I'll PM it to you.
EDIT: They won't let me PM it, so I'll just post it here if no one minds.
Dear Magic words.....
Hi there. Now, normally, you guys probably get letters and e-mails asking questions or making statements about how cool a book is or how weak a book is. This falls into the latter category, after a fashion. I’m not here to complain about a single comic. I’m here to voice my opinion about how one character has been treated in the past several years. A character who’s been skewed and written poorly on many occasion in the past several years. Batman.
Now, before you start scratching your heads in confusion, I don’t think Batman has been written with no respect. Quite the opposite. I think he’s been written with far too much respect. Now, I know most fanboys right now are going "dude, why does this stupid kid hate Batman?". But you know what? I really don’t care. So hear me out.
Batman is supposed to be a human being with training. Therefor, you would think that the writers would portray him and his achievements somewhere within the realm of possibility. And, for a while, this was the case. With writers like Denny O’Neal and Frank Miller and Jeff Loeb, he seemed like a human being. A highly skilled human being? Yes. But a human being none the less. However, in the past ten to fifteen years, this has not been the case. We have seen him become the master of 127 martial arts on the planet, go up against four White Martians, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman in hand to hand combat (and not die), design and build a dart that can induce light speed seizures and a virtual reality device that can plug directly into the human nervous system, synthesize Red Kryptonite, chemically engineer a gas that can make you specifically afraid of water, and design and build a self aware satellite that can spy on any metahuman on the planet, judge what they are doing is moral or immoral, and then judge them properly and send the data back to Batman. Now, all of this would be understandable if it had been done by lesser writers. But no. These events were written by Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, and Greg Rucka. And those were just a few examples. Now, I don’t hate these guys. Hell, they’re three of my favorites. Animal Man is brilliant, Rucka has crafted some of the best Wonder Woman and Superman stories in years, and Legion is just great. And yet, when it comes to writing displays of Batman’s skill, all three of them, along with many other DC writers, seem to turn into sugar-high kindergardeners who want their favorite hero to be the most badass mofo in the universe.
Why, I ask? Why the need to make Batman appear superhuman in stature? Why the need to pit him against people who he logically would lose to in a straight one on one brawl, and then either dumb down the abilities of the opponents or have Batman pull some new ability out of his ass? His defeat of the four White Martians is a prime example of this. First of all, Batman based his whole master plan on a hunch. He had no solid evidence to go on that proved the Hyperclan were Martians. Really, he was risking his life on a gut feeling, instead of doing the smart thing which would have been to call in the reserves. Second, the fight. Martians are by nature, telepaths and shape shifters. Thus, they are nigh impossible to beat in head on combat. Grant Morrison himself even wrote that Martian Manhunter can read the mind of his opponent, judge what there next move is going to be, and alter his body accordingly. The White Martians as a militaristic race. Thus, the Hyperclan, whoI would think are soldiers since they are carrying out such a big mission, would be specifically trained in using their natural abilities in combat. Logically, the Hyperclan would have read Batman’s mind, realized that he was going to do the fire/gasoline trick, and would have then tore him limb from limb at super speed before he could do anything. But that didn’t happen. The powers and abilities of his oponents were dumbed down for the sake of Batman looking cooler. Is that right? Hardly. But it’s the way it’s been with Batman on many occasion. The same thing as happened with Batman VS. A.M.A.Z.O (courtesy of Judd Winick), Batman VS. Three O.M.A.C.s (courtesy of Greg Rucka), and Batman VS. Deathstroke (courtesy of Chuck Dixon). Do I think thsese writers are bad? NO! I think all the names I have mentioned are great writers. But they’ve all written Batman horribly at one point or another. I know DC wants one of their flagship heroes to look super cool, but enough is enough. Batman is supposed to be a human being with training. No human being could do all of the things mentioned here.
So, DC, I’m asking you to stop letting Batman be written like this. You’re not writing him like the pinnacle of what a human being could achieve with the proper training. You’re writing him like a bloody metahuman. I know some readers like these "WOW!" moments that make Batman look hella cool, but you have to see. Having Batman doing this crap isn’t cool. It’s lazy writing. It’s having a character do things he shouldn’t be able to do for the sake of making him look cool, instead of taking the time to figure out what he would actually be capable of in this situation and how he would handle it. That, in my opinion at least, would be FAR cooler. So please, DC, bring back the Batman that he was always supposed to be. Bring back the Batman who was a skilled, flawed, mildly crazy human. No more of this "bat god" who has come of late. I’m sick of him, and I know I’m not the only person who feels that way.
Thank you for giving me my say, Wizard.
