InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I'm living in a box."

jillyam (wordswordswords) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-10-07 21:54:00

Entry tags:

char: batman/bruce wayne, creator: greg rucka, publisher: dc comics, title: gotham central

Gotham Central: that one time when they shot Batman (whoops)
If I recall correctly: when the Joker was sniping people in an earlier arc, he also kidnapped a female news anchor, tied her up, and hung her upside down with a camera pointing at her with a bomb nearby. Detective Nate Patton tried to disarm the bomb. Meanwhile, Batman showed up and managed to rescue the woman, but not the detective. The ensuing explosion put Patton in a coma, and eventually his family chose to pull the plug. Nate's partner was Romy. The police department took down the signal and then instructed the officers to treat him as a hostile.

Aaaaaand if it matters, Romy does get her gun back before she gets in trouble, thanks to some diplomatic work from Robin and Stacy the receptionist.

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	darkblade 2009-10-08 02:18 am UTC (link)
	Thats a long time on the ground for such a seemingly ineffective gun shot. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	sherkahn 2009-10-08 05:21 am UTC (link)
	Bat's was playing possum. Waiting to see what Romy's partner would do. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	lonewolf23k 2009-10-09 01:42 am UTC (link)
	That's actually pretty realistic. Kevlar doesn't stop bullets entirely. It just keeps them from penetrating the skin. It still hurts like the devil and -can- knock a man down. When Bats got hit, the impact must've knocked the air out of him and made him hit the ground until he recovered enough. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

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darkblade, 2009-10-09 01:50 am UTC

daningram
2009-10-08 02:21 am UTC (link)

Damn, I hope Gordan balled Batman the fuck out for that. Striking a detective and taking her gun?

Given how many breaks the cops give him, Batman leaped over the freakin' line. I don't give a damn if she shot him. He's a law breaker, he defied a direct order, he was threatening an innocent person and she is a duly appointed law enforcement officer.

That she might have an additional grudge doesn't matter. Given Batman's known skill, a shoot to kill order isn't unreasonable.

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	bluefall 2009-10-08 02:34 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, this is one of Bruce's more stellar fucking unacceptable douchebag moves. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

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	wordswordswords 2009-10-08 02:35 am UTC (link)
	Gordon wasn't Commissioner at the time, but the whole thing was kept on the down low because Romy would've gotten in deep shit. I'm sure that a lot of cops felt the way you do, though. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

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daningram, 2009-10-08 02:37 am UTC

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wordswordswords, 2009-10-08 03:27 am UTC

aaron_bourque
2009-10-08 04:42 am UTC (link)

1) Gordon isn't in charge during Gotham Central. It came about because of Gordon's retirement.

2) Romy has serious issues with Batman because her previous partner who she had unrequited love for died possibly due to Batman's actions.

3) She shot him.

4) Batman's opinions of Gotham's cops has deteriorated a bunch since Gordon's retirement. Out of nowhere, they were no longer giving Batman as much leeway and pushing the boundaries of their relationship.

5) She shot him. He's supposed to be completely calm about that?

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bluefall, 2009-10-08 05:23 am UTC

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mooppoom, 2009-10-09 02:23 am UTC

oddpuppets
2009-10-08 05:44 am UTC (link)

This is utterly silly.

I'll just point this out. Batman is a vigilante. He has never really worked within the boundaries of the law. Whether the GCPD gives him any leeway is their own damn initiative - you know that Bruce would continue his mission without support without even shaking his head. There is NOTHING here that is in anyway contrary to his modus operandi. Striking a detective and taking her gun? To protect his own life, I don't see why the hell not.

Could he have diffused the situation? Sure. But ask yourself this: is it in any way correct judgment to SHOOT when someone does not obey your order? I think that except for extreme cases we would all find such judgment poor. Especially Batman, who has a record of NOT killing people or police officers.

Sorry, but your glorification of the police lacks the analysis that should be applied any time to a lawfully appointed, government controlled, and taxpayer funded organization.

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statham1986, 2009-10-08 04:35 pm UTC

	fungo_squiggly 2009-10-08 02:27 am UTC (link)
	"Heck of a job, Romy!" You just don't shoot at Batman. Everyone knows he gets pissy about that kind of thing! Punching her in the nose might have been a bit much, though. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	wordswordswords 2009-10-08 02:48 am UTC (link)
	He broke it, too. Haha, uh. The relationship between Batman and the GCPD has been... better, let's just say. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	unknownscribler 2009-10-08 04:58 am UTC (link)
	Jeez Romy, you're pissed because Batman rescued the civilian. You know, the one's you're meant to protect and serve? Frankly with that bad attitude and the shooting him, she had a broken nose coming her way. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	pyrotwilight 2009-10-08 02:29 am UTC (link)
	And thus Batman began his war on police officers and other symbols of authority. From that day on he was not only Batman as the dense and retarded believed he was now the GODDAMN Batman. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	autumn_lily 2009-10-08 08:54 pm UTC (link)
	And then Frank Miller woke up smiling... (Reply to this) (Parent)

	sistermagpie 2009-10-08 02:40 am UTC (link)
	WTF, Bruce? (Reply to this)

	pyynk 2009-10-08 03:08 am UTC (link)
	Who did the art on this? It kinda looks like Batman: Year One. (Reply to this) (Thread)

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wordswordswords, 2009-10-08 03:14 am UTC

