eldarwannabe

So, there is this being published right now. I'm not following it monthly (I'm not really following anything monthly) but I have noted it, in a back-of-my-mind kinda way. I mean, it's Kevin Smith. There's a good chance I'll check it out later. I really really like Green Arrow: Quiver. (Too bad it had to lead to what we have with GA today)

The point right now is the title. When I first heard "Batman: Widening Gyre" my reaction was, "hmm, sounds dramatic. I wonder what it means?"

Then I go to the FIRST DAY of college classes, weeks ago, and my oceanography teacher is all, "the ocean is wicked awesome y'know, there's non-carbon based lifeforms at the ocean floor," and when I was distracted by the thought of the sci-fi potential at that comment, she dropped, "and look, here's a gyre!"

And my DCU-based brain waves went, "HOLD IT RIGHT THAR!"

But see, now that I know what a gyre is, I might as well not. A gyre is like an ocean-scale whirlpool. They are made up of shipping currents and such going 'round and 'round. Still a cool name, but unless climate change gets way way worse then we want it to, they won't widen (or shrink) all that much.

But you see, I know nothing about this book (except that Poison Ivy is involved) but in my mind I keep going, "Hmmm, so Batman is trapped in a trading-current from the West Indies, and he's SINKING, but he's OK, but because he can BREATHE in SPACE but then the gyre WIDENS and the Earth is DOOMED! And somehow Poison Ivy can control phytoplankton!! (remember, Oceanography class)

To follow up on my earlier fears, Frank Quitely is drawing Batman a little squarish for my tastes. I'd like it if Dick slimmed down a little.

The first issue of Batman and Robin was fun, and I'm willing to hang around for a bit to see what happens. I'm not buying as they come out, I'm just following on the interwebs (I'm sticking to trades these days. Between my crazy schedule making my LCS an inconvenient chore and paying attention to the moneys, it just makes more sense.) but the first trade will hit my amazon wish list if it keeps going this way.

And I'm a huge fan of Quitely's art, actually. I know a lot of people can't stand it, but the fact that his people have folds is just so unusual in comic art, land of shiny perfection. This picture made me love the Quitely interpretation of Dick even with Bruce's chin. All the folds in the cloth seem to weigh him down even further with the Batlegacy he has inherited. This is actually starting to help me reconcile with bits of Battle for the Cowl - see, Bruce told Dick not to take the mantle in a rare moment of paternal protection. When Bruce recorded that message (which I'm guessing was slightly post-cruise, as I think it probably mellowed him out a bit) he wasn't thinking about Gotham, or dead parents, or traumatizing gunshots. For a moment, he was totally focusing on Dick's needs, and he chose to show it by advising his son against taking a role that would slowly grind the spirit out of him.

Of course, I still think it was a pretty stupid move, but a few more personal retcons and I might be able to reconcile with the status quo without claiming it was all caused by magic. ("Oh yes, Jason is missing? MAAAAAAGIC! Tim has taken the mantle of Elseworlds!Dick and Coundown!Jason? MagicMagicMagic!!")

But Didio? Your luggage will never be safe again. Seriously.

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-6770-Batman-Examiner~y2009m5d22-Tony-Daniel-speaks

I needed to comment. Tony Daniel, writer of the Battle for the Cowl (which I was really excited for, for some reason) had this to say about Tim's craziness after Bruce died. "He [Tim] loved Bruce like his real father."

NO TONY, HE DIDN'T. Tim loved Bruce like a MENTOR. Tim loved Bruce like a ROLE MODEL. Tim loved Bruce like a TEACHER.

But Bruce wasn't his father. Unlike Dick and Jason, Tim spent the vast majority of his time as Robing living with his real father. Tim grew up under his father's care. Tim had a relationship with his father. I would even argue that at the point that his father died, Tim had developed an adult relationship with his father, which might be unusual for most 16-year-olds, but Tim's dad knew about him being Robin, and they dealt with that.

Sure, Bruce adopted him (don't get me started) but Bruce was never ever his father. Nor did Bruce really want to be. Bruce had a deep appreciation of real father/son relationships, and would NOT want to mess with that. Bad motivation there, Tony. That is why the scene crowbar felt so awful. There was NO good reason for it. And to be perfectly frank, having Tim imitate the Joker is just wrong. Wrongwrongwrong.

So I'm going to ignore most of BftC, stick my fingers in my ears and sings "lalalala" until it is retconned beyond recognition.

