#Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War

[shyjusticewarrior]

See Tim gets it. Take notes, Bruce.

[blurrilines]

Bernard seeing his bf get pinned to the Bat Signal like a moth on the news from his apartment:

[thejasontoddarchives]

Have some Jason looking like an actual 23 year old in Gotham War Red Hood #1

Batman / Catwoman: The Gotham War - Red Hood #1 (2023)

[undertheredhood]

bruce who is trying to make amends with jason after gotham war: y'know, i don't want to live in a world where we're not tight.

jason who has finally had enough of bruce’s bullshit: then kill yourself

[ufonaut]

They're only allowed to steal from the wealthy of this city. No score is worth your life, or anyone else's. No violence, no confrontations. And they have to donate 15 percent of their gains to Gotham charities. This is why the streets are quiet. This is why your villains are floundering.

Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War - Battle Lines (2023) #1

[gffa]

I will say that, as frustrating as the arguments in Gotham War are, this part struck me as 100% in character. I was reading the Joker War storyline and Bruce's hallucinations of Alfred were forcing him to confront the fact that, on some level, he still held it against Damian for triggering Alfred's death, still held it against Dick for having amnesia and not being there to help, still held it against Selina for taking him out of the city, and it wasn't meant to be a fair blaming, it was meant to be that this is what Bruce struggles with. And it struck me how much this was a pattern with Bruce, that he's even aware of it before Alfred's death, in the Nightwing series, he admits that he blamed Dick for making Bruce need him so much (loving him so much, basically) and then leaving him. Bruce struggles with how much he loves all these people, lets them into his heart, and then some part of him desperately wants to idealize them, the way he idealizes his parents. That his reaction to Selina's plan isn't just "poor little rich boy whose parents were killed by a robber" (which, by the way, does still have a point, it isn't less horrific that they lost their lives just because they had money, and we see that Selina's way is going to get people killed), but also Bruce's trauma is playing a big part on all his kids and extended family, because he struggles with idealizing them, struggles with, "we are all in his life because we were victims of a crime, how can any of you decide that the thing that drew us all together doesn't matter?" How can they say that the thing that forged their family into the unbreakable bonds is something that they can just decide no longer matters to who they are and why they do what they do? It's not rational, it's not justified, it's striking out in hurt and anger, but it's also partly coming from a place of love for his family and very much coming from a place of trauma and Bruce's complicated relationships with what he does and the family he surrounds himself with, the family that began to let him heal after the death of his parents. And, to him, it feels like that is slipping away, if it's so easy for them to decide that it's okay that some people are victims--because Bruce didn't just let anyone join his family, they all had to stand up to him trying to stop them first.

How many times did he try to stop a young Dick Grayson from going after Zucco? How many times he did he try to stop a young Barbara Gordon from becoming Batgirl? How many times did he try to keep Tim from this life? How many times did he try to stop them, only for them to stand up and say, "I won't let anyone else become a victim like I was."? How many times have we commented about how Bruce wasn't training child soldiers, he was putting leashes on the kids?

That is what made them acceptable in this life--and now, suddenly, it doesn't matter? Yeah, I 100% believe Bruce would react this way.

[bess3714]

I really love this panel

[jasontoddenthusiastt]

Is … is he wearing eyeliner

[birdskullz]

the one thing that could save this for me is if jason gets to see how brutal the rest of the batfam are acting in his defense. i need him to know how much they care, i need him to see it spoken in a language he knows too well, and that’s violence. it won’t save everything but i think seeing steph knock bruce tf out would soften the blow a bit.

[smashpages]

This is Jorge Jimenez‘s cover for Batman #137 (DC, September 2023), part of the Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War crossover.

[betterthanbatman1]

He almost fell off his bike! Don’t laugh at him!!

[shyjusticewarrior]

Jason overpowering fear toxin

Jason overpowering cheer drops

Jason overpowering his fear failsafe

[goodoldfashionedengineer]

JayRose is a brilliant canon ship and ya'll are sleeping on it.

I wish to forget Gotham War was ever made as much as the next guy but I hold the fact that Rose waited for Jason hours after their meet up time close to my heart. They have a meeting spot. Rose jokes so casually with Jason, even admits that he's her only friend

[thejasontoddarchives]

Never stop being yourself, Jason.

Batman / Catwoman: The Gotham War - Red Hood #1 (2023)

[undertheredhood]

imo gotham war should end with the batkids tying bruce up and dumping him at a therapist's office to sort out his many issues

[killazilla777]

me and who