Batman Rant
Okay, first of all, who actually reads Batman Inc?
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I only picked up a copy a few months ago because it had Damian on the front. Plus Talia and Bruce fighting over Damian, which sounded like an awesome concept.
As you can probably tell, I like Damian. He’s adorable, evil, and has interesting relationships with his family. I think he and Dick working together back before the reboot was interesting. Damian was an arrogant brat who gave mature and responsible Dick a nice foil. The first eight issues of the New 52s Batman and Robin were damn good. Even new to comics like I am, I can see that. They accomplished what seemed to be lacking in previous Batman titles. They made Bruce Wayne a good, emotionally open and involved father. Not perfect, but he made sure Damian knew how he felt about the whole mess with Nobody. And he forgave Damian for breaking the One Rule (tm), admitting that he wished he’d killed Nobody himself, rather than Damian having that blood on his hands.
So, yeah, Damian Wayne died in Batman Inc. #8. I have no idea where this takes place in canon, since it doesn’t seem to jive with the recent Death of the Family arc, which it ran concurrently with. But everyone insists it’s canon, so who am I to argue? If this does qualify as canon, and my favorite Batman character is in fact dead for more than a few issues, I think I’ll be saving some money on all the Batman titles I’ve been buying the last few months.
I’m serious. I did this with Torchwood when they killed off Ianto. I’m not doing this again. I don’t bond with a franchise, I bond with a character within the franchise. Through that character I connect with the series. Sometimes I grow attached to other characters, who can hold my interest while my favorite isn’t around. Not the case with the current Batman line up. I like Dick when he’s being brotherly with Damian. I like Bruce when he’s being fatherly to Damian. Given more time, I could have developed a deeper attachment to the other character who could have sustained my interest without Damian. But I’ve only been reading Batman comics for a few months. Incidentally, I started reading Batman because of the above mentioned #(1)6 issue of Batman Inc. Before that, I exclusively read Marvel. But in the last month I’ve read every trade paperback in the tri-county library related to Batman. And again, the character I grew attached to during all that reading was Damian.
So, am I probably overreacting to something I really don’t understand? I hope so. Does anyone really care if I stop buying Batman comics? Probably not. But I need an outlet right now, and my livejournal provides me with one.
Here’s hoping this is a fake out and Damian will be back in another couple of issues. And if he’s not, let’s hope they don’t bring in some new, unheard of character to replace him.
{C}{C}
I only picked up a copy a few months ago because it had Damian on the front. Plus Talia and Bruce fighting over Damian, which sounded like an awesome concept.
As you can probably tell, I like Damian. He’s adorable, evil, and has interesting relationships with his family. I think he and Dick working together back before the reboot was interesting. Damian was an arrogant brat who gave mature and responsible Dick a nice foil. The first eight issues of the New 52s Batman and Robin were damn good. Even new to comics like I am, I can see that. They accomplished what seemed to be lacking in previous Batman titles. They made Bruce Wayne a good, emotionally open and involved father. Not perfect, but he made sure Damian knew how he felt about the whole mess with Nobody. And he forgave Damian for breaking the One Rule (tm), admitting that he wished he’d killed Nobody himself, rather than Damian having that blood on his hands.
So, yeah, Damian Wayne died in Batman Inc. #8. I have no idea where this takes place in canon, since it doesn’t seem to jive with the recent Death of the Family arc, which it ran concurrently with. But everyone insists it’s canon, so who am I to argue? If this does qualify as canon, and my favorite Batman character is in fact dead for more than a few issues, I think I’ll be saving some money on all the Batman titles I’ve been buying the last few months.
I’m serious. I did this with Torchwood when they killed off Ianto. I’m not doing this again. I don’t bond with a franchise, I bond with a character within the franchise. Through that character I connect with the series. Sometimes I grow attached to other characters, who can hold my interest while my favorite isn’t around. Not the case with the current Batman line up. I like Dick when he’s being brotherly with Damian. I like Bruce when he’s being fatherly to Damian. Given more time, I could have developed a deeper attachment to the other character who could have sustained my interest without Damian. But I’ve only been reading Batman comics for a few months. Incidentally, I started reading Batman because of the above mentioned #(1)6 issue of Batman Inc. Before that, I exclusively read Marvel. But in the last month I’ve read every trade paperback in the tri-county library related to Batman. And again, the character I grew attached to during all that reading was Damian.
So, am I probably overreacting to something I really don’t understand? I hope so. Does anyone really care if I stop buying Batman comics? Probably not. But I need an outlet right now, and my livejournal provides me with one.
Here’s hoping this is a fake out and Damian will be back in another couple of issues. And if he’s not, let’s hope they don’t bring in some new, unheard of character to replace him.