InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Women and children first!"

mysteryfan (mysteryfan) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-06-05 18:59:00

Entry tags:

creator: frank miller, creator: jim lee, title: all-star batman and robin

Black Canary and Batman

Leaving out a lot here, including the part where she finally loses it.

Guess which man?

And then she steals everybody's money and feeds one of the most obnoxious guys his wedding ring.

(Above from issue #3)
So Black Canary and Batman parallel each other in ~~a lot of ways~~ their, as Batman says, "Ruthlessness." Also, he just fed a mugger his own teeth.

(Above from #6)

(# 7)
These issues are collected in All-Star Batman and Robin, Vol 1.

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mysteryfan
2009-06-07 07:09 am UTC (link)

Well that's not very suave and sophisticated. To have his mom call for dates. If we mean, does Bruce just sit there and LOOK suave, yes. I can buy that. Act suave? I don't see any reason to think he does.

And guess what: So we're having this big discussion about who Bruce Wayne is supposed to be in ASBAR, which is ... moderately amusing enough. AND I started thinking about the actual evidence in ASBAR re: Bruce Wayne?

He's in four panels. Watching a circus act and creepily obsessing about a 12-year-old.

Heh. Not a lot to go on, evidence wise. I think the reader has to decide for him or herself.

So there's not really much evidence to go on, but I still think he's not suave and sophisticated at all. In this version, I'm pretty sure we're supposed to believe Batman is the real, Bruce is the mask. I don't always agree with that, but it depends on the writer, and I think it's the way Miller wants us to see it.

So the character's big, important focus is crimefighting. If he had the social skills as Bruce, he'd have to realize that those same social skills would make his work as Batman more effective. Not necessarily with criminals, but with peers.

I do agree that it would be a good cover if he WAS Goddamn Batman/Suave and Sophisticated Bruce, but I don't buy it. I mean, he is all clean-shaven and he dresses nicely, but he's not demonstrated he's any better at people than Batman. All we've seen of him as Bruce, actually, is the circus scene. Where he's quite creepy and clueless about his creepiness.

So anyway, I still think he's terribly immature, even as Bruce in this series, and that THAT is a whole part of his schtick as a character. That, theoretically, the book was going to show us the character arc of Bruce/Batman growing up and becoming humanized. I just also--when I was looking for Bruce Wayne in the title, refound the page where Alfred talks about how Bruce became a monster the night his parents died.

I wonder if we'll ever know what Miller really intended to show us.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	psychop_rex 2009-06-07 03:43 pm UTC (link)
	Well, the book's still ongoing, right? I didn't hear anything about it being cancelled. Maybe there'll be more stuff about Wayne in the future. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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