#batman: black mirror

[fancyfade]

What are your thoughts on Batman: Black Mirror? I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with that story mostly because I adore its characterisation of Dick and how the story depicts legacy and history, but Synder's ableism is so apparent.

If it's alright for me to share my two cents: I enjoy that a lot of the arc (particularly the first 3 issues) revolves around the theme of "history repeating; first as tragedy, then as farce" which was typical for Bat titles of the time. The Dealer and James Jr. trying to intellectualise "might is right" despite resorting to same old greed-fuelled murder. Dick Grayson coming into his own as a not-Bruce-Wayne Batman, who's standing on the shoulders of giants and reckoning with the ghost of the Batman's (and his) past. Barbara and Jim Gordon having to deal with Jim's biggest mistakes of all in the form of James Jr resurfacing. I also loved Dick and Babs' moments and their relationship draws on this theme: they have so much history together, they loved each other, they get each other like no one else does, they've been there from almost the beginning, they've been allies, partners, friends, lovers, exes, fiancés, and now they're something pretty un-labellable if you ask me. (Thesis-antithesis-synthesis in a sense :P)

But shit. The ableism is problematic. I think it's two main things, though I might be missing something. First is Dick's nightmare vision where his worst fear is him losing his legs. And second is James Jr being written as a "psychopath" as oppose to, I dunno, the literal embodiment of toxic masculinity (fucking wasted opportunity) to be a foil to our favourite flamboyant, pun-slinging, back-flipping, hoping-inspiring boy scout Dick Grayson.

What do you think of this arc?

I’ll confess that I am the odd one out in that I just. Do not get the appeal of black mirror. Even excluding the ableism (and it is VERY ableist). Like people say it’s great Dick characterization, and it’s fine, but it’s not like it stands out especially among other comics of the time IMO.

Like, Dick and Babs’s moments in this comic are not notable for me, because she is reduced and written as lesser to make her someone Dick has to protect, she is damselled and written as less competent – hwo does James get past her security so effortlessly? Why does she not finish him off when she has the advantage after beating him up initially? Like the whole reason I like Dick and Babs’ dynamic is because they are written as equals in the initial version of their relationship, Black Mirror just made it a stereotypical ‘scared woman (b/c she is treated as scared of James, even tho she does try to break out), strong man saves her’ thing. James Jr would not be a threat to Babs in her own solo title. That means I think it fails in being respectful of the depiction of her history, so I would say that Snyder does not succeed there.

I also would disagree that we see Babs and Jim having to deal with Jim’s greatest mistake, when like I said Babs doesn’t really do much.

I do agree that they had a lot of opportunity to parallel James and Dick as toxic masculinity vs healthy masculinity, but it’s wasn’t the authorial intention at all, so I don’t give it any credit for that. The authorial intention was “Good, neurotypical dick* vs Evil, neurodivergent James”. I would honestly consider the way they diminished Babs capabilities to prop Dick up more ableism in the story as well, in addition to sexism.

I think that critique of the Might is Right mindset is done much better in many 80s/90s Batman comics, including Batman: Venom. The text was much more overt there, and less hidden behind ableism.

Anyway, so sorry :P but basically Batman: Black Mirror is one of those “everyone talks it up” but I’m just like the *insert her GIF*. It’s a pretty stereotypical batman story. In terms of Dickbats stories, I consider it one of the more mid ones. I genuinely don’t know how it is so popular :P

*ignoring headcanons or readings of earlier texts…. The way Snyder writes him is intended to be read as neurotypical

[lunamugetsu]

While at school Damian overhears his peers talking how a company created a new AI companion that is actually really cool and doesn’t sound like a freaky terminator robot when you speak to it.

And since Damian is constantly being told by Dick to socialize with people his age. He figured this would be a good way to work on social skills if not, then it’d be a great opportunity to investigate a rivaling company to Wayne Enterprises is able to create such advanced AI.

The AI is able to work as companion that can do tasks that range from being a digital assistant or just a person that you can have a conversation with.

The company says that the AI companion might still have glitches, so they encourage everybody to report it so that they will fix it as soon as possible.

The AI companion even has an avatar and a name.

A teenage boy with black hair and blue eyes. Th AI was called DANIEL

Damian didn’t really care for it but when he downloaded the AI companion he’s able to see that it looks like DANIEL comes with an AI pet as well. A dog that DANIEL referred to as Cujo.

So obviously Damian has to investigate. He needs to know if the company was able to create an actual digital pet!

So whenever he logs onto his laptop he sees that DANIEL is always present in the background loading screen with the dog, Cujo, sitting in his lap.

He’d always greet with the phrase of “Hi, I’m DANIEL. How can I assist you today?”

So Damian cycles through some basic conversation starters that he’d engage in when having been forced to by his family.

It’s after a couple of sentences that he sees DANIEL start laughing and say “I think you sound more like a robot than I do.”

Which makes Damian raise an eyebrow and then prompt DANIEL with the question “how is a person supposed to converse?” Thinking that it’s going to just spit out some random things that can be easily searched on the internet.

