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age-of-moonknight · 2 years

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History of the Vestments (Part I)

As has been particularly emphasized in the most recent volume, Marc frames his attire as both Moon Knight and Mr. Knight as having near liturgical significance (which,,,,,something something rabbinical family background something but that might be an analysis for another post). There's the famous declaration that the seemingly impractical color has a strategic purpose, making sure opponents can see him coming yet are too shaken to aim properly, but going as far back as Moon Knight (Vol. 1/1980), #1 there's been at least some connection between the cowl and Marc's service to Khonshu,,,,so I thought it'd be fun to take a closer look at some of the designs for Moon Knight over the decades and see what we can find.

1. The OG

Cover for Marvel Spotlight (Vol. 1, 1971), #28.

First appearing in Doug Moench's and Don and Howie Perlin's Werewolf by Night (Vol. 1/1975), #32 when Moon Knight was just a mercenary hired to take down Jack Russell, this suit has some....rather distinct attributes. Namely, the cape connects to the back of the vambraces and attaches at the throat in a sort of buttoned collar kind of deal, while the hood does not yet sport the distinctive peaked shape.

Werewolf by Night (Vol. 1/1975), #32.

[A better look at how the cape attaches to the vambraces and the additional crescent details on the back of the belt from Marvel Spotlight (Vol. 1, 1971), #28.]

Nonetheless, other elements of this design, such as the truncheons being stored in boot holsters, the distinctive ring pattern on the vambraces, and the crescent details on the belt, would prove to become fairly common staples of Moon Knight designs moving forward.

2. The Cape Upgrade (i.e. Marlene proves to be invaluable once again)

Starting in Hulk! (Vol. 1/1978), #12 by Mr. Moench, Keith Pollard, Frank Giacola, and Mike Esposito, even Marc comments on the impracticality of having showgirl wings a cape attached to one's wrists.

The result is the cape that we all know and (I at the very least) love.

And Mr. Pollard, Mr. Giacola, and Mr. Esposito, wasting absolutely no time, made a point to emphasize the fun crescent shape of the new cape in that very same issue of Hulk! (Vol. 1/1978), #12.

2b. Adding the peaked hood!

Fascinatingly, it isn't until the next issue with art by Bill Sienkiewicz that Moon Knight's quintessential peaked hood is introduced. Furthermore, we also get some helpful trivia about Moon Knight's armaments at this point, including how the crescent details on his belt are actually where he stores his crescent darts.

Hulk! (Vol. 1/1978) #13.

[A closer look at that hood from Hulk! (Vol. 1/1978) #13]

3. The "Actual Origin"

Interestingly enough, it isn't until five years after his introduction in Werewolf by Night that Moon Knight's origin is revealed in Moon Knight (Vol. 1/1980), #1, which also happens to introduce the beginnings of Marc's complex relationship with Khonshu as well as the ties between Marc's cowl and Khonshu, Marc having taken his first cowl off of the idol that oversaw his resurrection.

(....dare I say.....Iconic....)

and from that issues for the entirety of the first volume, you have the "classic" Moon Knight design: nearly all white, minimal detail, with the number of rings around the vambraces or the presence of crescent darts on Marc's belt varying depending upon the the issue.

Cover for Moon Knight (Vol. 1/1980) #3.

4. Hawkeye's Ice

At the beginning of Moon Knight (Fist of Khonshu) (Vol. 2/1985), Marc is pulled back into crimefighting and service to Khonshu by a bunch of Khonshu monks who vanish, but not before giving Marc some new bling/weapons (which were actually designed by Hawkeye????).

Moon Knight (Fist of Khonshu) (Vol. 2/1985), #1.

Moon Knight (Fist of Khonshu) (Vol. 2/1985), #1 (featuring some classic Marc "?????"-ing).

This look is present throughout Moon Knight's tenure with the West Coast Avengers, as well.

West Coast Avengers (vol. 2/1985), #21.

It's also around this time that Marc starts carrying a tactical fannypack that he keeps hidden under his cloak and with which I am unfortunately obsessed.

West Coast Avengers (vol. 2/1985), #29.

Solo Avengers (Vol. 1/1987) #3.

5. Armor Jello Mold

By the beginning of Marc Spector: Moon Knight, the gold accents had been dropped for a more "back-to-basics" design with even the belt being less ornate than in previous designs (although this is the first run that I noticed the rings around the tops of Marc's boots being consistently drawn, which I've used to identify Marc during over-crowded cross-over events hahaha)

Cover for Marc Spector: Moon Knight (vol. 1/1989), #1 the art for which was done by Sal Velluto and Mark Farmer.

One interesting point of design divergence in Marc Spector: Moon Knight, however, is that after fighting Randall (again) who had obtained an armored version of what Marc wore as Moon Knight, starting around Marc Spector: Moon Knight (Vol. 1/1989), #38 with art by Ron Garney and Tom Palmer, Marc began wearing more armor plates as well.

Funnily enough, this adoption of armor occurred right about the time Marc started melting into goo due to cellular mutation/degeneration (gosh I love comics), so, as per several doctors' orders, Marc was advised to not remove his armor until he had fully recovered or else ???? he might melt???? for real

6. Post-Goo Armor

Even after Marc's goo crisis had passed, however, artists such as Dave Hoover and James Fry still depicted Marc as wearing more noticeable armor plating across his chest, bulkier vambraces, and a chunkier belt until the end of Marc Spector: Moon Knight (the post-Liefeld 90's, amiright?)

Marc Spector: Moon Knight (vol. 1/1989), #51.

Marc Spector: Moon Knight (vol. 1/1989), #52.

7. The Late-90's Course Correction

In what I can only imagine to be a....I don't want to say backlash, but perhaps "response" is appropriate, to the noticeably bulky armor of early and mid-90's comics, the Moon Knight designs of the late 90's were remarkably more "conventional," with the art of Moon Knight (Vol. 3/1998) by Tommy Lee Edwards and Robert Campanella being almost abstract in their use of shape and shadow (and which I personally think fits well tonally with some of the more mysterious elements of this volume), while still including recognizable details such as the rings around the vambraces and the crescent details on the belt.

Moon Knight (Vol. 3/1998), #4.

And while not necessarily the first artists to do so, this is the first time that an entire volume featured Moon Knight's eyes glowing red instead of white (due to the purposeful inclusion of red tinted lenses in a black mask) and personally I just think they look cool.

Moon Knight (Vol. 3/1998), #1.

Moon Knight (Vol. 3/1998), #3.

This "back-to-basics" push is reiterated with Mark Texeira's work in Moon Knight (Vol. 4/1999).

