Cyber Bowling
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2017
I feel like saying Batman is an "average joe" and "just human" is missing the point of Batman and actually makes him kinda bland. Batman is as popular as he is because he's such a larger than life figure, to the point where criminals used to question if he was actually human. There have been plenty of stories where someone with powers has underestimated him, writing him off as a normal human, only for him to pull a Batman and defeat the big bad. Granted, sometimes this is taken to ridiculous lengths.I would just go with a Batman that has morals and limits, just like your average Joe. He has a no-kill code, but if push comes to shove and he's dealing with a mass-murdering shit who has killed tons of people before and shows no signs of repentance, then yes, he will occasionally kill, but 99% of the thugs he encounters, he gives them a slight love-tap beating before sending them to the GCPD. Eventually, he runs out of real criminals to fight, so he hires a troop of actors to take colorful names and stage fake crimes so he can fight them in public and have an excuse for the cops still having jobs, while most crimes in Gotham revert to white-collar corporate crimes since Bruce and the GCPD have made violent crimes un-profitable.
He's not evil, he's not a complete saint, he's just another man who was wounded by his past, but he just seeks to do what's best for everyone. Like the DCAU Batman, he tries his best not to kill anyone, but even he has limits, because he's just human.
I also have mixed feelings about a Batman who wins. I think one of the more interesting aspects, at least in the hands of a good writer, is the exploration of what his war on crime actually means. That's where I think an Injustice version of Batman would potentially work, with him basically resorting to extreme, totalitarian measures to stop crime. He could pull a No Mans Land and separate Gotham again, then use Brother Eye or some other device to run a scaled down version of Minority Report. Heck, maybe this Batman doesn't even kill and uses that as a twisted justification to explain his actions. Instead, he uses Starro or some martian tech or whatever to pacify all the Arkham inmates and make anyone he deems troublesome obedient.
Actually, as I type that, I realize that story was basically done in a scaled down version with the Justice Lords in the DCAU. Well, minus Gotham being separated. At the very least, I'd argue it's better than Batman Who Laughs, which felt more like "What if Batman was the Joker" which in turn was basically "What if Joker was allowed to win"
In general, I don't think DC excels at "average" heroes. That's more of a Marvel thing. DC plays more into the larger than life angle. I feel like there's also a fair amount of indie stories/smaller publishers that do more "realistic" versions of Batman already in a much better way than DC ever could.