Batman #43 - Bruce Wayne's Current Situation

[informationgeek]

So.. what exactly is going on with Bruce Wayne currently in the Batman comics? I've seen some people ask... so let's fill you in.



Alfred is talking with Superman and explaining what is going on...









What is this machine?!?! ...I don't have pages to show you, but it is related to that short Batman tale, 27, that Snyder did a while back and seems to be an out in case we want to bring Bruce back to being Batman.


Oh and as a bonus, here's a sweet moment.




So, what do you all think?

Comments

[silverhammerman]

I'd like to take a moment to say that I actually really hate the idea of "Batman's Final Invention". The idea of having a machine that can clone Bruce Wayne with all his memories up to the point when he decided to become Batman so that he can fight crime forever really rubs me the wrong way. Bruce Wayne's legacy should be his sidekicks, his partners, and his kids, there's a certain beauty in the idea that he can rest easy knowing that the city is in good hands. Having him clone himself into eternity just makes Bruce Wayne seem weirdly self involved and, frankly, crazy.

[aperturedreams]

That's essentially what Alfred says in the issue too.

[laughing_tree]

Well, hasn't he always been weirdly self-involved?

[espanolbot]

Pretty much, that's why he ends up alone and friendless a lot of the time. He's a man aware of his own importance, which leads him to do selfish, unpleasant things to both himself and other people.

[mrstatham]

This. The entire thing that Snyder has been pushing across this run is that Batman in itself is not an inherently good or healthy decision; from this current stuff to the end of Zero Year where he basically seems to have consigned himself to not having a normal life, the undercurrent seems to be that while, yeah, Batman is cool and gets shit done, his very existence is not a good thing, and neither are the subsequent decisions that blossom from that, which.. Casts the choices made as Batman toward the Family and his other friends in an even sadder, more dubious light, IMO.

[jlbarnett]

I hate stories that suggest things like that, that the main character you're reading about is at best some necessary evil

[mrstatham]

I don't think that's what I meant, but I'd have to say that's accurate. In an ideal world, Batman wouldn't exist. He is a necessary evil - as much as I rag on some elements of the Nolan trilogy, they nailed it that it is not a healthy choice, alongside stuff like Alfred's characterisation of wanting something 'better' for him, even if Bruce is doing a good thing.

[jeremyp]

I think that is why I have lost interest in Batman over time. To me, dressing up to beat up bad guys because of a childhood trauma isn't healthy, and is also a fairly impractical way to make things better.

[mrstatham]

I will be honest and say it's typically the characters *around* Bruce that interest me more, be it some of the Family members or the villains. I do like Snyder's approach to Bruce, though, because he is fairly flawed and wrong about things, whereas with say, Morrison, I just got the feeling that Grant was going 'okay, so things were done wro - HEY LOOK AT THE BATGOD!'

[akodo_rokku]

If Bruce lived in *our* world it'd be impractical. But he lives in a world where people in costumes who fight bad guys are not just a good thing, but a necessity.

I think that's something a lot of people who rag on the idea of Batman miss: the rules of his world are not the same as the rules of ours.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Wait, it's a cloning machine? I thought it'd just rewrite the actual Bruce's brain with the info of the Batman life.

[lucean]

There are moments where I feel Snyder just excellently captures the spirit of Gotham in brief moments, for example here that "The city never gives back, but it gave." That one line from Alfred told so much about Gotham.

As for the story with Bruce itself, I am almost sad that they are hinting for the big return to happen in Batman 50 as I've enjoyed the story and the way Snyder has built up Bruce's happiness with the knowledge that it will be lost when returns as Batman. Yet I guess it is inevitable in itself, as the larger DCU books seem to go out of their way to avoid acknowledging the loss of Bruce as Batman hence creating a somewhat unsustainable situation. Still, enjoying the current ride so much.

[joetuss]

Im so sick of the whole "Batman is a curse" theme going on here. Batman is a damn hero

[lucean]

But that's not the argument. Batman is a hero, but Batman is also a tragedy. The fact that he does heroic things does not negate the fact that being Batman is horrible to a person.

[nyadnar17]

It doesn't have to be. Nightwing proves it. Hell some eras of Batman prove it to. Batman at his worst is a tragedy, Batman at his best is heroic therapy.

[lucean]

But Dick proves it by being Bruce's greatest achievement, someone who didn't become like him. Terry also managed to avoid becoming like Bruce.

I correct myself slightly, as when discussing Batman I am discussing Bruce as the pinnacle of Batman and, as him, it is a tragedy as it is life driven by violence and vengenance in order to save others from that befell him knowing that there is no joy waiting him and his life will probably end in a brutal manner.

As for some eras of Batman proving, the problem with that is that those eras of Batman had him either basically ignoring the driving tragedy in his life and almost becoming campy or borderline so or they were so bland, for the modern era Batman's, that the writers moved on from it lightning fast.

