#in most versions it was batman and batgirl first

[haveihitanerve]

I believe fully, in my heart of hearts, that Barbara Gordon is one of the only people who gets a genuine “thank you.” from both Batman and Bruce Wayne, because with Dick the thank you’s are unspoken, a subtle nod, a little hug, nothing overly major, and as he adopted more and more kids bruce became more emotional constipated (#not at all how character development and growth are supposed to be cough cough dc cough cough but whatever) so they don't really get thank yous they get more grunts of pride/acknowledgement/thanks but with barbara he always says thank you, whether its a soft, relieved little ‘thank you.’ after she gives him life saving info for his kids, or if its a gruff ‘thank you.’ after she proves him wrong but helps more people, or a standard ‘thank you.’ for giving him information and locations on villains. And everytime she responds with either a soft, comforting, “not a problem B. I got your back.” or a cheery, obnoxious, “you are welcome!” or even just a mutter of “you wouldn't be able to tie your shoes without me” that bruce pretends he cant hear. 

[elizabethemerald]

Don't Sneak up on People with Swords

@im-totally-not-an-alien-2 made a prompt about Danny sneaking up on Jason Todd and @sky00asara made a comment in the tags about what would happen if Danny did that to Talia. So here is my version of that! Enjoy.

Talia al Ghul watched her beloved from afar. He was out, again patrolling his city for those he considered wrong doers. Her son was by his side. She scowled at how Damian’s fighting style had changed, softened in the company of her beloved. Despite her love for the man under the cowl, he had a tremendous ability to take even the most ruthless of killers and change them to spare the undeserving. He had even tried it with her. 

She was hidden on the roof of an abandoned tower nearby. The tower had succumbed to fire and was now condemned until the city got around to destroying it properly. For now it made the perfect place for her to observe her beloved and her son work undisturbed. 

“Excuse me?” 

Talia whirled, drawing her blade as she spun. Her blade moved fast enough to almost cut the air itself yet the small shape ducked under her stroke and back-pedaled quickly to move out her range. 

“Jeez! Why is everyone in this city so jumpy!” 

The voice more than anything made her realize that the person who had somehow snuck close enough was an actual child. Their black hair and blue eyes made her wonder if this was another of her beloved’s adoptees. Except surely this boy was too young to catch Bruce’s eye? 

“Well maybe you should not sneak up on people?” Talia hissed, her voice soft yet stern. To say nothing of how a child who couldn’t be older than five had snuck up on her at all. 

“Well maybe you shouldn’t brood on the roof of my home!” The child snarked back, just like one of the Bat’s brood would, completely unafraid of the blade still in her hand. Talia raised an eyebrow at him then looked around at the burnt skeleton of the building they were standing on. 

“This building is not fit for human occupation.”

“Neither was the last place I lived.” He said dismissively. “This place hasn’t even killed me yet, so it’s practically a paradise.” 

She was tempted to take the child’s words as sarcasm, yet something in the way he spoke made her think he meant it more truthfully. 

“You’ve died before?” Talia asked. She relaxed her hold on her blade, allowing it to rest at her side. 

“Oh yeah, I die all the time.” He said, then he looked at her curiously tilting his head first one way, then another. “You’ve died too, huh?” 

She nodded, now examining him closely, looking for the signs she would recognize. She could see the hint of a scar on the boy’s palm that might have caused a death. 

“What is it with this town that so many people have died and come back?” The boy asked, apparently rhetorically as he didn’t let her answer. “First the stabby Robin, then the stabby Batgirl, then Batman, and even Red Hood. It’s like everyone I run into is contaminated.” 

Talia’s eyes widened. 

“You can sense those who have utilized the Lazarus Pits?” She would have to inform her father about this child. He could put the entire League of Assassins at risk. The child before her just shrugged. 

“I have no idea what that is. Red Hood mentioned some kind of pit as well, but I’ve never seen anything like that. I just know y’all are contaminated with ectoplasm, though not enough to make a core.” 

“What is this… ectoplasm?” Another name for the Lazarus Waters? Had there perhaps been a Pit outside of League control? In the midwest somewhere based on the boy’s accent. 

“Oh it’s this stuff.” He held his hand out and Talia couldn’t help keep her expression of shock withdrawn despite all her training as his hand filled with the glowing green light of the Pits. He held the Pit Water in his hand then tossed the glowing orb to his other hand in a half juggle as if he weren’t carrying the League's greatest secret and weapon. 

Nevermind telling her father about this child, he could never learn of him. If Ras had the power this child had under his control the world would never survive. There was only one option. She needed to train this child to wield this strength. With the stealth he displayed in sneaking up on her and his power over the Pits themselves he could make an assassin like the world had never seen. He could be the next Head of the Demon under her guidance. She knelt down to the boy’s level, slipping her sword back away as she did so. 

“Tell me, young one. Are you living in this death trap of a building all by yourself?” 

“Yeah, but don’t worry, I’ve got it taken care of. I know I’m little, but that just means people are less likely to notice me. I’m able to steal all the food I need from that big box store down the street.” 

“Oh of that I have no doubt. My name is Talia al Ghul. What’s yours?” 

“Hmm. I’m Danny.” The boy seemed hesitant to trust her, which to be perfectly honest was probably a very smart thing to do, but at least she had a name for this gift of Lazarus. 

“Danny, how would you like to come live with me? You won’t have to steal any more, or worry about food ever again, and I could train you how to fight even better than the Bats.” 

He narrowed his eyes at her, looking her over closely. 

“Would I get a sword?” 

“If a sword is what you want, then once you were trained in its use I would acquire one for you.”

Danny looked like he was about to nod, but then he froze, his head tilting to the side as if he was listening to something. His eyes widened and Talia tensed. 

“Uh-oh. Fruit Loop incoming. I gotta go.” 

Talia half turned as she heard the sound of one of her beloved’s grappling lines catching on the building’s edge. By the time she had turned back to face him, Danny had completely vanished. She hadn’t even heard him leave. She stood and scowled as her beloved landed on the rooftop next to her. 

“Talia.” He grunted at her, glaring all the while. 

“Beloved. Must you ruin every nice thing in my life?” Talia snarled back. The boy, Danny, had the gift of Lazarus at his beck and call and Batman had scared him off. 

Bruce looked momentarily stunned at her fury, but quickly hid it behind his mask. However Talia couldn’t care less about her beloved right now. She just needed to lose him so she could return to find the boy. The boy who would change the world with his power. 

[2004hitalbumsevenswans]

I really enjoyed Batman: Caped Crusader. I was worried (like everyone else) that Bruce Timm would push his Bruce/Barbara obsession, but they barely interact when Bruce is out of costume, and he’s all business as Batman. Barbara is (presumably) about the same age as Bruce in this adaptation, she’s a young public defender, who still lives at home with her dad. Commissioner Gordon is mentioned to have 30 years on the Gotham police force at one point. And the series is loosely based on Batman: Year One by Frank Miller, and has Matt Reeves as a producer. It’s definitely an interpretation of the early years of Batman.

The setting is vaguely and aesthetically set in the 1940s, mirroring the original Batman and riffing on DC comic stories and character interpretations from that time. Clayface’s story and appearance is based on the original interpretation of the character, which I really enjoyed - especially as someone’s who’s read the first couple years of the original Detective Comics/Batman stories. (There’s also a lot of great references to the Adam West show, and a couple of its themes are reimagined for this more noir story.)

I could see the series setting up something between Bruce and Barbara potentially, but their interactions are really blink-and-you’ll-miss-it. There’s a moment where Bruce’s is climbing back onto the Iceberg Lounge yacht and he uses a pick up line on her, which she scoffs at, then he proceeds to use the line on two other young women. There’s another moment that you could say is pre-flirting, or is at least setting up a foundation to further a relationship between the two. Where Barbara makes a comment about Batman letting himself into her office unannounced whenever he feels like it, and she tells him she needs a way to contact him, and he gives her the Batphone number. At this point I think you could make more of an argument for a Harleen/Barbara pairing than her and Bruce.

I think the characters would both individually need a lot more development to be in a romantic relationship. I’ll say this even though I know it will be an unpopular opinion: in this interpretation I wouldn’t mind putting Bruce and Barbara together. I know that’s practically sacrilege coming from someone who’s favourite character is Oracle but hear me out.

My main issues with Bruce and Barbara together (especially when it comes to Timm’s work) is the age difference. It’s often debated but Barbara in most iterations (including current comic canon) is around the same age as Dick, usually a couple of years older, 2-3 at most. Bruce is depicted as having at least 15 years on her, if not more. And most stories that have Bruce and Barbara together also fixate on her being batgirl. Then there’s the tendency to make a Nightwing-Batgirl-Batman love triangle which I don’t want to get into but I hate completely.

None of that is happening here. Barbara has her own storylines that are just as prominent as Bruce and Harvey’s. She’s an adult with agency and flaws and is just as fleshed out as any of the other characters are. I wouldn’t be surprised if the show takes a season or two to develop a romantic relationship between the two of them. Bruce is completely focused on being Batman and sees Bruce Wayne as a persona. He’s callous with peoples feelings (Harvey, notably) and is shown to struggle with smaller acts of empathy, opening himself up to people, and honestly, social skills. The last of which doesnt doesn’t affect him too negatively because he’s a rich and well known man in Gotham.

