I Generally Prefer Batman As The Antagonist

Somewhere in the misty depths of this blog, I said something to the effect that I couldn't see myself buying a Batman comics. I think it was probably in relation to one of those "do you follow characters or creators?" questions, and I was explaining that no writer was going to get me to buy Batman, or Detective Comics. I feel I should admit that statement wasn't entirely true. I mean, I do have 10 comics from those two titles in my collection. Granted, none of them are from the last decade (I believe Batman 541 is the most recent), and most of them are actually Knightfall related issues I bought in those bags at the grocery store with the random set of 5 comics, so perhaps it's more accurate to say I can't see myself putting a Batman title on my pull list.

Anyway, I'd been thinking about the whys and wherefores of this, because my job does allow my mind the opportunity to wander onto such topics. After all, I can find Batman really cool, whether he's boldly telling off the Spectre, or losing control and repeatedly backhanding the Joker, or getting his back broken by Bane, I mean, beating Bane, and responding to Bane's 'Gotham is in my pocket' with, 'Prepare to be mugged'. Wait, that was Jean Paul Valley, but he was Batman then, and it was still cool*. I think the issue is that a lot of Batman's character seems to revolve around the fact he always seems to be in control. He's taken his grief and loss, and turned it into this driving force in himself to protect people. He always has a plan, and you thinking you're 3 steps ahead is just step 12 in his 47-step plan to stop you.

So I guess I find that frustrating on some level, maybe a little irritating that he somehow plans for every eventuality. And I'm drawn to the stories where he does lose control, whether it's of himself, or the situation. Maybe the thing about that Spectre scene I mentioned is it's pretty clear Batman can't do anything to stop the Spectre, and could be squashed like a bug if the Spectre felt like it, but he tells him off anyway. Batman's clearly not running things here, but he's not going to let Spectre feel as though that shakes him.

The other side to all this is that I enjoy watching things blow up in his face. That thing where Ra's steals his secret "Stop the JLA if they go bad" plans, then uses them to further his own scheme? Hilarious. The most frequent examples of this for me were Batman being kind of a jerk to one of his little group, in that character's title, which I was buying. For example, Robin and Spoiler dated for a while, but only in their costumed identities. Tim knew Spoiler was Stephanie Brown, but she didn't know who he was, and he couldn't tell her, because it would jepordize Batman's secret, and that's a no-go. Fortunately, Spoiler was OK with this**, and so that was how things went for a time. Then, Batman decides "Yeah, time to start training Spoiler" (which was a wise decision), and decides the way to tell Tim is to tell Spoiler Robin is Tim Drake and send her to break the news***, which spazzes Tim out, because he thinks he's screwed up and blown his and Batman's secret. Which isn't the case, as Batman has not seen fit to reveal his identity to Spoiler****.

Anyway, Tim eventually points out to Batman that this is screwed up because Robin and Spoiler have been trying to have a relationship with this huge issue in between them, and Robin hasn't been able to remove it specifically because of his loyalty to Batman, then Bats just up and decides he'll do the telling without consulting the person whose secret he's spilling? Not cool, O Dark Knight. So I get to see Batman screw up (in my estimation, and he admitted it as well, to Spoiler anyway), and as an added bonus, he comes off like an unjust authority figure, which suits my distaste for bossy authority figures*****. It makes Batman a bit like Jonah Jameson (when Jonah isn't commissioning the construction of Spider-Slayers or Scorpion): A sort of extra irritant our hero has to deal with in their costumed experiences, but not one that can have their hash settled by a good thrashing******. It's a different sort of problem for Robin (or Batgirl, or Oracle, or whomever), made worse because they respect Batman and don't really want to call him out. Plus he's intimidating, 'cause you know, he's Batman.

It's not a role I'd want Batman to play constantly (since it would probably derail the book), but every so often seeing his plans go awry can be entertaining.

* Though part of me thinks he should have said something like 'Prepare to have it picked', 'cause Bane described it as being in his pocket. But seeing as he was preparing to lay down a severe beating on Bane, "mugged" probably was the more mood-appropriate verb.

** For a while. She eventually started trying to figure out Robin's secret identity on her own, without success.

*** According to Tim, Bats played it this way because of some falling out he had with Alfred, where Alfred had leave Wayne Manor, and was serving as Tim's butler at the private school Tim was attending. Batman didn't want to risk running into Alfred, so he told Spoiler who Robin was so she could find him and tell him what was going on.

**** And I guess she didn't think it was wise to press the issue, given Batsy's attitude towards her crimefighting in the past.

***** Which is, I'm sure, related to my being more of a Marvel fan, where authority figures are usually evil, or incompetent, or both.

****** Obviously, the reasons why you can't settle Batman and Jonah's hash with a good thrashing aren't the same, but one way or the other, an attempt to deal with frustration by beating up the source won't end well for you either way.