In praise of BatJim.
(NOTE: If you want to get a hint of what Snyder and Capullo have planned next for Batman, click here. We spoke to them about it at New York Comic Con.)
The older I get, the more I keep an open mind about how my favorite characters are handled.
Maybe it’s because I know that eventually the standard status quo — or something close to it — will return, at least where Batman is concerned. Or maybe it’s just because I’ve come to embrace the inherent absurdity of superhero stories.
So if DC wants to make Jim Gordon Batman for awhile, why not, as long as the stories are good?
Well, the stories have been good.
This week, the flagship is back at center stage, with Batman #45.
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have put just enough of a sheen on the BatJim concept to make it believable, but have leavened things with unexpectedly sly humor. Rather than jamming this idea down our throats, these guys have made it clear that the characters themselves find the notion of a nictotine-addicted, middle-aged cop’s cop flying around in a robotic rabbit costume as silly as we do.
And the other Batbooks have followed suit, so we’re getting rich storytelling across the board.
But it’s the main book that sets the tone — and Snyder and Capullo are doing their best work since the Court of Owls.
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ALSO ON THE BATSHELVES THIS WEEK: Bat-Mite #5 brings back the Inferior Five! Batgirl guest-stars in Justice League United. There’s also the uneven Justice League of America #4, which features BatBruce. And I’m taking Batman and Robin Eternal week by week. We’re just at Issue #2.
October 14, 2015
I could not disagree more with this article. I like to think, as a comic reader, I have a very open mind. That being said, this robo-bat suit/Jim Gordon Batman is just a horrible idea. It can’t end soon enough for me personally. If I had to say something good about this concept I guess it would be that Snyder has written it about as well as could be expected.
I like to picture the DC bigwigs in a meeting and it goes like this. “Ok, guys, sales are down. Any ideas?” “Why yes, I have one I’ve been sitting on. Let’s take out most popular comic hero and let’s just take him almost completely out of the book. Let’s make an over the hill smoker take over his job, AAAAND, now here comes the best part… We put him in a robo-bat suit”
It’s my understanding the sales on Batman ARE down since this arc started and I can’t say I’m surprised.