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	sailorlibra 2009-10-08 03:20 am UTC (link)
	Bruce just seems really out of character here to me. I mean, respecting the non-corrupt police has always been a major point of the whole Batman franchise. Also, I'm really turned off by how much he appears to have beaten that guy up. Fear is a better motivator than loss of blood, Bruce, remember? (Reply to this) (Thread)

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	jeyl 2009-10-08 03:20 am UTC (link)
	He hits a good cop, he loses my respect. He hits a woman, he is not a man. He hits a good female cop who's only doing her job AND takes her firearm? Well, I'm not gona be rooting for you when fight the bad guys. In fact, I'm gona be rooting for them. (Reply to this) (Thread)

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brianwilly
2009-10-08 04:25 am UTC (link)

I think this was right after "War Games/Crimes/whichever," when batdickery was at utter critical mass. Batman had made a complete enemy of the police force; an issue or two earlier, Commissioner Akins took down the signal to show that the police didn't trust The Bat anymore. To which Batman responded by being a whiny baby and all "DIS IS MY CITAY" in his face, which went about as well as every other time he ever pulled that shite. Throw in all the stuff going on with the League, OMACs, Stephanie, and...well, wacky fun times for all, you get the point.

So it's still incredible dickdouchery on his part here, but it's not like this was just another average week on the job for the GCPD and Batman. None of them are like this, usually.

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	aaron_bourque 2009-10-08 04:37 am UTC (link)
	Dead Robins. Best. Gotham Central arc. Ever. There's no off note on in this story. It's soo fuckin' . . . God. Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque; and I like it, too. (Reply to this) (Thread)

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	afewboltsloose 2009-10-08 04:53 am UTC (link)
	As dickish as Batman seems here, Romy was in the wrong. Bats never drew a weapon, advanced on her or tried to hurt the Penguin further. If he doesn't do one of those things, she's not allowed to discharge her weapon. That would be why her partner leads off by asking her if she saw a weapon or if Batman made a hostile move. (Reply to this) (Thread)

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	kusonaga 2009-10-08 05:21 am UTC (link)
	Ah, Gotham Central. Nothing but love for that title. (Reply to this)

runespoor7
2009-10-08 06:05 am UTC (link)

Er, it's a killing shot. She gives an order, he says no, he's not threatening her, and she shoots to kill. She's lucky it's Batman she lost her temper with, otherwise she'd be looking at charges. Penguin's reaction is helpful to understand that: "I'd tell them you had no other choice".

You bet he'd be taking the gun of someone who was out of control. Especially a cop who should really know better.

Gotham Central ♥

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autumn_lily, 2009-10-08 09:23 pm UTC

One other thing... -

daningram, 2009-10-08 12:22 pm UTC

Re: One other thing... -

runespoor7, 2009-10-08 05:24 pm UTC

Re: One other thing... -

daningram, 2009-10-08 05:29 pm UTC

Re: One other thing... -

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Re: One other thing... -

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Re: One other thing... -

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Re: One other thing... -

alphamonkey928, 2009-10-08 08:52 pm UTC

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autumn_lily, 2009-10-08 09:05 pm UTC

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	damar148 2009-10-08 12:53 pm UTC (link)
	This is part of the 'Gotham thinks Batman is a myth' era, cause shooting one of the world's most famous superheroes for beating up a known crook would make Romy deserve getting punched in the face and her gun taken away. (Reply to this) (Thread)

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daningram, 2009-10-08 01:08 pm UTC

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dustbunny105
2009-10-08 06:13 pm UTC (link)

Huh... Y'know, on the one hand, I can see how Romy might have a fair case for firing on Batman in an objective sense. On the other hand, her behavior after the fact does not suggest to me "I was just doing my job" so much as "wtf did I just do?" I don't get the sense that Romy acted to neutralize a threat, I get the sense that her feelings about Batman momentarily overtook her.

Also, while hitting her and taking her gun is a big dick move, I can't honestly say I wouldn't be feeling petty if I'd just been fired on, especially if I had even a little reason to think that the cop who fired may have done so for personal rather than professional reasons.

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autumn_lily, 2009-10-08 09:06 pm UTC

golden_orange
2009-10-09 12:06 am UTC (link)

I'm sure from a legal stand-point, she'd be able to argue a valid case for shooting Batman in self-defense; he's an armed vigilante, he's just been beating up a man innocent of this particular crime (let's face it; describing PENGUIN of all people as an 'innocent man' is slightly questionable) and he's probably armed up the wazoo with all sorts of stuff that could theoretically dismember her. If it came to court, I expect that Romy would be able to argue her way out of the charge with some reasonable arguments.

But that doesn't change the fact that she allowed her emotions to get away with her, and fired a kill-shot at a man based largely on the fact that she extremely disliked him, without really giving him adequate opportunity to comply with her requests. A man who, let's remember, even with his then-current difficult relationship with the Gotham PD had never picked up a rep for violence against police officers. I mean hell, she even pretty much ADMITS it in later panels that she fired on him because she hated him. It's frankly a bit disingenuous to talk solely about her legal justifications for doing so without acknowledging this point.

Batman may be a bit of a dick here, but let's face it; in this situation Romy's hardly the pure-as-driven-snow angel making a righteous shot that some seem to be making her out to be either. Which, incidentally, is one of the reasons I loved loved LOVED this series.

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