Batman also calls thugs things like 'sweetheart' and 'princess'. Is it that in order for Batman to live up to that masculine ideal he's got to, I don't know, assert that he's not queer? I don't know. There's that particular element, and then there's a lot of mocking of Batmythos in general.

Is it Miller trying to be funny/self-mocking? Or is Miller just doing a poor job of taking a dig at the silliness of Batman?

It's fascinating to me, but I don't know. Other possibilities include: is he mocking the people who mocked his earlier work with Batman; mocking the people who mocked earlier issues of ASBAR; himself--for writing a superhero comic; himself for being in too far with the Batstuff; us for reading it? Batfans for buying into the mythos? Does he have a love/hate relationship with Batman? Is he having fun with it or kind of pissed off?

I can't tell what's going on. I kind of think a certain amount is directed at detractors of the earlier issues of ASBAR. The rest, I don't know. He kind of went into it, though, starting with issue #1 making Bruce -- well, it smacked of making Bruce a pedophile. Was that impression purposeful or not? I kind of think it had to be. Does he hate the character of Batman? I kind of think maybe so. But then the whole tone of the way he portrays the character changes by the last two issues. Of course, part of the deal is how many years and months between issues.