Is Batman a Bad Father in Rebirth?

[MyLittleXero]

It's hard to say no when these panels happened.







I'm a bit bothered by how different the father-son situation in Teen Titans and Super Sons. Yet I enjoy those books quite the same. Damian has been feeling lonely since R:SOB and if the comic editorial (excluding Super Sons and Deathstroke) decided to set Bruce and Damian (and the rest of his family) apart, at least he still has his friends and teammates. He's not alone.

It's not really fair to use those panels since this was at a time where Bruce had no memory of his life as Batman and therefore Damian.
But yeah in Rebirth he hasn't been the best father to say the least.
It's strange that Superman having a son is one of the most advertised things of Rebirth, Jon has been in nearly every book Superman has made an appearance so far but Batman having a son? They try and keep the kid as far from him as they can.

[fanfan13]

^yeah I'm aware it's not considering Bruce was with no memories. But to me it was kind of the start. Things have not improved that much since then. Damian still feels lonely sometimes (Teen Titans and, in a way, Super Sons) and even he decided to lived away from the manor (Teen Titans and I know he did for a different reason but still).

From someone who was afraid he would be thrown out of the manor to one who insisted to live far away... an improvement?

The contrast with Superman is so obvious. Probably because they need to emphasize the current Superman's status as a family man.

[The Whovian]

Bruce has always been a bad father. Yeah he undoubtedly cares about his sons, adopted or otherwise, but we all know Bruce is paranoid as hell. And his other mental issues are at the very least somewhat serious. He's a pretty good mentor to his sons but he's not taking home a Father of the Year award anytime soon.

So no, he hasn't been a good father during Rebirth. But it's a feature, not a flaw.

This is not true. I would recommend reading Tomasi's B&R

[oasis1313]

I'd say Dick has been a much better "father" to Damian, but then again, Dick is far more emotionally stable than Bruce. Maybe Bruce has some hang-up about being a biological father (think it'll jinx him and he'll get shot in Crime Alley, who knows?) and feels more comfortable raising orphans like himself.

[Tzigone]

Been reading a lot of older material recently. Bruce was a stellar parent for Dick right up until he dropped out of college in the '80s. Minus the endangering bit.

I know. I miss this Bruce. He had flaws, of course. The bronze age was a good time for him having those and still being good. As was said, Crisis made him terrible (Dick's leaving and Jason's entrance both made Bruce look very bad). Seemed like we might have a resurgence of pre-Crisis Bruce-dad in the mid-nineties (imo, in some of the early Robin issues), but it was not to be.

I miss the days where Bruce showed mostly good parenting, and where he respected and trusted his allies, too. And where he actually got along with people.
Loved this bit even if it was a less-serious story (though more serious than most of that title).
proud.jpg

[dietrich]

This is not true. I would recommend reading Tomasi's B&R

You mean the series where he takes one son to the place where he died so he can remember his death and give bruce pointers on how to bring back his youngest son? He was a bad father in some of that as well. i cut him some slack for being in mourning and not thinking straight but that was a horrible thing to do.

Bruce under Tynion wasn't really a great father using Tim and all that but he wasn't too bad.

Under King he doesn't even qualify as a father not to mention being a bad one.

Under Tomasi he is a good father

Under Priest he is a good father

Under Synder he is a good father

Under Jurgens, Seeley, Williamson and Taylor he is a good father

under Lobdell he's an abusive and manipulative father.

It depends on who's writing him.

[dietrich]

I know. I miss this Bruce. He had flaws, of course. The bronze age was a good time for him having those and still being good. As was said, Crisis made him terrible (Dick's leaving and Jason's entrance both made Bruce look very bad). Seemed like we might have a resurgence of pre-Crisis Bruce-dad in the mid-nineties (imo, in some of the early Robin issues), but it was not to be.

I miss the days where Bruce showed mostly good parenting, and where he respected and trusted his allies, too. And where he actually got along with people.
Loved this bit even if it was a less-serious story (though more serious than most of that title).
proud.jpg

These were the days when he punched Dick's tooth out rather than take him to the Dentist.

[Jackalope89]

In Super Sons, and part way through Batman, he's a decent father.

