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Thursday, September 02, 2010 

2 Batmen is just 2 too many

The New York Post tells that even after Bruce Wayne returns from the trivial time trip he took, Dick Grayson won't be going back to his Nightwing guise:
The Joker isn't going to be wild about this, but there will soon be not one, but two Batmen defending Gotham City.

After years toiling as Bruce Wayne's wingman in the comic-book series, Dick Grayson -- better known as Robin -- will now share top billing with the Dark Knight, DC Comics told The Post.

Grayson had already unofficially taken the reins as the Caped Crusader while Bruce Wayne was lost traveling through time (don't ask), but upon his return to Gotham City in October, Wayne decides that just one Batman isn't enough.

In fact, two might not be enough either, DC publisher Dan DiDio said.

"Bruce Wayne realizes that he can't just be the grim avenger he was before," DiDio said. "He wants to be more aggressive in his reach, and realizes the change that Batman as a symbol can effect around the world."

In the new title, "Batman Inc.," Wayne does what any billionaire would: build a Starbucks-style franchise of Dark Knights.

"Without giving too much away here, we wanted to show how Batman can have a global influence," he said.
Umm, he already has had global influence: he's worked with the Justice League and was a leader of the Outsiders for a few years. This is just another publicity stunt, as DC continues to climb a high tree to further levels of embarrassment and ridicule. And Batman's already had special teams of his own too, without even trying to make it look like a McDonald's network.
To avoid confusion between the two Batmen, Grayson's costume features just the black bat logo, whereas Wayne's will include the black bat over a yellow moon.

As for Grayson, the Boy Wonder is now all grown up, DiDio said
But that's just why he became Nightwing, a role that's not even mentioned in this article. And Dick's characterization actually worked quite well that way, because he was sent on more of his own path, and led the Teen Titans quite effectively for many years. This planned direction of theirs looks to be just as wobbly as what Geoff Johns is doing with the Flash, by featuring too many protagonists in the same role, just to placate fans of both Barry and Wally, and Jay too, now that I think of it. Worst, it's likely to be just as editorially-mandated as Green Lantern was during the 1990s.

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Actually, I like the idea of Grayson as Batman (Ras al-Ghul's grandson as Robin, not so much). If you're going to base your franchise on legacy heroes, shouldn't the heirs at some point take over for their mentors?

They should have kept Wayne "missing" until the next Batmovie comes out, at least.

This is the same crap that made DC the laughing stock of the 1960s, with ridiculous rubbish like the Green Arrows of the World and all the gheytarded iterations of Batman.

Nostalgia seems to be the hard drug of choice for the delusionals at Warner comicbooks.

This stupid corporatisation of Batman is not only a product of the socialist echo chamber at DC but also a basically terrible idea. You don't rob a superhero of its uniqueness.

But then these are the same idiots who changed the costume for Wonder Woman for no readily apparent reason.

I'm proud I don't read Warner any more. Buy true indie.

Why stop at Earth? I think it's time for the Batman Corps,a Batman assigned to various in different sectors of space...
I've pretty much swore out both DC and Marvel, but I have been hearing some good things about the indies. The manager of a comic shop I occasionally go to was telling me one of the indy companies (I don't remember which one) will be releasing a new John Carter, Warlord of Mars, next month.

@ The Drizzt Fuck no! I want to read about Dick as Nightwing, not as Batman. Not all heroes want to succeed their mentors.

If you been reading comics as long as some of us have, you'd know that by now.

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