Batman: The Drowned #1

[superboyprime]

Comments

[matrix_dragon]

Well. That destroyed the appeal of this female!Bats pretty damn fast. Crazy mass murderer with a side dose of racism and xenophobia.

[dr_archeville]

So this Bat(wo)man was murderous before being melded with a JLer?

In this interview, Scott Snyder says “Metal is really a story about moments — moments that I’ve gone through myself — where a person is struggling with depression, anxiety. In those moments, you wake up and feel like every version of yourself that you can see going forward is ugly and failed. All your worst fears about yourself become manifest in your own mind. It’s almost like a voice telling you that the person you’re going to be tomorrow is a worse and worse version of the person you are today.” (The Dark Knights are Batman’s internalized fears.) “The Merciless, the Wonder Woman analogue, it’s Batman’s fear that if he waged war on crime the way that people want him to — the way that Wonder Woman does in a sense that it’s a total war — he would ultimately win it. But he would win in a way that would force him to lose his humanity. It’s the opposite of the way he actually fights crime — with his code — which is as much about letting him maintain his humanity as keeping other people safe.” The Batman Who Laughs, the version of Bruce who becomes infected with Joker Toxin, stems from his fear of becoming a killer. The Dawnbreaker, the Green Lantern Batman, “is a manifestation of the fear that he’s ultimately too attached to the death of his parents — and should he have had the chance, he would have tried to bring them back using Lantern technology that would have culminated in the end of the world.” (Though I think what lucean said here on s_d -- that he's “what if I had gotten all that power without having to truly strive for it/before I was mature enough to carry that burden?” -- is a better fit.) The Devastator (the Superman one) “is Bruce’s fear that he’s been crippled by his friendships with other heroes” (because he feels they make him weak) “and he should be tougher on his own… [he infects] himself with the Doomsday Virus so that he could never be caught physically vulnerable again.”

So The Drowned is Bruce's fear of... becoming an anti-Metahuman bigot?

[lucean]

As I mentioned below, I think the Drowned is Bruce's fear of not being able to examine and reflect on his own actions.

It is actually fitting because in almost every incarnation Batman initially considered Supes and others as a threat to humanity, but changed his opinion based on experience. However, what if Bruce had been so certain of his actions and beliefs that they could never have been swayed?

[locuatico]

Did they need to waste Earth-11 to do so? why have the 52 earths if every time they are mentioned it's for things like this?
EDIT: Nevermind, I have been informed it's supposed to be Earth -11, not Earth-11 i have no idea who thought this was a good format...

[crinos]

I think this is supposed to be the "Dark Multiverse." or something, which suggests these are all dark mirror universes and not the normal DC Multiverse.

(Or maybe Dark Multiverse is just a tagline, not sure.)

[locuatico]

that's why I edited it xD. having it be -11 was a bad idea xD

[crinos]

I would have gone with a font to be sure.

[mastermahan]

I just realized why the gender-swapped Earth is Earth 11. 11 plus 52 is 63.

Well played, DC.

[jmacq1]

That actually makes a certain amount of sense (coupled with the "inability to self-reflect" suggestions from below).

The Drowned could reflect Batman's fear of his own distrustful/paranoid/cynical nature getting the better of him once and for all. Not like it hasn't caused him problems in the past (or at least had in earlier continuities. Questionable how much of that is canon now).

Also that last panel....Someone's been admiring the works of Giger.

[lucean]

This is an interesting fear to explore. I'm getting it wrong in that this version of Batman who lacked the ability to doubt or question herself and her actions? It would explain a lot of her approaches and decisions. It's also a fear not often examined.

[mastermahan]

"We come in peace! That's why I'm leading an army of Lovecraftian horrors! Because they're so peaceful!"

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

In fairness, they only look like monsters to people who live on the surface world.

To people who live underwater, the guy with shark teeth and lethal finger nails is Bob, professional accountant.

[cypherfdp]

(at the JL halloween party)

"Hrm. Mera is really killing that pirate look. I wish I could pull that off."

(DARK UNIVERSE CREATED)

[kalanyr]

Yeah, if this exact world is a fear of Earth 0 Batman , he must have been on a serious trip at the time. "What if I was a female who killed all the metas, after losing my lover, and then biologically combined myself with a magical alien infection to fight the Atlanteans. Also I have an army of zombies created using this magical alien infection. " isn't something I'd expect to find anywhere in the top 100 of Bruce's likely agonisingly detailed list of fears unless he's high as a kite on Fear Gas or similar.

[shadowpsykie]

so.... is this Selina? Brucina? OH okay, the gender reversed world.

[aperturedreams]

Her name is Bryce Wayne.