I like Geoff Johns a lot, actually. He's a crazy fanboy, and sometimes I think that crazy fanboys shouldn't be given certain properties (LET THE CHARACTERS DO NEW THINGS, STOP REHASHING) but as comic books are an increasingly niche medium full of people that go "YAY" over cameos and sly winks from the writers (guilty!) that's going to happen anyway. And I really do like a lot of his stories.

But...he's going to be writing Superboy. And while I understand that character growth mean that my favorite Superboys of look-I-have-my-own-series-and-control-my-own-life and the Young Justice incarnation are irrevocably gone.

But his name is KON-EL. Not Conner. First of all, there's already a Connor in the DCU (Green Arrow II) and secondly, he didn't use Conner as his pseudonym last time he went undercover, there's no reason for him to do it now. (There's also no reason for him to be forced to conform to the life of a normal teen - he's not normal, he never was. Conner is his secret identity, Superboy is his real identity (reverse of Clark/Superman and he lived for years on his own before suddenly being forced into the teen pidgeonhole.)

Yes, this is a ridiculous pet peeve of mine. Yes, I need to let it go, there are much bigger problems in comic books.

It just drives me SOOO crazy.

Also, Batgirl.

http://comics.ign.com/articles/983/983030p1.html

I'm not saying that you can't expand the Bat-franchise if you want to, DC. In fact, it's been done successfully before. But you have a very bad habit of trying to revert to the silver age status quo constantly, you have mishandled/ignored/killed MANY of the Batfamily expansion pack, and (someone needs to say this) Gotham is JUST ONE CITY. It shouldn't need quite this many heroes, honestly. If we're really supposed to believe the Bludhaven pitch, I think a couple of heroes should migrate down the turnpike and help out there (if it's not still an irradiated mess. Don't get me started.)

So really, DC, stop this right now. Your time would be better spent building up some of the Wonder Woman cast so we can really believe you when you sell the "Trinity" concept to me. 'Cause I'm not buying it (LITERALLY).

Plus, what exactly are you planning to do with Cass anyway?

Unofficial sort-of follow up to an earlier post. Really just because I feel like. So there.

Note that this is based off a combination of character histories, artist renditions and gut feeling. Feel free to disagree. (But knowing all three of you guys, I doubt you'll really care...)

Bruce/Batman: He's not a natural prodigy in the martial arts, he worked himself to the peak of human ability and he stays there through constant training. So he's built, man. He's got muscles living on muscles and he's keeping them, because he CAN. He's probably a bit top-heavy (lots of guys who work out a lot are) especially because of the constant rooftop-leaping, which is harder on the arms. He runs, sure, but if it's too far for the decel lines, he probably uses the batmobile, meaning that his legs simply aren't getting the same unintentional workout. His fighting style favors a more straightforward approach - punch, kick, etc. Not a lot of flipping and such unless necessary, so he's more grounded a lot of the time, and can afford the bulk.

Dick/Robin I/Nightwing: Definitely lighter than Batman. He had the acrobatic skills in the blood, it comes much more naturally to him, so he's not as focused on the constant weight-lifting a la Bruce. This isn't to say Dick lets himself get out of shape, but he's going to be skinnier, less ripped. His style depends a lot on being able to flip, spin, and move whenever and wherever he wants. I imagine that his training focuses a lot more on the karate/martial arts type of practice. He uses his legs a lot more then Bruce, to propel him around everywhere, so he has a more balanced build. Also, his style lends itself less to the punch-kick-while-standing, so he ends up in a crouch or a flip more often then not. (I must note somewhere: this all must be KILLER on his knees. Seriously)

Jason/Robin II/Red Hood/ Red Robin/Nighting II/?: He must have had some natural ability, or he frankly wouldn't have made it as long as he did. Possibly he's got more even then Dick, because Dick's been in some sort of training since he was a kid. On the other hand, Jason grew up on the streets, which favors knife fighting (where you try to stay out of the other person's range and slash at them whenever possible) or skin rumbles, where you grab the other person and try to get them on the ground as quickly as possible. He's not going to have the straightforward training of Bruce or the natural flair of Dick. I think he'll favor Bruce in build - more heavy and muscled, especially as weight training is easy to pick up and do on your own. I think his style would also favor Bruce - more straightforward, at least at the beginning of a fight. He probably only had enough time to cover basic basic martial arts with Bruce, so nothing fancy, more straight punches and jabs. The moment where a fight gets out of hand, he'll play dirty, not doubt about it. I find the comics that depict him flipping around like Dick to be a little weird, he doesn't have the background for it, and I doubt Bruce would train him in that style.

