Time for Batman to have a powered sidekick?

[JackDaw]

Love Daredevil. But a large part of me always thinks with his power set he was cast in wrong role by Marvel. With his heightened senses he’s practically a walking lie detector.

Together with his legal training...he should have become a private investigator, and given Batman a run for his money as “world’s best detective”.

That got me thinking. Is Batman prejudiced against metas? Why has he never seen advantage of training some one with an appropriate power set?

Any views? What are the pros and cons of the great man taking on a powered apprentice?

[jb681131]

Love Daredevil. But a large part of me always thinks with his power set he was cast in wrong role by Marvel. With his heightened senses he’s practically a walking lie detector.

Together with his legal training...he should have become a private investigator, and given Batman a run for his money as “world’s best detective”.

That got me thinking. Is Batman prejudiced against metas? Why has he never seen advantage of training some one with an appropriate power set?

Any views? What are the pros and cons of the great man taking on a powered apprentice?

He would never to that.
He might respect the othe members of the Justice League, but he really fears the meta-humans. I don't know if you've read JLA: Tower of Babel.
All have once been "evil" for various causes. So having them even stronger is not in his whishes at all.

[Korath]

Well, in the mini-series Batman and the Signal, Batman has a meta-apprentice/allies with incredible power for detective stuff in Duke Thomas. Currently, his powers have been shifted toward something fundamentally different in BatO but we can still hope he'll reverse back to his light powers.

And whether or not anyone wish to use Gotham-Girl in the future (please, don't. If Harper Row had to be shelved for the very little things she did, Gotham-Girl should also be left alone and forgotten forever) he have a second as strong or stronger than Superman himself.

[Gotham citizen]

[…]
Is Batman prejudiced against metas?
[…]

Superman is one of Bruce Wayne best friend (if not the best) and Signal is one of Batman's sidekicks in Batman and the Outsiders.

[JackDaw]

Well, in the mini-series Batman and the Signal, Batman has a meta-apprentice/allies with incredible power for detective stuff in Duke Thomas. Currently, his powers have been shifted toward something fundamentally different in BatO but we can still hope he'll reverse back to his light powers.

And whether or not anyone wish to use Gotham-Girl in the future (please, don't. If Harper Row had to be shelved for the very little things she did, Gotham-Girl should also be left alone and forgotten forever) he have a second as strong or stronger than Superman himself.

Lol. Having a good laugh at myself. Read a fair number of Batman stories over the years...but tend to stick to stuff from about 20 to 30 years ago, so never come across Duke.

Just had a quick look at his wiki page...very interesting character. ( Must admit that when I stated thread had it in mind that Cassandra Cain was a “borderline case”).

[JackDaw]

Superman is one of Bruce Wayne best friend (if not the best) and Signal is one of Batman's sidekicks in Batman and the Outsiders.

That was “tongue in cheek” to a large degree I must admit. But what I had in mind was that he might be reluctant to systematically train a meta for a few obvious reasons such as:-

1/ He might be afraid a superbly trained meta who took wrong path in life might become profoundly dangerous.

2/ He might think he couldn’t give the best training.

[Gotham citizen]

3/ Most of the Batman stories are about normal people who fight crazy criminals, not about superpowered people who fight superpowered criminals.

[Godlike13]

Defeats the purpose. It’s not like DC has a short supply of characters with super powers or something.

[JackDaw]

Defeats the purpose. It’s not like DC has a short supply of characters with super powers or something.

But a lot of DC (and Marvel) comics read like Groundhog Day nowadays...we keep reading same story lines. Is there really not appetite to see something a little different??

We’re told it’s a shared universe...and Batman is supposedly fighting crime in a pragmatic way..and that he’s a super resourceful genius.

Why wouldn’t he select the most effective allies for training?

[Swallowtail]

But a lot of DC (and Marvel) comics read like Groundhog Day nowadays...we keep reading same story lines. Is there really not appetite to see something a little different??

We’re told it’s a shared universe...and Batman is supposedly fighting crime in a pragmatic way..and that he’s a super resourceful genius.

Why wouldn’t he select the most effective allies for training?

Is sidekick with superpowers a little different? 90% of the heroes in the DCU have superpowers, and depending on the story Batman already is in command of an entire Justice League.

[Gotham citizen]

But a lot of DC (and Marvel) comics read like Groundhog Day nowadays...we keep reading same story lines. Is there really not appetite to see something a little different??

That is exactly what happened when Batman called the Justice League to defeat Gotham (the man, not the city) when he went mad.

We’re told it’s a shared universe...and Batman is supposedly fighting crime in a pragmatic way..and that he’s a super resourceful genius.

Why wouldn’t he select the most effective allies for training?

Maybe the most effective allies against the Gotham's criminals are the most skilled detectives, not the most powerful metahumans.

[JackDaw]

Maybe the most effective allies against the Gotham's criminals are the most skilled detectives, not the most powerful metahumans.

I’d assume Batman would pick a meta with mental gifts rather than a powerhouse.

I guess we all deep down know what the real issue is: Batman is a wish fulfilment fantasy along the lines of “if an ordinary human trains hard enough he/ she can be as awesome as any supe”.

If one of the Bat apprentices has mental powers and achieves something fantastic...there’s an enormous danger that you’d undermine the total franchise, without really skilled writing. (It’s not a coincidence I think that Duke Thomas’s powerset would be more likely to help him in fights rather than in detective work.)

[babyblob]

I think the way he feels about powerful Metas he may not want to train hem to be better. I know he has worked with and maybe trained some low level metas but i dont see him wanting to beef up people who are as powerful as The Flash, Superman, or Green lantern any more then they are.

But he doesnt need a superpowered side kick. i mean if he really needs Metas he can pretty much manipulate The JLA into doing anything he wants. Ir if all else fails form a new team of Outsiders or something with heroes he can control.

To be honest the way the have written Bruce as Batgod over the years being able to go toe to toe with the Justice League and all that I no long think of him as a normal human with out powers.

I like the older Batman. The one who had flaws and struggled to beat some of his foes.

[JackDaw]

I like the older Batman. The one who had flaws and struggled to beat some of his foes.

Yes. So do I...which is one reason why I read the stories of long ago...rather than keep up to date.

The guy who was brave and resourceful but was “merely” the worlds best detective, sometimes made mistakes, and had friends and allies who liked him, rather than held him in awe.

[babyblob]

Yes. So do I...which is one reason why I read the stories of long ago...rather than keep up to date.

The guy who was brave and resourceful but was “merely” the worlds best detective, sometimes made mistakes, and had friends and allies who liked him, rather than held him in awe.

Yes This. I am reading Golden Age Batman right now and it is a lot of Fun. He has to try harder to beat the bad guys. Use Detective work. And He and Dick have a good relationship. I also enjoy 60s and 70s Batman. I remember one story where Gordon tells BAtman you are working to hard. You are tired and stress. I am ordering you to take a vacation. And Bruce went on One! I loved it.