Official Batman Titles thread 2.0 - - - - Part 13

[RoughNTumble]

alfred definitely wasn't evil from the beginning, and definitely isn't 'off' in CoO

 

[Hush]

Batman doesn't kill.

 

[Naked Shia]

This theory is something I could imagine in Snyder's run. Like you said, it has been done already, with the whole outsider stuff. I have to admit though, I couldn't care less about how Death of the family will end. I just want it to end, so that other writers can tell their stories, instead of being forced to write tie in.

Also, Earth One was interesting. The characterization was good. About Johns, I'm not a fan, but I think the dude can write some great stories. I Liked Flashpoint because of the twist about Batman mostly. But I also liked what he did with Batsy in Infinite Crisis. The scene between him and Superman from earth 2 is awesome to me.

 

[maninthechair]

Who wants to read my detailed theory for the ending of Death of the Family?

Be warned, this is going to be an insane, detailed read, and I'd even put money on it being the real ending.

This is a combination of two theories between me and someone else, him being blue and me being red:

Spoiler

All through Court of Owls and Death of the Family, Alfred has felt "off". I assumed through CoO that it was to make the reader question whether or not Alfred was in on the Court. I think that what's going to happen is that Synder is again retelling a classic Batman tale in a new way. I believe that Alfred is wearing Joker's face. He has become the villain again like he did before. He knows who they all are. He above everyone else wants Bruce stronger and better. He could get into the house and kidnap "himself". At the end of the last issue, Batman thinks he will stare into Joker's eyes until he sees love. The "Death" will be when its revealed that "Joker" is Alfred. The secret that Bruce is keeping from the family is that Bruce knows that Alfred has had mental breaks and became a villain before and Bruce knew about it and didn't lock Alfred in Arkham. He didn't tell the others what Alfred is capable of.

- I firmly believe that the "Joker" in Death of the Family is NOT THE Joker. Someone else is wearing his face. I'm 100% convinced. There has been zero reason given as to why Joker cut off his own face, so we are waiting for that specific explanation. Why he cut his own face off is a mystery yet to be solved. Secondly, if you notice these alternate covers, the Joker's "Mask" face is worn on top of everyone's face like a mask (i.e., Batman is wearing Joker's face, Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, etc.). Everyone in the Bat-Family is wearing his face on these covers except for Alfred.

- There are two Jokers in a deck of playing cards.

- Alfred has a background in acting. We know he studied Shakespeare, and had a part in Macbeth.
- Joker can't stop referring to Shakespearean archetypes, referring to himself as Batman's "Court Jester".

- The Joker is tall, skinny, and lanky.
- Alfred is tall, skinny, and lanky.

I am 100% convinced that Batman will kill The Joker in front of the entire family, only to discover that "The Joker" is actually Alfred, thus, Batman kills Alfred. The REAL Joker reveals himself in Arkham, and The REAL Joker's plot was to make Batman kill Alfred - thus, "killing" the entire family.

Batman is now a murderer, his only murder being the person who means most to him.

And I'm also considering the idea that The Joker has Alfred under some kind of psychotic manipulation. Alfred is "brainwashed" into being The Joker. Either that, or Alfred has been truly evil from the beginning.

Bottom line: We have yet to see The Joker in Death of the Family.

I realize it sounds totally insane, haha, but I am convinced.

Wow... That is a really interesting theory Rocketman. I think you may be onto something there especially looking at the cover previews. I don't think the storyline will be resolved exactly how you say (trying to be vague so I don't say your spoiler), but the overall idea seems to be pretty good in my opinion.

Just to add my two cents on the Morrison/Snyder debate, I can't say I really prefer one to the other. I enjoyed the first few issues of CoO but did feel it dragged after a while, however I am really enjoying the Death in the Family storyline so far.

With Morrison, I loved his depiction of Batman in the early issues of JLA but I wasn't a big fan of replacing Bruce with Dick as Batman. I just felt it had been done before with Knightfall (with Azreal) and Dick shortly after. Bruce Wayne is the only Batman in my opinion. I also thought his writing on Batman and Robin was very good but didn't follow it for the same reason, I was just waiting for Bruce to return and only read a few issues.

