Skip to content
Answering Your Questions About Reactor: Right here.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter. Everything in one handy email.
When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

Reactor

On August 30th the New York Post broke their most serious story in months: starting in November there will be two Batmans (Batmen?), Dick Grayson AND Bruce Wayne. I read the New York Post story yesterday, followed by the interpretations from several other websites and at first I was a little confused. How could anyone logically back up this idea? I’m really hoping my brain wasn’t the only to explode.

Let’s break this down. Bruce Wayne is Batman. He has always been Batman. If there were no Bruce Wayne there would be no Batman. Dick Grayson is not Batman. Dick Grayson was Robin and assumed the role of Batman because Bruce Wayne was lost in time. Case closed.

Apparently while Bruce was lost he hit his head on something—or the publishers at DC Comics are just trying to make some more cash—because now Bruce Wayne believes Batman needs to be global. All of a sudden, Bruce Wayne is thinking more like a businessman than a vigilante. DC publisher Dan DiDio explains, “Grayson’s role really is the protector of Gotham City. But we thought it only made sense for Bruce Wayne, a billionaire, to take a more global view.”

DiDio makes it sound like Bruce Wayne woke up one morning and suddenly realized he’s a billionaire. Except, he’s been ridiculously wealthy all along. Bruce Wayne flashes his wealth when necessary, has a high tech armory and all of a sudden he’s looking at being Batman as a business opportunity? This is not Batman; this is a perversion of what Batman stands for.

I may be old fashioned in my thinking but doesn’t Batman already possess global impact? Couldn’t he perhaps network better in lieu of becoming the McDonalds of superheroes? More so, Batman’s identity is based on the fact that he chooses to fight for Gotham because of his emotional connection to the city in lieu of having emotional connections with individual people.

I also love the fact that DC is trying to lessen the blow by explaining how the “Bat-men” will be divvied up. Grayson will remain the Batman for Detective Comics, Batman, and Batman and Robin AND—here’s the real selling point—Grayson’s costume will remain the current bat suit with the black logo, but Bruce Wayne (who will be Batman in Batman Inc. and David Finch’s Batman: The Dark Knight) gets, brace yourself, the return of the yellow bat symbol.

Well at least they’re giving us that.

Meme photo from Photobucket user ubersnuber


Annie Gala is not Batman, Bruce Wayne is Batman.

About the Author

About Author Mobile

Annie Gala

Author

I work for Macmillan. I read a lot. I'm a pretty cool girl.
Learn More About Annie

See All Posts About

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
53 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments