#but in the first game. by romancing selina you would be breaking the trust of harvey dent (who selina was dating at that time)

[wings-of-angels]

I thought telltale batman was a batcat game because of all the screengrabs i see on here? Now i'm seeing from one of your posts that people are turning down selina...?

I mean yes you're right, but both can exist at the same time!!!

Telltale batman is a multiple choice game :)) so while the game absolutely pushes you to romance selina, you don't technically have to because you get to choose the dialogue and what actions you (playing as bruce) take. So you can absolutely choose to continuously friendzone her (which u would have to do... several times might i add 😭😭 i love batcat but ive definitely heard some non batcat shippers on here complain about how much they try to force batcat onto you).

So yes !!! It is a batcat game but it doesnt have to be :))

(Also most people within the fandom ship Bruce with John, not selina, which is what causes quite a few people to not romance selina and is what prompted me to make the post)

[fyeahbatcat]

Batman Annual 2: A Romantic Opus About the Transcendence of Love

This past Wednesday, DC Comics released the highly anticipated Batman Annual #2, by Tom King with art by Lee Weeks and Michael Lark. The issue, which promised to “see the early days of the Bat and the Cat”, went far above and beyond a mere Batman and Catwoman date night tale. A story that is less dense in plot but rich in narrative with truly amazing art and breathtaking coloring, the Annual is an emotional game changer that easily inserts itself as one of the greatest Batman and Catwoman stories of all time and opens the door for much broader implications for the future of Bat and Cat.

The Rebirth of the Bat and the Cat

After more than half a decade spent on the back-burner (the way back-burner) writer Tom King has spent much of his eighteen month tenure as the Batman head-writer reestablishing the relationship between Batman and Catwoman. He made it clear that the relationship would be a major focal point in the Batman books, rather than the standard obligatory romantic subplot when he made the surprising decision to have Batman propose to Catwoman earlier this year. Perhaps even more surprisingly Catwoman accepted Batman’s proposal after a long wait. 

The relationship between Batman and Catwoman is long and ever changing. It began in Batman #1 in 1940 as flirtatious frenemies and was established as a canon relationship during the Bronze Age under the tutelage of Len Wein. The relationship broke out of the comics in the 1990s and went on to become one of DC Comics’ most recognized and popular relationships. Having been featured in two live-action television shows, three movies, countless animated series, and thousands of comics the romance between Gotham’s hard line crime-fighter and most infamous femme fatale endeared themselves to fans and writers alike and the relationship was allowed to be pushed forward. In 2003 during the Hush storyline by Jeph Loeb, in a demonstration of trust Batman revealed his identity to Catwoman for the first time. During the time that followed the relationship received more focus and development than in previous eras. However, by the time the Pre-Flashpoint era ended in 2011 things ended between Batman and Catwoman in the finale of the Gotham City Sirens series where it usually ended: in limbo. 

Unfortunately, the succeeding era, New 52, saw a baffling destruction of DC’s legacies. Legacies were eliminated, histories were changed, and some characters were erased altogether. Romance was hit particularly hard and nearly every DC relationship was eradicated. Superman and Lois Lane’s fifteen year marriage was wiped out and Lois was virtually exiled from the Superman universe. Green Arrow and Black Canary became strangers and remained that way much to the ire of fans. Although Wonder Woman’s original love interest, Steve Trevor, returned to the comics more prominently than he had been in the previous era, Wonder Woman was quickly shuffled into a relationship with Superman. 

In an embarrassing episode in 2013 DC made their new stance on romance abundantly clear when Batwoman writers, W. Haden Black and J.H. Williams III, abruptly resigned from the critically acclaimed, best-selling series after DC refused to allow the titular character to marry her longtime partner and other instances of editorial interference. DC Comics was accused of homophobia and many fans vowed to stop reading the comics. Responding to the controversy, Co-Publisher Dan Didio, said in no uncertain terms that marriage was forbidden at DC Comics. 

They put on a cape and cowl for a reason. They’re committed to defending others — at the sacrifice of all their own personal instincts. That’s something we reinforce. If you look at every one of the characters in the Batman family, their personal lives kind of suck…Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, and Kathy Kane — it’s wonderful that they try to establish personal lives, but it’s also just as important that they put it aside as they know what they are accomplishing as the hero takes precedence over everything else. That is our mandate, that is our edict, that is our stand with our characters.

