Quote Originally Posted by the illustrious mr. kenway View Post
I don't mind the bat insignia because he's a legacy character and part of the Batfamily. All of them have it, even guys like Jason.
two things about that:

1. the ones who have it are typically the ones with Bat in their names. Spoiler usually does not, unless she's Batgirl, Cass had it when she was Black Bat and Batgirl, Batwing, Batwoman, have it. Nightwing, does not have it, Robin does not have it, and Red Hood has only had it in one incarnation of his costume but even then he has gone back to not having it.
2. my issue is not him having it in and of itself, it's the overuse of it in his design while having next to nothing in his design (besides the yellow color and reflect area) that affirms his identity. does the sun guy really need a bat on his boots, a bat on his chest, bat wings on his weapons, bat ears on his helmet, and a bat plastered over his face?

if the bat insignia was done tastefully, I wouldn't mind it. the reflective bat on his chest and maybe bat wings on his eskrima sticks would've been fine but his suit should be primarily about him, not Batman. that's the problem, you can not expect people to care about Duke as his own character if everything about his visual language tells you "Batman" or "Batman's flunkie" because then it begs the question: why am I reading about the yellow Batman ranger when I could be reading Batman? plus the fact that, supposedly, the suit being so overly developed was why Hamner ended up having trouble with his book, it's not even a practical design. the best character designs are simple enough that anyone can draw it (from kids who are fans to other creators that have to work on the character) and distinct enough that you're informed as to who the character is. Duke's design, while not the literal worst thing ever, fails at both of those things no matter how you slice it. if DC wants Duke to succeed, what they need to do is hone in on what makes him unique as a character, commit to a story that affirms his character, and redesign his costume to something less overproduced and more individualistic.