Why does everyone hate Prodigal?

[the-wolf]

Well, count me as one who liked the story. I disagree, however, that the story was designed to show why Dick wasn't ready to be Batman at that time. To me (and I haven't read it in a long time), the story showed why Dick could NEVER be Batman.

I still hold to that. Batman is not Azrael or the Flash or Green Lantern. He is not a legacy figure. Batman is Bruce Wayne. It is his creation. Robin is a legacy character and that's why Dick left it behind to become Nightwing; his own man.

I just don't get the point in Dick becoming Batman. They share similar origins, but their experiences since then are very different. As are their personalities and character traits. That's what Prodigal was trying to show. Dick can PRETEND to be Batman (despite being several inches shorter and probably 40 lbs lighter, :rolleyes: ), but he can't actually BE Batman.

Which makes this whole current mess of things a complete waste of time. Bruce will be back, so why are we bothering? It was what I had hoped Prodigal, combined with the Knightsfall/end story had put to rest years ago; the very notion of the whole idea that there can be another Batman.

[Mat001]

Originally Posted by Chad

I don't believe this was ever commented on within the story. I'm not saying that the writers hadn't decided to make Two-Face more homicidally flamboyant, I'm just saying it wasn't a change that was ever effectively communicated to the reader through the story itself. Because Dick and Tim never remarked upon the changes in Two-Face's personality, it seemed as if the writers wanted the readers to think that this is how Harvey Dent always behaved. Although now that you mention it, I think I remember Doug Moench commenting on Two-Face becoming darker than ever when he handled the character during his run with Kelley Jones.

Yeah, that was seen in a two-parter right before "Contagion." Later on in the two part "Janus" storyline in Shadow Of The Bat, Harvey develops a third personality known as Janus who tries to destroy Two-Face. This idea was barrowed for the animated episode "Judgment Day". After that, we had the quake and all the followed. By that point, Two-Face was back to how he used to be and then he was love lorn for Montoya.

The problem I personally have with retcons is that writers seem to overlook the fact that if you change a key part of a character's history, then you also have to change a key aspect of that same character's personality. A Dick Grayson who we're supposed to believe lived in terror of Two-Face during his tenure as Robin, would not have been the same "fearless, laughing young daredevil" he was presented as prior to this traumatic event being inserted into his past. One of the points of interest for this story was seeing how someone who wasn't as psychologically connected with Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, etc would work as Batman. Could an expertly trained superhero still suceed as Batman if he didn't have Batman's demons? We never really found out, because all of a sudden, in spite of what previous stories had established, Dick Grayson was for the duration of this story at least, a psychologically, troubled hero with a dark context to apply to his role as Batman. Sure he didn't handle his issues like Bruce Wayne - he certainly didn't brood or cut himself off from others in Prodigal - but I've always had trouble with that "By the way, let's just pretend from here on in that this trait has always been present" even when we have something like Crisis, Zero Hour, reality punches around to explain why a change has taken place.

Well, this was followed up in the 1995 annual and in "Robin: Year One". Dick had put on an act, a facade, in the years following that first encounter. But his failure had gotten to him following the end of his relationship with Starfire and his leaving the Titans. And when he found himself trying to be Batman, those old doubts resurfaced especially when Harvey escaped and went on his rampage.

Originally Posted by earl

I just don't think they explained why Bruce Wayne had to go away for a while very well. It was kind of odd that he is back, then he goes away without much being shown why.

How is "I was forced to become Batman again" unclear? During the trilogy, we saw that Bruce was burning out from being Batman for so many years. And it was after Alfred left and finally rescuing Shondra that led to Bruce deciding that there was no more need for him to be Batman. Which is what he tells Tim when he arrives in Gotham. But because of Jean-Paul's actions, he has to become Batman again to stop him. Only thing is as shown during the Zero Month issues, Bruce knows that Batman will always need to exist, but he himself doesn't have to be Batman. And so that leads to his decision to take time off. To rethink things through and to decide if he himself should continue to be Batman.