Batman’s Wedding

I bought into the hype, the news coverage, the coverage of the spoiler in the other coverage and all that stuff. I went to a comic shop and bought the special, first-print, non-alternate cover of “Batman #50,” aka the “Batman and Catwoman’s Wedding Issue.” And I bought the one before it, #49.

So first thing, about buying the one before it, I was foolish. Despite my (I think) higher-than-the-average-person knowledge of Batman things, I am below average compared to active comic book fans. I think. And I’m out of practice, because I somehow, foolishly, stupidly thought that the events of “Batman #49” would immediately line up to the events of “Batman #50.” They don’t. Of course they don’t. This is modern comic book storytelling, where the events of “Batman #49” get followed up by “Catwoman #31,” then “Justice League: Batman’s Cowl #6” and on and on. This will relate in a moment.

The “Batman: The Animated Series” MVP Race

It’s generally agreed that “Batman: The Animated Series” was a great TV show, and that the success of that show depended on many talented people being very talented together. But was there a standout? I’m watching the NBA Finals featuring season MVP Steph Curry, and I’m wondering “Who was the MVP for ‘B:TAS'”

I’m also wondering, “Has anyone considered this before?

Then I’m wondering, “Why hasn’t anyone considered this before?”

Then I made a list.

The only hard rule is that it must be a single person, so while it might be tempting to nominate an entire animation studio, I’m going to limit this to single human beings.

Batman’s Not Crazy. I swear!

In the recent Scriptnotes podcast on superheroes (and the screenwriters who write their movies), it was stated that Batman’s “crazy.” And this was agreed to by the panelists, either by saying something or silently agreeing. The evidence given was “The Dark Knight Returns.”

And that made me realize that this is a bad example of Batman/Bruce Wayne’s psychology.

Because in “DKR,” he’s 55+ and retired.

That comic is the key influence on every Batman movie of the last 20 years, but it’s never been an influence on anything but the 30-something Bruce Waynes of Burton, Schumacher and Nolan.

Age makes a big difference. At least to me. It’s easier for me to forgive some of his, uh… characteristics because he’s an old man.

If a younger man did those kinds of things, in the way in which he does them, it would seem crazier.

Emphasis on “seem.” Just because someone does something crazy does not mean that he, himself, is crazy.

That’s how I live my life.

Priority: Superman

I went to the comic book store on Comic Book Day (aka Cinco de Mayo), and grabbed a couple books, both for money and for non-money. As always, I did the stroll down the line, checking out what’s new and what might possibly catch my eye. I flipped through a couple books, but didn’t vary from my initial strategy. But I wanted to. The only thing missing was the pull from the books themselves, and that’s where I came up with the following fool-proof strategy:

DC Comics should concentrate on making one Superman book, and making it fantastic. 

Grant Morrison

I can’t tell if he’s the best bad writer or the worst good writer in comics. Probably both at once, and that’s why he’s interesting.

In continuing my infatuation with the Damien character, I picked up a copy of “Batman and Son,” the 6-ish issue series written by Morrison that introduced the concept of Bruce Wayne’s son to the Batman mythos. Mostly, it’s good. It’s good for weird reasons, but it’s still good.

Except when it’s not. Then it’s confusing and not good.

DC Reboot

I’ve been casually following the DC Reboot news for a little while, hearing and reading interesting things to come (Barbara Gordon is Batgirl again!, etc.), and there’s lots of talk over this stuff, as the internet says there should be. But the more I’ve read, the more it seems like this isn’t exactly a “reboot.” It’s more like a “renumbering.”