Iron Man vs. Batman

[Anwar]

The whole concept of the "Socialite as masked hero" goes back centuries.

 

[Broccoli]

^What about avenging a dead parent with gadgets?

 

[Trekker4747]

Millar is pretty much right on this one.

Batman is insane. His entire motivation for doing what he does is rooted entirely in insanity.

In All-Star Batman he's a bit beyond insane.

 

[Anwar]

^What about avenging a dead parent with gadgets?

Window Dressing .

 

[A beaker full of death]

Millar is pretty much right on this one.

Miller. Different fella. (Presumably a typo on your part; just trying to avoid confusion).

I believe anything Miller has to say about Batman cannot be entered into evidence on the basis that Miller's version of Batman is insane.

I agree with this - seriously. He may have revitalized Batman, but he also significantly changed the character's persona. And I don't care if people want to say it's a throwback to the way the character was originally written in the 40s; the pre-TDKR Darknight Detective is significantly different from the post-TDKR Goddamn Batman.

 

[Admiral2]

No worries, this is no stupid "Who will win?" question, it's about the creation. Batman belongs to DC, Iron Man to Marvel. They are essentially the same characters: rich business men, playboys, industrialists, philanthropists, mere mortals, who use technology to fight crime and terrorism. Both their parents are killed, and they inherit their father's companies.

So is Iron Man Marvel's answer to DC's Batman?

He could be the answer to several DC characters, like Green Arrow (rich guy with a bow) or Blue Beetle (rich guy with a beetle costume) or Booster Gold (rich guy with a flight ring)...

Not exactly. Iron Man has been around for 25 years longer than Booster Gold. And Blue Beetle wasn't originally a DC character.

All I'm saying is that there's no direct evidence that indicates Iron Man being the answer to any DC character. But especially not Batman. The one thing Tony Stark isn't is a detective. And if you believe the Nolan movies, all of Batman's high-tech stuff is built by Lucius Fox. Stark is his own Lucius Fox.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Ehh... The thing is Iron Man does his thing more out of wanting to "right his own wrongs" with being a defense contractor. His parents may be dead but, near as I can remember, they died due to things having little to do with Tony's motivations to fight international crime as a power-suited superhero.

Batman, on the other hand, fights local crime out of vengeance for it contributing to the death of his parents.

Yeah, Marvel's use of that trope is unequivocally Spiderman, not Iron Man.

BTW, for the little side point growing, count me in the group that likes Batman the detective. That being said, I think there's room for both.

 

[arch101]

This is one crossover comic I'd like to see happen after all this discussion.

 

[Nerys Myk]

My theory is Iron Man is what Bruce Wayne would have become if his parents had lived.

 

[Anwar]

He'd be worse, because Tony at least was still a genius engineer while a playboy. Bruce wouldn't really know squat except some general business skills.

 

[Nerys Myk]

He'd be worse, because Tony at least was still a genius engineer while a playboy. Bruce wouldn't really know squat except some general business skills.

He's a smart guy. Genius intellect. No reason to think he'd just be a guy with money. His father after all was a brilliant doctor, philanthropist and businessman.

 

[Anwar]

Well, it's just that in nearly all the AUs where his parents are alive and he's still just a playboy he IS just a guy with money. Sometimes a flaky naive guy too.

Personally I was always happy with Batman just being a very good detective instead of this "Total master of sciences, and everything else" type. It really goes into Mary Sue territory with him because DC is afraid of showing their premier "Normal" character being inferior or outclassed at anything.