quote:
Originally posted by thedoctor:
Are you also saying that the most human reaction a kid to have to seeing his parents killed is to dress up like a bat so that you can sneak around at night and scare crooks?
point.

batman is, of course, a lil cooky.

but the dcu is littered with flying heroes, adopted aliens, time travelling fiends, and costumes-a-plenty!

"normal" is a word applied on a sliding scale.

my take is that, in batman's world, dressin up like a big goblin isn't all that extreme (considering it seems to be all the rage, especially in gotham). that said, bein a little off-kilter wouldn't make him (that) odd, and certainly not remove his humanity.

for all other intents and purposes (age-defiance and giant-dinosaur-statue aside), batman is just a man, sharing all the benefits and hindrances.

thus, i see him "logically" (and, at worst, believably) reacting in a TLH fashion, as opposed to the completely unlogical (unbelievable) TKJ fashion.

quote:
Originally posted by thedoctor:
Batman is not going to react like Rob Kamphausen and vice versa.
im certain the joker's posting privelages would be revoked.

quote:
Originally posted by thedoctor:
But don't forget that the Batman/Joker relationship is wholly different than it is for the rest of his rogues galary. There bond is more deeply rooted and twisted than any others'.
which i'd readily accept as justification, had the victims (in the case of TKJ) not been his best friend and crime-fighting partner.

as twisted as batman is, and as absurd as his "relationship" with the joker is, i feel his bond with the gordons should have somehow come into play in a more "realistic" undertone.

batman's "craziness" shouldn't come into play as laughing with the guy. i think it should be more of a battle with "i'm so crazed, i'll kill him" vs. "i'm so crazed, i'll hold my 'hero code' and not kill him."

to me, the batman/joker climax in dkr was infinitely better.

loeb's HUSH issue with the joker (... 613?) was perfect. every punch filled with rage, every flashback fueling another punch. the infuriating desire to kill this animal, stepping over every self-drawn line in the batman's life, and burdening, agonizing reality that he simply couldn't do it (after a near-fatal reminder from his long-time friend).

that was good stuff.