Moon Knight (Vol. 4/1999), #1.

8. Precursor to Vol. 7's Black and White Suit???

The last suit I wanted to cover in this post is a bit of an oddity in that, from what I've gathered so far, it has only appeared in Marvel Team-Up (Vol. 3/2004). As you may have noticed in this post alone, various pencilers, inkers, and colorists have inventively used shadow to make Moon Knight's stark whites appear almost black in certain lighting; consequently, I am unsure if Scot Kolins was purposefully trying to employ the same effect, if this was an ongoing coloring mistake by colorist "Studio F," or if this is a sort of precursor to the more famous look in volume 7, but in any case, I'm obsessed.

Marvel Team-Up (Vol. 3/2004), #7.

Marvel Team-Up (Vol. 3/2004), #10.

And that brings us up to ‘round about volume 5, so stay tuned for another one (or two) of these posts. Oh! And let me know if I missed anything hahaha

#History of the Vestments #Moon Knight comics #Moon Knight #Marc Spector #I'll definitely be getting to the crashed vehicles post next #but someday I think I might do a post about Moon Knight's incredibly diverse array of weapons #because !!!! as much as he loves his truncheons he sure can produce/procure some rather exotic weaponry when necessary hahaha #And??? I’m not sure if this is another one of those projects where I’d typically get back the response ‘too much detail!’#and if this is comprehensible to anyone else but I had fun xD #long post

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punchdrunkdoc · 2 years

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Just Breathe - Ch.3

Summary: Six months after the events in Gotham Square Garden, Bruce is struggling to find balance between his role as Batman and his responsibilities as Bruce Wayne. His life is made even more complicated when he learns that someone knows his secret identity.

Notes: This is a multi-chapter, slow-burn Battinson/original female character story with romance, angst, and crime solving!

Also available on AO3

Masterlist

Reference pics and stuff

“In another unexpected public sighting - the second this year - Bruce Wayne was seen visiting the office of Mayor Bella Real. According to the Mayor’s spokeswoman, the billionaire businessman was discussing allocation options for the new and improved Renewal Fund.”

Beth had only been partially paying attention to the news as she ate her lunch. The small TV in her office helped serve as an early warning system, alerting to her to any deaths that might be crossing her desk in the near future - or, more accurately, crossing her autopsy table. But at the mention of ‘Bruce Wayne’, her head popped up from her salad and she focused on the screen.

“The Wayne heir has been famously reclusive for the past 10 years, but he seems to be re-emerging into Gotham society. The first sign was his attendance at the former Mayor’s funeral last year. A couple of months ago he attended a board meeting at Wayne Enterprises, which served to boost the share value of the company…”

She tuned out the words and focussed on the accompanying photographs - one was from the funeral, which caught him half in profile as he entered the church; the other was of him emerging from the Mayor’s office, the cut of his suit much more flattering.

The news bulletin ended and the pictures disappeared before she had a chance to finish studying them, so she woke up her computer and found the online versions. His dark hair was shorter and more styled in the recent pictures, and it was brushed off his face, allowing the photographer to capture his pale blue eyes.

The haircut and the suit made it seem as if he was making an effort to appear as the put-together, powerful Wayne heir that the public expected.

She flicked back to the older photos from the funeral. His appearance was scruffier, and his eyes were guarded. He looked uncomfortable and out of place…and she had a feeling that this was the real Bruce, and the newer version was nothing but an act.

Or maybe neither of them were real. Maybe the man under the cape and cowl - the imposing, confident crimefighter - was the real man.

She remember her fleeting wish during their first encounter to discover his secret identity. She figured once she unearthed the name under the mask, her curiosity would be satisfied…but she was even more fascinated now.

And she was becoming a bit obsessed.

She followed Batman’s exploits like a rabid fan. Part of it was concern for his safety; it was like that apocryphal quote "save a life and you are responsible for it”. She felt protective of him. And she worried about him. So she followed him - via news reports and social media posts - to make sure he was alive at the end of every night, and breathed a sigh of relief when it was confirmed.

A larger part of her attentiveness was the desire to understand him.

He was an orphan, like her. And while she didn’t know how her parents had died, the whole world knew the story of the Waynes and their tragic ending. He’d been just a boy when he’d witnessed their brutal murders. She could imagine the craving for justice that experience would awaken; but there were so many avenues open to a literal billionaire to achieve that kind of aim. He could have become a lawyer; he could have devoted his fortune to tackling the root causes of Gotham’s crimes; he could have run for office…but he chose to shut himself away from the world and emerge only in the dark to fight criminals on their own turf.

So her obsession stemmed from concern, fascination…and there was a small, superficial part of her that just found him handsome as hell. His face lived up to the promise of that sculpted, impossibly sharp jawline that had first caught her eye in the mortuary.

She was drawn to him…

But he belonged to another…

She quickly shut down that line of thinking and threw away the remnants of her lunch.

It was time to get back to work.

———

Several hours later, back in her office after completing the afternoon’s autopsies, Beth stared at the blood results from one of her recent cases. The deceased was Jessica Harlow, a 38-year old prosecuting attorney from a well-to-do family. She was married to a GCPD detective, whom she’d met on one of her first cases out of Law School when he’d been a rookie cop. She was ambitious, and appeared to be on the career track for elected office.

Until she was found dead in her townhouse three days ago, apparently of natural causes.

Jessica had type I diabetes and the tests showed that her insulin levels were too high. On paper, it looked very much like she’d died of low blood sugar due to poor insulin control. She’d passed away in her sleep, and was found in the morning by the housekeeper. Her husband was on an overnight stakeout, which provided his alibi.

It all looked very non-suspicious.

But Jessica had been living with her disease for more than 20 years and, by all accounts, her understanding of her condition, adherence to medication and glycaemic control was excellent.

It didn’t make sense.

A knock at the door interrupted Beth’s musings. It was one of the admin staff. “Detective Harlow is here to collect his wife’s belongings. You said you wanted to be informed when he arrived?”

“That’s right. Thanks, Camila. I’ll be out in a second.”

Beth steeled herself for what was to come. She didn’t use her ‘gift’ often at work - It was useless on the dead, after all. But occasionally she utilised it to get a read on a family member when she suspected something was awry.

Like now.

She tucked her bare hands in the pockets of her white coat and went out to greet Jessica’s husband.

“Detective Harlow?” she called to the man waiting by the reception desk. He looked haggard, and his lifeless eyes were red and sunken. He was the picture of devastation.

Maybe she was wrong…

There was only one way to find out.

“My name is Dr Carraway, I’m the pathologist looking after your wife. I’m very sorry for your loss.” As she approached him, she held out her hand in greeting. He slipped his own bare hand into hers and returned the handshake.