Tim/Robin III/so far...: Tim also doesn't come by his skills naturally. In fact, I think it's largely overlooked these days that Tim favors brains way over brawn. And he was like that before Batman, people. Tim's a detective at heart. But Tim does value the physical aspect of the job (and he probably gets a huge thrill out of it as well) so he's probably trained his butt off to get good at it. In face, his training was more intense then Dick's or Jason's (and definitely more intense then Stephanie's two weeks.) because he no only globe-trotted for it, he also trained with SHIVA. She's bad-ass, and she'd be much harder on him than Bruce ever could, 'cause she's EVIL. Build-wise, though, I just can't escape the image of a scrawny teen with wiry musculature. I just don't think Tim could put on the muscles the way Bruce does, at least not at his age. Tim's pretty built for his age (lucky him the "loose and layered" look is in for guys, so he can hide it better) but he's not sporting football player arms or anything. His fighting style will be REALLY straightforward, as he's probably taking all his moves right out of the books he pores over in his spare time. He might mix 'n match styles, but no spontaneous flipping from this bird.

Barbara/Bagirl/Oracle: As it seems pretty canonical that she's been training for some sort of crime-fighting since she was younger, I imagine that she'd be working out pretty hard from an earlier age. Less formal training than Bruce or the Robins, she'd probably favor the more standard martial arts she managed to learn at city dojos (Karate, Tai Kwan Do, etc.) and she's gonna do a lot less flipping that Dick. (actually, we can all admit that EVERYONE does a lot less flipping that Dick. So there.) As she's also a brainy, like Tim, she probably does her stuff more by-the-book. She's gonna be lighter than the boys due to sheer genetics, but I'd imagine that she' d be pretty muscled for a girl. Also, she'd probably be pretty flat (sorry boys!) because it's hard to be a serious vigilante with DD cups. Now, as Oracle she's definitely more muscled in the arms/chest area as she basically can't exercise her legs. But I imagine she's got some serious arm muscles now, even more so that when she was Batgirl. Also, as Oracle, she can take you down from 20,000 miles away with her cell phone, so I wouldn't really mess with her anyway.

Cassandra Cain/Batgirl II: I imagine Cass having a build more similar to Tim - more wiry than thick, but I imagine Cass's muscles are pretty impressive for a girl, considering she's been training since she was born, essentially. I also think her moves would be much less formal than everyone else's, because they're not separated into categories in her mind the way they are for everyone else. Her first language is movement, and it all probably blends for her. She'll use the best move for the occasion and move seamlessly into a totally different style immediately, Obviously she can recognize the styles of others, but she doesn't think through her moves the way Tim probably does. I have a feeling Cass might be a little short for her age - shorter people tend to do better in acrobatics, and she's waaaay flat, due in part to the lifelong training regiment.

Stephanie/Spoiler/Robin IV: She actually had some gymnastic and martial arts training before she became Spoiler. Plus, she has some crazy natural sneaking skills, because she's snuck up on Tim a bunch of times. She's not as muscled as Cass, and given that she's a gymnast she's probably more well-balanced, even though she favors punching people. She probably leans the most towards Dick in style, (more crouching) due to the gymnastics, but she is nowhere near his level. I don't imagine her having the same sort of training regiment as ANYONE else (she seems to have a life, sometimes) but given that she's been told to quite multiple times and refused to give up, she clearly keeps herself in shape deliberately, despite her limited resources. Also pretty flat (GYMNAST!) and she's exactly average hight, apparently.

Helena/Huntress: I know the least about her, honestly. Given that she came into the crime-fighting older than anyone else, her style is probably more stiff and straightforward, less natural then those young whippersnapper sidekicks. She clearly has less restraint than the rest of the family, and I imagine her kind of barreling into fights, punching people out without much finesse. Probably tall for a woman, and I'm putting her as the most stacked of the Bat-women, just because it would fit with her. (remember: women can't crime fight with crazy cleavage. So she is AT MOST average. Nothing spectacular. Really!)

People I know too little about to do a real analysis:

I know almost nothing about Azrael, so...nothing doing there.
Misfit is a scrawny pre-teen who doesn't do much hand-to-hand.
Alfred is an older guy in awesome shape, but he uses a shotgun whenever he has to fight, so I can't imagine him doing more than the old one-two in a fight. He's too awesomely British.
And Catwoman is very athletic and muscled, and incredibly informal in her style. She's just slinky, catlike. Well-balanced, not at all bulky and straightforward. The opposite of Batman, as it were.
Damien Wayne is an incredibly over-trained child. A bit like Cass, but I imagine him being far less fluid in his style.
I have no clue about Batwoman. Where did she come from, anyway?

http://www.majorspoilers.com/archives/13849.htm/#more-13849

I'm going to start counting in A.B.B.(After Batman's Birth). This time could be in TOTAL debate, but fun. For example, Bruce was supposedly about 30 when he died this year, so this year would be 30 ABB. Or we could start counting from the first year Batman was published, in which case it's now 70 ABB.