But what makes him surprised is that DANIEL makes a face and then says “I’m not really sure myself. I’m not the greatest at talking, I’ve always gotten in trouble for running my mouth when I shouldn’t have.”

This is raising some questions within Damian, he understands how programming works, unless there’s an actual person behind this or the company actually created an AI that acts like an actual human being (which he highly doubts)

He starts asking a variety of other questions and one answer makes him even more suspicious. Like how DANIEL has a sister that is also with him and Cujo or that he could really go for a Nastyburger (whatever that was)

But whenever DANIEL answers “I C A N N O T A N S W E R T H A T” Damian knows something is off since that is completely different than to how he’d usually respond.

After a couple more conversations with him Damian notices that DANIEL is currently tapping his hand against his arm in a specific manner.

In which he quickly realizes that DANIEL is tapping out morse code.

When translating he realizes that DANIEL is tapping out: H E L P M E

So when Damian asks if DANIEL needs help, DANIEL responds with “I C A N N O T A N S W E R T H A T”

That’s it, Damian is definitely getting down to the bottom of this.

He’s going to look straight into DALV Corporation and investigate this “AI companion” thing they’ve made!

~

Basically Danny had been imprisoned by Vlad and Technus. Being sucked into a digital prison and he has no way of getting out. Along with the added horror that Vlad and Technus can basically write programming that will prevent him from doing certain actions or saying certain words.What’s even worse is that he’s basically being watched 24/7 by the people who believe that he’s just a super cool AI… and they have issues!

And every time he tries to do something to break his prison, people think it��s a glitch and report it to the company, which Vlad/ Technus would immediately fix it and prevent him from doing it again!

Not to mention Cujo and Ellie are trapped in there with him. They’re not happy to be there either, and there is no way he’s going to leave without them!

[silverwhittlingknife]

dick vs. apartment organization, a story in three parts

new teen titans 10, new titans 65, nightwing: target

"i can't believe this place." "i thought you were moving." "you live like a slob."

everybody's a critic dsfsfdsf

[casscainmainly]

Jason being turbo evil during the Dickbats era is so interesting when thinking about Black Mirror. I don't think it's intentional, but SO many things could be read differently in the context of Dick and Jason's relationship.

Like the core theme in Black Mirror is letting go vs. not letting go, which manifests in the circus motif of holding onto someone who's falling:

Importantly, Dick is on the side of letting go. Of releasing, of letting things fall. It's probably just meant to distinguish him from Bruce, but it's interesting that this is happening post-Battle for the Cowl, which ended with this scene (in Battle for the Cowl #3):

This fall represents Dick's inability to save Jason, and Jason's unwillingness to save himself. So the falling/letting go motif in Black Mirror could be read in direct response to this - he had to let go of Jason (physically and emotionally) to become Batman.

Jason's name never appears in Black Mirror, and he is only alluded to once. In an auction selling off items of horrific value, the auctioneer puts up the crowbar that Joker beat Jason with for sale:

This crowbar is what Dick is using in the above image where he says "the feeling is like slipping, like your hands sliding out of the hands holding you". This again connects Jason to Dick's philosophy of letting go, but Dick never actually thinks about Jason. His internal monologue here is entirely general, despite him holding the item that killed his brother; his mentality has completely let go of Jason, to the point where he doesn't think about him anymore.

Dick's response to Alfred finding the crowbar is also interesting:

There's something dismissive about the way he says "just toss it in the river," yet it's clear (through his shadowed facial expression) that the crowbar deeply troubles him. It's the war between letting go (tossing it in the river) and not letting go (keeping the crowbar). He then talks about the growing evil of Gotham, which is another of Black Mirror's motifs - being unable to recognise something that was once familiar. I wonder how much of that is also linked to Jason, whose turn in Battle for the Cowl is described by Dick as "a flipped switch".

Jason's words also echo throughout Black Mirror. In Batman and Robin #6, as well as Battle for the Cowl #3, Jason is the most vocal about Dick being a bad successor for Bruce:

Dick's insecurities about being a good Batman in Black Mirror can be traced back to these conversations, and Jason gets Dick so bad in Batman and Robin that Dick actually tries to resurrect Bruce in the next issues. Despite Jason never appearing in Dick's internal monologues, it's clear he heavily affects Dick's actions and beliefs, or at the very least compounds his insecurities as Batman.

Of course, the most obvious parallel to Jason is James Gordon, Barbara's (clinically) psychopathic brother. I think Babs and Dick mirror each other a lot here - they both have the attitude of 'letting go' of their respective brothers, whereas Jim represents holding on. The narrative itself, though, implies Jim is right:

Holding on isn't about forgiving James for his actions, but about never giving up on him. About believing that he (and, by extension, Gotham) deserves someone who will stay and fight (to protect them, and to protect others from them). Dick comes to understand this:

Dick uses the word "redeemed" here on himself, implying he feels he needs to be redeemed for something - in the context of this post, we could read it as his failure to save Jason, a failure baked into his adoption of the Batman mantle from the start. More importantly, this monologue shows a shift in Dick's philosophy. The idea of letting go is the idea of mobility, something Black Mirror hammers home with the circus imagery. Here, Dick is rejecting that in favour of stability - of staying still, or fighting instead of dodging.

