The now NEW Official DC Stupid Questions thread: Didio Headaches - Part 2

[Harlekin]

Then why are you reading Flashpoint?

Exactly. Just read the Batman mini on its own.

 

[CConn]

Eh, Flashpoint isn't that bad.

 

[Ipodman]

The main mini is actually pretty good... how often do you see Bruce's dad do stuff...

 

[Anubis]

He does lots of stuff. You know, like, be dead. Which is like a full time job.

Besides, I've always found s**t like that hard to believe. Family members suddenly becoming super heroes/villains. He was just a rich doctor. I'm supposed to believe he just up and became Batman at like 30 something? I mean, he was cool and all but every time I see him, I can't help but be reminded of how far fetched the whole thing is.....yes I'm aware he's running around with a dude from another timeline who got hit by lightning and some random chemicals and got super speed instead of dying horribly.....but still, there it is.

 

[CConn]

I've learned to abandon logicality and realism in favor of the deeper meanings and subtext that emerge through those unreasonable stories.

And I don't mean that as an excuse to write shoddy stories or anything, it's more something I just developed through watching movies made in the vein of German Expressionism where realism always takes a back seat to visual analogy and multiple meanings.

The fact that Bruce's parents become Batman and the Joker doesn't make sense. It's not supposed to. What it does do is make a few statements about Bruce's psyche and his character itself...and that I found interesting.

 

[Anubis]

I say f**k realism all the time, but there's still gotta be some kind of logic to a story. I mean, even if you're making up the logic as you go along.

 

[CConn]

Eh, not really. Plenty of **** by Tim Burton or David Lynch or Grant Morrison doesn't make any ****ing sense, and it's still ultimately awesome.

 

[Anubis]

Burton's stuff usually does make sense in it's own way. With Lynch, backwards talking midgets are awesome no matter what your story is about, and Morrison's on hard narcotics. What's John's excuse? "Wouldn't it be cool if Bruces mom and dad became the Joker and Batman cuz Bruce died?"

 

[CConn]

Johns? Probably.

Azzrello did a bit more with it, though.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I pretty much always hate seeing people go back in time and turn characters related to major protagonists into heroes or villains or otherwise significant players in the same game as their descendant(s). It always comes off as hokey to me, like the writer's trying to wink at me through every damn page. The same thing applies to stuff like making Spider-Man's parents SHIELD agents and, for that matter, everything Jonathan Hickman's ever written about SHIELD.

 

[WompuM]

Stuff like that cheapens the actual protagonist's accomplishments. They didn't earn where they are today through their own actions, but rather were always destined to be there through ******** retcon destiny non-sense.

 

[CConn]

...that's really thinking about it way too much.

 

[Anubis]

I don't think so. I came to that same conclusion while reading Flashpoint on the toilet.

 

[CConn]

No, what I mean is... Bruce Wayne is Batman because Bill Finger and Bob Kane made it that way, not because he "earned" anything.

 

[Anubis]

I think you're not thinking about it enough.

 

[CConn]

I think you're thinking about what I think about too much.

 

[Anubis]

I think you're thinking about what I think about what you're thinking about too much......and it's bordering on creepy.

 

[CConn]

And I think you're hitting on me. Which is even creepier.

 

[WompuM]

Oh no. I've gone cross-eyed.

 

[WompuM]

But I think the best example of this is Terry McGinnis. Originally, the dude was just a kid who earned the mantle of the Bat through circumstance and his own conduct/whatever. Then it turns out he was always Bruce's kid and groomed to take up the mantle.

 

[CConn]

That's what you get for standing so close to that mule.

 

[CConn]

But I think the best example of this is Terry McGinnis. Originally, the dude was just a kid who earned the mantle of the Bat through circumstance and his own conduct/whatever. Then it turns out he was always Bruce's kid and groomed to take up the mantle.

But that means bull poo, IMO.

I mean, Damian is Bruce's son, does that make him ready out of the box to be Batman? No, it doesn't. Terry earned it. Him being Bruce's son may have got him to the plate, but he was still the one who hit it out of the park.

 

[WalkingDeadMike]

Why are the new 52 HCs being released prior to the TPBs?

How long of a wait is there between the two?

 

[CConn]

So they can make more money.

It's usually about 4-6 months.

 

[WalkingDeadMike]

I figured as much, but you'd think with them still trying to entice new readers they'd offer both options ASAP. At least I would.

Thanks for the info.