Batman & The Signal Mini Series Discussion Thread (SPOILERS)

[DragonPiece]

Discuss the first 3 issues of Duke Thomas mini series here!


IMO, I thought this was good. Lots of exposition, but thought it was handled well. Interesting new characters, and the art looks great.

EDIT: Positive or negative thoughts welcome, but please be civil in the read.

[Assam]

Hmm. Mixed thoughts on this.

The story is fairly standard cape stuff, with the exception of the 'meta' aspect, which wasn't too annoying, but overall the story was written rather well. Disappointed that I was right about the opening scene being a dream.

Duke as a character is likable here, but still very generic. No less generic than I think Dick and Tim can be on their own mind you, but still. It doesn't help that while I'm happy to see Riko and Iz here (although Iz being drawn much lighter than previously is a tad annoying) it just makes me wish I was reading about them, as I maintain Duke is the least interesting of the main We Are Robins.

I also can't say I'm liking the new characters. I get why they were introduced in the rapid fire way they were, but they're just not stand out enough to make an impact with the short time they were given and I'm not interested at all in the detective's story. I just finished the issue a few minutes ago, and I've already forgotten the new characters' names.

Then there's Bruce giving Duke his own HQ and saying he's trained with him longer than most of his allies. Yeah, f**k EVERYTHING about that.

So yeah, can't say I'm a fan. I'd probably give this a 4 or 5 out of 10. I'll say this though: If this Dial stuff ends up being connected to Dial H, they'll have my attention again.

[Katana500]

I really enjoyed it!

I think Duke already has a pretty cool supporting cast. The one armed detective certainly seems interesting and Dukes Cousin was also pretty cool. I definitely think that Dukes cousins rules are going to come into conflict with Bruces expectations of Duke and his 'job'

Seeing Iz and Riko was really cool! Im glad their back, I liked them both in We are Robin. Its nice that they are still both friends with Duke and that they seem to be taking the role of his main support.

The Hatch is interesting too! Batman's wallet though must be feeling the pain bankrolling so many vigilantes and bases within Gotham

[FlictsLantern]

Maybe I am spoiled rotten, but I felt this one felt a bit short in comparation to the most recent #1 I read from DC, Super Sons and Doomsday Clock.
This is such an easy book to define, a citizen of Gothan said it "Daytime is when this damned city supposed to be safe". That's it. Don't need to go full cosmic-level conspiracy right out of the bat.
Day time Gotham, Duke's relationship with the rest of the BatFamily, and him-batfamily-we are robins... I would take a step back and let those concepts build slowly. Like they say to writers, you can't put a character in mortal danger if people don't care for him. Duke deserved a better building on his series.

Oh, and by the way, I agree with katana500: Batman's new business: Secret Lairs "R" Us. he is sure giving them around a lot lately, huh?

[Barbatos666]

It left no real impression imo. There wasn't anything especially bad about it but I've honestly forgotten about it and I just read it a few hours ago. Duke gets a hide out and is gonna fight some weirdo metas is my primary takeaway.
I think Murphy's version is more compelling than Signal era Duke.

[Aioros22]

I have to commend Snyder because somehow, someway, despite using the characters likeness, he still hasn`t written a "family" arc, since ever. It`s either dream sequences, hallucinations or all dandaged or dressed up as Batman.

That takes creativity, I give him that.

[rev516]

Didnt interest me at all and Duke is still useless in my eyes.

Bruce saying he trained longer with Duke over everyone else made me lol. It's Snyder and Patrick trying to make Duke the favorite.

[okiedokiewo]

Then there's Bruce giving Duke his own HQ and saying he's trained with him longer than most of his allies. Yeah, f**k EVERYTHING about that.

One of the biggest problems I've had with Duke is his writers' need to put down/undermine other characters in order to prop him up. Cut it out already. That's not how you win fans, and it's not needed to begin with. It adds nothing.

[DragonPiece]

Then there's Bruce giving Duke his own HQ and saying he's trained with him longer than most of his allies. Yeah, f**k EVERYTHING about that.

