The Fate of Batman

[Rollo Tomassi]

But isn't there also some new mysterious Batgirl in a costume similar to Barbara's old one?

she's not so mysterious. from what i've heard it's 'spoiler', who is apparently back from the dead.

She was never "dead". She (or rather Dr. Thompkins) faked her death, thus making that whole storyline about the falling out of Batman and Leslie Thompkins over her death completely fucktarded, because it was implied that when she came back, Batman knew or suspected all along and thats why he didn't have a shrine to her in the Batcave like Jason. So basically Batman threatened to turn Leslie in for the "fake" murder of Stephanie if she ever stepped foot in Gotham again.

[vynsane]

She was never "dead". She (or rather Dr. Thompkins) faked her death, thus making that whole storyline about the falling out of Batman and Leslie Thompkins over her death completely fucktarded, because it was implied that when she came back, Batman knew or suspected all along and thats why he didn't have a shrine to her in the Batcave like Jason. So basically Batman threatened to turn Leslie in for the "fake" murder of Stephanie if she ever stepped foot in Gotham again.

HAHA, that is fucktarded.

[anarky]

Unfortunately, so is almost everything in the Batman funny books lately.

[Rollo Tomassi]

HAHA, that is fucktarded.

The sad part is, the story where they have the confrontation was actually really good. War Crimes is the TPB title, I think. Leslie was totally opposed to Batman recruiting children into his "war" and needed to do something radical to bring it to his attention. She had a good point and made a strong argument, even if her actions were wrong (in the story she "let" Stephanie die on the the operating table, rather than fix her , knowing she'd go right back out and start endangering herself again.) Having read the books for many years and in the context that Leslie is Bruce's "mom" as much as Alfred is his "dad" the confrontation was pretty intense.

Then some hack writer retconned it because they wanted to bring Spoiler back because it made for a good "shocking" last page when Robin's sales were slumping.

[Diabolical]

Unfortunately, so is almost everything in the Batman funny books lately.

Gotham City Sirens has been entertaining.

[anarky]

Rollo, is Morrison paying you royalties for stealing the "multiple Batmen" idea?

The way he's bringing it about sounds shitty from the details I can find. Honestly, man, I hate to sound like the bitchy fanboy, but I'm starting to loathe anything Morrison and think he ran out of decent ideas over a decade ago. Or at least editors started letting him have his way without question and the shitty ideas are way overshadowing the good ones. Someone at DC needs to stop letting him have free reign.

Franchising the Batman name. God, someone please shoot this man and sodomize his corpse into dust.

[Newsbot]

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A longtime Alaska comic book buff is selling one of the gems in his vast collection, a rare copy of Batman No. 1 published 70 years ago.

Mike Wheat of Fairbanks has put the 1940 comic book on the auction block through Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries, where it's expected to fetch more than $40,000. Online bids already have climbed to $35,000 for the book, believed to be one of fewer than 300 still in existence.

Online bids will compete with a live auction set for Thursday.

The second and fourth Batman issues also will be part of Thursday's auction. They are expected to bring more than $5,000 combined.

Wheat, a retired city wastewater treatment plant operator, said he considers the Batman comics an investment. He said it feels like the right time to sell.

"I just decided it's time for someone else to have it," he said.

The Batman No. 1 comic book was discovered after local businessman Ron Jaeger bought an old dresser at a garage sale in the early 1970s, then kept it in storage for a few years. When Jaeger finally brought it out, he noticed one of the drawers didn't slide easily.

Three comic books and a few old issues of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner were tucked beneath the drawer and a quarter-inch piece of plywood. The haul included a copy of Batman No. 1, Superman No. 17 and an old issue of a Red Ryder Western comic.

Wheat already had a reputation as an avid comic collector in 1974, and Jaeger sold him the comic books for $300.

The auction house has handled many copies of Batman No. 1, but Wheat's copy is notable because the low humidity and cool temperatures in Fairbanks have kept the paper in excellent condition, said Barry Sandoval, director of comic auctions and operations at Heritage. Old comics were printed on cheap newsprint, but the pages in Wheat's copy remain white and crisp.

"If we got a Batman No. 1 from Texas or Louisiana, if you opened it up after 70 years the pages would start to crumble," Sandoval said.

