It’s a weird time to be a Batman fan right now. On the one hand, there are incredible comics that feel like some of the best ever made about the Dark Knight, being Batman: Dark Patterns and Absolute Batman. However, while all the praise in the world should go to those comics and their fantastic teams, the same cannot be said for the main Batman comic. The flagship Batman title is experiencing one of the worst comic book sequels ever with “Hush 2,” and believe me that storyline is terrible so far, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. For years now, it feels like Batman has been in a never-ending constantly repeating cycle of depression and deconstruction that always comes to the conclusion that either Batman is bad for Gotham or just terrible at his job. Batman fans have slogged through Bruce’s life falling apart the same way on repeat for years, but DC is finally giving Batman the fresh start he needs, and I could not be more excited.
Videos by ComicBook.com
What’s Been Wrong With Batman Comics
It feels like ever since Tom King’s controversial run on Batman that started in 2016, the Caped Crusader has been on a downward spiral of suffering and having everyone question why he’s Batman. I’m not saying that every run since then has been bad or anything like that. I liked more of King’s run than most, and I loved a lot of James Tynion IV’s run. However, every single creative team since and including King have all taken a very disappointing angle when writing Batman. They all write long, deeply introspective stories that continually ask Batman why he does what he does and ponder if he does more harm than good to Gotham. The majority of the time, these stories will go out of their way to either destroy or have Bruce destroy his relationships with those close to him and bring him to a new low point, before he ultimately comes to the conclusion that he is Batman because he wants to help his city and everything is restored to the status quo.
That status quo is Batman rebuilding his relationships with those he loves, but that is literally always undone immediately by the following arc, which shows him destroying his relationships again. It will also show Batman yet again being blamed for all the bad things in Gotham City, like he started crime so he could fight it, and the entire existence of Batman will be questioned. If we’re lucky, the run will conclude saying Batman is a hero, and if not it will say he actually does more harm but will still keep trying to be a hero, and then it will repeat all over from the start with the next run. Deconstruction stories and stories that tear Batman down so he’s forced to start over aren’t bad on their own, but they don’t work when literally every single story does that! For years, Batman has been beaten down over and over again and punished for trying to be a hero, constantly brought to his darkest, loneliest moment just to crawl his way back out and be kicked down into that hole again. It really feels like Batman is being constantly punished for being Batman, and frankly, reading a book that just tells you on repeat how bad of a person the main character is isn’t very fun. Batman is a hero, and we all want to see him act like a hero, not go to war against his children for the second time in a single year. That’s what makes the upcoming run so exciting.
Batman is Restarting as a True, Blue Hero
This September, Batman is relaunching with a new number one and the superstar creative team of Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez. First and foremost, Fraction promised that his version of Batman will be hero-focused, and has said that it’s time to imagine that Gotham City doesn’t rain anymore. Batman is going back to a classic redesign of his blue and grey suit, and it is meant to signify a major shift in how Batman is perceived. For too long, people have kept Batman in a depressed, dreary world that beats everyone down, but Fraction’s aim is to make Batman’s comics fun again. This isn’t to say that everything will be sunshine and rainbows, or that Batman won’t struggle, but the story won’t waste time trying to convince the readers that Batman isn’t a hero. He’ll be going on more lighthearted and uplifting adventures instead of just one big, emotionally draining event.
Fraction plans to tell a series of connected yet self-contained stories that bring Batman back to being the hero of Gotham City. No more fist-fighting all of his children at once or agreeing with his villains that he’s caused just as much harm as they have. He’ll be solving crimes and helping his city, and I am so excited to finally see Batman return to just being fun again. The constant drag of massive events has been exhausting, and it really feels like Batman hasn’t just told a self-contained story outside of one or two arcs in years. Batman is a hero, not just a walking bag of depression, and I am beyond happy to see him return to that status in just a few short months.
Most Viewed
-
(Photo by Bruce Glikas/Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic)