Batman and Catwoman absolutely languished during this time. Their relationship which had previously been loving and trusting was reduced to an insulting cross between virtual strangers and friends with benefits. For five years DC Comics seemingly did everything they could think of to avoid the relationship and fans took notice. In 2015 after a series of failed relaunches, a two year sales low, and an increasing market lag behind Marvel it became clear that New 52 had failed to attract and sustain the audience that DC had hoped for in 2011. With the DCEU taking off, mediocrity was no longer an option. In 2016 DC announced Rebirth, yet another relaunch, this time promising for a return to the old and in many ways it did. Superman and Lois Lane’s marriage was restored and a son, Jon, came in addition. Steve Trevor was once again a prominent supporting character in Wonder Woman as well as her main love interest. Even Midniter and Apollo made a comeback. 

Batman and Catwoman did not reunite as instantaneously as many had hoped. They were featured in a series of poorly timed variant covers at the start of Rebirth but Catwoman had yet to make any appearances. Relatively new DC writer, Tom King, was announced as the Batman main writer and at New York Comic Con he teased that Catwoman was to become the co-lead of Batman. Catwoman’s eventual debut in Batman #9 as a mass murderer facing the death penalty did not warrant a positive response and diminished the hopes of many fans that Rebirth would be a kinder era to Catwoman and Batman and Catwoman’s relationship. Although it was expected by many that this newest revelation was likely a red herring, after five years of New 52 their patience was wearing thin. 

Meanwhile Batman and Catwoman teamed up to invade Bane’s sanctuary to kidnap Psycho Pirate, an encounter that cumulated in the Rooftops arc. Catwoman’s innocence was finally revealed, and for the first time since Heart of Hush was published nearly a decade prior Batman and Catwoman declared their love for each other. While the jury is still out on King’s execution he has undeniably reestablished Batman and Catwoman as a canon romance. His tale is of two lonely, damaged orphans who see and accept the best and the worst in each other who despite their shared traumas find hope and happiness with each other. 

All of them can laugh. Mother. Father. Him. The whole world. They can see me in this idiocy and they can laugh and laugh and laugh. But you. Selina. Cat. You wouldn’t. Because you know. You know what this is…And you, Cat. You know. Because if you’ve made that choice, you can see it in another. You can see it in me. I can see it in you.

- Bruce Wayne to Selina Kyle in Batman #12

King’s interpretation of Batman and Catwoman’s relationship differs from almost every other writer’s interpretation because he doesn’t bog the relationship down with the will they/won’t they trope and hyper focus on juvenile sexual tension at the expense of substantial development. Rather than portray Batman and Catwoman as opposites that attract, he understands that they’re similar. 

They’re missing pieces in a puzzle and they understand each other in ways that other people can’t. “I need you,” Batman says before proposing to Catwoman for the first time in main canon history. 

Batman Annual #2

To appreciate the Annual is to appreciate Tom King’s Bat and Cat. The former half of the issue reiterates King’s consistent interpretation throughout his Batman run. Batman and Catwoman are orphans who see and understand each other in ways that other people don’t and are bonded by their trauma. 

Where King separates himself from other writers and takes his interpretation even further is in the second act of the book. An aged and married Bruce and Selina are living a happy albeit seemingly unextraordinary life retired from crime-fighting, and they even have an adult daughter who is operating as Batwoman. Things take a quick, heartbreaking turn when Bruce is inflicted by a nondescript illness. He’s dying and there’s plainly nothing to be done. Mortality is unavoidable. Bruce lived an extraordinary life and died a natural, ordinary, human death. 

The tragic part of Bruce’s death isn’t even the fact that he dies. What’s sad about it is how much Bruce and Selina don’t want to leave each other and how they try to stay strong for one another. Even though he is dying Bruce’s only concern is that after he passes Selina will be okay, and that she won’t be lonely. They both muse using magic and time travel to try to cheat death just so they can stay together. 

There are those who abhor what King has done to the Batman books by portraying a Bruce that is more vulnerable and driven by things other than crime fighting. Everyone has a favorite version and preference, but it’s baffling as to why anyone would think that something like marriage would take something away from who Batman is as a character or why anyone would think that Bruce is better off as a loner. To quote another blogger, “Geez, what do these people want for Bruce, anyway? For him to die alone and clinically depressed, his body marred and broken from decades of fighting Gotham’s never-ending crime wave?”