And her abilities sprang to life…

She saw him receiving the phone call from the housekeeper. So, it’s done

She saw him kissing Jessica at their wedding. I’m the luckiest man alive

But then the fighting. The silences. When did she turn into such a bitch?

The signature on the documents. “In the event of Mrs Harlow’s death…”

Bottles of insulin in the bathroom cupboard, a hand reaching for them. Which one?

A young blond in a hotel room. “We’ll be together soon, baby.”

A plane ticket and a packed suitcase. Soon…

The chaotic, disordered montage flicked through her mind in seconds, but it was enough to confirm her suspicions.

Detective Harlow had killed his wife.

“Thank you, Doctor,” he said, oblivious to what had transpired between them. “Do you have any updates on what happened to her? To my Jessica?”

She gave him credit for his acting abilities - he’d have easily fooled anyone else with this grieving persona. She tried to cover her disgust as she gave the answer he was expecting. “It looks like she miscalculated her insulin dosage. It can happen with diabetics, unfortunately. Has anything like that occurred in the past?”

He bowed his head and sighed. “Yes, a few times. Especially when she was stressed. She would take her insulin but forget to eat, or she’d choose the wrong dosage. And she was so stressed these last few weeks with a big case…”

“I see,” she replied, nodding in understanding.

Playing along.

But inside she was boiling with anger. This selfish, monstrous man had taken the life of the woman he had pledged to love and honour. He had turned her own condition against her and cut short her promising life…all so he could run away with his mistress and cash in the life insurance.

The banality of the motive did nothing to lessen the tragedy.

She needed to do something. Tell someone.

But who?

The few times she’d done this in the past, she’d been able to convey her suspicions - subtly and vaguely - to the police…but this time it was one of their own who was guilty. Even if there was a non-corrupt cop on the force willing to investigate, there was no evidence. Jessica had been alone in the house and had administered the fatal dose herself, not realising that her husband had tampered with the vials.

There was no way to catch him…unless he confessed.

And she could think of only one man scary enough to make that happen. One man not constrained by the rules of law enforcement.

Batman.

She felt a pang of guilt at the thought. Not about involving him in this case - wasn’t this why he put on the mask in the first place? To punish the guilty and avenge the innocent?

No, her guilt stemmed from what she would have to do to get this information to him.

She couldn’t go through Gordon - this needed to be done anonymously, otherwise too many questions would be asked about how she knew what Harlow had done.

Instead, she would have to use Batman’s secret identity - the one she’d obtained against his will and without his knowledge.

She would have to contact Bruce Wayne.

———

Bruce read the note for what felt like the hundredth time:

To The Batman,

Last week, Detective John Harlow of GCPD tampered with his wife’s diabetic medication, causing Jessica Harlow to die of an insulin overdose. He is planning to leave the country in three days time - to ‘grieve’ with family overseas - but will in fact be met in Belize by his long-time mistress, Maria Simpson. He is set to benefit substantially from his wife’s life insurance policy. I have no way of proving this, but it is all true. He needs to be brought to justice.

Please help Jessica.

Yours, in good faith

A concerned citizen.

There were no clues as to the sender. The paper was nondescript, and the words were typed in generic ink. The letter had apparently been dropped off in person to Wayne Tower, but the culprit wasn’t detected on any security cameras.

It was made clear on the front of the envelope that the contents were for Bruce Wayne’s eyes ONLY, so at least the sender was trying to preserve Bruce’s anonymity to an extent. Luckily, the only person who opened his mail was Alfred, and not some unsuspecting secretary.

Did that mean the sender had no intention of revealing his identity to the wider public? Or was this the first step in an escalating series of correspondences that would end with blackmail and the threat of exposure?

He scrunched the paper into his fist, angry at the sender…but more at himself. How had he been found out? He was always so careful. He traveled back and forth from the tower in disguise; none of the equipment he’d purchased could be traced to his bank accounts; there was no chance of fingerprints or DNA being left at scenes, no one had seen his face…

How had they found him out?

Forcing that question to the back of his mind, he concentrated on the time-sensitive issue of what to do about Detective Harlow. A cursory internet search confirmed that a Jessica Harlow did indeed die late last week, and that she was the wife of a policeman. But the news article also said that the post mortem examination revealed natural causes.

So that’s where he would start.

And he tried to ignore the small part of him that was glad he’d been given a reason to meet with Beth Carraway again.

———

The night after dropping off the letter to Batman, Beth stayed late in her office trying to distract herself with work. She knew that if she went home, she’d spend the rest of the evening worrying herself sick about things she couldn’t control.

Like whether he’d received her message.

Or whether someone other than Bruce Wayne had read it, and she’d inadvertently spilled his secret.

And whether he was going to act on the information, or ignore it as the ramblings of a crazy person…

She sighed. Work was obviously not distracting her enough.

She switched off her microscope and pushed her chair back, stretching as she did so. Then she shoved her headphones on and propped her feet up on the desk. If work wasn’t doing the trick, she’d let music drown out the thoughts swirling in her head.

She pressed play and cranked up the volume. The randomly selected track turned out to be a pounding, drum-heavy number from one of her favourite singers.

Perfect.

She rested her head against the high back of her chair and closed her eyes, letting the music take her away from reality.

———

And that’s how Bruce found her.

Realising that she was not in her apartment, he’d made his way to the Medical Examiner’s office and found her Camaro in the staff car park. It was the only vehicle left, and it matched the solitary office light glowing from a first floor window. He entered the facility through the roof and made his way downstairs, where he found the hallways dark and empty. He felt a prickling of unease at the thought of her being alone and unprotected here.

Especially when she was clearly not paying attention to her surroundings.

He stood in the doorway of her cluttered office and watched her nod her head along to her music, completely oblivious to the figure lurking a few feet away. He could hear the tinny echo of the song playing in her ears, and it was a heavy, thrashing tune, not the kind of music he thought she would listen to.

Just as he was about to announce his presence, she started singing out loud…and he finally got to hear the voice he’d only been able to imagine for the past few weeks.

The clear, melodic alto rang through the office and he found himself responding to the sweet, rich tone. He was all of a sudden loathe to interrupt this moment…but the alternative was her opening her eyes and catching him spying.

He rapped his gloved hand against the glass panel of her office door.

The effect was almost comical. Her eyes flew open and she jerked in her seat; the movement dislodged her feet and they slid off the desk, catching the computer keyboard on the way down.

“Shit,” she exclaimed as the equipment clattered to the floor. She jumped to her feet, whipped her headphones off with one hand and pressed the other against her chest, glaring at him the whole time. “You scared the crap out of me!”

