Bart drives the Batmobile in Teen Titans #9

[sun_soraya]

jelly_ace asked for "more Tim or more Kon or more of them both together", and if possible more funny than wangsty. I looked through the tags and noticed that Teen Titans #9 hasn't been posted yet, so I bring you:

- Bart driving the batmobile (TT #9)
- its equivalent, Bart flying the batplane (TT #50)
- one "Young Justice page" written by Todd Dezago (TT #50)





Teen Titans #9:







I love the batarang budget.






Teen Titans #50:














A~and this one:

Comments

[hatman]

lol! This is great! Thanks for sharing! :)

The "batarang budget" came up during War Games (*shudder*), too. Bruce tells Tim that batarangs are actually their number one operating expense, so he started making them with integrated circuitry that acted as a homing beacon. (Though there's no explanation of how that beacon is powered - range is far too great for a passive RF tag. And I don't think that capability has been used before or since. A shame, since you'd think it'd be almost as handy as Spider-tracers. Also no explanation of why bits of cast metal, even in quantity are more expensive than, say, Batmobile fuel or grapple gun charges or costume/armor repairs or all those electronics or...)

Anyway... They spent the day collecting old batarangs, with Bruce remembering the precise circumstances of each one (how and why it ended up in that car, whose car it was, etc).

... All of which turned out to be an excuse to get them to meet up with Huntress (who had one batarang as a souvenir of their last team-up) just in the nick of time to save her life and get a plot point as a reward.

Curious to know why Starfire and Cyborg are still listed among the Titans roster when Tim is Robin (which means Dick long since "graduated"). Is it just because they're founding members? Were they still playing an active role? And were they somehow still considered "teens" even though they should be comfortably into their twenties?

[sun_soraya]

Starfire and Cyborg were active members around that time and wanted to help/train the newer kids and act like kinda mentors. The starting roster from Geoff John's run was: Tim, Kon, Bart and Cass + Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy. After a few issues Raven was also added.

I've been avoiding War Games so far...

[hatman]

Ah, thanks. Makes sense, I guess.

Good call. Seriously.

[icon_uk]

The cost of a batarang (along with a lot of other equipment) is mentioned in Robin #100 when Tim ponders the costs of a vigilante life. I imagine the cost is so high because A) They go through them like a scythe through a field of wheat, B) The secrecy required in having them made and C) They have to be absolutely precisely balanced, shaped and finished, a duff batch of batarangs would most likely lead to either dead or incapacitated batclan members, so the tolerance testing is probably exorbitant.

[hatman]

The War Games ish showed Bruce making them himself in the cave. He had a machine that poured molten metal into a mold. Die casting, essentially. Except that he'd somehow rigged the machine to embed the homing circuitry at the same time. Of course, you have a point that there'd be further work to be done after that - the edges would have to be smoothed and sharpened, and yeah, possibly some testing. I wonder if that's part of Alfred's duties.

In any case, if they're made in-house (or in-cave), you don't have to worry about secrecy and paying for the testing. Cost to make would be the raw metal (probably not that much), energy to melt it (expensive, but they've also got a lot of other power-sucking equipment down there), maintenance on the equipment, and, of course, the time invested (which is time not spent actively fighting crime, living a non-costumed life, sleeping, or working on anything else).

It does add up, no question. I'm just not sure that I see it as being more expensive than, say, the Batmobile. It probably takes some kind of jet fuel or something more expensive than what you'd find at the gas station down the street, for one thing. Then there's maintenance. Custom parts, also built to tight tolerance. High wear and tear just from the way it's driven, never mind the damage it takes on a regular basis.

Then there are the various jets - the Batplane/Batwing, the cargo jets, etc. Also not cheap, though not used as frequently. And let's not forget the satellites. Though I guess the one-time expense of putting them up there doesn't count as an "operating cost." And, like I mentioned, the other equipment (custom body armor, made in absolute secrecy with all sorts of built-in gizmos) which also have a high rate of replacement. I dunno. Still doesn't seem like batarangs should top the list.

[arilou_skiff]

Might also be a fiscal definition: It's quite possible electronics et. al. simply aren't a part of the same budget.

[thandrak]

I can't stop looking at Bart's boots in that first picture. Those batwings would be hell to run in.

[joasakura]

I know! wouldn't the constant flapping against your opposite leg chafe really badly?

[jelly_ace]

I think the YJ one was posted already, although I don't know on which SD. In any case, thank you! I've been feeling shitty these last few days, and your posts helped me perk right up!

