I don’t like the modern Paranoid Batman. You know, the guy who doesn’t trust anybody despite being on at least three teams at any one time. One of them is the “Batman Family”, which keeps getting messed up because some writer comes along assuming Batman has to be a broody loner because of his trauma. Trauma has ruined the DC Universe, or rather how poorly it’s used to make formerly great characters weak or rage machines. I went over that with Billy Batson and Kara recently. One of the things that made me a DC fan over a Marvel fan was how well the heroes got along. I mean…my introduction had them calling themselves Superfriends, and then I see comics with even Batman and Superman getting along when they first met, unlike more recent versions at least as far back as The New Batman Superman Adventures if not earlier. It just frustrates me to no end as someone who is practically an isolated loner and yet I have friends.
In an attempt to “justify” his paranoia we have Batman stumbling upon certain Justice League members, catching them brainwashing a villain because he raped Elongated Man’s wife, and them wiping his mind. That’s the kind of garbage that started with you-know-who and continues now that he’s gone because many of the same writers he brought in are still there, still destroying the characters. When his memory came back in a story that had nothing to do with these events narratively and was just there to grimdark the DC Universe, he goes nuts and creates Brother Eye, formerly an example of “Big Brother” in another reality, which goes nuts and tries to destroy the world. Originally it was supposed to keep heroes in check, an extension of his growing paranoia. I hate this, too.
You know what I don’t hate? Batman having contingency plans for the heroes.
That also gets treated as part of his broody loner paranoid act, but when you think about it that’s not accurate. The “Tower Of Babel” storyline, in which Ra’s Al Ghul (Vandal Savage for some reason in the animated adaptation, not that Ra’s is known for caring about anyone in the Justice League besides Batman) learns of Batman’s plans, gives them a lethal twist, and tries to bump off the League. If that’s what you’re focused on then you really aren’t getting how important having such plans are to crimefighting, especially in a world where heroes have fallen (alternate continuities aside), villains share those powers, and mind control–and sometimes just body control are totally things that happen. It’s not that the plans exist, it’s that it’s done so poorly.
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