Bruce Wayne Press Conference (Spoilers for Batman and Robin 16)

[the G-man]

Complete crap. As others have touched upon:

• 1. Batman isn't Iron Man. This is just a rip off of Iron Man. And not the cool RDJr. version, either. This is the silver/bronze age Iron Man where Tony claims that IM is a separate person and Tony just funds the tech. Batman is supposed to be a mysterious badass semi-loner vigilante, not a business with lots of "Batmen."
  
  2. The minute Bruce tells everyone "I bankroll Batman," he might as well have just told them he IS Batman. He just made himself a target for every super-criminal in Gotham.
  
  3. Not to mention the government. Remember that scene in IM2 where Garry Shandling calls Tony before congress to demand the Iron Man tech? Same thing happens to Bruce now. Forget the Batmobile. You really think the feds aren't going to want to have a little "chat" with Bruce about, I dunno, Omac? There's also tons of issues related to corporate fraud, obstruction of justice, etc.
  
  4. Perhaps, worse, he just made himself a target for every trial lawyer in Gotham. "Batman" bitch slaps a criminal? Sue Bruce Wayne for funding him and assisting in a violation of said criminal's civil rights. The Black Mask goes on trial? Conduct a lengthy cross-examination or deposition of "Bruce Wayne" and subpoena the financial records of the company. Before, Batman was immune from lawsuits because there was simply no way to trace him or his assets. But Bruce just hung out a big sign telling everyone who to sue (him).

Just when Hollywood finally figures out that the mysterious "Dark Knight" is the Batman that works, DiDio and his pet Morrie decide to strip all that away....damn....I don't think you need to let the tail wag the dog, but when someone adapts your top character and makes it the biggest non-James Cameron movie of all time....and people who don't even like comic books are talking about how brilliant and true the take on the character is... it's pretty stupid to run from that interpretation and start doing something largely at odds with it.

 

[DarthPipes]

Read the issue and I thought it was excellent.

The end is definitely a game-changer. It's a bold move but I'm mixed. I like Batman on a smaller scale. I agree as well that Bruce admitting to funding Batman should have everyone suspecting he is Batman and he would have the government and criminal lawyers up his ass. But it does have potential and I agree with Christopher that in today's world, it should be a lot easier to find out Bruce is Batman.

 

[the G-man]

I agree with Christopher that in today's world, it should be a lot easier to find out Bruce is Batman.

But this makes it exponentially easier. Either that, or Bruce is going to have to commit corporate fraud, falsification of records and perjury on a scale that would quickly unravel and send him to prison for life.

 

[Mr Light]

I was left a little confused on who Doctor Hurt really was after this issue. I thought he was the devil. But now he's some immortal guy because of a deal with the deal I guess. He keeps saying he's Bruce's Father but that's obviously a lie. So how old exactly is he then? Did I miss his introduction in Return of Bruce Wayne?

 

[Nerys Myk]

I agree with Christopher that in today's world, it should be a lot easier to find out Bruce is Batman.

But this makes it exponentially easier. Either that, or Bruce is going to have to commit corporate fraud, falsification of records and perjury on a scale that would quickly unravel and send him to prison for life.

Good thing this is a comic book then. Its not like he (and other heroes) havent been doing those sort of things for decades. It only matters if a writer or editor want it to matter.

BTW, why was Finch given a writers gig? Has he written anything previously?

 

[Mr Light]

Because DC is desperate to have an A list artist?

 

[Hound of UIster]

BTW, why was Finch given a writers gig? Has he written anything previously?

I think he did write a very nice short between a grown up Damien and Superboy in the anniversary issue of Batman.

There are lots of artists who made/make good careers as writers the notables being Moore, Morrison and Bendis, but also b or c-list like Larry Hama or previously John Byrne before he went insane then there are the failures like Tony Daniel and Rob Liefeld.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Because DC is desperate to have an A list artist?

JH Williams, Ivan Reis, Doug Mahnke and Francis Manapul, there are all top notch a-list artists.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Because DC is desperate to have an A list artist?

Gotta say I'm not a fan of his work. Just doesnt click with me. Hated his Avengers.

 

[Small White Car]

This is infinitely less stupid than Clark Kent's glasses.

Since this is happening in that same world I'm willing to go along with it and ignore all the logical arguments people are making. It's cool.

 

[Christopher]

I think we need to remember that the Batman of the modern comics isn't as public a figure as the Batman of the Silver Age or the Adam West series. To the general public, he's something of a mysterious, almost legendary figure. He's a "cape" who routinely defeats terrifying archcriminals and hobnobs with the superbeings of the Justice League. The average person on the street might believe that Batman is superpowered or even supernatural.

