Entry tags:

char: batman/bruce wayne, char: catwoman/selina kyle, char: huntress/robin/helena wayne, char: jim gordon, in-joke: batcest

So Helena Wayne asks: "What do you give the man who has almost everything?" A very legit question considering Bruce Wayne is very much the 'Prince of Gotham.' An abundance of wealth, a mansion, an expensive penthouse, fancy cars, cool gadgets, lots of dates with sexy women both inside and outside of the Justice League, etc. All in all, the guy has it all very much handed to him on a silver platter. Should the man ever decide to marry (which he did in another lifetime), he'd fall nothing short of having a Royal Wedding of his very own.

But Helena does make one thing of note: he is a man who has almost everything. So now the question becomes "what doesn't he have?" Well family for one, and a reminder that there is still love in the world for two. Possibly *three* if she wasn't already related to him in some weird way, though I'm sure plenty have thought it (the pervs)…

Anyway, in stark contrast with the previous story I posted where Batman spends his holidays playing cat and mouse with a known foe (although there is a little of that too), this story focuses on the most important message of Christmas of all: love and family. Two things Helena Wayne is good at demonstrating to a man who has *almost* everything! ;)



Our story begins with Batman playing Santa Claus to some orphaned children two days before Christmas. Absolute D'awwwww moment here. :)



Then Bats pays a visit to Commissioner Gordon who tells him about the financial records of a local mobster "Spurs" Sanders and reports that he needs those records. He also expresses concerns about not having a job once the new mayor takes, though Batman reassures him he'll be fine.



I dare someone tell me with a straight face there is nothing slashy about those two panels. XP

Anyway, Batman locates his target dressed in a Santa suit and assaults him, but not without uncovering a piece of info that, well…*troubles* him.



At this point, Huntress makes her entrance by coming to Batman's rescue just as the gunman is about to shoot him, but she does notice he's a little troubled by something. Batman takes her back to his penthouse where he tells her about his recent disturbing discovery.



Hmmm…getting a bit too cozy there with your Earth-2 daughter Bruce.

Anyway, Bruce and Helena visit his father--Thomas Wayne's--accountant where he sheds new light on his father's money management. He also introduces Helena as his "cousin" from out of town.



From there, Bruce and Helena follow their new lead as Batman and Huntress, and pay a visit to Spurs Sanders himself, only to be further troubled by the info.



And then it finally happens…the moment we've ALL been waiting for!



Bruce's grief ripples over to Helena as well as she recalls her own pain.



At this point Bruce is in a state of broodiness mopes around town in self-pity. He enters a club and some ladies try to flirt with him, but he's just not in the mood. Meanwhile, Helena is left to protect Earth-1's Gotham all by herself and finds herself rescuing the same gunman from earlier in the story from an assassination attempt.

Seeing that the gunman had a son who almost lost his father, Helena's actions remind Bruce that he didn't just become Batman to avenge his parents' deaths, but also to protect other children from senselessly losing their parents like he did. This inspires Bruce to take a closer look at the recording Spurs Sanders had of his "father."



At this point, Bruce realises from the nervous tapping heard on the tape that the man speaking in his father's voice isn't is father at all, but Amos Randolph (the oldman from earlier in the story) himself posing as his father to launder money to Sanders. Bruce is inspired to become Batman again, which causes Helena to shed tears of joy (she thought she lost her "father" again).

Together Bruce and Helena wrap up the case--Bruce pays one last visit to Mr. Randolph as Batman to confront him about his scam while Helena--as the Huntress--recovers the records from Sanders and delivers them gift-wrapped to Commissioner Gordon.

And then of course, the story wraps up with the most important message of all. ^_^



I gotta say, I really do miss the special dynamic Bruce and Helena had during the Bronze Age. It was one of those things that was sadly not replicated in the Modern Age with writers preferring to write Bruce as a controlling and untrusting asshole who was rather hostile to Helena even when she tried to do things his way. Nevermind the fact that writers drastically changed Helena to be the polar opposite of her pre-Crisis self, but I really didn't find their antagonistic pseudo-father/daughter relationship all that interesting in the previous continuity. :(

I hope this changes in the reboot now that Bruce is a much nicer person than he was pre-FP and Helena's being written a bit more closely to her original incarnation. XP


On a completely unrelated note, The Dark Knight Rises official trailer is finally up and legal! :D

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/thedarkknightrises/