The truth is, it was Cappullo that really drew me into picking up the Batman series. Bacck in the 90s I was a huge fan of McFarlane and I think Cappullo has reached the same level if not surpassed Todd with his artwork. When I found out he was drawing my favorite character, I had to check it out and I love what I'm seeing.

 

[Saint]

This week's issue of Dark Knight was deeply insulting to my intelligence. Occasionally I see glimmers of a good book here, but then Batman flies around the city spraying his blood on people so his antibodies can cure them, and then the Scarecrow is tossed into Arkham without even being searched? Or put into a uniform? And he magically regrows his jaw on the last page!

Deeply, deeply stupid. I can't decide if I'm dropping this book now or toughing it out to enjoy some Van Sciver art next month.

 

[JTStarkiller]

Was Batman Inc #6 not all kinds of ****ing awesome?

 

[Roose Bolton]

Talia seems to be [blackout] possessed by the Hyper Adapter, much like Hurt was. [/blackout]

 

[Motown Marvel]

Talia seems to be [blackout] possessed by the Hyper Adapter, much like Hurt was. [/blackout]

i think what you mean to say is: Talia seems to be [blackout]a mega super *****.[/blackout]

 

[Naked Shia]

I've been thinking again about the Alfred theory. Didn't we see the joker attack him?

Inc#6 was amazing, and it brings back a lot of questions about who the fatherless is, where is Damian clone, will something bad happen to him and the clone will take over as Batman 666? I can't believe it's nearly the end of Morrison's epic run.

 

[The Batman]

Talia seems to be [blackout] possessed by the Hyper Adapter, much like Hurt was. [/blackout]

I reeaaallly hope this is the case

 

[Naked Shia]

the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. I guess it happened between B&R1 and B&R9, since that was when she really changed. Granted, she already seemed out of character in Batman and Son, when she spoke about war etc, but in the end, she helped Bruce as seen in RIP. Not to mention she allowed Damian to join Dick at first.

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

I've got to admit. For the first time, I am thoroughly confused about where Grant Morrison's Batman is headed. Mainly because of the 666 future reveal.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Who wants to read my detailed theory for the ending of Death of the Family?

Be warned, this is going to be an insane, detailed read, and I'd even put money on it being the real ending.

This is a combination of two theories between me and someone else, him being blue and me being red:

Spoiler

All through Court of Owls and Death of the Family, Alfred has felt "off". I assumed through CoO that it was to make the reader question whether or not Alfred was in on the Court. I think that what's going to happen is that Synder is again retelling a classic Batman tale in a new way. I believe that Alfred is wearing Joker's face. He has become the villain again like he did before. He knows who they all are. He above everyone else wants Bruce stronger and better. He could get into the house and kidnap "himself". At the end of the last issue, Batman thinks he will stare into Joker's eyes until he sees love. The "Death" will be when its revealed that "Joker" is Alfred. The secret that Bruce is keeping from the family is that Bruce knows that Alfred has had mental breaks and became a villain before and Bruce knew about it and didn't lock Alfred in Arkham. He didn't tell the others what Alfred is capable of.

- I firmly believe that the "Joker" in Death of the Family is NOT THE Joker. Someone else is wearing his face. I'm 100% convinced. There has been zero reason given as to why Joker cut off his own face, so we are waiting for that specific explanation. Why he cut his own face off is a mystery yet to be solved. Secondly, if you notice these alternate covers, the Joker's "Mask" face is worn on top of everyone's face like a mask (i.e., Batman is wearing Joker's face, Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, etc.). Everyone in the Bat-Family is wearing his face on these covers except for Alfred.

- There are two Jokers in a deck of playing cards.

- Alfred has a background in acting. We know he studied Shakespeare, and had a part in Macbeth.
- Joker can't stop referring to Shakespearean archetypes, referring to himself as Batman's "Court Jester".

- The Joker is tall, skinny, and lanky.
- Alfred is tall, skinny, and lanky.

I am 100% convinced that Batman will kill The Joker in front of the entire family, only to discover that "The Joker" is actually Alfred, thus, Batman kills Alfred. The REAL Joker reveals himself in Arkham, and The REAL Joker's plot was to make Batman kill Alfred - thus, "killing" the entire family.

Batman is now a murderer, his only murder being the person who means most to him.

