This post from Screen Rant sums up a lot of my problems with the direction of Batman, and other superhero adaptations. Read it through, but the short version is that for too long people didn’t see the satire of Frank Miller’s Dark Knight and Alan Moore’s Watchmen. This lead to shoe-horning dark, edgy and violent characterizations where they didn’t belong to keep up and cash in. This led to comics and superheroes being realistic and more “adult” and therefore not for kids. As if something being “for kids” means that adults can’t enjoy it without feeling guilty.
I dislike Frank Miller’s Batman. I dislike the influence it has had. I can’t argue with the story direction of it. Seeing your parents gunned down in front of you could totally lead to Angry Ninja Batman, as I call it. It could lead to brutal violence and not trusting anyone to the point of always having counter measures at hand for even your “friends”. But it feels very limited in story possibilities compared to what I refer to as Detective Batman.
Detective Batman is still a rich, super genius in peak physical form who is driven to deliver justice. He starts his one-man war on crime to protect others from the tragedy he suffered. But gradually he sees that striking fear into the hearts of criminals isn’t enough because it also leads to being feared by those you’re trying to protect and to being hunted by the justice system you’re trying to help. So he finds allies in James Gordon and Lucius Fox. By working with the police by giving them clues they couldn’t get themselves, it leads to arrests and convictions and the city being safer from regular crime. That it also leads to more extreme criminals is a story for another time.
But in my mind the thing that really saves Batman from himself is a kid named Dick Grayson. Robin was initially introduced as a plot device so that Batman could have someone to talk to (think Watson to Holmes) and to appeal to younger kids. I think we need to bring back Dick Grayson to save us from Angry Ninja Batman.
Dick Grayson is one of my favourite characters in comics. Despite having the same backstory as Bruce, he ends of having real friends, making his own family with the Titans, and even having several positive romantic relationships. There’s a joke that his super power is still being friends with his exes. He’s a positive character that really can’t happen with Angry Ninja Batman. Because Dick helps change Angry Ninja Batman into Detective Batman.
Batman fails to save Dick Grayson from the tragedy of losing his parents. Feeling guilty about this, he takes the young acrobat in. As Alfred spends time with Dick (because Bruce is off on his crusade), he sees a kid very similar to the young master he raised but with more compassion. Alfred convinces Bruce to spend time with the boy and it changes and challenges Bruce. He sees the chance to be a father figure to this kid but he ends up learning more from his young ward. He teaches Dick to fight and stealth and to be a detective. But Dick teaches Bruce how to be human, and trust, again. Without Dick Grayson, you don’t get a Batman who can think outside his own pain enough to join with other heroes to save the world, to join/found the Justice League.
Angry Ninja Batman limits the stories you can tell to stories “for adults” instead of having stories that adults can share with their kids. If Pixar has taught us anything, it’s that you can tell stories for both. I really dislike how Miller-inspired Batman has become such the default in Batman media. I say this as a parent who wants to share these characters with his son, but also as a fan who wants more people to be able to experience these characters regardless of age.
terrifible 