Is anyone else tired of The Batman Who Laughs?

[exile001]

I'll preface this by saying I didn't particularly like Dark Knights: Metal.

To me, it failed as a story by reading as a series of bullet points without any substance, rather than a cohesive narrative. It felt like it needed twice the number of issues to concentrate on its main themes and plot threads (the tie-ins only skirted around the edges of the event), but the core of the event was mostly a few pages per idea then moving quickly on. This is a recurring problem with company-wide crossovers, which are always better when the main series just tells a cohesive story that reads perfectly without the tie-ins and extras, etc. I am also not a big fan of Batman or Joker as cosmic level players, or Morrison's Batman (Bruce Wayne, his Dick Grayson was awesome!), so the whole thing fell flat to me.

With that out of the way, like most other people, I first saw this character in DK:M and thought "well, that's cool as hell. Clive Barker re-imagining Batman crossed with the Joker as a Cenobite, what's not to like?"

The answer is that he's sadly pretty one-note, all the skill and intelligence of Batman coupled with the chaos (see: murder) of The Joker. It's a cool idea on paper, but I argue it's not a particularly interesting one in practice. As a universe threatening character, he combines the worst aspects of Bat-God and the worst aspects of The Joker as a super-crazy serial killer and rather than amplifying the respective character traits, it dilutes them. He is a blunt instrument that lacks depth. And we've seen his backstory, so there isn't any mystery left to explore.

There is an inherent problem for characters (usually insane) who are trying to commit universal genocide, as they obviously can't ever win (or they can win once, but it gets reversed) and how do you escalate a character who almost destroyed the universe/multiverse/hyperverse in their first shot. There is a built in ceiling.

This is why Annihhilus works, as he is mostly used as an external threat, something outside our reality who, if given the chance would probably succeed in wiping everything out (yes, I know he HAS got into our universe a few times but this is rare and when he does, it's epic). Or the Anti-Monitor, who was designed to appear in one story and be as much as a plot point as a character (until Geoff Johns brought him back). Emperor Joker was another fine example of this, as the power intentionally temporary. Militant universal conquerors such as Darkseid, Thanos and Mongul have more longevity, as they need to take control over time (or obtain a specific mcguffin). This gives them room to grow and evolve as threats. They also tend to have vast armies at their disposal, often with some ancillary characters to support them.

He should have died/been removed with the rest of the alternate Batmen at the end of the crossover. I have my issues with Batman sicking The Joker on him in the first place, what with the whole no killing thing, but he then showed up again in justice League. And again in his own series. And in Year of the Villain. And will again in the new Superman/Batman series.

I just don't find him interesting enough to warrant his inclusion in so many books (or any, really), and wondered if anyone else is getting fed up with him. Or if there's something I'm missing that others are seeing, for example, is his own book mind-blowingly awesome?

I understand the "don't like him, don't read him" stance, but that's a bit hard when he is in Justice League (or was when I last read it, I'm a bit behind), will be in Year of the Villain special, essential to the next year of DC, and will be in Superman/Batman, a book combining my two favourite DC heroes.

[SixSpeedSamurai]

Yep, maybe not to the extent of your tiredness, but he's OP in my opinion. Plus, now we pretty much know we won't get a real conclusion to the mini-series as it's been extended by an issue to lead into Batman/Superman.

[exile001]

I didn't know that they were meant to tie together.

It's typical that DC hasn't realised that the New 52's Batman/Superman and Superman/Wonder Woman were both utterly crippled by being dragged into the greater universe/cross-overs. These team-up books, like Justice League, should be allowed a nebulous continuity of their own.

Who knows, maybe under Joshua Williamson TBWL will become a more interesting character to me, I have a lot of faith in him as a writer. His Flash run is up there with the best. And just to be clear, I do love Scott Snyder for the most part.

[Adset]

I don't have much interest in him, but he's been easy enough to avoid. He's yet to appear in Batman/'Tec. He did appear in Justice League for an issue or two, but that's been it for me.

[oasis1313]

I don't have much interest in him, but he's been easy enough to avoid. He's yet to appear in Batman/'Tec. He did appear in Justice League for an issue or two, but that's been it for me.

Trade-waiting. Not interested enough to buy the monthlies.

[Restingvoice]

Haven't read him and already bored of him simply because it's too soon to reuse him in Justice League right after Metal and then giving him a mini. I like his design, it's no surprise why he's popular, but it's a case of too much too soon. Someone as epic, dark, and threatening as him should be used very sparingly. Even more sparingly than The Joker himself because he's a greater threat. Ideally only in events as big as Metal.

[oasis1313]

Joker is waaaaaaay too overused.

[MajorHoy]

I don't have much interest in him, but he's been easy enough to avoid.

I'm in the same boat on this.

Not interested in him, but haven't read anything with him to make any further judgment, though he does seem a bit over-used?

[theoneandonly]

TBWL is a character I can take or leave with neither choice particularly affecting me but he is going to be in the forefront as long as Snyder continues to be the architect of the DCU and maybe even beyond his tenure if the character garners popularity as there is a tendency to drag a particular hard core villainous character back to the front time and again until the shine wears off and this is hardly unique to the BWL. why even annihilus to take the ops own example has been overused to the extent that he has lost his mojo and has had less flattering showings like when he was transformed into a slave by Johnny and was crushed like a bug by thanos after he had been devolved by Warlock.

[king81992]

Batman Who Laughs and Metal were mistakes.

[Badou]

It is Batman mixed with Joker. It is Snyder's wet dream come to life. So he is going to be around for a LONG time.

[Frontier]

It is Batman mixed with Joker. It is Snyder's wet dream come to life. So he is going to be around for a LONG time.

Is that really the only thing the character brings to the table? I just don't get why there's so much fuss for him beyond being a Snyder creation.

[Badou]

Is that really the only thing the character brings to the table? I just don't get why there's so much fuss for him beyond being a Snyder creation.

That is his main gimmick. A Batman that went Joker crazy, which are Snyder's two favorite things. I haven't read all of the character's appearances but I read a fair amount and his origin and I haven't been that impressed with him overall, especially given how DC is making him THE threat to the DCU now. He feels like a pet character that is getting pushed a bit too hard but Snyder has the leverage to do that and it is tough to complain too much given how well Snyder makes him sell. The main thing I think he has going for him is Capullo's design he gave him. Even if it was a bit too similar to a Judge Dredd villain.

[Spicy_B]

While I have been enjoying the art of the series (It's Jock, so that's a given), I'm still on the fence about the story/character. Definitely not my favorite Snyder work but still solid. I really wished he had done more with the Court of Owls or Mr. Bloom, who I thought was a terrific character.

[MajorHoy]

How do people who find The Batman Who Giggles annoying compare him with Hush?