Just like everytime Snyder wrote Duke, I feel like he's just exaggerating Duke. The scene is referring to Bruce meeting Duke all the way back in zero year, before he met even Dick. Yet obviously, how it's written implies Duke has went on more adventures with Batman than any of the other sidekicks. This leads to the obvious annoyance that people like you and rev516 have with Duke. I wish it was written better to just say that, instead of leading to confusion.

[JasonTodd428]

I really enjoyed it!

I think Duke already has a pretty cool supporting cast. The one armed detective certainly seems interesting and Dukes Cousin was also pretty cool. I definitely think that Dukes cousins rules are going to come into conflict with Bruces expectations of Duke and his 'job'

Seeing Iz and Riko was really cool! Im glad their back, I liked them both in We are Robin. Its nice that they are still both friends with Duke and that they seem to be taking the role of his main support.

The Hatch is interesting too! Batman's wallet though must be feeling the pain bankrolling so many vigilantes and bases within Gotham

I quite agree. I really enjoyed this issue. I loved the supporting cast and was glad to see Iz and Riko again. That detective was pretty interesting to me and I'm curious what her deal is. I'm looking forward to the next issue.

Now for my only complaint here. That damned line about Duke having trained longer than "most" of Batman's allies. WTF Snyder! You just couldn't leave well enough alone could you? Just had to push fans' buttons didn't ya? All that should have been said there was that Duke has trained for a while with Bruce and his other allies, the latter which is something that was shown in the recent story Role Call in the recent New Talent Showcase. That would have been believable at least. There was no need to try to falsely elevate Duke at the expense of most of the other Bat Family members. He's not even close to their experience level as yet so stop acting like he is. That is NOT the way to get people invested in a new character at all.

(rant over)

That being said I still really liked what I saw here so I'll keep reading so long as lines like that one are kept to a minimum.

[K Nikk]

Maybe the comment about training longer is about how long he was trained before being put into action? Started the others too early for example (or they were already trained). So not that he is BETTER trained, but that he kept him in reserve longer.... Is that a possible interpretation?

[Caivu]

Maybe the comment about training longer is about how long he was trained before being put into action? Started the others too early for example (or they were already trained). So not that he is BETTER trained, but that he kept him in reserve longer.... Is that a possible interpretation?

That's how I took it. It does not in any way imply he's better-trained than any of the other bats, and the rest of the issue supports that.

[Assam]

It's not just the bit about the training, although despite the excuses or possible interpretations, it still pisses me off. Him getting his own HQ in itself bothers me. To me, that comes across as them saying that he's a more competent solo hero than all the non-Batwoman members of the 'Tec team. And that's just false, especially since several of them have had their own personal headquarters.

Having mulled it over, I think I'm gonna pass on the next issue. I just don't care about this story and Snyder continues to ruin any chance of my becoming a fan of Duke.

[K Nikk]

It's not just the bit about the training, although despite the excuses or possible interpretations, it still pisses me off. Him getting his own HQ in itself bothers me. To me, that comes across as them saying that he's a more competent solo hero than all the non-Batwoman members of the 'Tec team. And that's just false, especially since several of them have had their own personal headquarters.

But some of the others don't need it as much, or wouldn't accept that from Bruce if offered. I couldn't see Nightwing accepting that offer, or Jason (?) - an independence thing. Damian has a HQ with Jon, and with Teen Titans, I don't see him needing a third one just for himself. Not wanting Duke to have something he needs that others do not need or wouldn't want doesn't feel fair - is he supposed to just work out of the bat cave? I can see Batman wanting the cave back to himself, and therefore setting Duke up elsewhere. I don't know.

I might have really misinterpreted stuff.

[Assam]

But some of the others don't need it as much, or wouldn't accept that from Bruce if offered. I couldn't see Nightwing accepting that offer, or Jason (?) - an independence thing. Damian has a HQ with Jon, and with Teen Titans, I don't see him needing a third one just for himself. Not wanting Duke to have something he needs that others do not need or wouldn't want doesn't feel fair - is he supposed to just work out of the bat cave? I can see Batman wanting the cave back to himself, and therefore setting Duke up elsewhere. I don't know.

I might have really misinterpreted stuff.

I didn't mention Dick, Damian or Jason. I mentioned the 5 (since we're about to lose Basil and he's the exception to what I'm talking about) non-leaders on the 'Tec team, several of whom have had their own personal HQs in the past.