Of course, now that Batman's dead, maybe I should start counting in A.B.D. That would make this 0 ABD. But then I'd need to count in A.B.C.B.T.L. (After Batman Comes Back To Life, or ABR (After Batman's Resurrection) for short) when they decide that killing Bruce Wayne was not a good move and they bring him back to life.

In other news, I got my first sunburn of the season. Ouch.

To quote Wikipedia's opening blurb (as of April 4, 2009): "Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer and artist. He is best-known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings."

I don't want "nonlinear narrative" and "counter-cultural leanings" in my Batman, dammit. I want linear narratives with some culture!

(Yes, I deliberately misunderstood counter-culture. It is to display my frustration with handing over the ENTIRE BATMAN UNIVERSE to this guy. Not that he can't be great, but I don't really like him on Batman. At. All.)

So, comic book characters are being drawn by different people all the time. I mean, everyone has a Superman sketch stashed away somewhere, but in the comic books themselves, artists are rotating, changing, running around with pencils flying...

Anyway, so different characters develop different looks depending on who is drawing. Costumes remain pretty consistent, along with hair color and eye color (most of the time) to help the readers identify the characters. And some physical characteristics are part of the character - Bouncing Boy will always be on the heavy side (even though some artists have problems with that. When people are overweight, they don't have perfect physique and a round stomach. It's an full-body experience). Power Girl is always...hmmnm, noticeably well-endowed. And so on.

By default, most characters seem to fit into an archetype, with the costumes and hair stapled on. Guys are well-muscled, well-proportioned and good looking. Women tend to have less noticeable muscle, if any at all, and are have ridiculously sized breasts for their jobs. I will take this opportunity to point out that most female athletes are nearly flat-chested. Some artists make attempts to differentiate between the characters physically while they are drawing them, some don't. For example, some artists will give Superman and Batman noticeably different physiques while drawing them next to each other. Some don't bother. It is extremely difficult to do properly, and I frankly can't blame anyone for just drawing "classic superhero body" and just adding the features, they working on crazy schedules in a fast-paced industry.

And sometimes trends develop. Enough artists seem to consistently draw a character a certain way, and it might not be cannon per say, but it might as well be.

So, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson seem to have developed like this. These days (or at least recently, before he died) Bruce Wayne/Batman has always been drawn very solid and big. He's heavily muscled, and he's very...straightforward in his actions. Decisive, correct and firm. This is, or course, all in comparison with his first partner-in-justice, Dick Grayson/Nightwing. Dick seems almost totally opposite. A little thinner, and much more about the action, the motion of crimefighting. It makes total sense for Dick to be like that - he comes from a gymnastic background, not a martial arts one. Much of Dick's style comes from his constant motion, his flips and twists more then his punches (not that he can't fight, mind you. It's a style difference.) I think the costumes help enforce this, Bruce's being a bit bulky, with a cape and cowl. Dick's outfit is more streamlined, very easy to draw in flips 'n spins.

So now that Bruce is dead, my money is on Dick to replace him. (Frankly, they don't really have any other reasonable choices, even if I'm not sure that's the direction Dick should be going. And if they choose someone else BECAUSE everyone thinks it's going to be Dick, well, that would be ridiculous.) My theory seems pretty supported. (Major Spoilers spotted a leak and IGN talks about the new Batman and Robin. IGN actually takes a little more explaining. Morrison is quoted, "This is a very different Batman and Robin team from any that we've seen before. It's almost a reverse of the traditional dynamic, with a more light-hearted and spontaneous Batman and a scowling, badass Robin. Expect fireworks and violence." Light-hearted and spontaneous? Dick all the way. Duh. But if Robin is going to be Damien, I must know what they did with Tim.)

Now I'm a little worried about Dick. All the drawings available make him look...well, they make him look like Bruce. No one seems to be designing a costume to allow Dick the freedom of movement he depends on in his line of work. Not good. And all of sudden, Dick is way bulked up, more solid, more thick. Those are no longer acrobat muscles. And I think that a lot of artists are going to be drawing Dick-as-Bruce during his reign as Batman. This is gonna be something I definitely look out for.
_________

Follow Up Notes:

Everyone must check out the designs at Project Rooftop. I only got a chance to glance through it for a minute, but it looks like these designs did take Dick into account when designing his look as Batman. Wonderful!

