Batman #0 rant
KyleMoyer
Posts: 727
I'm surprised nobody's talking about the backup story in Batman #0. Am I the only one who was annoyed by this?
1. I've always liked Tim Drake. I haven't read much of the new 52 Teen Titans, but from what I'd seen, his back story was changed but "who he was" was not really. I'm assuming that's supposed to be Tim "Drake" (or whatever his name is now) in Batman #0 and he's now an obnoxious punk. That's not the Tim I know. While I've been reading comics (and Batman in particular) since I was old enough to read, I began seriously collecting a little bit before Tim Drake was introduced. While I also read the first appearances of Jason Todd, it was more sporadic at the time so I've followed Tim from the start and he's kinda like "my Robin." It doesn't hurt that he is a likable, interesting character. Or at least he was. So much for that.
2. All three of these Robins seemed to be about the same age. This is clearly a result of editorial mucking about because in the first issue of Batman, they were drawn to be three clear and distinct age groups. No specific ages were given, but they all seemed to be in the same general grouping.
3. The whole Robin age fiasco was resolved by DC by them saying that super heroes were only around for 5 years, but Batman was operating in the shadows for longer than that. Here we get the answer to how much longer (this is a complaint about the first story rather than the backup). A whole year. So Damian was conceived before Bruce became Batman?
4. A minor nitpick compared to some of these others, but it was kinda annoying the way they played off on the fact that Tim took the SATs in middle school to make him look like some kind of genius. I took the SATs in 7th grade and got a higher score than my cousin who was in high school taking them to get into college (not a lot higher, but still higher). And while I guess I'm a pretty smart guy, I'm certainly no genius and there was no way I was prepared for college at that age like they were implying that he was. Keep in mind that that was a while ago, so maybe the SATs have changed since then, but I think it would have made him look like more of a genius to show him passing an actual college exam or grad school entrance exam or something along those lines. Of course the implications that he was a genius for doing this were from Tim rather than the guy from the school, but the reason I got to take the SATs at that age was because at my school, they let people who scored above a certain score on the achievement tests take the SATs in 7th grade. It was a routine occurrence and it was a routine occurrence for people to do rather well on them. So the idea that a school administrator would give him the test to humble him and make him look bad and have it backfire was unrealistic to me.
1. I've always liked Tim Drake. I haven't read much of the new 52 Teen Titans, but from what I'd seen, his back story was changed but "who he was" was not really. I'm assuming that's supposed to be Tim "Drake" (or whatever his name is now) in Batman #0 and he's now an obnoxious punk. That's not the Tim I know. While I've been reading comics (and Batman in particular) since I was old enough to read, I began seriously collecting a little bit before Tim Drake was introduced. While I also read the first appearances of Jason Todd, it was more sporadic at the time so I've followed Tim from the start and he's kinda like "my Robin." It doesn't hurt that he is a likable, interesting character. Or at least he was. So much for that.
2. All three of these Robins seemed to be about the same age. This is clearly a result of editorial mucking about because in the first issue of Batman, they were drawn to be three clear and distinct age groups. No specific ages were given, but they all seemed to be in the same general grouping.
3. The whole Robin age fiasco was resolved by DC by them saying that super heroes were only around for 5 years, but Batman was operating in the shadows for longer than that. Here we get the answer to how much longer (this is a complaint about the first story rather than the backup). A whole year. So Damian was conceived before Bruce became Batman?
4. A minor nitpick compared to some of these others, but it was kinda annoying the way they played off on the fact that Tim took the SATs in middle school to make him look like some kind of genius. I took the SATs in 7th grade and got a higher score than my cousin who was in high school taking them to get into college (not a lot higher, but still higher). And while I guess I'm a pretty smart guy, I'm certainly no genius and there was no way I was prepared for college at that age like they were implying that he was. Keep in mind that that was a while ago, so maybe the SATs have changed since then, but I think it would have made him look like more of a genius to show him passing an actual college exam or grad school entrance exam or something along those lines. Of course the implications that he was a genius for doing this were from Tim rather than the guy from the school, but the reason I got to take the SATs at that age was because at my school, they let people who scored above a certain score on the achievement tests take the SATs in 7th grade. It was a routine occurrence and it was a routine occurrence for people to do rather well on them. So the idea that a school administrator would give him the test to humble him and make him look bad and have it backfire was unrealistic to me.
Comments
It is almost like DC editorial heard people talking about how the Batman universe didn't really change with the New 52 reboot/relaunch/whatever, and said, "Quick! Change stuff so they don't notice that Batman was working just fine before!"
Tim Drake was a great character. A well-thought out, logical successor to the Robin mantle, made distinctive from the previous characters that had that role.
I was very irked when I read this, and, suddenly, Tim's a gymnast? One of the best parts of Tim was that he didn't have that background, that he was more of a natural detective, and once he became Robin, he had to undergo that training, traveling the world without Batman to get it, allowing use to come to know him as a character.
Quite simply, there was nothing - nothing - wrong with the character or his overall story arc before. Changing him for change's sake... bad form.
M.
Characters are unlikable. Plots are fanfiction. Art is 90's posing and shiny, shiny weapons. Stories aren't STORIES with beginnings, middles and ends, but a collection of stuff that happens. All of the hacks from the 90's that made Marvel such a mess they had to get rid of the EIC after he screwed up EVERY opportunity to bring in new readers on a massive scale have been brought it and handed the keys to the kingdom.
The thing that I hate about how they've played with the Robin timeline is that it feels like they are fixing it as they go...and they are hinting that one of them was a plant by the Joker...because the Joker is a mastermind who relies on long term planning.
I follow creators, not characters. DC has pretty much flushed the idea that you hire great people and guide them to do good work. Morrison's leaving DC and so am I.
The only excuse Marvel had in the 90's was that they were pushed HARD in that direction by their then-CEO, Ron Perelman, who was trying to get the most buck out of the company without any real concern for story or fan, and forced the company to generate as many books with as many gimmicks as the market would bear. I don't think -- or, at least, I don't know -- that DC has that excuse.
The Robin mess doesn't bother me. One good writer can fix it, make you believe it, and have you going "duh!" in the wink of an eye. Problem is, they've not brought that writer in yet, so we're left to fan conjecture and hand-wringing.
I've actually been enjoying the bat-titles, in spite of themselves.
1. I liked the first story.
2. The "5 years" is annoying and shows a lack of this being well-thought out, but it's something I can overlook. The change in character to Tim was what I found far far far more grating. In general, the loss of the Tim Drake character is my biggest gripe with the new 52 because the current Tim Drake isn't the Tim Drake I know.
...the stories still exist in your mind!
Blue Moon is my beer of choice.
Pepsi is my soda of choice.
apparently i like it sweet.
There was not much Drake in this backup story, but I thought the thing everyone was pissed about was that a Teen Titans issue made it seem like Lobdell might (only might, I don't know that it has been confirmed yet in the work) be separating Drake from the Bat-family. But I saw this backup story as including him amongst the rest of the proteges and family, which gave me the feeling we will still see a story in the New 52 that connects Drake with Batman.
I thought that is what people wanted a few weeks ago? To still have Drake connected to the Bat Family?
This is only the beginning. As more of the past gets filled in I think there are going to be others whose prized second tier characters don't exist or are something drastically different then they thought.
A week or two ago there was a thing in the Teen Titans trade, a change, that led people to think they were going to make it do he never worked with Batman. So I figured this issue, and his appearance in #13 would put minds at ease about that.