND. I think it goes back much further...to the Post-COIE reboot and the comics published after BATMAN YEAR ONE.


Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Nick Kal]

I always assumed Batman was just really intense and into the whole hero thing...

[Sean Whitmore]

That's the assumption we're working upon for the purpose of discussion. I think when most people characterize Batman as a "jerk", they're thinking of him primarily post-NO MAN'S LAND. I think it goes back much further...to the Post-COIE reboot and the comics published after BATMAN YEAR ONE.[/COLOR]


Nah, Batman's dickiness doesn't go back that far. And his ULTRA dickiness is even more recent.

Right after Year One, the Bat books had writers like Jim Starlin, Max Allan Collins, and Alan Grant. Batman wasn't the grinning idiot of the 50s, but he treated people with respect, he talked often, and he occasionally cracked wise while crime fighting.

There was tension whenever Dick was involved, impatience with the Giffen League, and of course he went nuts for awhile after Jason died, but he was hardly a dick.


SEAN

[colossus34]

I always assumed Batman was just really intense and into the whole hero thing...

Ummm...no my friend, he's a JERK!!! Anyhow I thought the accepted nickname for current Batman was Batdick?

[Guts/Batman]

Ummm...no my friend, he's a JERK!!! Anyhow I thought the accepted nickname for current Batman was Batdick?

That's what I call him. BatDick!!!

If you count Bruce Wayne as Batman (which I don't, I see Batman as a different persona), Bruce Wayne made an appearance in the Fugitive storyline.

Very unassholish.

In the last issue, he didn't seem like BatDick. But that could be me...

[Guts/Batman]

I always assumed Batman was just really intense and into the whole hero thing...

He is really intense but there is room for compassion in the line of work that Batman chooses to work in.

And BatDick doesn't have any compassion left. None.

When your "son's" gf is dying and you don't tell him what hospital she is until she dies, you deserve to be called a dick.

Or when you tell that "sons" to get over her death because she was stupid, you deserve to be called a dick.

How about when Bruce demanded an explanation of everything that happened from Hal despite the fact a Ganthet-Parallax monster is literally right in from of them?

That's pretty high end dickery if you ask me. At least SuperDick's feats were funny and able to be laughed at. BatDick's are far from being able to be laughed at.

[Forefinger]

The last time I remember seeing an incarnation of Batman that wasn't mostly a dick, was Alan Grant's depiction of him in Shadow of the Bat.

[The Mirrorball Man]

JLA: Classified #1

"I'm opening the sci-fi closet, Alfred. Don't tell my friends in the G.C.P.D. about this."

And people say Batman doesn't have a sense of humor! :D

[Alan2099]

Actualkly, I think he comes across pretty decent in the Superman/Batman title.

[Tadhg]

No Man's Land when he realizes he can't do it alone, makes amends, and gathers his friends and family to help him.

How long did that last?

[Sean Whitmore]

No Man's Land when he realizes he can't do it alone, makes amends, and gathers his friends and family to help him.

How long did that last?


A lot longer than when he did the exact same thing in "Murderer". :)


SEAN

[Aufbach]

Actualkly, I think he comes across pretty decent in the Superman/Batman title.

Yeah, I agree. It feels like Jeph Loeb's characterization of Batman is the most "undick" of them all right now. But I've also heard that this book sometimes can't be considered to be mainstream continuity; don't know if that's true or not.

He's definitely been Batdick in OMAC, JLA, WW, and Batman lately.

I would suggest that the current severity of Batdickness began post Hush, and has slowly gotten more extreme since then.

[Lubichev]

The last Legends of the Dark Knight storyline "Snow" didn't portray him as that big of a jerk. Sure, he was too focused on the outcome to think about the others he had working for him at first, but that changed after a while. So for the most part, he wasn't too dickish. He even apologized to Alfred and Gordon. That is something you don't see everyday.
All in all a good arc. Pleasantly surprised.

[SdotCopp]

That's what I call him. BatDick!!!

If you count Bruce Wayne as Batman (which I don't, I see Batman as a different persona), Bruce Wayne made an appearance in the Fugitive storyline.

Very unassholish.

In the last issue, he didn't seem like BatDick. But that could be me...

i was just going to say this

[Guts/Batman]

Batman: Jekyll and Hyde

The whole thing...

