Batman - Blog Posts

they should do an inter batfamily conflict where cass catches damian making luigi mangione fancams and voices her opposition to him supporting a murderer and damian accuses her of being an insurance industry bootlicker and cass is like. what’s insurance. and the fallout results in a new reboot

Gotham Gargoyles named by Robin

This is an older idea of mine that I have shared with others before, But what if the Gargoyles were all named by the Robins and it became a sort of secret code known only to them? Only those that have been Robins (or Robin adjacent to include the Batgirls). Each gargoyle at a given location is known by a name to them. So if one says "Meet me at Bartholomew." they know to go to the gargoyles at 7th and Bleaker, 8 stories up.

parents & pedigree [x] [x]

There's a lot you can do with the memory of a dead child. You can sanctify him, build a shrine to that boy in your heart. Ditch the flaws and edges that made him who he was, those are not needed anymore. He's no longer a person, just the idea of one, why not make it a perfect one? It'd be nicer to him, to only speak about the good stuff and forget the bad and grey.

You can also exonerate yourself through him, he's not going to mind. It's always a tragedy for one to be lost so young, the living are grieving enough as they are. Why turn this tragedy into a blame game? You can just push it onto him, he won't feel bad about it. He won't feel anything at all, not anymore.

Before you judge this, think about it. The grieving father is inconsolable, a pain so indescribable nothing can make it right. Would you point out his shortcomings at this trying time? Of course not! It's best to alleviate his guilt. If the kid was alive, well then it'd be different. The awful victim blaming of a kid trying to do good. But there's no victim here, just a corpse. You can share the responsibility with him.

A dead kid is an awful, unholy thing, but it is also a convenient one. Certainly, much more convenient than a living man, with human flaws and desperate for justice. Graves are perfect for burying things, but ghosts are a wrathful force. They'll haunt the narrative, they'll haunt your dreams and if you'd be so unlucky to offend them, they'll hunt you for sport.

What a happy family! Hm… that lamp looks a bit weird. What’s that on your hand Tim?

👉🔥

They're all so happy 🙂

Accurate eldest sibling representation.

This is too funny to me.

Fanon!Dick: I would die for my brothers. I want to spend as much time as I can with them, my babies, I love them. Why don't we spend more time together at the mansion? I wish I could move in with them again.

Canon!Dick, with a cursed tendency towards self-sacrifice: Yes, I would die to save my family's life, but for God's sake, LEAVE ME ALONE FOR FIVE MINUTES. No, you can't be my emergency contact, no, I don't need you with me all the time. Thank u <3

Had to quickly draw this out!

Ref picture under the cut off

how the fam find out Jason's still alive

Dick, looking through old photo books: aw, it's such a shame Talia didn't tell B about you until recently Dami, I'd have loved to see photos of you as a baby

Damian: ? I can get baby photos if that is required in this family

Dick: what, how? Talia doesn't seem like the baby-book kind of woman, no offense.

Damian: She was not, however after my brother was brought out of the Lazarus pit he was given a few old cameras in an attempt to make his mind focus on something not harmful to himself and settle down. He took a lot of photos of our family during his training.

Dick:

Bruce:

Both, simultaneously: your what now?

-later-

Damian, walking into the room with an old box: Alright so I broke into his current safe house while he was working and took one of the boxes. I believe these should suffice for your 'baby books'

Bruce: hold on you broke into his- your brother lives in Gotham??? there's a trained league assassin working in this city and you didn't tell me? Damian we need to talk about your habit of withholding important infor-

Dick: Bruce.....

Bruce: -mation. what?

Dick: look at the.... photo...

Bruce, leaning over to see a photo of Jason Todd holding baby Damian up at the head of a meeting table like in the lion king, red smear on his forehead, while Ra's Al Ghul stares at them both from his seat looking Tired Of Jason's Shit™:

Damian, peering at the photo: yes, Todd got quite good with the timers on those cameras, he took many a photo holding me like that. I believe it was a special campaign designed to get on grandfather's nerves enough that he'd agree to watch the movie with us.

Bruce:

Dick:

*screaming*

bonus:

Tim: you know some of these photos are actually really good, like the angles and tones you used

Jason: you steal Robin, I steal photography.

Tim:

Wip of flashpoint Martha Wayne on a date. Haven’t drawn her date yet because I fear letting go of my batblob cheat code and actually drawing Batman.

Feel free to give me tips on how to improve my art :)) I’m new to this

Also, guess the song I’m drawing this to!

bad influence

Now the winner gets his prize! Come get your momma!

I'm not aware how they come to know each other's true id

I think a lot about Jason missing his adolescence and the dismorphia he must feel waking up in a body twice his size all of a sudden.

But recently I've been thinking about the loss Bruce and Dick must feel for missing that portion of his life that they were likely looking forward to. To need to look up at their baby boy/brother all of a sudden when your last memory of him you could carry him on your hip. This man has a whole personality, memories, experiences they don't know about when just yesterday they knew everything about him.

The idea of Jason not having any scars after the Lazarus pit is also angst central usually. Jason shows up and says "I'm not the kid you knew". They look over him and the small burn on his wrist from when him and Dick tried to cook? Gone. The scar on his back from falling in training that led to him and Bruce taking a PT break together? Nowhere to be seen.

When they work together they slot into his right out of habit since he's had more of an opening there since he broke his arm but... That injury doesn't exist anymore so he moves out of that position. And they're left with that small reminder that he's grown now. He's still Jason but they don't know him like they used to anymore.

If DC lets Tim grow up trust Steph will be on the opposite side of the room for a couple months. When Jason came back Dick was constantly perching, climbing and hanging from things to avoid looking up at his baby brother all of a sudden.

Girlhood to me is watching all the twerps you knew as a tween grow massive only for you to be stuck at the same height.

BTW Steph was the tallest Robin and Jason was the smallest. Send tweet

jason posting pt 2 (pt 1)

I often forget that a majority of the characters in my favorite stories are actually rich white kids. And then I'll get one of those tiktok slideshows about their aesthetic and I'm reeling a little because of all the rich white 16yo tiktoker energy in them. And yk what they're technically not wrong sometimes. It's just that I forgot and now I have the ick for my favorite character because irl I would avoid their vibes with a 10 foot pole.

Batman loves kids and is great with them

Ugh I love this every time I see it. Dick is looking at Red hood, at his brother alive and in front of him in the present, like he is all the light in the world(note the choice of lighting hitting that side of his face). Jason will never know though cause he won’t look back, he’s too focused on Robin and the red hood helmet, at what was and what has to be done. He does not dare look at what is at the moment because what if Dick is also looking at Robin, what if the brother he wanted back was not him any longer. So he will focus on the mission while Dick is left to despair over what could be.

"Do I look like him?"

Batman: I have decided I will reveal my identity to one person

Justice League: !!!!

Batman: *walks over to Green Arrow*

Green Arrow: Wait wha-

*Hot steamy make-out session right in front of the League. Jaws are dropped, Superman’s eyes are red, there’s tongue*

Green Arrow: … huh

Batman: *raises an eyebrow* Do you understand?

Green Arrow: *now completely aware that Batman is Bruce Wayne due to how many make-outs the two of them have had over the years* Surprisingly yes

Justice League: ?!?!?!

Batman: That’s all *sweeps out of the room with a dramatic flare of his cape*

Can we talk about the implications here? The fact that Dick probably taught Bruce the specific kind of acrobatics necessary to do this kind of performance because that isn’t just coming from material arts training. The fact that Bruce just knows the trapeze routine Dick was doing already. The implication that they probably practice together often as a form of father son bonding just as Dick used to turn his birth parents.

Superman/Batman: World’s Finest (2022) Issue #6

What exactly do you mean by that Richard? 🤨🕵️

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest (2022) Issue #7

Saw this post and did a quick doodle so I remember to draw it later, but then decided this is peak actually. Lmk if anyone wants me to properly draw it

Whenever the Bats would complain about any of their tech malfunctioning, Bruce would definitely be the type of dad to go "Back in the days, I didn't even have that" (and of course he overdoes it) :

Dick : This grappling gun's jammed again !

Bruce : Be grateful. I used to scale buildings by hand with a hook and rope.

Dick : Yeah, yeah.

---

Tim : The encryption program is too slow to crack this file.

Bruce : I cracked codes with a pencil, paper, and a lot of staring.

Tim : [rolls his eyes]

---

Jason : The comms in my helmet cut out mid-fight. How am I supposed to fucking coordinate with the other dickwads ?!

Bruce : When I started, I had no comms. Hand signals and pigeons were my options.

Jason : ... Pigeons ?

Bruce : Yeah, now quit whining.

---

Damian : Father ! My sword tracker isn’t syncing properly !

Bruce : Know what I used to do when I lost track of my gear on the field ? I used this thing called "my eyes" to find it. Maybe try that.

---

Barbara : The Batcomputer is practically prehistoric at this point. Maybe it’s time to invest in an upgrade.

Bruce : Prehistoric ? I started with a notebook and an encyclopedia. Plus, I had to cross-reference everything manually. How’s that for prehistoric ?

Barbara : Sure, Grandpa.

---

Cass : My night vision is acting up. Can you fix it ?

Bruce : When I first started, I had to rely on the moonlight. You’ve got infrared, thermal imaging, and sonar. Don’t take it for granted.

Cass : ...

Bruce : ... Fine, I’ll fix it.

---

In the group chat.

Tim : Just survived another sermon about the olden days and gratitude. I swear, I’ve got a migraine.

Steph : Yikes. What was it about this time ?

Jason : Let me guess. How he had to hack into systems using a pocket calculator and sheer willpower ?

Tim : Close. It was how he used to decode encrypted files by hand and climb five stories to cut the power while it rained.

Steph : Classic. Did he end with the “you don’t know how easy you have it” speech ?

Tim : Oh, absolutely. With a bonus lecture about how he built the Batcomputer.

Jason : Next time, just tell him you don’t care.

Tim : And risk another hour ? No thanks.

Lois: Listen Clark, I know for a fact some of the things you own can't come from a reporter's salary

Clark (didn't know how expensive some of the gifts he received were) : Well-

Lois: And I've noticed you get requested for Wayne interviews more often than you should and always right as Mr. Wayne goes on vacation

Clark (thought their excuse of "interviewing Bruce" when they had an off-world mission was genius) : Um-

Lois: Look I don't mind if you're his sugar baby or whatever. You do what you gotta do and if our home appliances conveniently get replaced right as they start showing wear and tear that'll be that

Clark (has regularly broken those appliances by mistake using his powers and replaced them with his JL collateral property damage allowance) : I'm not-

Lois: You're not disappearing to go spend time with Mr. Wayne? Or the money and gifts don't come from him?

Clark (remembering what will happen if he lets Batman's identity slip) : No, I am... And they do... You're right...

Nah bc why would Lois say that

“You don’t know it now but there’s still more to lose”

Wip. Please interact and give me suggestions so I have the motivation to finish this

Imo this is good writing of a flawed older sibling trying not to repeat his father's mistakes but making new ones. We see that Robins value the solidarity between robins in the form of treating each other like equals and keeping each other informed. Because they all have a deep need for personal freedom and are all control freaks to some extent. Bruce's only action to show he cared or in their eyes to punish them for a "miss", was to take away their means to "fix that miss", leading to them freaking out over a loss of control.

It's giving a child the respect and autonomy they want vs doing what is necessary for them even if they can't see it. And the biggest problem with these two options is that neither involve the adult following the rules they set. Batman will not stay back from vigilantism for the injuries a Robin would be benched for and so any rules set are inherently seen as demeaning and proof of a lack of trust in the Robin.

Difference between Bruce and Dick as Batman.

So I know that there's a lot of temptation to compare Bruce as Batman to Dick or Damian, and Dick as Batman to Damian, often with a "oh well obviously Bruce was meaner/Dick was nicer", but I do think they have a neat contrast that fandom often overlooks (as well as some parallels).

Robin: Year One #3

Batmatn #408

Batman and Robin #6

Dick and Bruce both will deal with whatever current threat exists, before fully helping wounded Robin, getting a verbal "I'm fine" confirmation. They clearly do care about Robin. But they also have an obligation to protect people Bruce tries to physically stop joker. Jason's not fighting Dick, but he is trying to talk him down and talk him into getting help, like he did in Battle for the Cowl. The characters also generally avoid a wounded Robin -- it's just easier to see for Bruce, because Leslie calls Bruce out on it "you're leaving (to go deal with this?)" whereas no one questions Dick leaving Damian once he's got medical care and doing his own mission to revive zombie bruce. I imagine this is partially from guilt (we do see Bruce blaming himself for Dick's close call, and Dick framing Damian as his responsibility in Battle for the Cowl) and also possible due to the whole 'batman has a job, robin's physically OK now so time to help protect people' thing.

A strong difference is after the character's get injured and treated. Bruce becomes overprotective, and continues being emotionally distant, which understandably upsets Dick. He is so overprotective he benches Dick each time he is wounded seriously, and that creates friction between them.

Robin: Year One

Batman #408

Contrast this to Dick's general lack of protectiveness. Nothing changes when Damian gets wounded as Robin. Which works well (emotionally) for Damian and it works for the conventions of the genre.

Dick is generally not portrayed as very emotionally overprotective when Damian is injured, and when Damian is captured, he often expresses more verbal concern for the people who captured Damian than Damian himself.

Batman and Robin #9 - Damian, with a new metal spine, got thrown off a building by the zombie batman dick accidentally revived.

Batman and Robin #13

Detective comics annual #11

I should note: I think it would be uncharitable to assume that Dick expressing more verbal concern that Damian will hurt the supervillains who have him kidnapped means Dick doesn't care about Damian. We see in Batman and Robin some of Dick being worried when Damian is shot, and we see Dick telling Azrael they need to find a quicker way to get to Damian when Azrael is talking about how to find the guys who took him. And also, you know. I just don't think Dick would care more about the supervillains that Damian. But Damian is regarded as a tough kid, he'll be fine no matter what, and he represents a threat to other people (interestingly, something I've seen fans accuse... Bruce of doing to damian? Even though Bruce was much more protective and wasn't worried about Damian killing Nobody when Damian was going with Nobody, or Damian killing the Saturn Club guys when Damian let himself by kidnapped by the Saturn club guys to find civilians to rescue)

But I am analyzing here the actions he does and the words that he says, and what the writer dedicates panel time to. I think it's interesting that Bruce and Dick's similarities with regards to Robin getting injured involve emotionally removing themselves from the situation and focusing on cases, and then their differences are in the follow up. Dick often maintains a status quo, which is satisfying to the Robin character (he does not feel like he's being fired or judged) and fits with the conventions of the genre. Bruce often becomes overprotective to a degree where the Robin character feels estranged from him, and is excluded, resulting in alienation from robin and coming across as the "bad guy".

I find it very interesting that Dick avoids repeating mistakes of the past that Bruce made (becoming overprotective of Robin to an alienating degree and firing him) by doing things that would be read as callous or uncaring to the reader if he wasn't Dick, I guess.

P.S. I know some people say this is why they regard Morrison's Dick as OOC, but I didn't have any place to fit that acknowledgement in the above paragraphs, but I think it's important to note that this was not just Morrison's Dick. In general Dick as Batman era was way different than Nightwing Rebirth era Dick or even post 2011 Dick.

Help! How do I get the back of Nightwing’s head to look like he’s leaning his head forward? Anything I do just makes his head look smaller 😭😭

Wip for an edit I have in my mind to this song

I love this because while we see Bruce hug his gf or kids quite a bit, that's always in a delicate way. To comfort them in an all encompassing soft hug.

This is clearly for himself. To ground himself with a bone crushingly tight hug that most people would find uncomfortable. To be enveloped in someone's embrace. To be held for once. To be able to fully stop supporting yourself and know you won't fall. To feel safe.

a moment of (weakness) comfort

Saw this comment on a post about Superman. Felt the need to share the pain.

I read somewhere that its common in Arab culture to refer to someone close to you as your organs, implying you can’t live without them. Like how in english someone would say “my heart” (qalbi), in Arabic someone would also use “my liver” (kabidi) “my lungs” (riati). Notably, “my blood” is “Dami” which is funny bc it’s Damian’s shortened nickname.

Damian’s brothers have been using the nickname for years with or without knowing. I propose that as Damian gets closer to them, and Tim in particular, he responds in kind.

He starts to refer to Tim as “tuhali.”

…it means “my spleen.”

(Edit: this has now been confirmed by several Arabic speakers! Except the pronunciation of Dami (as in my blood) and Dami (shortened) are different which is sad. But my spleen idea works! So I’m happy!)