He worked hard to suppress his smile, both at her little slap-stick display and that glimpse of the fiery defiance he’d seen from her before. “Sorry,” he said.

She eyed him nervously. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you about something.”

She bit her lip. She looked…worried…and not just because he’d surprised her with his presence. “What is it?”

“I’ve been asked to investigate a death. There’s a suspicion of homicide, so I wanted your professional opinion.”

She exhaled, looking almost relieved…and he couldn’t figure out why. Unless…did she think he was here to discuss their last encounter, when she’d saved his life? But why would she be nervous about that?

“Oh. Okay. Which death?”

Her question pulled him back to the matter at hand. “A woman named Jessica Harlow.”

She nodded. “I remember the case. Diabetic. Insulin overdose.” She took her seat again and clicked on some folders to bring up the relevant autopsy report. He moved closer to read the document over her shoulder. “Wait,” she said tilting her head back to look up at him. “Someone thinks its a homicide?”

The last time one of her cases had been questioned, she’d been affronted. Angry, even. This time, she just looked curious. “Is that possible?” he asked.

She looked back at the screen and scrolled through the report. “Yes, technically. All I was able to determine was that she had too much insulin in her system…how it got there is a matter of speculation. It was ruled accidental, because its a recognised complication of diabetes. And because there was no suspicion of foul play from the circumstances. She was alone, there were no abnormal injection marks…”

“But if someone tampered with her insulin bottles, there’d be no way to rule that out at autopsy?”

“That’s right.”

He nodded and straightened up. He was conscious of looming over her so he moved back to the doorway, and prepared to take his leave. “Thank you for your help.”

She swivelled in her chair to face him. “I don’t really feel like I helped all that much.”

“It was useful to get confirmation.”

She nodded and bit her lip again. It seemed to be a nervous tic of hers. Another piece to add to the picture…

He hesitated on the threshold, not sure whether to bring up the topic considering her earlier reaction…but he didn’t feel right leaving without acknowledging the events of last month. “Dr Carraway-“

“Beth,” she said quickly. “Call me Beth.”

“Beth,” he said, savouring the sound - it was the first time he’d said her name out loud. “Thank you. For…the junkyard. And what you did back then.”

“Oh,” she replied, looking a bit stunned. “I didn’t realise you knew that was me.”

“I should have thanked you sooner. I’m sorry about that.”

She shook her head. “I was just doing my job.” She pointed to the embroidered ‘Dr’ on her lab coat.

That was one question answered at least - she would have done the same for anyone. It wasn’t because it was him.

He didn’t know how he felt about that.

“Are you okay? I mean, were you okay? After that? You look okay now, but were you?” She screwed up her face at her stumbling question and he had to suppress the urge to smile yet again. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt like smiling so much.

“I was fine. Thanks to you.”

“Anytime.” She screwed up her face again. “I mean, not anytime, like I want you to be hurt again…but just that I was glad to help.”

He nodded at her rambling reply, glad he wasn’t the only one feeling uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to having conversations like this while under this mask - or at any time, really. “Goodnight then. Beth.”

“Goodnight,” she echoed quietly, and waved him goodbye.

He turned and left, melting into the shadows…where he finally allowed the smile to break over his face.

———

Beth looked at her raised hand and quickly dropped it down.

Why did she wave!?

What was she? Five?

Ugh, that was the single most awkward conversation of her life! She had no cool. She was utterly devoid of cool!

First she’d been nervous that his sudden appearance meant he’d figured out she was the sender of the letter. She’d been so relieved when he’d mentioned getting her help on the Harlow case - not only did he not suspect her, but he was taking her letter seriously.

She’d managed to pull off the role of the clueless pathologist who was unaware that her case had possibly become a homicide…but then he’d thanked her. For saving his life.

And she’d become flustered.

Because she hadn’t realised he knew.

But he’d somehow worked it out, or he’d recognised her from last year; however it happened, the implication was that while she’d been thinking of him this past month…he’d been thinking of her too.

And that knowledge had turned her into a incoherent moron.

Which confirmed one thing.

She had a crush on Batman. Or Bruce Wayne...or whoever he really was.

Which was a disaster on so many levels.

She’d always had a problem getting close to people.

She never had the typical high school experience - she was always known as the weird kid with no parents who had to leave class early all the time to see a shrink…which didn’t exactly put her at the top of anyone's dating list. Or even friend list.

She thought college might be different, since it gave her the opportunity to shirk her outcast status and begin fresh…but her gift-slash-curse always got in the way.

Within a few weeks of term starting, she became friends with a girl called Stacey Liu. Her first real friend. They were both pre-med and they would sit in lectures together and get coffee after class while they revised. But one afternoon, while handing Stacey her non-fat, oat milk latte, Beth’s fingers had brushed against hers…and she caught the stray thought flowing through Stacey’s mind: “This girl is dragging me down. I should have sat next to Ellie on the first day, then I’d be in her friend group and hanging with those guys instead.”

Beth had plastered on a smile and continued with the study session, but found excuses to avoid Stacey after that. Within days, she spotted her out with Ellie, as she’d apparently always wanted.

It was worse with boys.

Her first date ever was dinner with a guy named Tim. A nice guy…or so she’d thought. Until he’d kissed her at the end of the night and when she didn’t automatically drag him up to her dorm room for sex, she’d heard his internal sigh: “She’s one of those frigid virgins after all. Well, this was a waste of time.”

Then she dated a guy named Jake for a couple of weeks. It was a horrible thing to admit, but the big draw of Jake was that he was not the brightest student on campus. He was attending on a football scholarship, and his mind was usually filled with game plays that he was trying to memorise from practice…and very little else. It made touching him somewhat bearable, like always having ESPN on in the background.

Until she’d taken his hand one evening…and seen a replay of the afternoon he’d spent with a bartender named Amber. In bed. Naked.

She'd tried a few more times, with both female friends and potential boyfriends, but it always ended the same way. She heard or saw something she wasn’t meant to. Something that ate away at her self-esteem. Something that made her feel worthless and insignificant. Until she teetered on the verge of depression.

In an act of self-preservation, she’d removed herself from the realm of human connection. She kept herself apart from the world. Skin always covered up, never touching anyone unless it was necessary.

It was safer that way.

But it meant she was emotionally…stunted. She’d never moved beyond that freshman college experience.

So when faced with a man that she was attracted to…a handsome, intelligent, captivating, dangerous MAN, rather than an immature college boy…she’d gone to pieces.

She needed to get a grip.

It was never going to happen.