The condition of comics is graded on a scale of one to 10. Wheat's copy has been graded a 5.5. That's a middling score for a newer comic, but impressive for a vintage copy.

"I see how most comics from that era look," Sandoval said. "Most 70-year-old comics are in pretty rough shape."

Batman No. 1 was the first solo spin-off for the character, who made his first appearance in 1939 as a character in Detective Comics No. 27. The debut includes the original appearances by two of Batman's key foes, the Joker and Catwoman.

Needless to say, but you're not getting this at the cover price.

[Rollo Tomassi]

$40,000 seems low. I realize that's a strange thing to say, but when Action and Detective are passng the million mark, 40 grand seems like a steal.

[vynsane]

yeah, but those are first appearances. this isn't, it's the first issue of another comic that started a year after the initial introduction of the character (DET. 27 was may '39, BM 1 was may '40). it's still a huge collector's item, just not as much of one as the first appearance. take a look at this page:

http://www.nostomania.com/servlets/com. ... ComicsMain

and compare the difference between DET. 27 ($3,570,000) and the next most valuable issue of that title (featuring batman) DET. 29 ($159,000).

that page also has BM 1 at a mere (compared to DET. 27) $309,000 for a 9.4 grade copy. this is a 5.5 grade - which, while very high for a 70 year old comic, won't be a proportional ~$150,000 (roughly 50% of NM value).

[anarky]

There's a preview up at CBR of #702, what's supposed to be the "missing chapter" between RIP and Final Crisis.

Batman creates a magic bullet that can be fired multiple times, from any gun. And goes back in time. It's the bullet that killed his parents, JFK, Martin Luther King, and a laundry list of others.

Really, man, I know there's an extent of "to each his own" when it comes to comic books, but, no, really, how can anyone defend this idea?

[Rollo Tomassi]

Its also the bullet that killed Jesus.

But since nobody back then understood the concepts of autopsies or GSWs back then, they assumed he died on the cross.

[Batman]

REPORTS OF MY GODDAMN DEATH HAVE BEEN EXAGGERATED!

GRANT MORRISON HAS FOOLED YOU ALL, AS WAS OUR MASTER PLAN! WHEN THE VILLAINS BELIEVE THAT I AM GONE, REPLACED BY THAT PANSY-ASS GRAYSON, I SHALL EMERGE LIKE A PHOENIX OF ASS-KICKING!

I CANNOT BE DESTROYED! I SHALL ALWAYS RISE FROM THE ASHES TO CRUSH EVIL BENEATH MY BORDERLINE-FASCIST BOOT!

FOR I AM THE GODDAMN BATMAN!!

[anarky]

Here's a question for you:

Given all the batshit insane (forgive the pun) dredging up of Silver Age stories best left in an alternate universe, disturbing revelations about Batman's parents, the snigtarded Damian Wayne fiasco, the re-introduction of shit like The Batmen of Many Nations, a bright red flying Batmobile, and now Batman Inc, is there any way to "save" Batman after Morrison is gone?

I'm being serious. Is there a way to get him back to what makes him Batman, not what makes him this bizarre Morrison-spawn spoof of himself.

Will we get a late 60s/early 70s (and, to a lesser extent, mid 80s) styled reboot? Or will fandom, being old and insular at this point, resist?

If Denny O'Neil weren't pushing 130, I'd say he should come back and fix things.

The perfect Batman is the one written by Alan Grant and drawn by Norm Breyfogle, with Marv Wolfman and the late Jim Aparo on the other Bat-title. Batman is believed by most to be an urban legend; though he hangs with Superman occasionally, it's not a given, and he doesn't fight aliens. Tim Drake is the third Robin; Jason is dead and Dick is Nightwing. Harold is still alive and still ugly. Barbara Gordon is Oracle. Batman's beefs are as much with crime lords like Rupert Thorne as with costumed loonies like The Joker. And the Joker is batshit insane, not "super-aware of reality and reinventing himself every day."

[vynsane]

is there any way to "save" Batman after Morrison is gone?

yes, they will change the character again and again and everyone will complain every time

[anarky]

I'm not being too "fanboy" am I? I just really think that an awful lot of what Morrison has done has totally gone against what the essence of Batman has been for almost 70 years. Okay, almost 50 years, non-consecutively.