I always use the animated Batman Beyond as a litmus test for how Bruce ends up (Does this version of Bruce Wayne end up like Bruce Wayne in Batman Beyond?). In Batman Beyond he ends up a lonely, bitter old curmudgeon who all of his former partners despise and avoid. This is not the ending that Bruce deserves. The Annual portrays a Bruce who breaks the wheel of this portrayal. He dies a natural, wholly unremarkable death surrounded by love after living a long, happy life. It’s what he deserves. It’s the best ending any of us can hope for.

So how did a comic where nothing remarkable happens plot wise illicit such a strong emotional response from readers? It’s because of it’s simplicity that makes it so impactful. For nearly 80 years fans have been told that a simple, happy life for Bruce was asking too much. To finally get to see it happen feels like an affirmation. There is, however, more than enough evidence to indicate that this story is not a telling of Bruce and Selina’s ultimate ending but that this story features a Bruce and Selina of a presumably different universe. 

C’mon guys. Tom King made us wait four months just to find out if Selina said ‘yes.’ Did you really think he’d just tell us their entire life story in one issue? 

An Alternate Universe? 

There is an abundance of evidence within the Annual and the fact that it has been published concurrently with other major DC time altering events to deduce that this story is an AU in some form or another. 

The biggest clue to indicate this is a comment Bruce makes after learning that he his illness is terminal. He tells Selina to find Barry Allen (The Flash) and find another version of him that never marries to take care of her after he’s gone.  Probably the most well known modern Flash story is Flashpoint, where Barry Allen alters events and timelines by traveling back in time and changing history.  This allusion was intentional.  

One of the biggest themes of Rebirth has a whole is the idea of merging times and universes. Remember how New 52 Superman was killed off and replaced with a different version of himself? This is also coinciding with Doomsday Clock where Doctor Manhattan has essentially been experimenting with different realities and universes resulting in a merge of timelines, which published just one week before the Annual. This is not a coincidence.

The second clue is the appearance of Helena Wayne. 

As you we are all probably aware Helena Wayne is Bruce and Selina’s canonical daughter from Earth-2 who operates as the Huntress during in the Pre-Crisis and New 52 eras. Helena was last seen in Earth-2 Society, which ended publication in September, taking up the Batman mantle. Helena Wayne has never been part of the main universe, although many have hoped that she one day would be. This could just be a glimpse of things to come, but the appearance of any characters that are not from the main universe should raise red flags. Which brings me to the next clue. 

When Bruce is on his death bed he is seen surrounded by his loved ones. Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Tim Drake, Duke Thomas, even Gotham Girl are all there. Damian Wayne is noticeably absent.  Damian was a pretty big factor in Bruce’s decision to seek happiness as he wanted to set a better example for his son as mentioned in The Button, which was also written by Tom King. Bruce even mentions to Thomas that he has a son (singular). He made it a point to single out Damian so it’s very doubtful that Damian being excluded would’ve gone unnoticed here.

In addition to Damian being nowhere in sight: don’t you think it’s a little bit weird that Damian isn’t there, but Carrie Kelly is?

Carrie Kelly, a prominent character in Frank Miller’s Dark Knight AU series, is a famously non-canonical character. As stated before the appearance of characters that are not from the main universe should indicate that things are not likely what they appear, especially when they are there in the absence of main universe characters. 

Annual issues are really a grab bag of canon. Sometimes they have an impact on the main stories going forward; sometimes they’re standalone stories. It all depends on what the writer wants to do with it. King has been mum about revealing what the Annual will mean for the future of the Batman books, but he did imply that some parts of the Annual will impact the story in the main universe. 

What Does This All Mean?

I seemed to have struck quite a few nerves when I pointed out that the Annual issue features an AU version of Bruce and Selina. I suppose some people were disappointed to realize this and felt like I was ruining the experience. With that said: the Annual issue features an AU version of Bruce and Selina. I do not say this to hurt anyone. I say this because well, for one thing that’s what the evidence indicates. Secondly, to ignore this misses the point of what the Annual is supposed to mean. 

To just accept that the Annual is just a quaint glimpse into the future where Bruce and Selina grow old together in some ways reduces the story to fluff that happens for no other reason than to make the readers feel good, which is the conclusion drawn by a few of the negative reviews. We as readers want to take comfort in knowing what the ultimate ending will be but that misses the point of the Annual entirely. Much of what King has done during his time on the Batman books is vitiate what we’ve come to accept as the status quo in regard to Batman and Catwoman’s relationship and the Batman books in general. 