Even if there wasn’t the small matter of her powers and how impossible they made intimacy, she knew that he had feelings for someone else.

A woman named Selina Kyle.

She’d seen their interactions in his memories. She’d felt the desire that he harboured for her. The ache that her absence caused. And the hidden spark of hope that she would someday return.

His heart belonged to another.

So she needed to get her own under control…and forget all about him.

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CHAPTER 4

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Taglist: @hollandorks @grunge-n-roses5 @xmxrfx @neptunesands @caramelcandescence

If anyone else wants to be added, let me know!

#the batman #the batman 2022 #Batman #batman fic #The batman fic #Battinson #Battinson fic #bruce wayne/original character #bruce wayne/oc #batman/original character #batman/oc #my fic #just breathe

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fidothefinch · 4 years

Text

Stuck with You

Batfam Week Day 3: Injuries/Bonding During a Mission

Ao3

“For the record, this is the singular worst hiding place I have ever had the displeasure of using.” Damian’s legs were cramping from holding his position for so long, but he didn’t dare move. The rain made everything slick, and he couldn’t afford to lose what traction he had.

“Yeah, well, you’re welcome to find a better one.” Tim’s voice, coming from somewhere behind and slightly above Damian, was too tired to sound annoyed. He was having difficulty holding still, too. “Still beats staying to take care of B.”

Damian scrunched his nose at the reminder. His father did not take the flu gracefully. “There is no time to rework our strategy. If this plan fails, it will be your fault alone.”

He could almost hear the eye roll. “Uh-huh. Okay, Robin.”

A noise came from outside, and they both stilled, straining their ears. It came closer, but when it passed the opening of their hiding place it was no bigger than a squirrel.

Tim shifted his weight carefully. “If the drug dealers want to get here soon, my back would appreciate it.”

The tube slide was made for children, after all. It was not meant to accommodate two vigilantes for hours on end.

The slide was bright yellow, the inside was covered with lewd graffiti, and it smelled like feet. But it was a small price to pay for the shelter the tube provided. As Damian had to begrudgingly agree, it was the only real hiding place on the playground close enough they would be able to catch the dealer in the act.

Lo and behold, the playground mulch was disturbed again as another figure shuffled by the slide in the dark. By the two-beat rhythm, Damian guessed it was a human.

They fell into silence.

Several minutes passed. The lone figure circled the playground several times, never quite finding a place to rest to wait.

Finally, the feet stilled. Tim tapped Damian on the shoulder, and Damian nodded he noticed. Within a minute, another set of footsteps ambled across the playground, guided by the glow of a flashlight.

“Are you Ray?”

“Depends on who’s asking.”

The voices were muffled by the plastic, and even Damian had trouble making out the words. Carefully, he let himself slide down their hiding place. Just an inch.

A hand tapped his shoulder.

Damian scowled and looked back at Tim, who shook his head.

Damian rolled his eyes, threw off Tim’s hand, and braced his legs to prepare another miniscule movement.

When he turned back, there was a dog at the base of the slide.

Almost as though it could sense his gaze, its eyes shot over to him.

It growled.

“Up, up!” Damian hissed, pushing on Tim’s foot to convey the message.

The dog jumped onto the lip at the base of the slide and started barking. Damian had barely risen an inch before it tried to climb after him. Its teeth snapped around the empty air where his foot had been half a second earlier.

Damian grit his teeth and kicked out at it, wincing at the yelp it gave when he managed to clip its nose. The dog slid down and off the bottom of the slide, but there was no use in staying.

They had been spotted.

“Hey! Who’s there?” The light swiveled and illuminated the slide, highlighting the stark graffiti on the inside. Then it wobbled, and there was the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked.

Damian crept backward, but his boot hit a wet spot and he lost traction.

“Robin!”

Damian’s cape pulled taut, and it was his only saving grace when a bullet shot straight through the slide’s walls, narrowly missing Damian’s stomach. Tim hauled him up out of reach.

“Time to go.”

Damian couldn’t argue.

He scrambled up the slide after Tim, only pausing a second to allow Red Robin enough time to throw a smoke bomb ahead of their exit. Rebreathers in place, he followed Tim out into the open air.

Another gunshot went off. Red Robin flinched in front of him, but it didn’t slow his momentum. The older boy leapt over the iron railing and dove to the ground to face their pursuers head-on. Damian ran further down the play structure and waited until Red Robin had pushed the man back far enough he could swing around the fire pole and use the momentum to kick the man across the head.

The man fell hard.

Damian landed easily and wiped his hands off. “Tt.”

The other man, the one who had arrived earlier, was already across the field lining the playground. Ran at the first sign of trouble. As Damian watched, Red Robin’s grapple hook wrapped around his legs, and the man fell.

Smirking, Damian looked to Tim, ready to offer a quip. He paused at what he saw.

“You’re bleeding.”

Tim’s jaw twitched. His grapple fell from a lax hand. “Just a flesh wound.”

It was not.

Even as he said the words, his leg buckled underneath himself. Damian dove in to catch his shoulders before he hit the ground.

Tim clamped a hand over his thigh, but it wasn’t enough to stop blood from seeping out between his gloved fingers. “This would happen.”

Damian shifted Tim’s weight, pulling the taller boy’s arm over his shoulder as support. It didn’t really work; the height difference too great. “I will have to carry you.”

Tim snorted. “Yeah, right.”

But they didn’t really have any other options.

So Damian crouched down in front of Tim. He braced himself on his knees. “Here.”

Tim just stood there. “I can’t believe you’re offering me a piggyback ride.”

Damian grit his teeth. “I can still leave you here. I could call B—”

“That’s a low blow.” Tim braced one hand over Damian’s shoulder. “Are you sure?”

Damian scoot back underneath him more, so Tim’s front was resting against his back. “Hurry, before I change my mind.”

Tim still hesitated. But when he leapt up with one foot, Damian was easily able to catch him underneath the thighs. Tim hissed at the pressure on his leg. “Watch it!”

“TT. Hold on.”

Tim wrapped his arms around Damian’s neck. When Damian stood, he could not straighten his posture lest he risk overbalancing, but he held Tim’s weight relatively easily. “This should not be so easy. When is the last time you ate?”

Tim was quiet. That’s when Damian knew the time to joke was over. “Red Robin?”

“You know, I don’t know?”

Damian pushed Tim up a little so he could reach the treats in his pocket. The dog was watching them, and he could tell by its silhouette it didn’t like them. “You should take better care of yourself.”

Finding the treats, he threw one over for the dog. It sniffed it before gently picking it up and trotting over to sit next to its felled master to eat.

