Controversial Batfamily Opinions

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I thought I was the only one who was not particularly fond of legacies.

I deeply dislike it. Firstly, I get attached to characters, not mantles. So they are all dying very early (or retiring and not being main characters I can read about, at least). Secondly, it just greatly diminishes the inheritors to me - they can never do anything as great as stepping into a costume some else left behind. They can never make their own names as great as the first gen. They either remain sidekicks until death/retirement or just abandon the identities they built on their own because those just aren't as important as the ones the first gen created.

I don't mind legacies. I just think they need an overhaul from a design standpoint. They feel like they come off an assembly line and often they feel undercooked as characters. So I rather they skip the Robin/aqualad stage and start out with more unique names and setups.

I think you loose a lot when your story goes from "parents died, swore vengeance, inspired by bat," to parents died, swore vengeance, inspired by this other guy who's parents died and swore vengeance,."

Not really because most of Bruce's successors have their own reason to be Batman. Dick and Terry have revenge, Jean Paul has twisted faith and Jace has redemption. Damian is the only one with legacy as his reason.

[JediBatman54]

Batman definitely killed Joker at the end of Killing Joke
Killing Joke should always have been a Elseworld separate from the main canon so killing Joker shouldnt be a problem i dont like how in some Batman stories they want to make Killing Joke Canon just like Barbara always become Oracle by her being shot by Joker yes she was shot by him but that dont means the same events of Killing Joke happen

Penguin and Riddler become a Couple in the Gotham Universe after the show ends

i prefer Batman to be trained by Alfred it seems more realistic than him traveling around the World

i think Catwoman is a terrible love interest for Batman she is more like a Girl to have fun with but not anything serious

Frank Miller Dark Knight Returns Sequels is one of the worst comics i ever read feel like he was more trolling than continue the story

i dont have a problem with Barbara Gordon and Bruce being a Couple despite their age differences

i want to see a Comic where Bruce dies permanently and how the Bat Family deals with it i think the video game Gotham Knights is something similar to that

[exile001]

i prefer Batman to be trained by Alfred it seems more realistic than him traveling around the World

How is that more realistic?

If Alfred already has all the skills Bruce would need, then Alfred himself could just be Batman. Or Robin. Lol.

Seriously, though, Batman is supposed to be a master in multiple disciplines of crime fighting. How would Alfred have all that knowledge? He was a soldier and, continuity dependent, the world's greatest super spy (ugh), but Bruce still needs real world experience.

[Arsenal]

I don’t mind Alfred being Bruce’s first teacher but I definitely wouldn’t want him to be the only one.

[Tzigone]

i think Catwoman is a terrible love interest for Batman she is more like a Girl to have fun with but not anything serious

I hate the division of "girls you screw and girls you marry." There are certainly reasons not to ship it, but that one doesn't work for me.

i prefer Batman to be trained by Alfred it seems more realistic than him traveling around the World

Seriously, though, Batman is supposed to be a master in multiple disciplines of crime fighting. How would Alfred have all that knowledge? He was a soldier and, continuity dependent, the world's greatest super spy (ugh), but Bruce still needs real world experience.

I like Alfred as the late-comer, meeting Bruce in adulthood (but I know it's not going to go back to that in canon). I don't mind Bruce traveling and learning, but I deeply dislike him learning from assassins and the like - people he should be trying to take down. League of Assassins should definitely be something he only knows about after years on the job. I also prefer Batman to not be a god-tier fighter. Good, yes. Great, even. Not top 20 in the world. World's Best Detective, not world's best martial artist.

[Fergus]

Batman should work like The Phantom. Bruce was the first, till he died. Dick was the second, till he retired, Tim was the third etc, etc. This would be way more interesting to me.

You could have this grand mythology where the general public thinks the Batman is an immortal figure comparable to Superman and Wonder Woman. However, not because he's Bruce the freakin' Batgod but because the Batman, in this context, is this ongoing legacy character.

I liked it when Bruce "died" and Dick took on the role. I sincerely hoped that would be the new status quo for a good while until Dick hung up the cape and cowl and Tim got a shot. But, this was not to be the case and I think it's a shame.

I feel that this a concept that fans who care more about reading their favs in certain story over what is logical pitch.

the truth is that if Batman worked like the Phantom then DC comics would have gone under once Dick Grayson's run as Batman ended. If not sooner.

I'm not a fan of anyone can be Batman. Dick Grayson made an entertaining Batman because he was so different to Bruce that it felt refreshing.

