Batman is one of the world’s most iconic superheroes, and is universally accepted as one of the faces of DC. On average, there are more Batman comics released every month than any other character, and more series focused on him and his extended cast than many heroes get on their own. Beyond just his sales, Batman is a beloved character. He is one of the coolest and most relatable characters, as even if all pretense is stripped away, he is a hurt man who is trying his best to make the world a better place. People love Batman, which is why it’s so insane to me that the best versions of Batman are not the one who headlines the main Batman comic book. Batman has been consistently falling behind alternate takes on the Dark Knight because these other books present a character that feels more like Batman.
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Batman is Better Outside the Main Universe
To prove my point, let’s compare the current run of Batman to stories that sit outside of continuity, such as Absolute Batman and Batman: Dark Patterns. Let’s look at Dark Patterns first, which is a series that focuses on Batman tackling dark and dangerous mysteries early on in his career. The first two of four standalone arcs have concluded, and both are phenomenal stories that can slide perfectly into the greater Batman mythos. Instead of focusing on telling a mystery that is purely realistic, the comic embraces the inherent strangeness of Batman as a character. Batman uses down to earth, tested deductive skills to put together the pieces of wildly out-there puzzles, like a man riddled with spikes and nails who can’t feel pain going on a murder spree. Or the psychotic Scarface doll seemingly possessing an entire building. These stories don’t insist upon themselves or try to redefine Batman as a character, they focus on capturing the very specific atmosphere that only Batman stories have and giving it to fans in its purest form.
I don’t think I need to sell you on why Absolute Batman is so good, but I will anyway. It’s a complete reinvention of the character that manages to feel fresh and incredibly familiar at the same time. All of the fluff and fat is cut from the Caped Crusader, breaking him down to the barest essentials of who he is so the story can focus exclusively on emphasizing those essentials as much as possible. People love Absolute Batman because it fully presents Batman as a hero who is fighting the incredible corruption of his city, without ever relying on the tired tropes of Bruce doing the type of harm that he is trying to prevent. Batman is a vengeful yet hope-driven knight fighting against shadows that try to control his city, and that’s all he needs to be.
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These two series have one thing in common; they let Batman be Batman without any complicating factors. They take what fans love about the Dark Knight, his serious and gothic nature, grounded and yet strange mysteries and intense action for the greater good, and let him be the hero fans want to see. In comparison, there’s the current Batman run and its “Hush 2” storyline. In “Hush 2,” Batman is constantly making choices that seem wildly out of character and fighting the people closest to him instead of being a hero. This story had Batman shoot at his own son, for goodness sake. And just like the arcs before this one, and the ones before those, one of the main focuses is how Batman’s mistakes come back to bite him because either he (1) lets his villains live because he’s a good person or (2) is a horrible person because he keeps hurting those around him.
Main Universe Batman isn’t Allowed to be Batman
“Hush 2” is perfectly emblematic of all of the issues that are present in current Batman comics, and even a lot of comic books in general. The character and story are pushed to the side in favor of big moments and trying to become the next “big thing.” It feels like every run tries to become the definitive run of the character instead of just telling stories about Batman. And with Batman, the most common way of becoming the next big run is by mimicking the stories that redefined the character before, like The Killing Joke and The Dark Knight Returns. The problem with that is that it’s physically impossible to create the best thing ever every time, and they always take the wrong lessons from why those stories worked.
Modern runs love to break down the character and dissect them, coming to some ultimate conclusion about why Batman does or doesn’t work, or creating a grand spectacle that will forever change how you look at Batman. Yes, The Dark Knight Returns is famous for that, and The Killing Joke pushed farther than any Batman story dared at the time, but they worked because they were exceptions. If every single story is obsessed with tearing Batman down over and over again and exposing his flaws, then at a certain point there’s nothing left of the man left to examine. It exhausts the audience because they came to read Batman, and are effectively told they should feel bad about liking him when most of the issues either show or insist Batman commits way more harm than good. It never feels like Batman just solves mysteries or fights crime anymore, and much more like he is constantly needing to argue for his own existence. And these stories only repeat again and again.
Repetitive storytelling is not a problem in and of itself. We’re comic book fans, we want to see our favorite characters act how we remember and fight crime in ways we’ve seen a hundred times before. The problem is that the stories that keep repeating are stories that can only work if they are used sparingly and actually have impact. How many times has Batman been “redefined” in the last five years alone? How many times have any of those changes actually stuck? Far less than DC would like to think on both accounts. Batman is a beloved character, but it feels like nowadays he isn’t allowed to be Batman, he has to be this grand idea that is constantly at odds with his own continuity. Every action he’s ever taken is always coming back to bite him, like he’s being punished for being Batman at all. Fans don’t want Batman to be punished for being a hero, they want him to be a hero. Batman is supposed to be fun! Give us back the Batman who stops insignificant crimes and solves little mysteries, and keep those stories that “change everything” away for at least a couple of years.
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Image courtesy of Netflix