“Because I’m useless as a crimefighter when I haven’t eaten?”

“Because you’re a human and your body requires nourishment.” When Tim didn’t answer, Damian jostled the load on his back. “You are not allowed to lose consciousness.”

Tim hummed behind him. “I’m going to call the police, let them know they’re here.”

It was clearly deflection, but Damian let it slide. Blood loss, after all.

The smaller boy carried Tim past the playground, out of the park. He picked through the city, trying to keep out of sight. It was a quiet night, but they were compromised. He did not want to give any idling criminals ideas.

For the most part, Tim remained silent. Damian tapped his legs every few minutes, and Tim tapped his chest back. Still here.

When they had reached a safe house, Damian carefully lowered Tim onto the fire escape outside the apartment so he could open the window.

“Thanks.”

Damian stopped fiddling with the locking mechanism in his surprise. Then he doubled down his efforts to cover his hesitation. “TT. You must be delirious from blood loss.”

“No, really,” Tim whispered. “Thank you.”

The window slid open on silent hinges. Damian stepped through to make sure it was safe, and stepped out again to help Tim through. “You do not need to thank me. I am only doing this so Father does not bench me, as well.”

Tim pushed his cowl back to reveal a look of pain. “Oh, God. I hadn’t even thought of that. He’s going to kill me. You should have just left me to bleed out.”

Damian dragged Tim to the bathroom, where he forced him to lie down so he could examine the wound. It wasn’t as bad as they had thought. The bullet had sliced a deep cut across the exterior of Tim’s thigh. Nothing a good compression bandage and a few weeks’ rest couldn’t fix. “I would not do that.”

Tim went quiet again. Damian pulled out his first aid kit and began working on his leg. “I was serious. You really should take better care of yourself.”

Tim’s face screwed up. “Never thought I would hear that from you.”

Damian frowned. “Despite our history, I do not wish you ill.”

A sigh. “I know that.”

They lapsed into a comfortable silence as Damian finished dressing the wound. He helped Tim sit up against the bathroom tiles, and fished out some painkillers (and light sedatives) for him.

Tim downed them dry. After making a face at the taste, he bluntly asked, “Are you going to tell Bruce?”

Damian studied the wall next to Tim’s head. He knew Tim was talking about more than the immediate wound. “Not yet.” He sliced his gaze to make eye contact with Tim. “A night’s rest, and then I will make a decision.”

It was no promise. Tim nodded in acknowledgement. “Okay.”

Damian acted as a support so Tim could stand, and together they hobbled over to the couch in the sparse living room.

They didn’t sit long before Tim slurred, “You drugged me.”

Damian smirked. “Technically, you drugged yourself.”

Tim groaned, sliding further down the couch. “Still beats spending the night with Bruce when he’s high on Nyquil.”

On that, Damian could agree.

He waited until Tim was asleep to send a quick message to Alfred about their whereabouts and Tim’s injury. Then he pulled a blanket from the bedroom and draped it over Tim’s body before stumbling to bed himself.

There was a conversation to be had in the morning, but it could wait. It had been a long night, after all, and Damian could not risk being made a hypocrite.

Rest it was.

#batfamweek2020 #day 3 #tim & damian #fido writes #fido doesn't know how to end stories (:#batfam

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vavandeveresfan · 4 years

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“Ben Affleck To Return As Batman In Upcoming ‘Flash’ Movie That Also Will Feature Michael Keaton As Dark Knight.”

From DEADLINE:

Sources have confirmed that Ben Affleck is returning as Batman in the upcoming Flash movie which Warner Bros. is putting into production. It is to be a cameo role. And, yes, Affleck will be playing the Dark Knight alongside Michael Keaton’s Batman from the 1989 Tim Burton film, in what is billed by Flash director Andy Muscietti as a “substantial” part. The Flash is scheduled for release on June 3, 2022. Ezra Miller, who played Flash in Justice League, plays the title role.

Despite being involved in early development on Matt Reeves’ The Batman, Affleck stepped away from reprising the role in that movie in January 2019, as we first told you. In regards to the new Batman franchise moving forward, sources say it’s Robert Pattinson who is the face of Bruce Wayne.

Affleck reportedly got the script for The Flash at the end of last week and agreed to board the project.

“He’s a very substantial part of the emotional impact of the movie. The interaction and relationship between Barry and Affleck’s Wayne will bring an emotional level that we haven’t seen before,” Muschietti tells Vanity Fair who broke the news. “It’s Barry’s movie, it’s Barry’s story, but their characters are more related than we think. They both lost their mothers to murder, and that’s one of the emotional vessels of the movie. That’s where the Affleck Batman kicks in.”

Another reason feature mythology-wise why Affleck’s Batman is coming back to The Flash, and that’s that Miller’s Flash considers him to be the original Dark Knight, the guy he fought alongside in Justice League. Hence, per Muschietti, it was necessary to have Affleck’s Batman as a starting point: “He’s the baseline. He’s part of that unaltered state before we jump into Barry’s adventure…There’s a familiarity there,” he further tells Vanity Fair.

Warner Bros. is hosting a DC Fandome virtual confab for its superhero movies this Saturday with panels for the new Flash movie, Wonder Woman 1984, Aquaman, Shazam!, The Batman, Black Adam, Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman 1984.

From Vanity Fair:

Ben Affleck Will Return as Batman in The Flash. His Caped Crusader will appear along with Michael Keaton’s in the upcoming movie, which explores a multiverse of DC Comics heroes.

Batman forever strives for a chance to set things right. That may finally happen with Ben Affleck’s version of the crimefighter.

The Argo director’s brooding Dark Knight is coming back for one more movie, with Affleck agreeing to return as Bruce Wayne in the upcoming big-screen version of The Flash, Vanity Fair has learned.

Portrayals of Batman always ignite furious debate among fans, and Affleck’s selection for the part continues to provoke intense discussion, even years after he first donned the cowl. Some love him; some disparage him. Some refused to see him in the role from the very beginning, while others consider him an underrated favorite who deserved more chances to play the role onscreen.

This does not disrupt The Batman film starring Robert Pattinson, who remains the future of the franchise.

The Flash movie, which is planned for release in summer 2022, will feature fast-moving hyper-hero Barry Allen, played by Ezra Miller, breaking the bonds of physics to crash into various parallel dimensions, where he’ll encounter slightly different versions of DC’s classic heroes. It’s an adaptation of DC’s 2011 Flashpoint series of comic book crossovers, directed by Andy Muschietti, the filmmaker behind the recent adaptations of Stephen King’s It and It Chapter Two.