Terry makes an entertaining Batman because he is different and his setting is different.
Damian makes a somewhat entertaining Batman because he is sort of different from Bruce. Though modern day Bruce is so brutal that there's not much difference.
Damian is the batman who works alone that DC wants us to believe Bruce Wayne is thought the more violent.

I don't agree that Batman should be like the Phantom not just for real world reasons but because only one of the robins is different enough from Bruce to be truly innovative.

[phonogram12]

I don’t mind Alfred being Bruce’s first teacher but I definitely wouldn’t want him to be the only one.

Likewise. I never liked the idea of Bruce ever only having one teacher (Ra's Al Ghul included).

[Frontier]

Alfred training Bruce only really works for, like, a smaller scale Bruce in the Earth One universe who isn't meant to be as capable or as competent (initially) as he generally is.

[godisawesome]

My current controversial opinion is that DC should have married Batman and Catwoman some time ago, treated it as a hard status quo change for a significant amount of time... and then after that preset, significant amount of time, have them have a fight or disagreement and become estranged to become "single" again... with the understanding this will become a stormy but at times surprisingly cohesive on-again, off-again monogamous relationship, where the fights prelude any sort of seeing other people before inevitably crashing back together again for ambiguous but passionately committed times.

Not a successful, happy, stable marriage, because that *does* clash with both characters... but also not one that has any "congenial breaks" because that sort of wastes the premise of the relationship, and the extra drama of constant tension would be far more filling.

[Odd Rödney]

the truth is that if Batman worked like the Phantom then DC comics would have gone under once Dick Grayson's run as Batman ended. If not sooner.

Why do you think that, exactly? How could it possibly be that dramatic?

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Why do you think that, exactly? How could it possibly be that dramatic?

It would've worked in the 70s and 80s but not today. The fandom is too niche and comics are more expensive. Plus comics are harder to find because the stores are dying out.

The future state characters would've worked better as a retool for the Earth One graphic novel line. It's a safer play than pissing off the Wednesday warrior crowd. But outside of Jace and Jo from Far Sector, most of them are undercooked as characters and rather forgettable.

[Odd Rödney]

It would've worked in the 70s and 80s but not today. The fandom is too niche and comics are more expensive. Plus comics are harder to find because the stores are dying out.

The future state characters would've worked better as a retool for the Earth One graphic novel line. It's a safer play than pissing off the Wednesday warrior crowd. But outside of Jace and Jo from Far Sector, most of them are undercooked as characters and rather forgettable.

Well said.

I guess if it wasn't going to be a sudden change to the established idea of Batman it could work. Like, if this legacy concept was a foundational aspect since 1939, rather than a change that would take effect now.

In any case, I would appreciate a story about Batman as a legacy thing. There was a cool Robin annual back in the mid to late nineties, when all the annuals that year were exploring the Dead Earth concept. Humanity had expanded, becoming a galactic civilization and there was still a Batman. It implied a similar concept.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Alfred should be his first mentor but not his only one. Ra's makes the most sense if you just want to give him one mentor. He's lived hundreds of years and tons of skills. So it's a way of cheating the process.

Bruce has an attraction to unhealthy people. Telltale acknowledged how damaging that could be so the comics could do the same.

I'm bored of Bruce at the moment. So I don't giving someone else a go in the new DCEU. Just let Pattinson and Reeves do their thing on their own Earth.

I didn't mind Titans Earth One saving the legacies for down the road. Using Jericho instead of Dick was a smart move and I'd do more like that.

[skyvolt2000]

It would've worked in the 70s and 80s but not today. The fandom is too niche and comics are more expensive. Plus comics are harder to find because the stores are dying out.

The future state characters would've worked better as a retool for the Earth One graphic novel line. It's a safer play than pissing off the Wednesday warrior crowd. But outside of Jace and Jo from Far Sector, most of them are undercooked as characters and rather forgettable.

Even if you did Earth One line of books-some of those guys would still be offended that those books exist.

Because someone would be mad that those books are marketing something they don like. Even if it's NOT in the comic book store.

See I am Starfire, Gotham High, Beware My Power Blu Ray and so on.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Even if you did Earth One line of books-some of those guys would still be offended that those books exist.

Because someone would be mad that those books are marketing something they don like. Even if it's NOT in the comic book store.

See I am Starfire, Gotham High, Beware My Power Blu Ray and so on.

Fair enough.

Back in the early days of the new 52, I was fine with getting rid of the Robin mantle. I felt like it didn't fit the condensed timeline. Plus I always saw it as a stepping stone so I was fine with cutting it.

I don't mind keeping the legacy characters, they would've just started out with their new mantles from the get go.

The other option is letting Dick and his friends take over for their mentors.