Here’s what King said about changing the role of romance in the Batman books:

EW: In comics, there’s this general idea that superheroes shouldn’t be happy. We’ve seen this in Spider-Man, Bat-family, and other places. How did you pitch this story to DC Comics? Was there any pushback?

TK: No, because what you’re talking about is looking at happiness as the end of conflict, right? This idea that if a character is content, then there’s nothing dramatic about them and you don’t want a cliffhanger and you don’t want to turn the page. That’s my whole point as an artist — I’m trying to get you to turn a page. But what makes Batman unique is that happiness is, instead of being the end of conflict, the source of conflict. It’s something you haven’t seen before. You throw sadness, you throw depression, you throw horror at Batman, he’s like, “yeah, yawn, I’ve done that.” You throw happiness at him? That’s something that riles him, that’s something that he’s not used to. That’s throwing gas on a fire, and that’s always how I pitched it. This is not the end of something. This is the beginning of something.

Notably when King was asked how he would picture Batman and Catwoman’s marriage he gave a sincere response drawing inspiration from his own marriage rather than relying on the usual excuses for why the relationship wouldn’t work out that writers seem to default to. Compare that to Scott Snyder who said that Batman’s story would always be a tragedy or Dan Didio who said that superheros should be unhappy and issued a departmental ban on marriage.

Batman and Catwoman’s relationship has only marginally progressed in fifteen years. So many writers have hit the exact same rut when attempting to develop the relationship. No matter what the story, no matter who the writer, for one reason or another the relationship just doesn’t work out in the end and they’ve had to invent reasons for why. Batman is too immature. The Joker turns Catwoman evil. Because…reasons. We’ve accepted this as just how things are supposed to be for almost 80 years. If creators are unable to see the relationship beyond everything that’s already been done, then the relationship will never go anywhere. 

The Annual is intended to show us the type of life and relationship that Bruce and Selina can have if everyone abolishes their ideas of the relationship they’re expected to have. King is subverting the expectation of what everyone says their relationship must be like. “Batman and Catwoman can’t be together.” “Batman is only dedicated to his mission.” “Catwoman isn’t suited for married life; she’ll just get bored.” He is showing us that this type of life is possible for them. They can have a long happy life together, and the barriers that have prevented that in the past are simple imaginary.

The point King is trying to make is that even though this isn’t necessarily Prime Earth Batman and Catwoman’s story it still can be.

“I’m not sure it’s 100 percent out of canon,” King said. “…To me and to my Batman, this is a story that’s certainly possible. It’s something I think that could and may come true.” 

Even if this isn’t main universe Bruce and Selina’s story per se that doesn’t mean that it won’t be. This still very well might be their future. That door is not only still open; it’s probably been opened for the first time ever. 

The Timeline

Going by what was indicated in the Annual and by Rebirth’s theme of timeline and universe meshing my prediction is that it will be revealed that the current Catwoman of the main universe is actually from a different timeline or universe or something of the sort. For those who are perplexed by the idea of Selina being from a different universe I’ll remind you that the current Superman and Lois Lane are both versions from a different timeline.    

Some initial reactions to this prediction were quite negative with many believing that this somehow changes things. My question is why? In many ways this would seem symbolic of the longevity and range of Batman and Catwoman’s relationship. They have been and continue to be featured in every form of media for nearly eight decades, including a myriad of alternate universes. They were married on Earth-2 which is a version of them that DC Comics thought was within the realm of possibility but couldn’t quite commit to in the main universe. 

The fact that Bruce is confident that Selina would be happy with another version of himself shows that these versions of fundamentally the same and their feelings for each other never change. Bruce and Selina’s feelings for each other are authentic and that wouldn’t change. It shows that their love for each other transcends all time and space. 

In short Batman Annual #2 is likely to be remembered as one of the greatest Batman and Catwoman stories of all time. The positive response from fans and critics proves to DC Comics that there is a market for this relationship and they can strive for more than what’s already been done. The massive commercial success will hopefully convince the editors that the direction Tom King has taken the book and the characters has been long overdue. Beyond the romantic narrative the Annual opens a world of exciting opportunities for the Batman books. What will occur is yet to be seen and Tom King isn’t saying, so we’ll have to wait to find out. 

Reflecting on the Annual I’m reminded of a quote from Kiersten White’s The Chaos of Stars that have been used in a number of fandom edits, that I myself used once. I’ll quote it here because no matter what will come to be I think it fits very well: 

I’d choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I’d find you and I’d choose you.