“His Batman has a dichotomy that is very strong, which is his masculinity—because of the way he looks, and the imposing figure that he has, and his jawline —but he’s also very vulnerable,” Muschietti said in an interview. “He knows how to deliver from the inside out, that vulnerability. He just needs a story that allows him to bring that contrast, that balance.”

Affleck got the script at the end of last week and agreed this week to join the project.

“He’s a very substantial part of the emotional impact of the movie. The interaction and relationship between Barry and Affleck’s Wayne will bring an emotional level that we haven’t seen before,” the director added. "It’s Barry’s movie, it’s Barry’s story, but their characters are more related than we think. They both lost their mothers to murder, and that’s one of the emotional vessels of the movie. That’s where the Affleck Batman kicks in.”

“I’m glad to be collaborating with someone who has been on both sides of the camera, too,” Muschietti said. “He understands.”

Affleck won’t be the only Batman making a comeback; a few more of the alternate-dimension heroes who turn up in the Flash movie will be figures we’ve seen before. Michael Keaton’s Batman from the 1989 Tim Burton film is also set to appear in what Muschietti said was a “substantial” part.

There's another reason The Flash needed the character affectionately known as Batfleck. In DC’s movie universe, Affleck’s gray-templed Bruce Wayne is the one Ezra's Flash would consider “the original Batman,” the one he has already fought alongside in the previous Zack Snyder films.

Muschietti said it wouldn’t work as well for him to venture into the company of other Batmen without having Affleck as the starting point. “He’s the baseline. He’s part of that unaltered state before we jump into Barry’s adventure,” the director said. “There's a familiarity there.”

DC has still other motivations for exploring this story. Batman is too valuable a character to leave fallow for long, and new actors will forever be stepping into the role. By threading the concept of a multiverse into its DC storyline, Warner Bros. is attempting to create a way for all the competing factions of its fandom to coexist together.

Unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Star Wars, in which everything is designed to be part of the same canon, the multiverse approach can allow projects to vary greatly in tone, or feature different actors, while still being threaded together. Keeping a broad coalition of fans from battling over what is “legitimate” is one of the biggest challenges for studios managing franchises with vast appeal and decades of history. Sony’s animated Into the Spider-Verse also helped popularize the alternate-dimension concept, introducing the Miles Morales character to a host of differing Spider–folk.

So far, the multiverse approach has helped DC both differentiate itself and revisit the same characters without being accused of rebooting or erasing recent favorites. DC TV shows such as Arrow, Batwoman, Black Lightning, and Supergirl have done crossover events, and a few months ago the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline laid the groundwork for the multiverse concept, with Miller’s movie Flash making an appearance in that story by coming face-to-face with the TV Flash played by Grant Gustin.

“This movie is a bit of a hinge in the sense that it presents a story that implies a unified universe where all the cinematic iterations that we’ve seen before are valid,” Muschietti said. “It’s inclusive in the sense that it is saying all that you’ve seen exists, and everything that you will see exists, in the same unified multiverse.”

That doesn’t mean there aren’t still intense disagreements in the fandom, and the return of Batfleck is sure to launch countless takes.

Affleck was cast as Batman in late August of 2013, and the debate over his presence hasn’t let up even after two movies with Snyder—Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League—and one cameo in Suicide Squad. His take will also get a new approach in the famed “Snyder Cut” of Justice League, which will appear on HBO Max, restoring the original director’s vision before the film was handed off to Joss Whedon to complete—a version of the film that seems to have left no one happy.

Affleck had previously signed to direct and star in a standalone film called The Batman, but ultimately left the project after saying that its demands were taking too much of a personal toll. At the time he parted ways with the film, he was also dealing with the end of his marriage to Jennifer Garner and struggling with alcoholism. “I showed somebody The Batman script,” Affleck told the New York Times. “They said, ‘I think the script is good. I also think you’ll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through again.’”

Barbara Muschietti, the producer of The Flash (and sister and longtime collaborator of the director), told Vanity Fair she had worried this might make him reluctant to return at all. “There have been some all sorts of stories and things he said himself about having a very hard time playing Batman, and it had been difficult for him,” she said. “I think it was more about a difficult time in his life. When we approached him, he’s now in a very different time in his life. He was very open to it, which was a bit of a surprise to us. It was a question mark.”

“We are all human and go through great times in our lives and terrible times in our lives,” she added. “Right now he’s in a place where he can actually enjoy being Batman.” Plus, he doesn't have to carry the entire movie. “It's a pivotal role, but at the same time it’s a fun part,” she said.

Filmmaker Matt Reeves (The Planet of the Apes movies) is now making The Batman with Pattinson as the lead. That film was in the midst of shooting when the coronavirus lockdown hit, and production is set to resume in the fall.

Although a standalone film for Batfleck didn’t happen, his admirers continue to champion Affleck’s take on the character.

With The Flash, they’ll get to see him answer the Bat-Signal at least once more.

I fucking hate muliverse films. But I’ll be happy to see Keaton on the big screen again.

#Michael Keaton #Michael Keaton Batman #The Flash #Batman #I'm only here for Keaton #Ben who?#Robert who?

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justgotham · 5 years

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Time is running out for Jim Gordon and Gotham, and nobody is more acutely aware of that fact than Ben McKenzie, the actor who has portrayed the flinty Gordon for five seasons on the Fox series that shares its name with Batman’s hometown. “It’s a lot to take in,” McKenzie said about the Gotham series finale that airs tonight. “It really is one of those bittersweet moments. But the show was never an open-ended proposition.”

Tonight’s finale is titled “The Beginning…” but the name isn’t quite as ironic as it sounds. That’s because the drama was built to be a sort of “prequel procedural” that leads up to the familiar Batman mythology that DC Comics has been publishing since 1939. The narrative window would begin in Bruce Wayne’s youth with the murder of his parents, and effectively end with his first forays as a costumed crimefighter: Gotham would end when Batman begins. That graduation moment arrives tonight with the show’s 100th episode, the first to feature an appearance by the Caped Crusader in action.

Gotham fans are more than ready to see the Dark Knight in all his cowled glory, but the show’s creative team hasn’t shared that eagerness. Just the opposite. Executive producer Bruno Heller, the British producer best known for The Mentalist and Rome, has said he would never have developed the show if it was a traditional costumed-hero franchise. “I don’t think Batman works very well on TV,” Heller said back in 2014. “To have people behind masks? Frankly, all those superhero stories I’ve seen, I always love them — until they get into the costume.”

That has made Gotham an eccentric entry in the superhero sector, but not an entirely unprecedented one. Smallville (217 episodes, 2001-2010) still reigns as the longest-running television series ever based on DC Comics heroes, and creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar shared a similar aversion to costumed exploits. Their early mission statement was “no flights, no tights,” and the series held out until its final episode to put Clark Kent (Tom Welling) in Superman’s iconic suit.