Compared to the Bruce Wayne of BTAS it was a smart choice to show a Bruce/Batman who struggles with people and emotions. It reminded me a lot of Reeves’ the Batman. In wider Batman media you usually see two types of depictions: a compassionate Batman (which is where I would place BTAS) or a more emotionless, be-stoic-and-punch-the-bad-guys-and-look-badass version that is usually just a male power fantasy.

This version of Batman sets up the foundation for a storyline that is relatively unexplored, and I’m sure they’re going to explore it more in the next season (which has already been greenlit).

I was surprised at the lack of adult themes in the show, it was marketed for an adult audience but could easily fit into a PG13 rating, but that was probably on purpose. I was impressed they managed to have so many strong, fleshed out storylines in only 10, 30 minute episodes. But I wouldn’t expect anything less of Bruce Timm, or some of the other names I recognized attached to the project in various ways (Greg Rucka, JJ Abrams, Matt Reeves, and Ed Brubaker).

While there are a lot of critiques of Timm I agree with, I generally enjoy his work and the care he puts into it. I love Greg Rucka and was really excited to see that he wrote the episode that was more Renee Montoya centric. And while I have my issues with Ed Brubaker, I do enjoy his work.

While the series is visually and technologically based around the 1940s, the politics are more modern. Harleen asks Renee out on a date and she talks about it with Barbara openly. I saw one review call the show “race blind” which I would not agree with. Most of the racism is implied through euphemism (the scene with Lucius Fox and Gentleman ghost), but it’s still felt as a point of friction for multiple characters, it affects how they interact with the world around them. There’s also a line spoken by either detective Flass or Bullock that implies no one in the GCPD wants to follow Renee because she’s gay. It’s cut off before the last word, but again, the meaning is implied.

An issue I always had with the Timmverse is its depictions of female characters. They always feel less real than their male counterparts, less important and less visually stylized. All the important (read: desirable) women have the same body shape. They’re thin and extremely, unnaturally curvy. I’m aware that these characters are supposed to evoke that 50s comic pinup imagery but I always thought it was a bit much. Male characters - even before the animation downgrade in BTAS season 4 - were always way more unique from each other than the female characters. That wasn’t something I felt with Caped Crusader. The three most prominent female characters (Barbara, Renee and Harleen) were all different from each other, with different heights, body shapes, hair and clothing styles. They also all had 3 distinct personalities that were built up through the series. I would argue that the show was as much about the “supporting cast” (characters like Harvey, Commissioner Gordon, Renee and Barbara) as it was about Batman.

Overall I was really impressed by the show. I was disappointed with how short it was. I hope that Renee’s personal life gets a focus with the next season, and I hope they bring back Greg Rucka to write it. I love how he wrote her in Gotham Central. I was a little annoyed that they introduced the Joker at the end of the series (as a peak into the next season). I think he’s too over saturated as a character, and sometimes his introduction into a Batman story takes over everything else, and he’s depicted as Batman’s Moriarty. I do have hope that this won’t happen in Caped Crusader, because it seems that villains will be reoccurring, but there’ll be a large cast, just like in BTAS. That aspect did remind me of the way characters were introduced in those early Batman comics, it really has the same vibe. I also really really do not want Harley to be involved with the Joker in any way. Please keep her as a separate character, this new interpretation of her is great as is, he doesn’t need to be involved.

I would also be interested to see if the show develops Barbara’s character into Oracle. I could see that happening with the introduction of the Joker at the end of season one. Maybe they’re going to rework the Killing Joke? I couldn’t see them having her as batgirl, but I would be interested to see how they worked Oracle into a world with 1940s technology. I’m thinking back to her as Oracle in the Doom that Came to Gotham, and how clever that was. I’m sure they could do something just as interesting with her here. Something more supernatural feels like a long shot, because Timm usually sticks to the more “realistic”, street-level versions of Batman, but they did introduce Gentleman Ghost. So it’s a possibility.

One thing I did think could have been better was some of the voice work. Not the voice acting itself, but the design. It felt too polished alongside the score and the animation. I wish the voice acting had been more atmospheric, had more depth. It felt too clean. Hamish Linklater was great as Bruce/Batman. Following Kevin Conroy is no small feat, and Linklater’s performance felt reminiscent of Conroy without sounding like an impression. It was quiet and unassuming, yet strong.

I’m not usually someone who watches things more than once, but I’m definitely going to be rewatching Caped Crusader soon.

[the-sinful-voice-witch]

Sad unfair facts about Stephanie Brown

She deserves justice!

The first people that supported her as Vigilante weren't from the Batfamily, in fact they were from the Arrowfamily: Green Arrow junior and Black Canary.

Following that fact, she didn't get to keep them as friend and mentor since only Tim and later Damian got to be friends with Conner Hawke and only Babs and Cassandra kept a friendly relationship with Dinah but currently they never mentioned Stephanie again.

Another mentions of characters that she never got to hang out again because they never separate her from Tims and the Batgirls are: Huntress (Bertineli), they have polar opposite personalities but they got along and respected and supported each other and Supergirl, Steph and Kara became besties and had the best relationship in her run as Batgirl in my opinion but after that comic they never interact again and with huntress only interacts 2 times... They never let Steph have more friends than Cassandra.

Steph and Jason are the failure death Robins, were raised in the narrows, had drug addict mothers and criminal fathers... Steph actions reminding Batman about Jason being part of the reasons he fired her... And in Jason's return they wasted the opportunity of making Jason rub her death on Batman's face. Not to mention they still have to have "the talk" About their time as Robin's and no, that comic of the five Robins fighting against the "zero robin" DOESN'T COUNT, we deserve to see a proper emotional moment between this two sharing their common pain but we still don't get it.

Steph and Dick are the only batfamily members that had been described as "sunshines" and very perky chatters, despite that we never got to see proper interactions with them, Steph isn't biological or legally related with Dick but she has the best little sister material and together they have the potential to annoy the hell out of grumpy characters, yet the first time they properly interacted when she was Batgirl Dick was a jerk and after things got better they never had a moment together.

In the only comic were Steph was finally acknowledged for the first time as Damians big sister isn't a comic from the main canon and even though she became the Robin of Damian's Batman she died quickly but supposedly Talia was going to revive her... We never see them again in the comic. We never got to see the curious combination between Talia and Stephanie. We never get to see anything.

Currently in the comics (because im not counting the young Justice show) Steph never got to be in a superhero team outside the batfamily: she was well received by some Titans including Cassie who was surprised she wasn't there to join them and was in fact only there for "emotional support" For Tim, who i should remind you decided by himself that the Titans were out of Steph league 😑. She was mentored by the birds of prey out of camera but unlike Cassandra she never got the chance to officially join them, in the Robin's comic run in a simulation of what would had happened to her if she never followed Batman she became the leader of the Teen Titans only to confront Superman, lose and get the other members to never trust her again. There was an official idea that was never approved of a team that had Blue Beetle, Supergirl, Damian's robin and Steph's Batgirl and most recently another Idea of a superhero team with the flash twins, animal girl and mr terrific kid and sidekick with Steph as a leader... Was rejected too. They just WON'T give her a chance.

Harper Row took her credit once, what do i mean? In the new 52 a new young but not teen vigilante named blue bird was created and that version of Stephanie didn't want to involve herself in vigilante stuff unlike her original version, instead she was encouraged to do it that's when Harper gave her a speech about how she became one by herself without Batman having anything to do about it which is an absolute blatant lie because she became Bluebird inspired by him after he saved her and her brother. STEPHANIE BROWN is the one who became a vigilante without Batman's influence! She became Spoiler to spoil her father's evil plans, Batman just crossed paths with her, she wasn't inspired by him or was turned by him into Spoiler.

In her first interactions with Batman he didn't saw her as unskilled or incompetent for the vigilante life, he was simply worried she was doing things out of revenge and not justice and was just trying to guide her but later the writers changed this by turning her into a punching bag to receive an hypocritical exhausting amount of criticism, disapproval and contant remarks about her "lack of enough skills" and incompetence, constantly questioned and underestimated and no matter how much she trained it was never enough... It took her a run as the 3th Batgirl to stop that habit of considering her unfit for the job.

Steph never knew how much her death affected everyone and what is worse when she returned in that awfully lazy writing way the only reactions of characters seeing her alive we got to see were Batman's, Tim's, Alfred's and her mom and needless to say Batman's reaction was dry and disappointing but what is worse is that they never showed us Cassandra's reaction to seeing her alive when she was the one they showed us that suffered the most, not only one of the few characters that cried but she even hallucinated about her.

Catwoman first interaction with her was actually the sweetest and she even praised her and took a bit of her side in the gang war and really tried to help her. This sweet interaction was completely forgotten the second time they interact and the following interactions never felt the same again.

Her artistic qualities have been forgotten, the comics keep showing us how artistic is Damian or Jason's love for classic literature but they forgot that Steph was also good a drawing and a really good pianist, seriously she could have played the piano in one of those galas Bruce wayne goes, or she could draw with Damian, is it really that hard?