[Apathy Boy]

The ending of "Crisis of Conscience." I don't know why, but that scene made me think of the episode of The Simpsons with Homer, Maggie and "Do it for her."

Before that, Azzarello and Risso's "Broken City," the best Bruce Wayne story of all-time. Bruce's final monologue still tugs at my heartstrings.

[dancj]

Yeah, I agree. It feels like Jeph Loeb's characterization of Batman is the most "undick" of them all right now. But I've also heard that this book sometimes can't be considered to be mainstream continuity; don't know if that's true or not.

Well the "story so far" bit in the Superman: Unconventional Warfare tpb references Superman/Batman heavily so I'm pretty sure that's all in continuity

[Guts/Batman]

Well the "story so far" bit in the Superman: Unconventional Warfare tpb references Superman/Batman heavily so I'm pretty sure that's all in continuity

Yea.

There are other things that firmly put it into this Earth's continuity. Supergirl, "There will be a crisis", etc...

[DouglasDanger]

Batman in Morrison's JLA classified was great.

[Lester C.]

One of the points of the Murderer/fugitive story arc was to have Batman reconnect with his family and his humanity. They even released an excellent mini called Batman Family to stress this fact but the changes never took root because I think the fans want Batman to be the way he currently is as scary as that sounds.

[1HELLBOY]

Hush, Superman/Batman.


But that's all I can think of right now.

[Bloopinator]

I wish Batman was my dad. Just so I could get close enough to choke him *sigh* :evilsmile

[GoGo Yubari]

He wasn't particularly a jerk in any way in the great and underrated "Riddle Me That" storyline in LOTDK earlier this/last year. But maybe I just love that story because Riddler beat Batman for once.

[Viking Bastard]

That was a good story, that was.

But does it count, as he didn't really interact with any of the BatFamily in that arc?

[Oracle_0128]

He wasn't a jerk in BOP #85. Actually, he was portrayed more like a caring father to Oracle. He even snuck in her window and gave her a kiss on the forehead. And it was implied that he was the one that was paying for the procedure.

[1HELLBOY]

I wish Batman was my dad. Just so I could get close enough to choke him *sigh* :evilsmile


Boy, with you and Alan posting here more often, I guess that means I'll be spending LESS time here.

[Dr. Drake Ramoray]

I wish Batman was my dad. Just so I could get close enough to choke him *sigh* :evilsmile

Ah, patricide, the sport of kings! ;)

Bruce is OK in Superman/Batman, in Batman: HUSH, and in JLA, depending on who's writing it. He was pretty non-dickish in Dark Detective too.

[Tequilamokinbrd]

All this stuff about Batman being a jerk is a little blown out of perpourtion imho. I've got PLENTY of examples where he seems quite non jerkish


-When he finds Sasha after murderer/fugitive and they share one last tender embrace.

-His little speech in OMAC 6 about admitting his mistakes.

-That issue right around the end of fugitive where it's just him going around doing nice stuff. I think it was called 24/7. It's just a whole issue of Batman being an all around good guy, he gives out scholarships, he plays chess with Two-Face, he watches Robin beat up some skinhead punks and smiles, it's actually really refreshing.

-Every time he admits he's proud of Nightwing(Hush, JLA: The Obsidian Age).

-When he tells Tim Drake that joining the Teen Titans is a good idea because he should see his friends.

-When he formally adopted Dick Grayson.




I could keep going but people wanna call him a jerk because he's upset his friends lied to him and violated his mind, and he wishes that Wonder Woman wouldn't kill anyone. sheesh! Give the guy a break!

[Gaz]

All this stuff about Batman being a jerk is a little blown out of perpourtion imho. I've got PLENTY of examples where he seems quite non jerkish


-When he finds Sasha after murderer/fugitive and they share one last tender embrace.

-His little speech in OMAC 6 about admitting his mistakes.

-That issue right around the end of fugitive where it's just him going around doing nice stuff. I think it was called 24/7. It's just a whole issue of Batman being an all around good guy, he gives out scholarships, he plays chess with Two-Face, he watches Robin beat up some skinhead punks and smiles, it's actually really refreshing.

