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Post by Cei-U! on Aug 7, 2024 20:38:42 GMT -5
I don't mind Batman having globetrotting adventures when they're one-offs—it's Ra's being a constant presence that bugs me (especially when 99% of writers won't let Batman even catch him at the end of an arc; it makes the Joker-Arkham combo look downright consequential). Combined with the fact that his entire deal makes Bruce's secret ID pointless, you have to wonder what difference it would make if the heroes of these stories was, say, Richard Dragon or King Faraday. Believe it or not, the one time he truly, genuinely worked for me on a "this story was brilliant and unforgettable and couldn't have worked with any other villain" level was his appearance in Batman Beyond: as a haunting reminder of what happens to Great Men like Bruce when they start thinking their own accomplishments—past, present and future—are all that matter. Unless you are doing a period piece, modern tech like facial recognition software, voice analyzers, and tracking of expenditures and money trails he would leave, Batman's identity has become pointless regardless of whether one or several villains know it. It's a relic of bygone days, not because of Ras but because the world we live in and the way it works has evolved. There's ways to try to maintain anonymity that could work, but not with either or both Bruce Wayne and Batman being public figures. -M Yep. That's why if I were writing Batman, I'd set the series in the late '30s.
Cei-U! I summon the caped-and-cowled anachronism!
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Aug 7, 2024 20:48:50 GMT -5
Unless you are doing a period piece, modern tech like facial recognition software, voice analyzers, and tracking of expenditures and money trails he would leave, Batman's identity has become pointless regardless of whether one or several villains know it. It's a relic of bygone days, not because of Ras but because the world we live in and the way it works has evolved. There's ways to try to maintain anonymity that could work, but not with either or both Bruce Wayne and Batman being public figures. -M Yep. That's why if I were writing Batman, I'd set the series in the late '30s. Cei-U! I summon the caped-and-cowled anachronism!
If you are inclined, you should check out the recent First Knight by Dan Jurgens and Mike Perkins in the oversized Black Label format. It's a 3 issue series that does just that, pretty much building off of Tec 27 and nothing else in the mythos that came afterwards (the new Caped Crusader animated seems to be doing something similar as well but I have only seen the first episode so far). -M edit to add covers for First Knight and the "pulp" variant for #1
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Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 7, 2024 21:51:38 GMT -5
I really enjoyed First Knight.. kinda hoping there's a Second Knight
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Post by tarkintino on Aug 7, 2024 22:09:48 GMT -5
Yep. That's why if I were writing Batman, I'd set the series in the late '30s. Cei-U! I summon the caped-and-cowled anachronism!
If you are inclined, you should check out the recent First Knight by Dan Jurgens and Mike Perkins in the oversized Black Label format. It's a 3 issue series that does just that, pretty much building off of Tec 27 and nothing else in the mythos that came afterwards (the new Caped Crusader animated seems to be doing something similar as well but I have only seen the first episode so far). -M edit to add covers for First Knight and the "pulp" variant for #1 On appearance alone, it looks very intriguing, but the premise has me really interested in reading this series.
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Post by silverdollar22 on Aug 8, 2024 0:17:40 GMT -5
Hmm, I think I'm the polar opposite. The Ra's stories are among my favorite Batman tales and I'd rather read 100 Ra's stories than another Joker story. -M What he said. Ra's is my favorite Bat-foe after The Scarecrow (and both were terribly misused in Batman Begins).
Cei-U! I summon the Demon's Head!
Ah, well. Since I'm making enemies anyhow... Scarecrow tends to be another of my major disappointments with Batman's rogues gallery, though I can name a much healthier bunch of genuinely entertaining stories to his name. Basically, I think Crane is the one rogue that inarguably works better as a goofy Silver Age throwback based around a Halloween-hayride idea of fear; the more writers try to play him as a source of actual horror and psychodrama, the more they reveal that they can't actually think of anything interesting to say about fear, just endless iterations of "Gasp shock! Batman doesn't like thinking about his dead parents!"
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Post by Cei-U! on Aug 8, 2024 1:52:41 GMT -5
What he said. Ra's is my favorite Bat-foe after The Scarecrow (and both were terribly misused in Batman Begins).
Cei-U! I summon the Demon's Head!
Ah, well. Since I'm making enemies anyhow... Scarecrow tends to be another of my major disappointments with Batman's rogues gallery, though I can name a much healthier bunch of genuinely entertaining stories to his name. Basically, I think Crane is the one rogue that inarguably works better as a goofy Silver Age throwback based around a Halloween-hayride idea of fear; the more writers try to play him as a source of actual horror and psychodrama, the more they reveal that they can't actually think of anything interesting to say about fear, just endless iterations of "Gasp shock! Batman doesn't like thinking about his dead parents!" No worries, silver, you aren't making enemies. What makes CCF a great place is that we can express wildly varying opinions from each other and still remain friends (well, unless you think Stan Lee thought up the Marvel Universe all by himself, them watch out!!!).
Just kidding. I think.
Cei-U! I summon the welcome wagon!
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Post by Icctrombone on Aug 8, 2024 7:07:20 GMT -5
Is it true DC is renaming their company Batman comics ?
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Post by tartanphantom on Aug 8, 2024 7:45:07 GMT -5
Is it true DC is renaming their company Batman comics ?
They won't be naming it anything if Warner/Discovery doesn't stop the bleeding overall. They just announced that the TV division is taking a Write-down (loss in book value) of over $9 billion. Sure it's a "paper loss", or a "re-assessment" of corporate valuation, but it will send the stock price tumbling in an already gloomy market. On top of that, the corporation as a whole hasn't been profitable since 2021, sustaining over 7 billion in losses for 2022 and almost 2 billion for 2023.
Warner doesn't have the luxury of being propped up by AT&T any longer. I'm sure that DC as a company are such a minuscule part of the equation that the actual printed comics aren't much more than an afterthought these days. They can call it whatever they want, but at the present, it's not much more than a basic IP Farm for the corporation, much like Marvel is to Disney.
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Post by kirby101 on Aug 8, 2024 8:21:20 GMT -5
Yeah, the guy who produced House Hunters and Gold Rush Alaska, had no skill to run the WB entertainment empire. The question now is sold whole or broken up?
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Post by tonebone on Aug 8, 2024 8:29:39 GMT -5
Here's a storyline idea to tidy all that up: Ra's Al Ghul was the Joker all along! Hey, it worked for Gaiman with Alfred... Did it tho?
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Post by Icctrombone on Aug 8, 2024 9:02:36 GMT -5
Yeah, the guy who produced House Hunters and Gold Rush Alaska, had no skill to run the WB entertainment empire. The question now is sold whole or broken up? There has been rumors for a while that they would lease their characters out to other companies.
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Post by supercat on Aug 8, 2024 9:03:20 GMT -5
Here's a storyline idea to tidy all that up: Ra's Al Ghul was the Joker all along! Hey, it worked for Gaiman with Alfred... Did it tho? I wouldn't make it canon, but I thought it was clever as heck. Not even just the basic "shock value" of the concept, but the idea that Alfred's purpose was to give "Sherlock Holmes" (Bruce), a "Professor Moriarty" (Joker). Though the visual of Alfred's "transformation" was pretty cool to me as well!
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 8, 2024 11:45:20 GMT -5
I'm confused; I thought it was Agatha all along?
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Post by tonebone on Aug 8, 2024 15:09:54 GMT -5
I wouldn't make it canon, but I thought it was clever as heck. Not even just the basic "shock value" of the concept, but the idea that Alfred's purpose was to give "Sherlock Holmes" (Bruce), a "Professor Moriarty" (Joker). Though the visual of Alfred's "transformation" was pretty cool to me as well! Sorry... I should have included this with my original response... Did it tho?
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Post by commond on Aug 11, 2024 16:20:30 GMT -5
What is with all of these characters standing around watching Atomic Bomb explosions in early Marvel books? Yeah, it was a good thing that they dropped a bomb on the volcano where the aliens were waiting to invade Earth, but you might wanna avoid that fallout. And now Johnny Storm is living in an apartment lined with asbestos.
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