I've noticed that there's a clear discrepancy on how the old generation of writers, the likes of Grant Morrison, Jeph Loeb, Peter Tomasi and such write the character, compared to the ones like Tom King, Tynion and such are currently doing so. They seem to dislike Bruce, and take more of a liking to Dick Grayson, Cassandra Cain and the rest of the family.
Case in point, the recent Shiva scene. You'd never see Shiva completely humiliating Bruce like she did written by Tynion under Grant Morrison, who had Bruce at the apex of skill.
Jeph Loeb had them fight, and Bruce winning, in Batman/Superman.
http://s289.photobucket.com/user/dar...hiva1.jpg.html
http://s289.photobucket.com/user/dar...hiva2.jpg.html
http://s289.photobucket.com/user/dar...hiva3.jpg.html
They fought before in Death in the Family, and it was a stalemate in skill. Tynion not only had her destroy him, but he also retconned the other fights quite disrespectfully.
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...va-family6.jpg
Not only that, but they're pushing Cassandra as by far better than Bruce.
They're pushing Bronze Tiger as having an edge on Bruce, based on their scuffle under Tom King.
They're even pushing Dick Grayson as being better in a fight.
Bruce's fighting skill, for somebody who's known for his obsession of being the best is becoming...mundane. No longer is he the one held in high regard, the one who puts up a fight against Karate Kid (!)
http://s289.photobucket.com/user/dar...ekid1.jpg.html
http://s289.photobucket.com/user/dar...ekid2.jpg.html
the one who Shiva has heart myths of as the best fighter in the world.
Do you think the obvious downgrade is due to the writers growing up to hate Bruce being the best?