If the New 52 hadn't interrupted the Dickbats era, it would've been interesting to see Dick deal with Jason in this new light. He's tried to help Jason before, but kind of accepted that Jason would never use it:

Post-Black Mirror, though, I think Dick would have a different approach to 'saving' Jason. Idk I just think there's some untapped potential in their dynamic that this era represents, as it indicates a potential repairing of their relationship rooted not necessarily in Dick's love for Jason, but in Dick's newfound approach to Gotham and redemption.

[ccccchepushilo]

it was fun having internet im ending myself now bye

[streamie-was-taken]

Meanwhile, in 'Batman: The Black Mirror'

Dadwing: *searching around frantically* WHERE IS MY SON?

Batdad: YOU HAVE A SON?

Dadwing: YES. MY BIRDIE GREMLIN DEVIL CHILD. WHERE IS HE.

Batdad: No, that's MY son.

Dadwing: He's MY sidekick. MY SON.

Batdad: NO hE's NOt

Dadwing: *screeches*

[mgcfalls]

𝘚𝘦𝘦 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦.

༘ ⋆ 📼 ˚ ༘ ೀ ⋆ ｡ ˚ 🎧ྀི ♪⋆ .✮ '♫ ¡

[animeandfun]

Most anticipated returning tv shows of 2025 - excited!

[geekynerfherder]

'Terror Twos: Merry Axemas' charity fundraiser prints.

Selected art by Si Heard, Lucas Tetrault, Mark Levy, Gokaiju, Carly A-F, Ciaran O'Donovan, Phil Shelly.

A3 size (297 x 420 mm) digital prints on 250gsm paper, for £14.99

100% of the profits from the print sale will be donated to the family of Pete Knight (ForceFed Art and Design), a member of the PosterSpy community who sadly passed away in September 2024.

More posters on sale now for 1 week only until Saturday February 8 2025 through Posterspy.

[zahri-melitor]

Okay I’m LOVING the Black Mirror.

It’s got great art and colouring. It’s got an interesting story.

And it’s got CLASSIC Dick & Tim banter.

Witness Dick relying on Tim even as he deflects with humour! Witness Tim worrying over Dick! (‘Tec 874)

Witness Tim mocking Dick! Witness Dick tease-threatening Tim! (‘Tec 877)

Go on. Tell me again how their relationship was fatally wounded in Red Robin 1. I don’t believe you.

[solearobservatory]

West Virginia saw a bear in his backyard and was really excited to tell Virginia about it. Virginia also saw the same bear, actually. So had Kentucky, and Ohio. Turns out it was wandering all around town the whole day. West was kinda bummed he didn't get to brag about seeing a bear. It was, like, the one cool thing that happened to him that week. He can't have shit.

[fancyfade]

batman: black mirror would've been better if a) there weren't the ableist tropes associated with the writing of James Gordon Jr (link to post detailing ableism) and b) they didn't even make him a character from Jim/Babs' past b/c they just used that to damsel babs and make her less competent. Since the conflict and parallel/contrasts was between Dick and the serial killer, they should've made it someone from Dick's past.

[the-ghost-of-jason-todd]

batman: the black mirror has an INSANELY high rating on storygraph (i rarely see anything over a 4.0, and it has a 4.21 so yknow) which i didn't know when i picked it up to read. i haven't finished reading yet, but it got a scream of vindication from me literally just for the fact that the underground culty auction house was aUCTIONING OFF THE FUCKING CROWBAR THE JOKER USED TO KILL JASON TODD?? like jesus christ, that alone raised the 'metal' bar to killer status

....wait. metal bar. killer. haha.

FUCK. i need a fic of jason tracking that auction lot down after all this shit goes down and stealing that crowbar back.

...................actually you know what i really want? i want him to melt it down and make something out of it. weld it into art. make something deadly into something beautiful. fuck, that would be so damn metal. "the thing that contributed 90% of my fatal injuries has been melted and remade, just like i was remade when i clawed out of my grave/the lazarus pit". it's like batman's trophy cave only one step further.

I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED--

[kelaeri]

With the addition of House of Hush today, I have finally completed my main series collection for Dick as Batman! I'm still missing some other (more minor) story lines, but very happy with this so far <3

[timstephfangirl]

Tim!Red Robin and Dick!Batman acting brotherly. I love them.

[disacurveball]

Some design doodles I’ve done over the past week of a Roguesona design for JJ Gordon.

In my delusional world, he is the new Joker number two post-Harley instead of Punchline, because 1) He already has been setup as a Joker bro as a child and 2) it fits into Joker’s favorite pastime of torturing the Gordons