stillanerd
Sidekick
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2005
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Yes. And when AzBats was fighting the Joker's henchmen, the Joker immediately figured out that, based on the way AzBats was fighting that he wasn't the real Batman. As a result, the Joker when off on a tirade about how much effort he put into his latest scheme only to have some "phony" show up instead of the real deal. I don't recall whether he even thought about actually NOT killing him because he figured it wasn't even worth his time to kill a "Batman wannabe."
As for regards with the R.I.P. storyline itself, I think there is something we have to take into consideration and that is what the Joker tells Batman with regards to his "wikipedia" statement. Basically, the Joker (and thus Morrison) is telling Batman (and the reader) that we're making things a lot more complicated than they actually are. Of course, given the amount of misdirection and clues and symbols Morrison is using, we, the readers believe there must be something complicated going on, that if we decipher the meanings he's planted, it will all make sense. But the trick with Morrison is, just like in his X-Men run, is that the solutions are actually very simple ones; they only seem complex because of all the imagery and wordplay he uses to distract us, just like any magician would.
So, what would be the simple solutions to some of the mysteries about R.I.P.? Well, the simple answer, as suggested in this issue, is that Jezebel Jet is the Black Glove. Sure, it's obvious, especially if you compare her to the various "red and black" motiff that has been popping up, but, then again, that's the whole point.
Another mystery, who is Simon Hurt? Is he Thomas Wayne still alive? John Mayhew? Joe Chill's son? The devil? Well, the simple answer would be none of the above. He's simply Dr. Simon Hurt, the guy who once performed isolation experiments on Batman. So why then does he hate Batman and going through all of this just elaborate set-up to destroy him? Well remember that Hurt was also, once upon a time, trying to re-create Batman, the "Three Ghosts of Batman" as it were, in case Batman was out of commission. He also had Batman undergo the isolation experiements to see how he ticked, then tried to have these Batmen fight him. And Batman defeated them. My guess is that this really put a number on Dr. Hurt's ego, that he went through all this work to try and help Batman, only to have him "ruin" it. Thus, his radical means of trying to improve them to what they became today, not to mention the post-hypnotic suggestions to make Batman forget. But still, it wasn't enough. Even though Batman no longer remembered, Hurt did, and his ego was still bruised. Nothing more simple than that.
But what about his claims he's Thomas Wayne, that Alfred is Bruce's real father, not to mention the photographic evidence Commissioner Gordon got showing Thomas and Martha being associated with John Mayhew that appears to support that theory? Well, recall that in that same issue, it's was stated that the Black Glove organization has planted false evidence before. Also remember the line in this latest issue when one of the party members asks Hurt whether Batman is "another one of his actors." Well, considering how many members of the Club of Villians there are, not to mention Hurt, and Jezebel, there's certainly more than enough of them to pretend to play various roles via disguises, make-up, and costuming, pose in front of non-digital cameras to make it look more authentic. Not to mention write up a few bogus notes from a private detective. Why? Well, to bait Gordon to go to Wayne Manor, where of course he faces all kinds of booby traps. So why does Hurt tell the same story to Alfred? To let them know what they've been up to.
And what about Jezebel? Why would she want to go after Bruce like this? Well, the simple answer would be that, unlike herself when her father died, Bruce devoted his life to just stopping crime when he could have done so much more with wealth and influence. And maybe she learned a thing or two about Bruce Wayne's parents, of the associations they had with characters like John Mayhew. Maybe it was Mayhew or the Black Glove organization who had her parents killed. Maybe Thomas Wayne was once upon a time a member. As a result, she went "Madame Defarge" and started going after anyone associated with them. Maybe by next issue, all the attendants who came to watch Batman rescue Jezebel will have been poisoned by her and Hurt, that they joined the organization simply to destroy it from within.
Okay, maybe the solutions and motives might be a little more elaborate, or maybe they're not the solutions at all. However, I get the feeling, especially with this issue, that the answers do not involve complex re-working of the Wayne family or elaborate connections to a great degree or that they make things more complex. I think what Morrison is attempting here is that sometimes, the most damaging things in our lives are things which are very simple and that, to explain them, we make them more complex than they really are.
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