Outside of that and going forward...





Not being there for Damian's birthday as well.

It took Tomasi, a Super Sons writer and Robin Son of Batman writer, to bring it back to Detective Comics.

[Arsenal]

How good of a father Bruce is greatly varies depending on which child he’s interacting with. He does good with some, bad with other and makes horrible mistakes with all of them.

[Godlike13]

In Super Sons, and part way through Batman, he's a decent father.

Outside of that and going forward...





Not being there for Damian's birthday as well.

It took Tomasi, a Super Sons writer and Robin Son of Batman writer, to bring it back to Detective Comics.

Pfft, deserved it...

[Restingvoice]

Depend on the writer.
King trained Duke, freeze all of them so they don't die from Bane, broken-punch Tim. I am actually more inclined to be okay with punching Tim than ignoring Damian since he's going insane at the time. I'm just bored because it's been done before as a dramatic point in the narrative.
Tynion's good. Attentive to the kids.
Seeley's good all around.
Tomasi's good on Damian.
Teen Titans forget Damian's birthday. Don't think he ever apologized.
Snyder's good. Damian is Bruce's reason to survive.
Priest... I think is okay? I don't remember. My problem with him is more about Talia.
Lobdell... I don't get that part, because Bruce was pretty on point early on. Then an issue or two after he bet up Jason, he informed Jason about Roy and they hugged. Never apologized as usual. I'm just gonna chalk those issues as bad writing.

I say it's been more good than bad, but it's so dependant on the event and writers, with each writer is in charge of different characters.

With a lot of characters having a title, I already don't expect other writers who are not in charge of those characters to even write those characters. That seems how DC works since New 52, so I don't really mind the cases that other fans may feel as neglect.

That said, some characters don't appear in places where they should make sense despite whoever's in charge like Damian should be running around in Wayne Manor whenever it appears, so sometimes it feels like neglect.

The stand out love scenes are between Bruce and Dick in Nightwing vs Raptor, Bruce, and Tim in Detective Comics when he died and then return, and Jason's backstory.

Maybe I shouldn't say love scene... heartfelt scene. That's it.

The stand out hate or neglectful scenes are Bruce and Jason when Red Hood became singular Outlaw, him forgetting Damian's birthday, and him punching Tim during his insanity.

So kinda 50-50 I guess.

[lucius121]

I would say considering how he became a father, he’s doing the best he can. Damien isn’t a child he has known since he was baby, expecting Bruce to suddenly take to fatherhood is a big ask.

Damien isn’t the child of a loving relationship or even a happy accident, he’s the product of the scheme by one of Bruce’s rogues. So I think calling him a bad father is a tad harsh.

The situation with his adopted children and wards is frankly messed up.

[Tzigone]

So kinda 50-50 I guess.

Makes me think of this. It's basically an article on employee management saying 6 pieces of positive feedback to 1 piece of negative is a good ratio. While I'm certainly not going to pin it to a number, myself, I do think it takes a significant number of good acts to outweigh one bad one. It certainly applies to me as a reader, anyway.

[Sergard]

under Lobdell he's an abusive and manipulative father.

Can you maybe elaborate "abusive and manipulative" a little bit more? Are we only talking about the big fight between Jason and Bruce in RHatO #25?

Because RHatO actually has some really nice moments with good dad Bruce.

[dietrich]

I would say considering how he became a father, he’s doing the best he can. Damien isn’t a child he has known since he was baby, expecting Bruce to suddenly take to fatherhood is a big ask.

Damien isn’t the child of a loving relationship or even a happy accident, he’s the product of the scheme by one of Bruce’s rogues. So I think calling him a bad father is a tad harsh.

The situation with his adopted children and wards is frankly messed up.

Damian was a child of a happy accident. According to Bruce in Robin Rises he fell in love and followed his heart.

Also Bruce has 3 children. Adoptive parents are still parents what Jason who he recently abused?

Foster parents are still legal guardians. What about Tim Drake who he punched? Bruce has been a father since Dick Grayson. Dick is a grown arse man. If Bruce hasn't taken to fatherhood yet when will he? When he's old and on his death bed?