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  1. #1

    Default “Bruce Wayne is who I am, the Batman is what I do”

    Should this approach be attempted?
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  2. #2
    Extraordinary Member Restingvoice's Avatar
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    Isn't that the Silver Age or Batman 66? Non-obsessive Batman, working with the police like it's a job... generally being content...

    I don't know if I can imagine it with the brooding because it seems the brooding goes hand in hand with being obsessed.

  3. #3
    Astonishing Member Blue22's Avatar
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    It'd be nice if this were Batman again. Unfortunately it seems like nobody is really interested in that anymore. They either want Batgod, where he's an impossibly flawless human being who's put on a pedestal as the best Superhero in the world.

    Or the unstable trainwreck with the composure of an emotionally damaged teenager. The one who HAS to be Batman and HAS to work alone, even though he's almost never been alone. The one who supposedly can't be happy because that would compromise who he is, even though he's surrounded himself with plenty of friends and loved ones who do make him happy. The brooding, overdramatic hypocrite who lets criminals go free and puts his love life before his children. That's the Bats that apparently sells.

    I'm not saying I want a Batman who's all smiles and rainbows. He can stay brooding and grumpy and all that. But for ****'s sake, can we start toning it down again? Can he remember that one of identities doesn't just have to be a disguise for the other? That he can be both Batman and Bruce Wayne?

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Restingvoice View Post
    Isn't that the Silver Age or Batman 66? Non-obsessive Batman, working with the police like it's a job... generally being content...

    I don't know if I can imagine it with the brooding because it seems the brooding goes hand in hand with being obsessed.
    The Nolanverse Batman too, and probably BTAS Batman as well.

  5. #5
    Mighty Member Katana500's Avatar
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    I find a friendlier Batman alot more enjoyable to read. I dont really like it when Batman goes all angst mode and acts like a colossal walloper to all his family and team mates.

    I like when Bruce makes the occasional witty remark.

  6. #6
    Extraordinary Member Restingvoice's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bat39 View Post
    The Nolanverse Batman too, and probably BTAS Batman as well.
    Batman Begins specifically said that Bruce is the mask. He's just not as obsessed as the comic counterpart. Haven't watched TDKR though.
    Last edited by Restingvoice; 08-16-2019 at 01:57 PM.

  7. #7
    Mighty Member Bat-Meal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Blue22 View Post
    It'd be nice if this were Batman again. Unfortunately it seems like nobody is really interested in that anymore. They either want Batgod, where he's an impossibly flawless human being who's put on a pedestal as the best Superhero in the world.

    Or the unstable trainwreck with the composure of an emotionally damaged teenager. The one who HAS to be Batman and HAS to work alone, even though he's almost never been alone. The one who supposedly can't be happy because that would compromise who he is, even though he's surrounded himself with plenty of friends and loved ones who do make him happy. The brooding, overdramatic hypocrite who lets criminals go free and puts his love life before his children. That's the Bats that apparently sells.

    I'm not saying I want a Batman who's all smiles and rainbows. He can stay brooding and grumpy and all that. But for ****'s sake, can we start toning it down again? Can he remember that one of identities doesn't just have to be a disguise for the other? That he can be both Batman and Bruce Wayne?
    This is probably why my Batman enthusiasm is waning and I've moved onto enjoying his family members more. I can't stand Bat-god and Batman-is-always-right stuff.

  8. #8
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    Threads like this make me happy because it shows I'm not alone.
    Wish DC could remember the "good old days" and tone it all the way down.
    Is it too much to hope this would be one of the two lasting changes King leaves when his run is done?

  9. #9
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    No, because once you go this route, you don't have Batman, youhave Joel Schumacher disaster lol

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Blue22 View Post
    It'd be nice if this were Batman again. Unfortunately it seems like nobody is really interested in that anymore. They either want Batgod, where he's an impossibly flawless human being who's put on a pedestal as the best Superhero in the world.

    Or the unstable trainwreck with the composure of an emotionally damaged teenager. The one who HAS to be Batman and HAS to work alone, even though he's almost never been alone. The one who supposedly can't be happy because that would compromise who he is, even though he's surrounded himself with plenty of friends and loved ones who do make him happy. The brooding, overdramatic hypocrite who lets criminals go free and puts his love life before his children. That's the Bats that apparently sells.

    I'm not saying I want a Batman who's all smiles and rainbows. He can stay brooding and grumpy and all that. But for ****'s sake, can we start toning it down again? Can he remember that one of identities doesn't just have to be a disguise for the other? That he can be both Batman and Bruce Wayne?
    He stopped being Bruce Wayne the night his parents were murdered.

  11. #11
    Astonishing Member Nite-Wing's Avatar
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    Batman is not a job its a lifestyle
    Better deal with that fact now then hope DC plans to bring back the days of Bruce and Dick fighting crime during the day and then going to bed at 9pm

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Restingvoice View Post
    Batman Begins specifically said that Bruce is the mask. He's just not as obsessed as the comic counterpart. Haven't watched TDKR though.
    Well, actually Rachel said that, because that's what she believed. She thought that 'Bruce Wayne' was now just the billionaire playboy who bought restaurants on a whim and drunkenly burnt down his house, and that Batman, the violent vigilante, now reflected who he truly is.

    But the truth which Bruce and Alfred believed, and which the the trilogy by and large supported, is that 'Batman' is just a symbol - a persona that Bruce Wayne adopted to 'shake people out of their apathy', and a persona that anyone could assume. Nolan even listed the character as 'Bruce Wayne', not as 'Batman', in the credits.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by bat39 View Post
    Well, actually Rachel said that, because that's what she believed. She thought that 'Bruce Wayne' was now just the billionaire playboy who bought restaurants on a whim and drunkenly burnt down his house, and that Batman, the violent vigilante, now reflected who he truly is.

    But the truth which Bruce and Alfred believed, and which the the trilogy by and large supported, is that 'Batman' is just a symbol - a persona that Bruce Wayne adopted to 'shake people out of their apathy', and a persona that anyone could assume. Nolan even listed the character as 'Bruce Wayne', not as 'Batman', in the credits.
    In the videogame adaptation it's Bruce who says in narration that Bruce Wayne is gone and all that's left is Batman.


    OT. I think it would be good to see that aspect explored more, or at the very least find a balance. BTAS originally seemed to find that balance, but it became lost with TNBA. At the very least, the good Bruce Wayne does with his fortune should be shown more. The idea that both aspects of his personality are dedicated to making Gotham a better place should be emphasized more.
    Last edited by sunofdarkchild; 08-18-2019 at 04:30 AM.

  14. #14
    Astonishing Member jetengine's Avatar
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    Yes. Too much is spent on a grim, miserable Batman to the detriment of the overall character.

  15. #15
    Not a Newbie Member JBatmanFan05's Avatar
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    If I've learned anything from Grant Morrison is that we should reject simplistic dualities.

    Neither Bruce or Batman is the real one, both are the real one. Wholistic, not dualistic.
    Things I love: Batman, Superman, AEW, old films, Lovecraft

    Grant Morrison: “Adults...struggle desperately with fiction, demanding constantly that it conform to the rules of everyday life. Adults foolishly demand to know how Superman can possibly fly, or how Batman can possibly run a multibillion-dollar business empire during the day and fight crime at night, when the answer is obvious even to the smallest child: because it's not real.”

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