TIIIIIIIM! WHERE ART THOU? Hmmm, maybe he could be Oracle when Barbara gets use of her legs back. He's got the detective knack for it, at least.

DC? NOW would be a very very good time to reprint the Batman: Prodigal trade paperback (in which Bruce asks Dick to take up the Bat-mantle for a while while Bruce is unavailable.) In face, it's a little late to send that particular story to the printers, because it's such a wonderful tie-in to what's going on, and it would be a good idea to reference it once or twice in the Battle for the Cowl storyline.

Title: License
Fandom: DC Comics/Batman
Characters: Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, the staff of Wayne Industries
Rating: All Ages

( The sheer delight was infectious. )

NOTE: THIS IS UN-BETAED. I ALSO KNOW NOTHING OF CARS.
I'm off to (maybe) study now.

So I saw the movie Fight Club for the first time (I know, I know, and I want to be a Media Studies Major!) and I really liked it, actually. A lot of the premise was fascinating - society has become this feminized consumer culture, there's definitely something primal that has been lost in our soft, western world. Plus I liked the ending. :D

In other news, I don't have Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? Part II comic book yet, and I fear that at the rate I'm going it'll be off the shelves before I get to them.

Also, this livejournal is still formatted in S1 style, which I understand is outdated and unused. However, I'm used to it, and loathe to switch, as I'm not sure I could get it back. (Plus, it took me awhile to figure out the HTML and stuff to personalize, and I like having those options. S2 seems a bit more controlling if I don't upgrade, and I don't use this livejournal enough to want to upgrade just so I could have more userpics and such)

If I ever wanted to make a band, or write music, I would have such a hard time picking books to pay homage to. Ender's Game and the Outsiders would need songs, bare minimum. I might name something "Sodapop dies in 'Nam," I almost cried when I heard that. There's already a ton of stuff named "Do it for Johnny" or "Stay Gold, Ponyboy" so that's right out. I could write something REALLY angry titled "Sandy was a Slut" because she was. Guess what I just finished reading again?
The Wheel of Time has lots of stuff in it too. Besides the obvious, "Dragon Reborn", there's tons of other stuff. Something to tease Mat about when he was treated as the girl in the relationship (Mat cries! I died laughing, he turned into such a sissy when he couldn't be manly and junk) there's stuff about Lan, or "Wolf and Falcon" for Perrin and Faile. "All Magic Men Will One Day Go Insane" is a bit Panic! in the length of the title, but I think it could make a great song.
I'd probably write something about Understood Betsy, because it is hands down my favorite comfort book, and it may be my overall favorite book ever. "What Would Cousin Ann Do?" would be a brilliant song, if it had a strong beat to it.
And don't even get me started on comics! What is it with the TON of angsty Superman songs about how sad he is that he has freaking superpowers, and Batman has nothing? And Robin? Hell, any sidekick? I've heard ONE song about sidekicks ever.
I wrote one about a bunch of random DC heroes (avoided names, but the references are clear) and I'm going to pick out the tune on the piano one day if it's the last thing I do!
Oh oh! The Teen Titans! Teenage angst at its best! I'd have a blast. "Terra Incognito" is ripped straight from the title, but it's cool. I'd need something about Jericho, I love him. "Silent Son of a Deadly Killer" is waaay corny...I'll think about it. And Animal Man deserves a song, people!
I'm pulling books off my shelves now, as I constantly blink for lack of sleep. This thought will continue, it has to! Y'know, when I'm awake enough for coherency.

(Note to self: Commentary on Keeping Up with the Steins and Pay it Forward to be posted before I forget my initial thoughts)

So Diana (aka Wonder Woman) is talking to Batman on a roof. Basically, she's trying to ask him out. Then she realizes:

Diana: "No. No dating for the Batman. It might cut into your brooding time."

Bruce: "One: Dating within the team always leads to disaster. Two: You're a princess from a society of immortal warriors. I'm a rich kid with issues. Lots of issues."

(emphasis added)

Then Batman stupidly insinuates that Diana couldn't take care of his enemies if they knew about her and she gets pissed. But issues! Lots of issues!

Batman is EMO! He is the original EMO! Batman is old-school emo! Wheeeeeee!

Alright, scumbucket. It's you, me, and thrity stories. You're going to tell me exactly what I want to know"
-Batman, from Batman: The Animated Series, Robin's Reckoning Pt. 1

I think I'm going to start collecting quotes again. It's fun.