sabrinathecat
Explorer
In The Dark Knight Returns, he had retired for 10 years while crime ran rampant. Was that not-Batman too?
Considering how bad DKR was, yes.
I know it's considered iconic, and a revolutionary change in the way the characters interacted, but DKR suffered from the same bad writing as Watchmen: overly simplified reactionary politics of the writer. (Can't go into any more detail, as my critique would certainly violate this board's rules).
Aside from the notion that Batman and Super man wouldn't be chums because their styles of fighting crime conflict, DKR has nothing: Over-rated hogwash.
Yes, I said it.
To say that calling one version of batman is right or wrong is hubris: no. The argument presented was entirely valid, and supported. Based on the character and motivations, the whole "taking 10 years off and not doing jack poop while crime ran rampant" was entirely out of character for any version of Batman. Any Version. Take the defining characteristic of a person. Remove it. Is it the same person? No.
Consider: I somehow got the rights to make Justice League: The First Movie. I do the following: Superman is an aryan, cigar-smoking, steroid enhanced leftover from WWII (remember, Superman was originally conceived of as a villain), Batman is a birth-defect with enormous ears that give him active sonar and the ability to glide from tall buildings, Aqua-man is a water elemental with the combined IQ of the aquatic animals swimming within 50 feet of him, WonderWoman is a Raging "feminist" who grew up reading Ann Rand, Green Lantern is a former call girl who got a magic ring from a sorceror who didn't have any cash on him. Would you consider this a valid interpretation of the characters? Would this be "Justice League"?
Sure, I painted an extremely ugly and offensive picture. But if "any interpretation is valid", then so is this one.
(Note: I not only would not suggest making a movie with this version of the characters, I probably wouldn't want to see a movie with any one of these characters in any way.)
Last edited: