Bruce and Dick's dynamic is more older brother/younger brother than father/son and the shift in writing to the latter is weird. Bruce is at most a little over a decade older than Dick, they should be more like best buds (with Clark being his other one). It's why the casting in live action Titans is so weird, the age difference is nowhere near that big.

Quote Originally Posted by charliehustle415 View Post
Bruce is only interesting as a older Bruce Wayne.

Seeing him in Dark Knight Returns or Batman Beyond is far more interesting then his current characterization simply because as a reader I want to know how did things go so wrong.

Fans may always him to be the brooding grimdark hero, but in Batman Beyond he is the exemplar of a man who has lost all semblance of emotional intelligence and would have been forever alone if not for Terry. Bruce from DKR is the same and he was looking for a "out" trying to constantly push himself.

Bruce as a young man is only interesting because I have hope that he will escape the trauma and when he stubbornly stays the same he becomes boring.

This is why New 52 Batman & Robin is so good, Bruce was basically happy and you can imagine him stopping all of the shenanigans and being a father to his son(s).
He used to be pretty laid back and at peace with himself and his life before Frank Miller, when he was younger.
I miss that dude. He was so much better than what we've got now.