The TV shows are much easier to get into than the comics. Spurious is all I want to be.
I miss the days when Batman could get beaten up by a random criminal. There was a time when Bat-creators were trying to emulate what Will Eisner did with the Spirit. Of course, one can argue that Bruce must be superior to Denny because the Batman trained at his job, while the Spirit just seemed to stumble his way through life and death. But it was fun to see Spirit, his suit in tatters, getting a beating--sadistic as that may sound.
I can't get into the TV shows. The costumes are so bad it's just so distracting to me.
I'd be fine if DC only released titles featuring characters from the Batman franchise (Even though I am not a Batman fan myself.), as long as most of them were exceptionally good.
2 reasons why the TV shows are hard to stomach sometimes
Feelings, nothing more than feelings
Hidden political messages
Honestly, that's how I feel about Grell's run and Longbow Hunters.
Which 'classic' version? Green Arrow is one of those characters that every writer who touches completely changes the character. Personally I met the character when he was teaming up with Green Lantern and consider that the 'true' GA... but even I'll admit he'd had a few solid incarnations before that and it was pretty much a reboot....
That's why I can watch Arrow and take it with a grain of salt. He's kind of a cross between Grell's hunter and the original batman clone... which is legit I guess. Honestly, my biggest problem is that they change his personality every season. Will he kill, won't he, maybe just the Big Bad... maybe if he's in a bad mood... but no he's full of hope now... It's dramatically inconsistent.
YES, YES YES!!!!
First off all. I agree completely. My point was that ever since the Bat-god era that started in the 90's... or actually, I think I'd trace it back to Tim Burton's '89 version (more on that). People seem to hate the idea of Batman 'not having planned for that...'. He's super bat god who's the best at every possible field and pre planned everything and it bores me to tears. The same people who praise BTAS tend ot be the first ones that complain when something doesn't immediately get solved by his bat-powers.
Second, I absolutely LOVE 'untold Legends of the Batman' and consider it the one true origin for Batman. Everything about it just flowed so amazingly and felt 'realistic' as opposed to 'wandered Tibet and learned every fighting style ever and somewhere learned to build jet engines and teleportation devices... It was very based on the fact that he STUDIED... and he studied what he would need to know. Criminal psychology, chemistry, criminology... realistic things.
Back to Burton,
I read an article with Bob Kane who talked about how Batman was supposed to be the OPPOSITE of Superman. Superman had all the powers and was alien... Batman was mortal. He was human. If you stab him, he bleeds. if you Shoot him, he could die. Tim Burton's movie is the first time I ever remember seeing Batman take a bullet to the chest and get up and keep fighting. It really pushed the idea of Armor and downplayed the mortality of being Batman. I HATE the armor. My Bruce Wayne didn't need a team of sidekicks to get into his hard rubber costume. He wore it under his tux and/or kept it folded in a briefcase. The skills were in the man not the suit.
I loved that panel of Robin helping a bleeding Bruce up the stairs calling for Alfred to help him.
Green Lantern's too weak now. I remember when the ring was one of if not the most powerful weapon in the universe. It could do anything so long as the user had the willpower, knowledge, and imagination to do it. Now it's like all they can do is constructs and if you're not a human or someone like Kilowog you become cannon fodder.