It's funny and nice that Tim lets his friend play with Batman's toys. And I like it that he's like Eric Foreman: procurer of teen transport. And that makes Bats Red! Hahaha

And whoever thought letting a speedster taking the handle of a vehicle is a good idea is seriously misguided. Oh, Tim...

[long_silence]

So Bart is like Kelso? Well that explains a lot.

[silverzeo]

No, Kon is more like Kelso, I would say Bart is more like Fez without the accent.

[long_silence]

Does that make Cassie their Jackie?

[birdofprey]

Jackie would out-bitch Cassie without even trying and still be more likeable.

[silverzeo]

No, Cassie is Donna, as she is the only one with a good head on her. Secret is more like Jackie, as she is a bit oblivious to nearly everything.

[jarodrussell]

No. If we're going to compare Bart to sitcom characters, I'd say he's (personality-wise) more like Sheldon from Big Bang Theory. He does stuff that makes sense to him, without realizing what it means to others. It's not that he's stupid, not by a long shot, he's just not like everyone else.

[icon_uk]

Bart is lacking in Sheldon's arrogance though, and Sheldon's arrogance is the size of at least a minor planet. Bart learns from his experiences, Sheldon has given up caring, so doesn't even try.

[jarodrussell]

Okay, this is true. Bart lacks the self-awareness to be arrogance. I still think Sheldon is a better fit than Kelso, though. As I recall, Kelso (Aston Kutcher, right?) was more than a little self-aggrandizing.

[sun_soraya]

Nice to know that I could lift your mood a bit. :)

Tim and Eric Foreman? Cool comparison. xD

And whoever thought letting a speedster taking the handle of a vehicle is a good idea is seriously misguided. Oh, Tim...

I already feel sorry for Bart's future driving instructor.

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[silverzeo]

Really wish those Titan Bart moments to be done by Todd Nauck.

"Really? I've been calling him Dirk for months..."

[retro_nouveau]

Nice!

So to drive a Batmobile, all you have to do is bend over a couple of times for Tim. XD Steph never gets to drive 'cause she's been asking the wrong guy and doin' it wrong...

Poor Gar is an "old guy". XD

[jelly_ace]

I would gladly bend over a couple of times for Tim. Even without the Batmobile.

But maybe it's better in it?

[suki_blue]

Busssted

LOL!

[schala_kid]

I can just imagine Bart calling Superman Dirk all the time, and Clark being confused about it but being too nice to question him and just assuming it's some kind of game Bart is playing.

I wish this team would come back, and the way things are going I think it won't take long (now they just need a good writer to be in their comic).

[cloud_wolf]

Young Justice looks like so much fun. Somebody please explain why only the first few issues seem to be out in trades? :(

[lynxara]

Two factors behind this, I think.

YJ finished up shortly before the Teen Titans cartoon prompted a big Titans relaunch. YJ is hugely different in tone and I get the feeling DC didn't want to promote the property at the time.

Then-Editor in Chief Dan Didio has a fairly established reputation if disliking "comedy superhero" books like YJ and the Giffen-DeMatteis Justice League. So, under his tenure, these properties just weren't a priority.

Didio's executive role at DC has been shifted to more of a day-to-day one, so I wonder if his tastes are officially going to Not Matter to what DC does with its collections going forward. This sounds plausible given the Young Justice cartoon supposedly in the works.

[cloud_wolf]

That makes sense. *prays for a successful YJ cartoon*

[shadowpsykie]

so what happened to Tim after Beast boy hit the Blue Button?

Robin? why is one of my batmobiles in San Francisco? And why are all systems off line?

best line ever!

[pepperspray101]

omigod, I miss these! I really hope DC does go through and makes the Young Justice animated feature...I wanna see Kon and Tim and Bart animated!

[ravenous_raven]

I just love Cassie, Bart, and Tim's expressions after the initial "Robin?" Bart seems to be thinking, "Ooooh," Cassie seems to be covering a horrified expletive, and Tim seems to be thinking, "Oh no, nonononono..."

[irrelevant]

I hid it in the batarang budget.

Oh Timmy. Also, massive dorkage all around. Hee! I'd forgotten these; thanks for the reminder and the pick me up.

[endless_aegis]

The 'robot duplicates' panel is hilarious. Especially the "Hmm, something's not quite right..." look on Bart's face.

[freddylloyd]

When Bart says, "I've driven before," I believe he's referring to a moment early in the Impulse run, collected in Impulse: Reckless Youth.

Of course, he drove off a cliff.