She had a bit of a toxic relationship with Tim in the pre reboot of the new 52 but after that they had the best relationship and for some reason that was the moment DC decided they had to brake up. Tim broke with her without a reason, ghosted her, got in a new bisexual relationship and when he finally decided to be decent and talk things out with her he introduced her to his new boyfriend without warning her or asking her if she was ok and on top of that DC made her react like a wattpad 13 years old cringe boys love fangirl and say that "this is the best they ever" because a "nice to meet you" wasn't enough and be angry and sad like a normal human being after all Tim put her through was out of the question because that would be considered homophobic on her part.

Her whole teen pregnancy arc (which im extremely grateful is not cannon anymore) wasn't to give her depth or make the character more complex and interesting no, that arc had the only tacky and cheap wroten purpose of making Tim and Steph strengthen their relationship by making Tim having to take her to birth class and be there supporting her when she had to give up the baby for adoption... All this shit for nothing, because they later tried to kill her off permanently and even after she came back they never allowed them to be fine together. Like i said? Im so glad is not cannon anymore, Steph didn't deserve to go through that.

Her trauma about her "almost death" Unlike with Jason's death and Barbara getting disabled is absolutely never addressed, as if the way she was brutally sexually tortured for days after screwing up a plan she thought would get Batman to respect her instead provoked a gang war that made her feel unbearably guilty wasn't enough to have PTSD because the one who tortured her was Black Mask and not the Joker, looks like if you aren't a joker victim your trauma doesn't count. Every one mentions the wheelchair and the crowbar but nobody ever mentions the power drill.

If you know more Sad unfair facts, write on the comments or reblog please. Our girl deserves to be more acknowledged.

[halfagone]

Cassandra Cain and Communication

I've been noticing an interesting trend in DPxDC fanfics lately where people write Cass like she's psychic, or in simpler terms: she can read someone and in an instant know how to help them. And while I can definitely see the merits of this kind of approach, there are a lot of things to keep in mind.

I cannot stress enough how isolated Cass' childhood was. When it's said that David Cain trained her only in the language of killing, it is not an exaggeration. In many early renditions of her character, Cass cannot speak at all, and if she can, only in short, brief sentences. Cass goes the first seventeen years of her life not knowing how to read.

That is a canonical plot point too. We see Barbara teaching Cass to read in Batman Volume 1 #567:

Based on the context surrounding this scene, this is a regular occurrence between the pair. Cass has also sought out Stephanie before to read something for her (Batgirl Volume 1 #20). If you're curious about more analysis surrounding this particular subject, this post has some interesting points and shows the gradual shift in how DC handled her character.

But this is early into her time with the Batfamily. What about later on, when she's more assimilated to the Waynes and her fellow vigilantes?

Well, you don't even have to be a hardcore comic fan to see how she continues to struggle with expression and communication. In Wayne Family Adventures, episodes 32 and 33, we see how Cass' ability to read body language has also hurt her and her relationship with the people around her.

She doesn't mean to hurt Stephanie's feelings in these episodes, but the damage is real and it happened. Cass means well, ultimately, but she still doesn't know how or when to address these problems. She sees that Steph is hurting and wants to help; those are all admirable qualities! But in the end, she only pushes Stephanie further away, and is left feeling guilty and carrying self-loathing in the wake.

Here is also a reminder: Cass killed her first man at the age of 8 years old, and consequently ran away from her father when she realized killing was wrong. She did not know what he felt was fear. She did not know the definition of fear, nor the word for it. She just saw the expression on his face as he died, and realized that something was wrong, and ran away.

Cass doesn't arrive to Gotham until she's 17 years old, around the No Man's Land era, if I remember correctly. She is on the run for 9 years in this time, and sadly, she did not pick up many- if any- language or communication skills during this period. This isn't a fault on her character either, when she likely had to keep moving and didn't have time to connect with anyone like she did with Barbara, who could teach her how to speak and read.

But at the end of the day, it makes sense that Cass doesn't know how to socialize. Think of a real life example: some kids who grow up homeschooled struggle to make connections once they reach adulthood and start looking for a job. They've never had to make small talk, or address strangers face-to-face, so they don't know how to interact with people. Cass' situation is a more extreme version of this scenario, but with blood, brutal training, and child abuse involved.

At her core, Cass is a good person. And she will continue to be that good person. But she doesn't always have the answers. Nobody does! She'll continue to help people to the best of her abilities, but sometimes those abilities can be limited.

Cass is not a perfect person. When Bruce was lost in the timeline, and the remaining Batfamily members started to splinter and fall apart in the wake, Cass didn't remain in Gotham to help with the rising violence with Batman's absence. Instead, when her family needed her most, she went to Hong Kong, because she didn't want to be there without Bruce. She did briefly meet Tim in Paris, when she had saved him from the Daughters of Acheron, but she still doesn't accompany Tim, nor does she return to Gotham even after finding out the city is extremely understaffed.

Cass is well-meaning, but she is not faultless. We might not like to acknowledge the flaws of our favorite characters, but those flaws are a part of them! Just like how Bruce consistently fails to express himself is a part of his. Or how Dick tries to pretend that everything is fine so he doesn't have to address his own problems. Or how Jason can be inconsistent with his motivations and people get hurt as a result. Or how Tim keeps too many secrets and pushes people away, ruining multiple relationships in turn.

I could go on and on, but all these characters are more than just their flaws. The same thing with Cass.

So don't be afraid to show a Cass that doesn't know how to fix things. Don't be afraid to show a Cass that doesn't know what to do, but just tries her best. It's one of her most admirable qualities: always trying no matter what.

[lunalouli]

How I think reverse robin au would go:

_ damian being the oldest sibling who came first he and bruce don't talk so much but they start to fight each time they do he would love his sibling but he doesn't know how to show them he's bad a communication cause he live with b and Alfred and he doesn't stop talking formally. His vigilante name would be "shadow" and he would leave the Manor at the age of 17 to the sister city Blüdhaven he tries to be a good brother to his sibling even thought he doesn't know how to show it and he has a protective side, I 100% sur he would kill the joker after he know about tim death then he killed ra for manipulating his younger brother and those killing were also part of the fall of his relationship with his father.

_duke was the second to came to the Manor at the age of 7, damian and him didn't get a long at first cause damian keep distance but they turn to be the beautiful, he didn't know about his power fist but them when he did bruce made sur to make him feel welcome duke was younger than tim but he stayed in the Manor the most he was athe good sunshine brother who maintained a good relationship with his sibling and bruce, he became vigilant after turning 9 goes by "spoiler". Batman listened to him the most.

_Stephanie was already a vigilant when bruce took her in, she was a the sister that camed but never really adopted she stayed in the Manor alot and loved to annoyed bruce who she started calling him B she had a healthy sibling relationship with her brothers even if damin did look weird and mysterious she loved to annoyed but he never snaped at here, she become batgirl. Tim death destroyed here and Jason coming home did bring here some joy but she couldn't forget her BFF death.

_tim camed next at the age of 12 he was adopted after discovery batman and spoiler, he and damian didn't get a long at fist but after tim talking with duke and understanding damian personality he looked up on him and somehow they started get along . joker captured tim to make him joker Jr but tim ended dead due to the experience, when he woke up he find himself in the hand of the demon head who manipulated him to the perfect puppet until damian came and saved him, there he learnt about his older brother past them damian bring him back to Blüdhaven tim was mentally investable but damian did all he could to help him recover then he want back to Gotham and reunited with his family and met his new brother,

_rev!Jason and Jason joined the same way to the batfamily after tim death he bring joy to bruce and duke, he didn't meet damian when he camed to the Manor he just find out about him by asking whoms room in the end turn out he had an older brother who he didn't know about he was excited to meet him, he looked and strong cool in jason eyes, he was more them bruce and he got along with him with book where he first met him , then he met Tim who he used to looked up and he did all he could do to enter the Jr heart ♥

_cass arrived is the same, she camed and stayed, she stayed close to bruce at first then duke, she got along with here sibling quick and here brother cheried here, they know her past. Damian looked at his sibling care to cass he didn't understand but he didn't hated it it was nice seeing how they care to the little girl who she remained him of his past, she also choose to become a vigilante under the name of orphan she started speaking but preferred to use sight language.

_dick camed last at the age of 8 same as the original version he was the lovely beautiful sunshine Little brother who was dear to the batfam but his favorite was damian who he looked up to he was like a father to him he become robin.

_bruce in this rev had a good relationship with duke cass Jay and dick, steph and him used to be close befor Tim's death but after that she made a distance with him and started to get along a little but not as before, him and tim didn't get along after his return because of tim killing problems and tim refusing to come close. But him and damian relationship was too far from a good relationship he didn't trust damian to change and always scolded him for small mistake until damian left the Manor they Don't talk and after killing joker there was ni room off talking only yelling, they Don't talk when damian visit the Manor even in the diner table and bruce always tell damian to stay away from his sibling cause he scared that damian would hurt them

[absolutely-esme]

Magical girl Robins AU

I had an idea for an au where the Robins become a magical girl team instead of Batman's sidekicks. Any other Gotham vigilante still becomes a standard vigilante. Stephanie Brown might do both.

The little mascot-type critter that hands out transformation trinkets is a little bird.

