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  1. #1
    Amazing Member Thom1's Avatar
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    Default Anyone miss the smaller scale crime stories?

    I am a fan of the Snyder/Capullo run, but with the announcement of Metal it just seems like the scale is getting bigger and bigger to the point that it almost seems like a throwback to the 50's sci-fi Batbooks. Big "dinosaurs and lasers" stories seem like they would fit Superman, the Flash and even Shazam better, but I feel like they are getting retrofitted onto Batman because the character has been such a sure seller in the last few years.

    In some ways, Brubaker and Rucka had gotten the scale down so small in the early 2000s to the point where Batman himself had been kept on the periphery (in Gotham Central). Morrison blew up the scale again, and I feel like it's just kept growing from there till now. It's especially annoying when there are three main bat books, and a story where Bane breaks into the Batcave and defeats all of villains in Arkham Asylum feels relatively small. Nerd culture in general has also generally equated "more, louder, brighter, bigger" with "better" in the last few years.

    Do you guys miss the smaller stories? Do you think they're ever coming back?
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  2. #2
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    I think it's kind of an issue with comics in general these days that they're always kind of stuck in that "go big or go home" mindset, particularly with flagship titles, with very little room for smaller scale stories or for exploration of the more emotional and out-of-costume sides of the heroes.

    I know that arc didn't have many fans, but I really appreciated how the Bludhaven arc in Nightwing set about re-establishing Dick with more of a life of his own and having him deal with something relatively more smaller-scale then the globe-hopping adventures of Grayson or with Raptor.

    I'm probably one of the few people who wouldn't mind some more street-level Batman stories that featured some exploration of Bruce Wayne's life outside of being Batman, which we hardly ever see anymore.

  3. #3
    Fantastic Member geomon's Avatar
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    Oh god yes. Just a nice single issue story every now and then, no supervillains, no aliens, no Justice League stuff. Just Batman handing out bat beatings.

  4. #4
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    I'd like to see all of the Bat Family get more basic, single issue, street level stories that are about their characters,and not just saving all of Gotham.

  5. #5
    Amazing Member Thom1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frontier View Post
    I think it's kind of an issue with comics in general these days that they're always kind of stuck in that "go big or go home" mindset, particularly with flagship titles, with very little room for smaller scale stories or for exploration of the more emotional and out-of-costume sides of the heroes.

    I know that arc didn't have many fans, but I really appreciated how the Bludhaven arc in Nightwing set about re-establishing Dick with more of a life of his own and having him deal with something relatively more smaller-scale then the globe-hopping adventures of Grayson or with Raptor.

    I'm probably one of the few people who wouldn't mind some more street-level Batman stories that featured some exploration of Bruce Wayne's life outside of being Batman, which we hardly ever see anymore.
    Yes! I have never read Nightwing before in my life but am really enjoying it these days. In a weird way it's almost Nightwing that's the true heir to the more humane, centered 70's era Batman.
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  6. #6
    I am a diamond, Ms. Pryde millernumber1's Avatar
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    Victim Syndicate was pretty small scale.
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by millernumber1 View Post
    Victim Syndicate was pretty small scale.
    At the same time though, it was still dealing with Metas, and we got maybe 2 or 3 pages worth of civilian stuff, if that. I don't remember exactly.

  8. #8
    Extraordinary Member Caivu's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by unclepulky View Post
    At the same time though, it was still dealing with Metas, and we got maybe 2 or 3 pages worth of civilian stuff, if that. I don't remember exactly.
    I think the point there is they weren't doing a "we're going to destroy/take over Gotham" thing. Powers or not should be irrelevant.
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  9. #9
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    I think Victim Syndicate was smaller scale compared to some of the bigger Batman stories or events and by the standards of a team book, particularly in terms of the physical threat if not the emotional one, but I think it was still far from a small street-crime issue or a smaller and more involved detective story.

  10. #10
    Extraordinary Member Caivu's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frontier View Post
    I think Victim Syndicate was smaller scale compared to some of the bigger Batman stories or events and by the standards of a team book, particularly in terms of the physical threat if not the emotional one, but I think it was still far from a small street-crime issue or a smaller and more involved detective story.
    I'm confused. Why isn't it? It's not like you can go much smaller.
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  11. #11
    Mighty Member Lady Nightwing's Avatar
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    I do. I'd love Batman to take on something like the mob or a serial killer and act like a detective for a bit. It's not just the scale of the stories, it's the ridiculous gadgets and/or computer programs.

  12. #12
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Caivu View Post
    I'm confused. Why isn't it? It's not like you can go much smaller.
    Well, the 'Tec team could've been stopping a drug shipment or one of Two-Face or Penguin's gun-running operations. That would've been pretty small-scale .

    But I think inherently in a team book there's a different standard of smaller scale compared to a solo book.

  13. #13
    Not a Newbie Member JBatmanFan05's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frontier View Post
    small street-crime issue or a smaller and more involved detective story.
    Yea, I think the OP wants more smaller detectivey stories like Batman Confidential #49 from 2010 by James Patrick, a real modern hidden gem of a great Batman comic one shot. It was a procedural-focused issue of Batman deducing a killer of parents of a child who appeared to be kidnapped.

    I think it's hard to get these kinds of small scale stories on the bigger titles. And writers like the costumed rogues and comicky stuff in Batman, so it might be hard to hit on that writer who has less of those interests or who wants to put those aside.
    Last edited by JBatmanFan05; 06-30-2021 at 10:04 AM.
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  14. #14
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    I stopped reading Batman stuff because of this. I don't want everything to be "THE BIGGEST THING WE'VE EVER DONE" - my favorite Snyder story is Black Mirror. He really set this kind of stuff in motion in his run with Capullo. Joker by Azzarello is a favorite where it's really small-scale. It can be done and done well.

    Like DKR was huge and operatic, and it's not that 'big' of a plot compared to this stuff.

  15. #15
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JBatmanFan05 View Post
    Yea, I think the OP wants more smaller detectivey stories like Batman Confidential #49 from 2010 by James Patrick, a real modern hidden gem of a great Batman comic one shot. It was a procedural-focused issue of Batman deducing a killer of parents of a child who appeared to be kidnapped.

    I think it's hard to get these kinds to small scale stories on the bigger titles. And writers like the costumed rogues and comicky stuff in Batman, so it might be hard to hit on that writer who has less of those interests or who wants to put those aside.
    Or like a lot of the one-in-done stories from Dini's 'Tec run or Brubaker's Batman run.

    And reading some classic Conway/Moench/Wein Batman stuff, it kind of amazes me how much more of Bruce Wayne we see compared to now, and his relationships and life outside of being Batman. I know we see less of that because more writers subscribe to the ideology of public "Bruce Wayne" being a mask, so it doesn't need much focus, but it's still interesting.

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