Tropico said:
I get Zeu's point, I think that it's the rest of you who don't understand. He's not saying that established metas should take over Gotham, he's saying that if metahumans (whoever they might be, even new ones) were in the city that it might be a better city from what we've seen in the other cities in the DCU.
If it works in other cities why not Gotham? Because Batman says so? Because DC WANTS to keep Gotham the way it is so Batman can have his personal playground story-wise? The main mistake I see people are making is that they equate being human to sneakiness and having powers to being obvious. Hasn't Superman as Clark Kent ousted Intergang by being sneaky? We still don't know WW's story, but apparently she's passing as a govt. agent now. Is it so hard to conceive that if there were people with powers in Gotham, that operated in the way that you guys say that you HAVE to operate in Gotham, that it would be a better place than it currently is? Of course, it'll never happen because editorially it would destroy Batman's world; but think outside the context, I think it's reasonable that Gotham could get better with people that can do what none of the Bat Family can do.
Like...what?
What exactly
needs to be done in Gotham that Batman and his people can't do, and
needs superpowered heroes to do for him? Clobber people? Punch through buildings? Stop robberies? Mindwipes?
The problem with Gotham is not something you can punch. It is a social disease, and far more insidious than some cackling supervillains all over the place. Okay, yeah, if you dress down Clark Kent or Diana Prince and have them be all subtle and sneaky and work with the system it's probable that they'll learn to adapt...but then, what would be the point? There was nothing wrong with their previous methods, it's just that it's unfit for Gotham. That's not the battle that they were meant to fight. Why not just find some normal humans to train into those situations since those situations don't call for superpowers? Oh, wait, that's exactly what he
does. Gotham does not need magic lassoes or earth-shattering fists, and adding such things to the equation just mucks everything up and is likely to make things worse. The problem, plain and simple, is corruption. The sort of corruption that's not going to go away just because you have people in spandex acting heroic. "If it works in other cities why not Gotham?" Because Gotham is different than other cities. This is a fact inherent in the question.
Zeu said:
I think people underestimate metas a lot.
They assume that the moment you gain superpowers, you become this mindless brute who rushes in heatvision firing first and ask questions later.
Compared to most other superheroes, especially very powerful ones like Superman and Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, Batman has a much,
much more subtle approach. This is
FACT. It is not a point of debate up for discussion. It is simply how these characters are written. Batman has a lot more patience and a lot more detective skills and a lot more experience in just using his
head to solve a problem as opposed to his fists than almost any metahuman superhero you can name. If you don't believe this about those characters, you really don't have any idea about how they work.
Zeu said:
If Batgirl managed to adjust herself to Gotham quite well (and we´re talking about a socially-chalenged person who couldn´t even speak), why do people automatically assume that Jonn or Spectre would never manage to tune their M.O. to the city´s rythm?
Okay, now it feels like you're just grasping for ways to make this work. If you'll notice, you're talking about
BATgirl here, not Supergirl or Power Girl or Wonder Girl. Batgirl adjusted to Gotham quite well because she was trained by Batman himself and his team to work how he works. She herself has said, many times, that she admires Batman's approach and wants to be able to
be him one day. Frankly, I think Batgirl being able to adjust to Gotham is more a point
against your argument than it is for it, considering that the way she adjusted to Gotham was by using Batman's decidedly non-metahuman modus operandi.
Again, it's not like other heroes' approaches are
wrong or anything, it's simply that they're not fit for Gotham. The fact is that Superman works very well in Metropolis. Why
force him into Gotham, a situation where he is bizarrely out of place? You'd be trying to force a square peg into a round hole. And I swear to Buffy, if you just ask me why other heroes' approaches aren't fit for Gotham,
AGAIN, I'm just going to keep on dragging out that scan of friggin' SUPERMAN HIMSELF admitting that Gotham needs a different approach than his.