Sellout schmellout. I quit reading Batman comics and realized, 'I miss reading Batman comics.' So I'm buying them again. I don't like what they do a lot of the time, but it's still, at the core, one of my favorite characters.

During the Hush run I wanted nothing but to read a Batman comic I liked. So, for a long-ass time, I've been working on just that. Two thirds of it are posted on my website, the rest will be there sooner or later. I learned a couple things during this time. I suck at writing, that's the first thing. The other thing - continuity is boring. I mean the nit-picky bits. I don't want to research through my comic collection to decide what kinda underwear to make Green Lantern wear. Major continuity is valuable, but if I didn't read or like the story I didn't use it. Three, static characters are good for starting out because you know who they are and they fit and you can be lazy while writing them. It would take a good writer to make a progression in the character - even if it makes a lot of us mad because it's a fucking stupid progression. Sometimes it works. I like how they made Penguin be just Oswald Cobblepot. I like that Catwoman doesn't wear an ugly purple unitard and I like that she finally got a damn haircut. I hate that they've neutered Joker's character but thems the apples.

It's just one world in the comics I love. This is just Batman. I have a bunch of series of comics that are pristine and beautiful in their stability of character. Those series stopped at the right time. Batman never stopped. Although it would be nice and would feel wonderful to always pick up a Batman comic and have everything the same as always, there would be no writers willing to work like that. It's stupid. I still wish they'd put in more one-shots because those are better than any story arc I have ever read, but maybe someone will do those again in the future. They didn't stop the Batman franchise so it has to move onward. We have the ability now to buy and save our favorite comics. They will always exist. That doesn't mean we should always have the same thing. If Kelly Jones and whoever the fuck wrote for him were on Batman forever I would shoot myself. Things happen and I'm sure Batman will turn once more towards my tastes sometime in the next ten years or so. In the meantime I'll just enjoy what I can out of what they are producing and find my comic thrills and amazement in the other books in other 'universes.'

Old men, fear me! You will shatter under my ruthless apathetic assault!

Uschi - 2
Old Men - 0

"I am convinced that this world is of no importance, and that the only people who care about dates are imbeciles and Spanish teachers." -- Jean Arp, 1921

"If Jesus came back and saw what people are doing in his name, he would never never stop throwing up." - Max von Sydow, "Hannah and Her Sisters"