Dick encounters the bird first and is given the power to fight evil as Robin Wing. Being both the first and the oldest, he is the leader of The Flock. His costume is basically a frillier version of the OG Robin costume, and his powers revolve around aerial combat. His weapon is a set of energy-construct feathers that he can throw like birdarangs or form together into larger things. May develop from flight-capable to full on wind elemental over time.

Robin Wing is supposed to be looking for the other members of The Robin Flock (for reasons?), but doesn't find any until Bruce adopts Jason.

Jason becomes Robin Hood, the second member of The Flock. Instead of it being a case of Bruce giving away something incredibly personal of Dick's without asking, being Robins is something Dick and Jason do together and bond over. His costume has fairytale woodsman vibes. His powers revolve around defense and his weapon is a shield.

(He finds out halfway through the story that his magic shield can unfold into a magic crossbow that fires massive blasts of highly destructive magic and freaks out about it. There's this whole character arc about learning to switch between defense and offense, and learning to trust himself with such a destructive power.)

Jason finds Tim wandering around the city in a fever-like state, struggling with the effects of his brain straining against the magic that protects the Robins' secret identities whether he wants it to or not. Jason immediately adopts the little weirdo into The Flock before he has a stroke or something. This pretty immediately makes Jason one of Tim's favorite people, and Jason loves having a little brother who looks at him like he hung the stars.

Tim becomes Robin Nest. I don't know why, but I imagine his costume having a fancy skirt (with shorts underneath). His weapon is a mirror and his powers revolve around surveillance and omnipresence. He can see through any reflective surface (up to and including people's eyes) and can travel through large enough mirrors. As time goes on, he may develop the ability to make mirror copies of himself which could be either illusory or solid.

Steph briefly tries joining The Flock as Robin Song, but she's got her plate full with more traditional vigilante work as either Batgirl or Spoiler. She does remain a reserve member they can call on sometimes.

Damian initially plans on fighting by his father's side, but somehow ends up getting adopted into The Flock instead. As much as he kicks up a fuss, he doesn't really regret becoming Robin Egg, the healer of The Flock. He will, however, insult his teammates for how stupidly they got themselves injured the entire time he's providing care.

...

Due to the identity-shielding magic of magical girl powers, Bruce thinks he's done an excellent job of keeping most of his kids out of the dangerous superhero life. He's especially astounded that he managed it with Damian.

[docgold13]

Batman: The Animated Series - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Happy Birthday Batman

An official DC Comics calendar published for 1976 identified February 19th as Bruce Wayne’s birthday.  Other dates have been mentioned in the comics as possibly being the Batman’s birthday yet the nineteenth of February still seems the most canonically recognized.  Really, a Pisces?  

In any case, to celebrate the Dark Knight’s birthday here are paper cut-outs of Batman in all his various animated forms.  Who knew there were so many?

The Adventures Of Batman was the first Batman cartoon series and ran from 1968 to 1969.  It stared Olan Soule in the role of Batman with a young Casey Kasem in the role of Robin. 

The SuperFriends brought Batman together with the world’s greatest heroes and ran from 1973 all the way to 1986.  Soul and Kasem both reprised their roles as Batman and Robin in the series.

The New Adventures of Batman ran for a single season in 1977 featuring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin.  This was a particularly silly show and featured a great deal of a magical imp known as Bat-Mite.  

1992 saw the advent of the greatest cartoon of all time as Batman: The Animated Series debuted and ran through to 1995.  The great Kevin Conroy provided the voice for Batman.

The New Batman Adventures was a continuation of Batman: The Animated Series with some updated stylistic changes.  It ran from 1997 to 1999, featuring Conroy as Batman.  

Batman Beyond entailed a Gotham City of the future where an aged Bruce Wayne trains a young man on his path to filling the mantle of The Batman.  It ran from 1999 to 2001 and stared Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne and Will Friedle as his protégé, Terry McGinnis.

Justice League brought the Superfriends back together this time under the banner of The Justice League (and later Justice League Unlimited).  It ran from 2001 to 2006 and once more featured Kevin Conroy in the role of Batman.

The Batman, which ran from 2004 to 2008, departed from the continuity established in Batman: The Animated Series and presented a new version of the Caped Crusader and his various allies and adversaries.  It starred Rino Romano in the role of Batman with Evan Sabara and Danielle Judovits as Robin and Batgirl.    

Echoing the campiness of 1966, Batman: The Brave and The Bold was a fun, light-hearted anthology series that ran from 2004 to 2008.  Each episode saw Batman teaming up with different heroes of the DC Universe for madcap adventures.  Diedrich Bader stared as Batman.

The series Young Justice, which ran non-concurrently from 2010 to 2022, focused primarily on Robin and the other younger heroes as they made their way from being sidekicks to a team in the own right.  Batman featured in many of the episodes where he was voiced by Bruce Greenwood.  

Beware the Batman from for a single season in 2013.  Anthony Ruivivar voiced Batman in this dark, largely computer animated series.  

Batman Unlimited ran from 2015 to 2016.  This was primarily a commercial in animated form featuring short, action-packed stories in tandem with the release of action figures and toy vehicles.  Roger Craig Smith provided the voice for Batman. 

Justice League Action brought back the League for more light-hearted adventures with a star-studded cast.  It ran from 2016 to 2018 with Kevin Conroy returning to once again voice Batman.  

Batman appeared as a periodic guest star in the DC Super Hero Girls series, which ran from 2019 to 2022.  Herein Batman spoke in a barely audible growl that only the other characters could comprehend.  Whereas actor Keith Ferguson provided the voice for Bruce Wayne, who further hid his secret identity as the the Caped Crusader by featuring in the ridiculous reality TV show, ‘Making it Wayne.’

A lampooned version of the Dark Knight sporadically features in the zany Harley Quinn animated series, premiering in 2019.   Diedrich Bader reprises his role from Batman: The Brave and The Bold, voicing this decidedly goofier version of the Dark Knight.

And finally, hopefully debuting some time soon, Batman: The Caped Crusader acts as a spiritual successor to Batman: The Animated Series and features the final acting role of the late, great Kevin Conroy, reprising Batman one last time.  

[alchamy34]

JayBabs makes more sense and here's why:

Since I made a post about wonderbat, I feel like I should explain my second favorite ship in DC. That is villain/anti hero Red Hood with Batman's most loyal sidekick with and without the wheelchair Batgirl/Oracle.

These two are actually popular like Zutara (Zuko x Katara) and I'll say why.

This ship is more than the classic bad boy x goodie two shoes.

Jason Todd aka the second robin is the most emotional, as I realized current Robin's Lazarus tournament comic. He's got serious trauma, I don't really need to say why...but to uncultured individuals I will.

Jay was already brutal yet cocky before being beaten up with a crowbar by the Joker and then blowing him. He was resurrected and became super messed up. And a murderer. Rocking the biker alternate outfit of the original red hood turned clown prince. Deadly, terrifying and cold blooded. He ain't the former Robin you'd mess with.

Barbara Gordon aka the first modern batgirl aka one of DC'S best disabled superheroes. Smart, kind, agile and vigilant. She is awesome, and I love most of her versions, but not the killing joke movie and batman the animated series. And not batman beyond.

Babs is a tough yet gentle feminist. This redhead is the perfect role model. The daughter of Commissioner Gordon, skilled fighter with diverse forms and a photographic memory. Was still cool while in the wheel chair as the bat family and birds of prey hacking weapon.

So the obvious reason for this ship is that they can relate to each other because of Joker. And that they can both be hot headed. Jason acts differently to Barbara unlike with the other members of bat clan. Barbara can actually change him. Jason is good for Babs. He's there for her, will kill anyone who hurts her.

Not to mention Jaybabs fanfics are more steamy than a lot of DickBabs stuff. I like jaybabs because of its potential. And its hilarious on certain platforms.

Its sometimes enemies to lovers, friends to lovers or fluffy banter. I'd be lying if I said I don't read the steamy content. They're good for each other.

[theflashjaygarrick]

One thing I keep thinking about is because superhero comics are simultaneously niche and cultural icons, the general public understanding of characters can be starkly different to the actual medium. Often this is harmless fun but it can be a problem considering arcs about female and minority characters often suffer in the realm of reprints and adaptations, and therefore never have the same impact on the public consciousness. And I think this explains the erasure of Oracle.

Yes, Killing Joke was misogynistic as hell and as a massive Barbara fan I have serious issues with it. But then what Kim Yale and John Ostrander did with Oracle in year one was moving, beautiful and undeniably feminist. I'm not disabled but I got serious chills reading the story and it is honestly one of my favourite comics. From there she grew to become a staple in the DC universe and helped launch the wildly successful Birds of Prey superhero team.

And she was a disabled hero who was psychologically complex and kickass in a fight. She also was seen as an attractive woman who had love interests like Dick Grayson. She got to train the next generation of Batgirls. As Oracle Babs thrived.

Not to mention according to Scott Peterson's article on DC women kicking ass, the creative team at the time were seeing an overwhelming positive response to Oracle from people who saw themselves on the pages of a superhero comic for the first time thanks to Babs:

"we were the ones getting the mail from disabled fans. We were the ones reading letters about how much Oracle meant to them, how much it meant to see someone in a situation so much like their own, someone who by then had been come such an important part of the DCU, treated with respect and admiration by not only Superman and Black Canary, but by the Batman, a guy who treated pretty much no one with respect." (Scott Peterson, 2011)

But if you look at the mainstream perception, her success is less obvious.

Batgirl has always struggled in adaptations, and Oracle even more so. The versions of Oracle that have been translated onto film and TV haven't caught in public imagination in the same way, to the point she was straight up cut out of the recent Birds of Prey film.

Not to mention Killing Joke is one of the most iconic Batman stories of all time that not only has been reprinted countless times but was one of the select few comic arcs to be adapted into animation. Contrarily, Oracle Year One was reprinted in English once after the original date: the Batgirl 50 years celebration. This collection is expensive and not something you would buy without considerable investment in the Batgirls. It certainly isn't one that would show up if you google 'best batman comics'.

If you see this you understand why people marginally invested in DC mythos considered her return to batgirl was seen by some as a feminist move, rather than an ableist one. Gone were her years of development, one of the most powerful information brokers in DC, and two other beloved Batgirls. And the real insult: killing joke was still canon. Yes, they kept the misogynistic violence and ditched the disability rep and the character growth. And that is despite the fact Killing Joke was made to be part of an else world, not main continuity.

[jalapainio]

As I've been reading Comics, I've slowly been assembling a Batman readthrough Timeline, which encompasses the full scale of Batman. So far, I have only gathered the first ten years. I put the canonized Comics in Trade Paperbacks, as they sometimes throw in an extra issue or two of another comic run and it is easier for me to keep track of them that way.

Here it is! The ultimate Batman Timeline (years 1-10)

Batman Year 1: 21 year old Bruce (first of many soft head cannons) becomes Batman. Many early villains of Batman pop up, including Joker, Catwoman, Mad Hatter, Riddler, and Calendar Man. Canonized Comics include Batman: Year One, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and Batman: Zero Year.

Batman Year 2: This year is dedicated entirely to the Long Halloween, which also introduced Poison Ivy, Solomon Grundy, and most famously, Two-Face. Canonized Comics include Batman: The Long Halloween.

Batman Year 3: Much like Year 2, Year 3 is dedicated to its sequel, Dark Victory. In it, a new serial killer known as the Hangman has started killing cops in Gotham. This year sees the end of the classic Mafia in Gotham, and ten year old Dick Grayson being taken in by Bruce Wayne. While he does put on the Robin colors and even goes out with Batman, he is not Robin just yet. Canonized Comics include Batman: Dark Victory.

Batman Year 4: This year gives the main focus towards training Dick. We can also assume that the Justice League, or at least a version of it, has been formed during this year. In addition, Killer Croc is introduced. Canonized Comics include N/A (seriously, I need something here. Anyone rec a solo Batman story that might fit in here?)

Batman Year 5: While most of the year is like the one above, a calm year for Batman, at the end of year, 12 year old Dick wears the Robin suit for the technically second time. He is the one who makes his suit, angry at Bruce for forcing him through constant training as a stall to prevent Dick from going out. Canonized Comics include Robin and Batman.

Batman Year 6: Dick goes through his next big villain during the spring of this year, facing off against Two-Face. After a brief moment when he is fired as Robin, he returns to the Cape, this time with a new perspective on his role. Canonized Comics include Robin Year One.

Batman Year 7: Dick, while working with Batman, notices Bruce's strange behavior. Collaborating with his other teen heroes he met in Year 5, he figures out that the entire Justice League is acting weird! Together, the five (Robin, Speedy, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Wondergirl) team up and work together to take down the Justice League! They called themselves the Teen Titans. Canonized Comics include Teen Titans: Year One

Batman Year 8: Barbara Gordon, 17 years old and an accelerated graduate of College (she has to be not on a normal track, or else her entire relationship with Dick would just be so weird) puts on a bat themed costume to spite her father, and ends up going against Killer Moth. Batgirl, as she's newly christrained, is supported by Robin (but not Batman) to become a superhero. Firefly takes up the costume with Killer Moth, and Batgirl takes them down. Canonized Comics include Batgirl: Year One

Batman Year 9: Batman and Superman work together to defeat the Devil Nazha, which ends up with Dick being stuck in time. Bruce rescues him, and the rest of World's Finest goes on. Canonized Comics include Batman/Superman World's Finest: Devil Nazha, Batman/Superman World's Finest: Strange Visitor, and Batman/Superman World's Finest: Elementary.

Batman Year 10: 17 year old Dick and the rest of the Teen Titans fight off a rabid cult of fans! Canonized Comics include World's Finest Teen Titans.

[lazygirlie9]

Finding Home- Part one

Fandom-DC Titans (HBO Max)

Notes- Hello!, This is my first ever writing a DC fanfiction, please let me know if you guys have any suggestions for plots for this fanfic, do also let me know if you have suggestions for any other fanfic. Thank you, you can enjoy reading now. Happy reading!

Summary -In this version of events Jason Todd also had his own Batgirl, someone akin to Dick Grayson's counterpart(Barbara Gordon). Perhaps this would have steered him away from the downward spiral into drugs and heartbreak that ultimately led to his demise, or maybe not. The female OC's name is Sanny Benaxnoate. She is characterized by her bubbly and affectionate nature, coupled with her love for parties and taking risks. Despite her innocent demeanor, she possesses exceptional acrobatic skills and a unique situational intelligence that enables her to react swiftly and adeptly in perilous circumstances. Although she may be selectively intelligent, her loyalty and dedication to her friends runs deep, leading her to protect them at all costs. Her bubbly and outgoing nature masks a fierce determination and courage that only becomes apparent when push comes to shove.

Warning- Swearing, 18+,Descriptions of death, usage of drugs, Violence, injuries.

Character appearance and relevant information about the character:-Sanny's appearance is striking--shoulder-length blonde hair with a straight and pointed texture, deep green eyes, and a height of 5'7. She has a slim, athletic build and is proficient in acrobatics, Sanny has mixed fighting style of karate, Brazilian jitsu and muay-thai, she and Jason are the same age.

Character background and origin:- Sanny's parents were dead and she was taken care of by her aunt, Sanny was originally from Wales, where Sanny attended a private boarding school, when she was 10 years she found out that her parents had been murdered while they were on a trip to Spain , Sanny's aunt was later assigned as her guardian who lived all the way in Gotham in America, though her aunt lived in the wealthy Bristol side of Gotham, she was a lot abusive towards Sanny made her work all the extra work after Sanny came back from school, Sanny did start to idolize the superheroes in Gotham, Sanny knew that living in Gotham is not the same as living in Llantwit Fardre , the town she was born in, she read the news everyday and witnessed enough crimes in the city to know better , she was prepared, she had made a makeshift tools and weapons out of trash, rubber gloves, wires, broken cords, compact disks, sharp metal junk, she knew a bit of karate she had learnt before her parents died , when she still was in boarding school, she did practice all that to better herself. Once when Sanny was 16 coming back from her gymnastics classes at 8pm , she witnessed few masked robbers with guns robbing the most ostentatious and luxury jewelry shop in all of Gotham, The robbers had already stolen a significant portion of the jewelry and were preparing to flee when Batman entered the scene. He confronted the ten masked criminals, all of whom appeared highly skilled and proficient in their craft. It was a challenging ordeal for Batman to prevent the five robbers from successfully escaping in their van. Once he had successfully apprehended them, two more robbers attempted to attack him from behind, aiming to ensnare his leg with a crowbar and thereby throw him off balance but Sanny who was witnessing this, immediately runs into the scene in the alley with determination in her eyes and hits the guy behind batman with a rock with force on the head, she sprayed pepper spray on the eye area of the mask of the robber who was distracted, and tackled the other robber as she pushed him on his knees by locking his head with her arms from the back , while doing so she removed the makeshift weapon that she had made and stabbed it in the side of his neck , the metal of the weapon was poisonous as it was soaked in a chemical compound that Sanny had synthesized and had poured the chemical in the small glass weapon holder that she had designed , the robber yells in pain as he blacks out , after all the robbers had been defeated, batman stood there watching Sanny do fight them with calculated moves and creativity of the weapon she made with nothing but scraps, he was shocked yet had a look of admiration on his face, as Sanny begged him to let her be a vigilante with him just like robin(first robin-dick Grayson) used to be , Bruce eventually thought about it and saw her potential to become the second batgirl after Barbara , Bruce revealed himself to Sanny and sent her to Barbara to get her acquainted with her, Barbara saw the potential and the resoluteness in sanny's personality, Barbara passed her batgirl mantle onto sanny who latter got trained by batman to become the second batgirl , she and Jason were trained together since Bruce adopted Jason some time later he presented Sanny with the opportunity, consequently he sent Jason to find dick Grayson to warn him that members of Haly's Circus were being systematically murdered, after when the young titans arrive at san Francisco and get acquainted to the old titans' base of operations, a day after the young titans get settled there Sanny pays a surprise visit stating that she was sent by Bruce to train with the titans which dick latter calls Bruce and gets to know that it was because Sanny too needed some more experience and training and that it would benefit her and Jason both if they fought in a team.

Start-

It was a rainy day outside , storms and chilly air passing through San Francisco's air, it had just been the first week in the titans tower and he felt irritated, annoyed and basically bored, he desperately wanted to go back to Gotham , to Bruce, to Alfred, it was so boring and lonely here, even with Sanny here, dick was not the person he expected to be, he looked grim, stoic and strict leader like figure, he gave of vibes that he positively hated his existence in the tower, he made him fight blindfolded with the other new titans Gar and Rachel, or 'outcasted freaks' as he would have called them , he was more advanced than them, but then why was dick making him fight with them, heck!, the senior members of the titans looked at him as if he was some sort of annoying cockroach that wouldn't die, not that he wasn't annoying enough as it is, Sanny was being her hyperactive self as usual he thought, it had been two days since she came and already made friends with Rachel and gar, she seemed to make the stoic faced dick crack up from her ridiculous jokes that she would often say, hank already seemed to approve of her, liking her energy, donna and dawn seemed to like her as well, she was like her usual self , chaotic mess, Sanny seemed be taking this all too well is what Jason thought. It all seemed to fit the picture of a happy family, dick being the dad of the group trying to control 4 kids, Sanny being the chaotic energy , always bubbly and yapping of something, she was so casual with dick, like she was talking to some old friends even though dick was awkward most of the times, just nodding off to whatever she said , finding a reason to just run off from her constant chattering, and he was just a temper tantrum, nosey and sticking his shit where it didn't belong to, Rachel acted like dick was her father or something and doing some voodoo shit that he thought was creepy,Gar was like the obedient kid trying to follow whatever dick was saying and just being friendly with anyone. Jason was currently all alone in the tower, dick went off to meetup with hank, donna and dawn, Gar and Rachel went to the supermarket to buy some groceries since everything “vegan” was finished, just imagining eating all that tofu and that horrible disgusting green juice with all the godamm greens in the world made Jason want to puke , 'who the hell in their right minds would drink that inedible concoction of greens anyway ,looked more like vomit', he thought. Sanny went back to Gotham to visit one of her old friends, he would rather describe them as crazy like her, one of her friends named pansy literally carries a knife inside her under pockets of her skirt, not like Jason wouldn't approve of them , sure he had done such things when he was living on streets, you never knew who would attack you at any given point of time, now here he was all alone in the tower, his tummy grumbled since he hadn't eaten anything since the morning except that apple he ate before his workout, he got up and went to the kitchen to cook something and opened the fridge to check what was there, Rachel and Gar were right nothing much in the fridge except for few tomatoes, bread , leftover chicken and the fancy ass vegan ice cream they both whipped up yesterday called “sorbet” , he opened one of the cabinets and found a pack of Kraft mac and cheese, although he would rather prefer the homemade mac and cheese with real and fresh ingredients like Alfred would have prepared , this would do for the time being, he took out the left over chicken from the fridge and started to cook the mac and cheese in a pot, drumming the spatula to one of the songs he was listening to on his headphones

He can hear the rain outside the window, drumming gently on the glass. The sound is soothing, almost hypnotic. It reminds him of the rainy nights in Gotham, when he used to be out patrolling the streets with Batman. He missed those nights, the thrill of the chase, the adrenaline rush of dodging bullets and throwing punches.

He sighs, wondering if he'll ever get that kind of action here in San Fransisco.

As he finishes cooking the mac-and-cheese, his stomach growls loudly in anticipation. He serves himself a generous portion and grabs a fork, ready to drown his thoughts in the cheesy goodness.

With a frown, he shakes his head. No, he can't think like that. This is his chance to start over, to be a part of a team, to do good. And he's got Sanny here with him, the only person here who doesn't treat him like dirt under their shoe.

He glances over at the clock, wondering how much longer it will take for Sanny to get back.

He knew sanny was oh-too-busy with god knows what, besides all the training and vigilante stuff she did, she had taken a short term hybrid course in gotham university in the field of cybersecurity , where she had made some lame ass friends whom she chatted and did assignments with. Seeing this even Bruce wanted him to go to college which obviously he denied but knew a college degree would help him in the long run. He felt bored thinking all this, he was frickin robin , way smarter than those college nerds , he knew more than what the graduates would know since Bruce had taught important and essential subjects to both him and sanny but it was'nt his problem that sanny chose to be boring and is doing a course , but in her defence she was learning something useful atleast and sanny was coax him into joining some course to deepen his knowledge but he has time so he will think about it later...maybe...or maybe before its too late.

As he stirs the pot, the sound of the front door opening catches his attention. He turns off the gas and takes off his headphones, listening intently to the sound of footsteps coming from the living room. He couldn't tell if it was just Sanny or if it was both Rachel and Gar. His heart skips a beat and he hopes it was the former. He quietly steps out from the kitchen and peeks into the living room, only to see Sanny walking in through the door. She was still wet from the rain outside, her silky blonde hair sticking to her face and her clothes damp from the water, she looked tired with a big book about cybersecurity in her hand that she had cluched it on her chest with her bag slinging to her shoulder, she slumped on the sofa of the living room looking exhausted and checked her phone as usual, as she got a call and started talking while coming into the kitchen , she smiled at him and nodded her head at him to acknowledge him as she was still humming to the person on the phone, she stole a bite of his pasta , as she pulled the bowl to her side eating few spoons of pasta and giving him hand signals that it tasted good as she was listening and humming off to someone on the call, while she slipped away to the living room sitting on the couch with his pasta bowl in her hand Jason smiled back at her and rolled his eyes at her typical food thievery. He chuckled at her hand signals and sat down beside her on the couch taking the bowl back from her hands and jokingly waving it away from her reach, as she still on the call she just pouts not being able to do much, he looks at her and

says smirking“this is mine, go make one for yourself, besides who's the lucky person on the phone taking up all your attention?".

She puts the phone away from her ear and mouths “my professor” and goes back into listening to the call and humming to the person on the call with her.

Jason huffs in tiredness, knowing she was busy , she gets up from the couch with her belongings and move towards her room, As Sanny gathers her things and heads towards her room, Jason can't help but feel a pang of loneliness and abandonment. He was used to being alone, but somehow, it stung more this time. Maybe it was because he thought he finally found someone who cared about him, someone who wouldn't ditch him like everyone else, she did care about him and always stuck to him but these days even she had gotten a bit busy, He can't help but feel a pang of loneliness, even though he knows he should be used to it. He goes back to the kitchen and continues to eat his pasta.

the silence of the tower only making him feel more isolated. As he eats, he can't help but think about how much he misses the hustle and bustle of Gotham. He misses the routine and discipline of the Batcave, the way Alfred would nag at him for not taking care of himself, he walks away to the gymnasium to get himself to start training and distract himself .

Part two coming soon-feel free to give suggestions

Thank you for reading~

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@thealmightyemprex @themousefromfantasyland @piterelizabethdevries @the-blue-fairie @shiv-multifandom-mess @themetropoliskonboy

So a thing that I'm finding fascinating is learning about granted important elements of superhero lore that originated in medium outside of comic books.

Like the introduction of Superman's origin story as the son of scientists and survivor of the explosion of his home planet who lands on Earth as a baby originating in a newspaper strip series and a novel, while his weakness being Kryptonite, his work in the Daily Planet and his friendship with Jimmy Olsen and Perry White originating in a radio series.

In the world of Batman, you have the character of Barbara Gordon, one of the longest holders of the Batgirl mantle, originating in the 1966 live action TV show and proving to be a character so popular that they end being added to the comics produced at the time and appeared in a lot of movies and cartoons ever since.

The newspaper strips were where people first saw Peter Parker and Mary Jane become a married couple before the idea was brought into the comic books.

And they still continued to be happily married in those strips.

And the X-Men characters Firestar and X-23 were created, respectivelly, for the cartoon shows Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends and X-Men Evolution.

So we audiences tended for years to assume the idea that "movies and TV shows are adaptations, and comic books are THE ORIGINAL SOURCE MATERIAL FOR SUPERHERO STORIES."

But since a lot of elements that flesh out those heroes are created in other medium simultenously with comics, or even originate in medium outside the comics, can we even say that a Original Source Material exists?

Compare and contrast for instance, the character of Scrooge McDuck from the Disney Ducks universe.

He is a character that originates in comics as side character for Donald Duck, even an antagonist one at that, before becoming a protagonist, and then he goes on to star in numerous cartoons.

And here is the catch: most of us enjoy and understand the character in his own right in those cartoons.

There is never a demand to go back to the Original Source Material to enjoy and understand him.

We may go to find and read then if we want to, but we hardly see people debate wether or not "the comics are the right version of Uncle Scrooge and the cartoons are not the real deal."

No matter where you first found the character of Uncle Scrooge, is still all valid as Uncle Scrooge.

Maybe a similar is needed to be taken with superheroes: each person chooses the prefered medium and art form to follow those characters.

Be it a comic book. A newspaper strip. A radio series. A stage musical. A movie. A live action or cartoon TV show. A videogame.

In the end it is all a valid art form meant to make following a character and a world in a way that is accessible for YOU.

[zahri-melitor]

League of Shadows: Detective Comics #951-956

Wow. Just wow.

I knew Tynion IV was working overtime to try and get a level of normality re-established in Rebirth Batman, but he has so many moving pieces going on here.

First up: this is the Cass and Shiva story, so it’s rehashing and re-exploring the most vital elements of Perfect For A Year and Destruction’s Daughter.

It’s not a perfect blend, for a bunch of reasons, but I respect the effort involved.

The bit that blew me way however? Tynion brought in Carolyn.

Cass content where she is given inspiration by her aunt’s words??? I mean. I am listening.

Kate Kane gets to approximately play Babs’ role in the push-pull over what Cass needs against Bruce.

Cass in the Mud Room obsessed with winning fights and working through her problems of course perfectly reflecting Cass in Babs' equivalent holoroom doing exactly that as a way of dealing with her emotions.

Cass gets two fights with Shiva, and she of course loses the first and wins the second.

Cass running around with swords? Some people might say that’s not Cass, I say hello Kasumi and BatO 2008 references!

(Tragically Cass didn’t get to stab Kendra and keep that motif running, but alas no Justice League appeared in this book)

Cass and David together flashbacks still don’t feel entirely on target: previously when Cass has gone to David to answer her questions he would eventually give her what she asked for, not deny it to her. But David Cain was left in a horrible state post B&R Eternal so any writing even slightly more on track was helpful.

It's also fascinating to me that we go to this very heavy Cass story, leaning into her growth as a person and moving from being a lurking shadow who is a vigilante only to someone who is making civilian friendships and connections and doing things outside of simply being a vigilante (going to the ballet in person with Bruce and Kate escorting her) happens in a period when Steph has left. This is echoing Cass' Bludhaven arc! Argh Tynion knows the whole of Batgirl 2000 so well.

And Shiva. Oh, Shiva. I have to say, as always, I’m not thrilled when Shiva is directly linked to Ra’s Al Ghul, but admittedly we were redoing Destruction’s Daughter, so Shiva being called in to train League assassins is on target (though it was Ra's this time, not Nyssa), as was Shiva not actually working with Ra's ordinary troops so much as the set he was using for the League of Shadows.

What I also liked: Ra's trying to manipulate Shiva using what he knew of Cass, and Shiva not being fully on board with what Ra's was selling but synthesising it in her own way.

I don't love Ra's being more involved in Shiva's backstory, but I did enjoy her arguments with him, and the way Shiva, despite herself, became compelled and interested in Cass as a fighter more than as her daughter. (Daughter? raw material, boring. Fighter with that skillset who happens to be my daughter? deeply fascinated).

Just picking out a few scenes here, but I feel this does add an additional layer of depth to Shiva's motivations? That she knows she burnt everything away in the fire of Shiva, but also she has a level of regret over it all.

And then that being reflected in part of what gave Cass the understanding of how to defeat the League and Shiva was the words of Carolyn and her message of how to act as a shadow yet still find yourself? A message Sandra has lost but Carolyn protected even in her death, because Shiva has worked to slough off Sandra, but that is still a loss.

On top (on TOP) of this storyline being a synthesis of Batgirl 2000 into 5 issues, Tynion was just packing in the references.

The atomic bomb to open a faultline under Gotham and *checks notes* make the city fall into a cavern below? Is that Cataclysm, 'Quakemaster' (aka Ventriloquist) holding the city hostage over an even worse earthquake I spy? Because. The vibes were very much there. But on top of that, it's also a version of the Batgirl story of Alpha hiding a fusion bomb in Gotham and Cass needing to track him down to work out where that bomb was.

Shiva and the League of Shadows having a special technique of stabbing people with swords through their chest in a way that doesn't damage any organs. Shiva, is that you saying The Widower was bad at his job? Because most of those sword wounds were similar in location to Tim's one from The Widower but specifically on the other side of the body to avoid the spleen.

Ulysses Armstrong continuing to be the creepiest kid absolutely obsessed with Tim as Robin and trying to 'get into his skin'? Ulysses being in the military now via Jacob Kane's secret organisation yet still completely and utterly hung up on Tim and trying to prove himself is commitment to Tim's Robin run.

And then we get to this: to Ra's telling Bruce that inside the League of Assassins he has a secret League of Shadows, which he has concealed from Bruce and forced him to forget.

But the important bit here to me is Ra's saying Bruce has uncovered them three times before. And we get this series of pictures.

The first is an underground cavern lit by an orange glow (this looks very much like an orange Lazarus Pit in the background: references this resembles include Son of the Demon, any of Nyssa's pits, Matt Wagner's Trinity and a bunch of others).

The second is Bruce standing shirtless on a frozen lake, surrounded by mountains. (Can you say Batman Begins? But also technically you could map this to Bride of the Demon I guess by the art team not realising Antarctica doesn't have trees. Or frozen lakes like that. His first shirtless duel with Ra’s is Batman #244 but that’s in the desert. The various Nanda Parbat and Himalaya fight scenes I reviewed don't look much like this)

The third is Bruce being taken down in what looks like a fancy office (my first thought was possibly Tower of Babel & Dependence, but this again could be a lot of occasions).

And the focus here on Ra's having concealed Bruce's memories and forced him to forget events, in Rebirth stories where we are pushing at the timeline to extend it out again and backfill it with post-Crisis content? A genius way of focusing on there being stories that n52 Bruce doesn't know.

I've been trying to work out exactly which stories Tynion is claiming these three 'discoveries' of the League of Shadows occurred during, and I can't quite pinpoint three specific occasions. But they are so very, very familiar. I do wonder which he was specifically thinking about.

[armed-with-a-waffle-iron]

Bat Family Ages (with Sources & Panels)

Notes: I'm NOT using a "year zero"; the calendar year before "Batman: Year One" is "1 Year Before Batman".

TLDR

Ages at the end of Preboot (Batman: Year Twenty)- Bruce (45), Renee (37-38), Kate (33), Babs (27-28), Helena (26-27), Dick (26), Cass (21), Jason (20-21), Steph (19), Tim (17 18), Damian (10-11).

D.O.B.-

Bruce Wayne- 26 Years Before Batman

Renee Montoya- 7th September, 19 Years Before Batman

Kate Kane- 14 Years Before Batman

Barbara Gordon- 8-9 Years Before Batman

Helena Bertinelli- 8 Years Before Batman

Dick Grayson- 1st Day of Spring™, 7 Years Before Batman

Cassandra Cain-Wayne- 26th January, 2 Years Before Batman

Jason Todd- 16th August, 2 Years Before Batman

Stephanie Brown- 1 Year Before Batman

Tim Drake-Wayne- Batman: Year One

Damian Wayne- Batman: Year Nine

Long Version

Bruce Wayne- 26 Years Before Batman

On the 4th of January, Year One, a 25 year-old Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham after 12 years abroad on 4th January, months before his first outing as Batman (Batman: Year One #1). Unless his birthday is between Jan 1-4, Bruce turns 26 the year Batman is born.

Dick Grayson- 1st Day of Spring, 7 Years Before Batman

Dick Grayson's origin story is appears in the tail end of Batman: Dark Victory, which takes place in the 4th and 5th years of Batman's career.

In its sequel, Robin: Year One, Dick begins attending Bristol Middle School. And in Batman & Robin (2009) #13, Dick, as Batman, tells the Joker he had already figured him out at 12 but The Joker doesn't appear in Robin: Year One. So, Dick is probably 11 when he becomes Robin, in Year Five (Dark Victory). Dick is 19 years younger than Bruce.

Important for later, Dick becomes Nightwing, aged 19 (Nightwing: Year One and Batman #116) in Year Thirteen.

Jason Todd- August 16th, 2 Years Before Batman

According to his death certificate, Jason Todd was 15 years and 8 months old when he died on the 27th of April (Batman Files). His birthday is August 16th (Detective Comics #790). At this time, Dick Grayson was 21, having left the Robin mantle 2 years earlier; at 19 (Batman #436). Jason is around 5 years younger than Dick. He was hence Robin for less than 2 years, from when he was 13 going on 14 in Year Thirteen up to 27th April, Year Fifteen.

Stephanie Brown- 2 Years Before Batman

Steph is 15 when she debuts as Spoiler (Secret Origin 80-Page Giant). At the same time as her debut comic, Deathstroke (1991) Annual 1 has Dick saying he, one of the oldest Titans, is no older than 21 (the age he was when Jason died). Dick is 6 years older than Steph. So Steph debuts in Year Fifteen; the same year Jason dies and Tim becomes Robin.

Steph becomes Batgirl right before her freshman year of university, aged 18, going on 19 (Batgirl 2009 #1). This is in Year Nineteen. Which means that Preboot ends in Batman: Year Twenty as Steph has not yet entered sophomore year. Convergence takes place after of course.

Barbara Gordon- 8-9 Years Before Batman

Batgirl (2000) #45 shows that Babs was already Batgirl at 18. As an adult, Babs is 5'11" and yet she did not meet the minimum height requirements for the GCPD or FBI during Batgirl: Year One. She must have become Batgirl before she stopped growing, and so was at most 16 during Batgirl: Year One. She also says that she is older than Dick in Batgirl: Year One but they must be close enough in age for them to go to prom together (Detective Comics #871). My theory is that Babs didn't go to her own prom because she skipped grades and was or felt too young so her high school prom was actually when she went with Dick to his. Babs is somewhere between 1-2 years older than Dick.

There's more evidence for this. Dick is already a Teen Titan during Batgirl: Year One and in New Titans #89 said that he knew Donna Troy since they were both 13. So Babs likely became Batgirl between Year Seven and Year Eight, when she was 15-16 and Dick was 13-14. Also, Dick and Babs have a picnic as friends 12 years before The Black Mirror, in Year Twenty, so these ages are pretty perfect.

Important for later, Babs is shot by the Joker just before Jason is killed and becomes Oracle before Tim becomes Robin. This is in Year Fifteen; she is roughly 22 here given that Dick is 20-21 at the time. No panels just math :P

Cassandra Cain-Wayne- January 26th, 2 Years Before Batman

Cassandra Cain debuts in No Man's Land aged 17 (Batgirl 2000 #1) and turns 18 on the 26th of January the following year, though she only learns this after it has passed (Batgirl 2000 #33). Later that year, Bruce brings her to Jason's grave on the 16th of August, the day he would have turned 18 (Detective Comics #790). She is 7 months older than Jason.

Helena Bertinelli- 8 Years Before Batman

Helena Bertinelli was 8 when her family was murdered and the events of Huntress: Cry for Blood takes place 15 years after, following directly after No-Man's Land. Huntress is hence 23 following No-Man's Land. Cass turns 18 soon after No-Man's land, so Helena is around 5 years older than Cass.

But, Cass is born in January and Helena could be born later in the year. Helena Bertinelli is 21 years-old during Huntress: Year One; when she becomes the Huntress. She soon moves back to Gotham after Carvinal in Venice (late Jan-early Feb), and encounters Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. Babs is at most 22 here so Babs is close to 1 year older than Helena and Helena is slightly older than Dick. Huntress debuts at the tail end of Year Fourteen.

Damian Wayne- Batman: Year Nine

Dick and Stephanie call Damian a 10 year old in Batman and Robin #2 and Batgirl #17. One takes place before Steph starts uni (since Damian appears in Batgirl 2009 #1) and the other takes place during Steph's second semester of freshman year (Batgirl #13). So Damian is 9 years younger than Stephanie. He first appears aged 9 at the start of Year Nineteen and becomes Robin later that year, aged 10.

Renee Montoya- 7th September, 19 Years Before Batman

In 52 #14, published in 2006, we see Renee's passport and date of birth: 9/7/1970. It is the 14th week of the year so she would be 35 going on 36. 52 takes place in Year Eighteen, the calendar year Damian turns 9, so Renee is 27 years older than Damian.

She debuts as the second Question in 52 #48 the same year, aged 36.

Kate Kane- 14 Years Before Batman

Kate Kane is 32 at the time of Batwoman: Elegy, in Year Nineteen, since she was in the same class at West Point as the real-life activist Dan Choi, which means that she was part of the US Military Academy Class of 2003. Damian is 10 at the time so Kate is 22 years older than Damian.

Tim Drake-Wayne- Batman: Year One

Tim's age is THE weird one because DC are hellbent on keeping him at 17. It's too much for my brain, like how is he still 17 in Red Robin?? Let's say he seems to be only a year younger than Stephanie Brown a la Secret Origins 80-Page Giant or that he was bitten by a strange vampire bat during the One Year Later time skip. Your pick.

Fun fact: Dick permanently becomes Batman at 25 (in Year Nineteen), which is possibly the same age Bruce was when he became Batman.

[fractualized]

hi!! i hope you don’t mind me asking this but i recently read harleen (specifically issue 1) and wondered if you might know of any other comics that have an outsider perspective of batjokes? thanks !!

I don't mind at all, anon! I also enjoy in-universe outside perspectives on Batman and Joker's relationship (and I've included quite a bit of it in fic). Harleen #1 does have a pretty great one:

The most common commentary on Batman and Joker from other characters is the ol' "why haven't you killed him yet?!" but that reflects more frustration than any inkling of the connection between Gotham's most famous nemeses. So with the help of @distort-opia, I wrangled panels from a couple dozen comics that show characters having a better (even if incomplete) understanding of what the heck is going on there.

Many of these may already be familiar if you've been around batjokes fandom long enough. Regardless, spoilers abound!

I've ordered these (mostly) in cover date order.

June 1996 - The Batman Chronicles #5

This is a flashback that takes place shortly after The Killing Joke. Barbara is understandably bitter about being fridged, and it's clear that officers who saw Batman and Joker laughing together have spread the word, because heyyyyy wtf?

October 1996 - Catwoman (1993) #38

Selina knows releasing other rogues is a good distraction; Batman is always more concerned about Joker than her.

May 1997 - Batman: Batgirl

Before this, Joker was firing his gun willy-nilly, hitting his own men, and he hit Batman accidentally. Barbara doesn't seem to think he fully understands the consequences of killing Batman, especially given the surprise he shows when Batman goes down.

Five years later, this story gets retold (with a worse rendition of Joker's fantastic oufit):

July 2002 - DC First: Batgirl/Joker 

In this version, Barbara more actively realizes she needs to get at Joker by laughing at him, because he's caught up in a reality where Batman is the only other real person. (Not sure if this is the first comic to posit that idea, but it has shown up elsewhere.)

February 1999 - Catwoman (1993) #65

Joker has been terrorizing Catwoman for Batman-related reasons for a few issues, and she knows that saying she's killed Batman will devastate him. (You know, the more stories like this I see, the more I see Tom King actually didn't have too far a walk to jokerize Selina.)

August 2001 - Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #144

Alfred has noticed that Joker's presence affects Bruce's behavior. 

September 2003 - Batman: Gotham Knights #43

This take from Barbara is set before TKJ and meant to foreshadow (aftershadow?) it. Here she shows a better understanding of Batman and Joker's relationship than Bruce does.

October 2003 - Outsiders (2003) #3

Luthor knows just how to get under Joker's skin.

March 2011 - Streets of Gotham #19

Hush also knows how to get under Joker's skin.

March 2011 - Gotham City Sirens #19 

Selina and Harley are thinking more about themselves here, but it's not hard to connect the dots. Joker is part of the criminal morass that Bruce is focused on fighting, and Joker's focus is constantly on how to best the Batman.

November 2011 - Batman: Noël

Bruce has been told that Catwoman has information about the Joker's whereabouts. Note that Selina isn't saying she's aware that Joker is up to something right now; she implies that Batman is always thinking about Joker. It's a fact she can bank on.

May 2013 - Injustice: Gods Among Us #4 (digital release #11) 

Perhaps the most infamous example. This is related to the "why won't you kill him?" trope, but Clark's accusation takes it further by directly saying it's because Bruce loves fighting Joker more than he loves his friends and family.

Clark says something similar about Joker being Bruce's playmate in another comic:

August 2014 - Adventures of Superman (2013) #14 (digital release #41

Even outside of the Injustice universe, Clark knows Bruce's priorities are out of whack when it comes to Joker.

January 2013 - Catwoman (2011) #14

Selina just stating the obvious here, again after a now-faceless Joker has tormented her for Batman-related reasons for a couple issues.

April 2016 - Batman (2011) #49

Heartbreaking example from Alfred here. He watched Bruce's obsessiveness and understood that Bruce, consciously or subconsciously, saw dying with Joker as his destiny. He probably suspects that Joker didn't really die either and knows they're going to end up back on the same track.

April 2016 - Batman: Europa #4

These panels sum up Europa. Bane, always looking for fresh ways to break the Bat, saw Joker as a clear catalyst (even if he had to make up a convoluted plot to make Batman see it first).

January 2017 - All-Star Batman #4 (backer)

Duke is pretty much repeating Bruce's soliloquy from Death of the Family here, so he's not saying anything Bruce doesn't really know, but he doesn't know that Bruce knows. lol Interestingly, this happens before Dark Days: The Casting, in which Duke watches Joker demonstrate his love in a more positive way by trying to stop Bruce from blundering into everything that happens in Dark Nights: Metal and beyond.

January 2018 - Batman: White Knight #2

White Knight is problematic from a batjokes standpoint (and other standpoints!) but poor Harley presents another infamous outsider perspective here.

October 2018 - Harley/Gossamer Special

She's right and right to say it!

August 2020 - Birds of Prey (2020) 

This take is interesting in how it posits that Joker already felt unfulfilled by Batman by the time he met Harley and that she was kind of a rebound.

August 2020 - The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular

This is from "The Last Smile," in which Harley reveals Joker's recurring nightmare about Batman mocking him as he's put to death. Joker didn't picture Harley appearing to save him, but perhaps he felt like Batman's respect was "saving" him all the long.

September 2020 - Batgirl (2016) #47

Nooooo! That's the thing he's sensitive about!

April 2021 - Batman/Catwoman #3

I have… a lot of thoughts about Batman/Catwoman, few positive, but if you can push past the muddling storytelling technique (and the batcat if that's not your thing), Selina has a lot to say about Bruce and Joker's relationship, like in this and the following example.

May 2021 - Batman/Catwoman #4

Catwoman describes how Batman treats all his rogues and then equates that with how he treats his lovers. How much do you know, Selina? Who is Joker's main competition?? It's Harvey, isn't it?!

May 2022 - Detective Comics (2016) #1058 (backer)

Even newbie F-level antagonists like The Forgotten know what's up!

Well, that was a lengthy but surely not exhaustive account of what other DC characters think about the vibes between the Dark Knight and Clown Prince of Crime. (May they be bewildered for years to come!) I hope you spotted some comics that caught your interest, anon.