-Every time he admits he's proud of Nightwing(Hush, JLA: The Obsidian Age).

-When he tells Tim Drake that joining the Teen Titans is a good idea because he should see his friends.

-When he formally adopted Dick Grayson.




I could keep going but people wanna call him a jerk because he's upset his friends lied to him and violated his mind, and he wishes that Wonder Woman wouldn't kill anyone. sheesh! Give the guy a break!

Explain his treatment of Stephanie Brown, Tim Drake and Cassandra Cain, then? Even Barbara to some extent.

Now, that Birds of Prey appearance and in Infinite Crisis #1 are probably the most recent.

[Bloopinator]

Boy, with you and Alan posting here more often, I guess that means I'll be spending LESS time here.

Oh well :rolleyes:

[Gingold]

* His speech to Superman in Maggedon's clutches in the final chapter of WWIII in JLA

* His revelation of his identity to Kyle and Plas in Waid's JLA

* Dark Detective

* that Starman issue when he finally tells Jack Knight his favorite Woody Allen movie

[Guts/Batman]

Oh well :rolleyes:

I agree with Hellboy.

That post was completely unnecessary and you follow it up with that...

[Bloopinator]

I agree with Hellboy.

That post was completely unnecessary and you follow it up with that...

How was it unneccessary? I was just showing how mean Batman was that someone would want to do that! Oh well :rolleyes:

[Guts/Batman]

How was it unneccessary? I was just showing how mean Batman was that someone would want to do that! Oh well :rolleyes:

That didn't come across...

Perhaps you should have said exactly what you meant...

[Corrina]

All this stuff about Batman being a jerk is a little blown out of perpourtion imho. I've got PLENTY of examples where he seems quite non jerkish


-When he finds Sasha after murderer/fugitive and they share one last tender embrace.


This is after he's let Sasha remain IN JAIL for a crime he knows she didn't commit while he himself escapes prison to go off being the Batman, because that's what's really important. Not once in the whole M/F arc did think "hey, maybe instead of beating up bad guys, I should help the woman who's selling herself down the river to keep my secret."

He sobered up a little, enough to get her a lawyer but it was too late.
Sasha saved herself. Then Bruce felt all guilty about her being possibly dead.

If I had been Sasha meeting Bruce again, I would have slapped his face, not kissed him.

[Shane McCarthy]

He wasn't particularly a jerk in any way in the great and underrated "Riddle Me That" storyline in LOTDK earlier this/last year. But maybe I just love that story because Riddler beat Batman for once.

Thanks, Man.

Stay tuned to DETECTIVE in JAN/FEB for some 'non jerk' antics ;)

[Guts/Batman]

This is after he's let Sasha remain IN JAIL for a crime he knows she didn't commit while he himself escapes prison to go off being the Batman, because that's what's really important. Not once in the whole M/F arc did think "hey, maybe instead of beating up bad guys, I should help the woman who's selling herself down the river to keep my secret."

He sobered up a little, enough to get her a lawyer but it was too late.
Sasha saved herself. Then Bruce felt all guilty about her being possibly dead.

If I had been Sasha meeting Bruce again, I would have slapped his face, not kissed him.

In addtion, throwing everyone away like common garbage in Murderer was very dickish as well.

Batman and Bruce Wayne really were split personalities in Murderer/Fugitive.

[Bloopinator]

That didn't come across...

Perhaps you should have said exactly what you meant...

Oooooopps!!!! Didn't mean to freak people out

[metr0man]

Good examples of non-dicky-jerky Batman have been 'Batman Begins' and the JLU cartoon ;)

[Guts/Batman]

Oooooopps!!!! Didn't mean to freak people out

This is an internet forum afterall.

Words are your only way to communicate. No facial expressions. No body language. Just words.

Choose words carefully...

[jwmojo]

It's not in regular DCU continuity, but the mini Journey Into Knight has definitely not portrayed Batman as a dick. The first issue of the story was kind of weak, but it's really getting pretty good. Issue 3 came out today, and Batman actually offers a homeless guy who tried to kill him (it was a misunderstanding) a ride.

I have to admit I don't read a ton of Batman books, in part because of how unlikeable he has seemed. I'm really glad I decided to give this series a chance, though.

EDIT: misspellings