[starwolf_oakley]

INFINITE CRISIS covered that as well. Bruce sees Dick Grayson as the one thing he did right.

The fact Batman is a jerk to all other superheroes, including Tim at times, is also a problem. Maybe the Nu52 has changed that or will change that, but Batman in the Justice League is that Phantom Menace like writ large: Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. You can't be afraid of Batman all the time before you start hating him.

[punisher007]

It reminds me of a quote from the (dearly departed) Young Justice TV show. Where Batman is talking to Wonder Woman about how he knew that Captain Marvel was a kid, but didn't tell the others:

WW: "I guess that I shouldn't be surprised. After all, you inducted Robin into crime fighting at the tender age of nine."
Batman: "Robin needed to bring his parents killers to justice."
WW: "Why, so that he'd become like you?"
Batman: "So that he wouldn't."

[wizardru]

Young Justice's Batman, like BTAS Batman, is a decent and caring person. A memorable scene from YJ is Batman playing Basketball with an angry Robin, who is feeling resentful of Aqualad and a failure. Who chides Superman multiple times to face Superboy and DEAL with it, because he needs support and recognition? That'd be Bruce, again.

I like YJ Batman quite a bit, actually. Bruce Greenwood also does a great job with him.

[reveen]

Oh my god DC just let Bruce be a sexy bearded teacher with a cool girlfriend and a relatively well-adjusted bearded life already.

You know they're going to shave the thing off when he goes back in the cowl too. Fuckers.

[philippos42]

Yeah, they should just put Bruce!Bats on the shelf now and be done. This is a happy ending.

[grimmbear]

Depowered Clark should take up the Bat cowl.

[pyrrhocorax]

At first I didn’t understand why a green ring would hurt the random unshaved guy who was insisting that Bruce have his trauma returned to him, because everything about him was so unlike Clark Kent.

[agharta75]

Alfred vs. Superman. I'll bet on Alfred :-)

[silverhammerman]

My fondest hope for this whole era of Batman is that it'll get chosen to be adapted into one of DC's animated movies, because I would love to see it fully done up in the style of a crazy cyberpunk anime.

[starwolf_oakley]

IIRC, the Dionesium is from the asteroid that gave Vandal Savage his immortality. And it is also the "secret ingredient" in the Lazarus Pits.

[espanolbot]

More it's a naturally occuring substance, and that Vandal's meteor had traces of it, or something.

[alschroeder3]

If you read those pages again, there are strong hints how Bearded well-adjusted Bruce will end. IMO.

[captainbellman]

I've never once seen that hairstyle in the preview panel, outside of comics. Is it a purely American thing?

[chalicother]

A beard connecting with a mustache, hair on head and sideburns...not really? I think?

[captainbellman]

I was referring to the lady, sorry for making that unclear. The only person I've seen with anything close was Ultimate Peter Parker. Just with the weird little antenna-like strands hanging over the face...

[espanolbot]

Y'know... considering how most of Snyder's Batman run seems to circle back to the Joker eventually, and that he was WITH Bruce when the cave-in happened...

My take on what'll happen?

The Joker, who was only paralysed from the waist down unlike Bruce who WAS dying, was the one who somehow got healed first. He then revived Bruce, and got him out of the cave system using the cave-exploring knowledge that lead him to the Dionysium in the first place.

The Joker then wandered off to somehow top his scheme in Endgame while Bruce recovers. BUT, Bruce hasn't actually recovered in the manner the Joker wanted by the time his new plan begins, leading to Bruce being convinced to rewrite his brain back to its former self in order to save the day.

Jim Gordon then quits as Batman when the original comes back, the status quo is restored, and Bruce's new fiance wanders off to be sad like she did at the end of Year Zero.

[mrstatham]

Fingers crossed you're wrong, personally, as Snyder has stated that he's done with Joker for the rest of his run. This is in contrast with post-DOTF, where he suggested Joker would be back for revenge, rather than his usual games, and Endgame only got done sooner because Snyder began to see DOTF/ZY/Endgame as a trilogy of sorts for Batman, Joker, and the various points in their confrontations.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

I like having this as "the end" for Batman/Joker, even if it's rather early in the new DC universe.

Shame they'll never feel the same way.

[mrstatham]

This. As suggested above, I really disliked some elements of the Dark Knight trilogy, but I liked that it had a complete arc for Bruce, and that he reached a point where he could sanely say 'no, this is enough' and basically go and retire.

[bradygirl_12]

Why is Clark harping on getting the old Bruce back? Because he wants his boyfriend back!

I'd like to think Superman wouldn't be a selfish jerk.

[7dialsmystery]

And he'd put Bruce's health and wellbeing ahead of his wants. But this is Nu52 Superman, so Old Miserable Bats will be back soon. Oh, and the Joker will be un-deaded too, I'd bet.