So I don't agree that they'd instantly assume that Bruce Wayne, this very normal-looking billionaire, would be Batman. It might not even occur to them. It's far more plausible that he's a rich guy who's offered his backing to some scary superhuman being.

Besides... a lot of people are reluctant to believe people can be extraordinary. That's why you have people who question the authorship of Shakespeare's plays or the like. It would be hard for a lot of people to believe that one man could be both a glamorous, womanizing billionaire and one of the world's top superheroes. That's a lot of awesome to concentrate in one man. Most people would probably find it easier to believe that Bruce is more ordinary than that and that Batman is less rich than that.

After all, if you've got bazillions of dollars, why would you risk your neck hunting down criminals when you could just hire someone to do it for you?

So no. This won't make it easy for people to figure out Bruce is Batman. It's a fine piece of misdirection, taking advantage of people's expectations and assumptions in order to dangle the truth in their faces and watch as they stare right past it because they don't know what they're supposed to be looking for.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I thought Morrison made abundantly clear who Dr. Hurt was supposed to be. Go back re-read "Final Crisis" and then read this arc again and it should be more than clear.

 

[Snaploud]

It'll also be rather hard to prove Bruce Wayne is Batman while Bruce is traveling around the world with Batman/Dick fighting crime in Gotham.

 

[Hound of UIster]

I thought Morrison made abundantly clear who Dr. Hurt was supposed to be. Go back re-read "Final Crisis" and then read this arc again and it should be more than clear.

His origin is explained in the recent two parter by Morrison and Daniel. There he is revealed as a Wayne who was given eternal life by Darkseid.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yes there's various ways of deflecting attention on them by doing this...but it will be interesting to see how long they can actually ignore people messing around in their business again. I found it interesting that Lucius was absent from the press conference, in fact he's been absent for most of the Morrison run, he was shown at the climax of the first Red Robin, and oh yeah he introduced Damien Wayne to the board of directors. Here is EIC Bob Harras and Morrison explaining about Bruce's announcement and once again touching on Batman, Inc.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=29230

 

[Mr Light]

I think Mahnke is pretty good but the rest I definitely would not consider A list. A list is Steve McNiven... Lenil Francis Yu... Frank Cho... JRJR...

I will say this though, Patrick Gleason is one of my all time favorite artists and his work on GLC was woefully under-appreciated. He's A list in my book!

 

[byron lomax]

I pretty much agree with everything Christopher said. The next few years of Batman comics are gonna be interesting, at the very very least. It really feels like this development is a permanent change (but you never know....)

Batman and Robin has been my favourite part of Morrison's Bat-saga so far. This issue was slightly rushed, though; the action jumps at some points which disrupts the flow of the story. I wish they could have arranged two or three more pages to tell the story better. I loved the direct reference to one of the best 90s Batman stories in the opening pages. The chase through the Batcave was awesome. But it still felt that little bit too rushed.

 

[Hound of UIster]

I think Mahnke is pretty good but the rest I definitely would not consider A list. A list is Steve McNiven... Lenil Francis Yu... Frank Cho... JRJR...

No. McNiven and and Yu perhaps, but Cho or JRJR? Really JRJR is fast becoming the posterboy of bad anatomy with Avengers over at Marvel alongside the copyist/illustrator Greg Land. He is not a-list, he is a has been. And has Frank Cho done anything in mainstream comics other than the heavily beginning for Mighty Avengers with Bendis?



Reis - Blackest Night, SCW and much of Geoff Johns GL
EVS - GL Rebirth
JH Williams - Promethea, Batwoman, Seven Soldiers
Manapul - Flash

 

[Mr Light]

I thought Morrison made abundantly clear who Dr. Hurt was supposed to be. Go back re-read "Final Crisis" and then read this arc again and it should be more than clear.

I just read Batman Return of Bruce Wayne #6 and...

Spoiler: wokka

They imply that Doctor Hurt is the reincarnation of Darkseid. Which is really confusing given the revelation in B&R #16...

And while we're at it, Vanishing Point is destroyed in this issue and Supes watches it happen, but in the first issue of Vanishing Point, Supes finds it already destroyed... I'm confused...

 

[Admiral_Young]

Actually that is what I was referring to about relevations made about Dr. Hurt. It's strongly implied in Batman and Robin #16 that Hurt is an avatar of Darkseid. Badados is the hyper-adaptor that Bruce was droning on and on about. The point is Bruce is back and we can finally start Batman, Inc next week.