And I'm also considering the idea that The Joker has Alfred under some kind of psychotic manipulation. Alfred is "brainwashed" into being The Joker. Either that, or Alfred has been truly evil from the beginning.

Bottom line: We have yet to see The Joker in Death of the Family.

I realize it sounds totally insane, haha, but I am convinced.

That would be interesting. I disagree about Alfred being the one who seems off, it's the Joker to me. These plans and schemes he's pulling off in all the Bat-books are crazy elaborate and all working flawlessly. Joker might be the DCU's best strategist and tactician at this point. It's a bit out of character.

 

[Rocketman]

I've got to admit. For the first time, I am thoroughly confused about where Grant Morrison's Batman is headed. Mainly because of the 666 future reveal.

You might be the only person in the world who's been confused by Grant Morrison for the first time, haha.

I kid, I kid.

 

[Rocketman]

That would be interesting. I disagree about Alfred being the one who seems off, it's the Joker to me. These plans and schemes he's pulling off in all the Bat-books are crazy elaborate and all working flawlessly. Joker might be the DCU's best strategist and tactician at this point. It's a bit out of character.

[BLACKOUT]Another reason why I think it's not The Joker.[/BLACKOUT]

 

[Rocketman]

I've been thinking again about the Alfred theory. Didn't we see the joker attack him?

[BLACKOUT]Like I suggested, there are two Jokers in every deck of playing cards. [/BLACKOUT]

 

[Colossal Spoons]

This week's issue of Dark Knight was deeply insulting to my intelligence. Occasionally I see glimmers of a good book here, but then Batman flies around the city spraying his blood on people so his antibodies can cure them, and then the Scarecrow is tossed into Arkham without even being searched? Or put into a uniform? And he magically regrows his jaw on the last page!

Deeply, deeply stupid. I can't decide if I'm dropping this book now or toughing it out to enjoy some Van Sciver art next month.

Haha, yeah, the aerosolized blood made me roll my eyes. I didn't notice Scarecrow's jaw though, that's dumb as well. Him not being searched doesn't surprise me. Arkham, Belle Reve, and every other "prison" in comic books have the worst security and booking procedures EVER.

 

[chamber-music]

Batman Incorporated so is Morrisson killing all the Bat Inc characters off now?

 

[Roose Bolton]

I doubt it. Though it didn't look good for old [blackout] Knight [/blackout] there did it?

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

I doubt they'll be killed off, but the members (and possibly the Robins' in the next issue) prolonged exposure to Leviathan's plans is what causes Bruce to disband Inc and abandon everything.

 

[BatsnCats]

This week's issue of Dark Knight was deeply insulting to my intelligence. Occasionally I see glimmers of a good book here, but then Batman flies around the city spraying his blood on people so his antibodies can cure them, and then the Scarecrow is tossed into Arkham without even being searched? Or put into a uniform? And he magically regrows his jaw on the last page!

Deeply, deeply stupid. I can't decide if I'm dropping this book now or toughing it out to enjoy some Van Sciver art next month.

I couldn't agree more. Awful issue besides the artwork, which is changing and I'm pissed about. I may drop it but ill give it one last chance.

 

[Mystirious]

I think this arc has been way too stretched out

I am going to check out the Mad Hatter arc when it starts next issue though

The best comic I read this year is either Daredevil, Swamp Thing, Journey Into Mystery, or Wonder Woman. Flash is a close runner up.

Also, based on the first three issues, next years best is going to be Jason Aaron's Thor.

Batwoman has been my absolute favourite comic book of 2012 and would be my pick for the best comic of the year for sure

 

[Darkness Falls]

finally got around to reading batman:earth one after hearing so much about it
i thought it was pretty good, looking forward to volume two

 

[CConn]

Yeah, TDK #15 didn't even seem like it was written by the same writer as the rest of the arc

Even outside of all of the logical absurdities, the pacing of the book was horrendous. After 5 issues of an (admittedly) slow buildup, the finale was rushed through without any real tension or emotion.

The ridiculousness of the blood thing I can understand a bit; as it's just an attempt to show how intense Batman is, but I'm really worried about the pacing of arcs to come.

Although, I will say, this is the first real misfire for Hurwitz in a whole, so hopefully it's a flash in the pan and he can recover next month.

 

[Roose Bolton]

Could be that he had to change his scripts when Finch decided to leave?