For Heller and his team, the key to making a compelling Gothamwithout a Batman was to spotlight the hero’s trusted friend, James Gordon, the dedicated lawman destined to become the police commissioner of a city defined by its lawlessness and celebrity criminals. Gordon was introduced in the first panel of the first page of the first Batman comic book ever published, Detective Comics No. 27, the landmark issue that reached its 80th anniversary last month. Gotham added a key element to its version of Gordon — when Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered, Gordon is the detective who handles the investigation.

Gordon is the good cop who holds on to his morals in a bad city that loses its marbles. The show found the man for the job in McKenzie, who had memorably portrayed LAPD officer Ben Sherman on the highly regarded (but lowly rated) Southland, which aired 2009 to 2013 on NBC and TNT. Before that, the Texan portrayed Ryan Atwood, a scruffy outsider adopted by a wealthy Newport Beach couple and the central character on The OC, the frothy Fox teen drama that aired for 92 episodes from 2003 to 2007.

“I had some things in common with the character,” McKenzie says with a shrug. It’s true, the 23-year-old actor trekked west from dusty Austin (instead of rural Chino) to Southern California, and bought himself a eye-catching Cadlliac DeVille that already had logged 17 hard years and 228,000 long miles. “That’s lot of miles.”

McKenzie has covered a lot of distance in his personal life while channeling the role of Gordon. In 2017, for instance, McKenzie married his Gotham co-star, Morena Baccarin, who has portrayed Dr. Leslie Thompkins on the series (and is well-known for her role in the Deadpool films as the mutant anti-hero’s love interest). The couple now have their first child.

For McKenzie, the end of Gotham closes a pivotal chapter in his screen life. But he’s also hoping that the final seasons will also someday represent a prelude to a different career story — one writing and directing. The actor directed the sixth episode of Season 5, and also directed one in each of the previous two seasons. McKenzie has also written the screenplay for two Gotham episodes: “One of My Three Soups” in Season 4 and “The Trial of Jim Gordon” in this final season.

McKenzie, the writer, didn’t exactly go easy on his fictional screen persona. The cop took a slug in the chest and hovered near death for much of the episode, stuck somewhere between “the here” and “the hereafter” in an existential courtroom where he had to defend his life.

‘I actually feel no sympathy for him at all,” McKenzie said with a chuckle. “The less sympathy you feel, the better, I’d say. The more pain you inflict upon the protagonist, hopefully, the higher the stakes are and the more emotion gets elicited. So I had to be a bit of masochist. Putting him through the ringer and having this existential crisis, this dream, where he’s on trial for his crimes and faces the loss of everything: the love of his life and his child at the same time. I think we got there. That’s about as high stakes as you can get. I think, ultimately satisfying, with the kind of emotional payoff we were looking for.”

That seems to apply to the season as a whole. The final episode is an epic send-off, too, with a story that flashes forward a decade (long enough for Gordon to sport a new mustache) and finds the Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) returning from prison and Bruce Wayne returning to his ancestral home after years in self-imposed exile. It also coincides with the rise of the show’s off-kilter version of the Joker (Cameron Monaghan). “It’s fitting that he comes into conflict with Gordon and Wayne right at the end,” McKenzie said. “Cameron has been amazing and there was room for one more big flourish with the role.”

Most of the reviews have veered from good to great, encouraging news for the cast and crew of a series that had been uneven or over-the-top at times. “Everybody’s been very enthusiastic and positive,” McKenzie said. “The final season has been wrapping things up in the way the audience hoped we would.”

Gotham City is arguably the most famous city created in American popular culture since the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz (although Metropolis, Springfield, Mayberry, Twin Peaks, and Riverdale are other prominent spots on the map of un-real estate). Even without Batman, the city zoned by greed, paved in corruption, and mapped by trauma seems to have no limits as far as its story range.

“It’s extraordinary when you think about it,” McKenzie said. “The city itself is a character. There’s a lot of stories to be found in Gotham City. There’s a lot of stories being told from Gotham, too.”

It’s true, Gotham City will be the site of Batwoman, the pilot on The CW this fall, and for a string of upcoming feature films including Joker, The Batman, and the Birds of Prey project.

Also this year: a Harley Quinn animated series and Pennyworth (a series about Batman’s loyal butler) on Epix. Pennyworth and Gothamare unconnected in their story continuity, but both are from the tandem of executive producer/writer Bruno Heller (The Mentalist) and executive producer/director Danny Cannon (CSI franchises).

A passing reference in the 2016 film Suicide Squad identified Gotham City as a major metropolitan hub in the Garden State. The city’s location had been a vague matter for decades, but now it is officially part of New Jersey’s map, and Springsteen isn’t the only local hero named Bruce.

On Gotham, the city feels more like Al Capone’s Chicago than Dracula’s Transylvania. “There’s a specific look and style that Gotham has that sets the show apart. It’s visual identity is distinctive and it was really interesting to work within that as a director.”

Has McKenzie inherited anything Gordon, anything he will take with him forward? “Maybe. We have some things in common, too. He’s living in the same city I live in, New York, but just the slightly more dramatic version. He’s had to figure things out on the fly and his life has changed and met the love of his life and had a child. There’s a lot of similarities there. But I haven’t bought a gun and I don’t go around shooting one. And I’m more a jeans and t-shirts guy. Although Gordon’s given me an appreciation for a good suit, that’s for sure.”

McKenzie said he’s learned a lot from the creative team he’s worked with, and he believes his acting has made his directing better and vice versa, as well. There’s several new projects that looks promising for McKenzie, both as an on-screen presence and writer or director. Still, saying goodbye to Gotham has been a sentimental exercise for the man who plays the taciturn detective.

“It’s hard. I’ve been through it a couple of times before. I’ve been on two shows before, so it’s been less daunting then before. I’ve built really strong bonds with these folks. We spent more time together than we do with our families for nine months a year. It’s been a joy and a experience I will never forget. I can’t forget. I wake up every morning to my wife and child who happened during it. So yes, it’s been a city without limits for me.”

#Jim Gordon #James Gordon #Ben McKenzie #Leslie Thompkins #Morena Baccarin

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un-pearable · 11 months

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krypton is a gaping hole in kal-el.

clark kent is, according to his driver’s license and his about me blurb that prints increasingly smaller on his corner of the new dailyplanet.com, a classic sweetheart from western kansas with a bachelors in journalism and a one bedroom half bath three streets and a bus ride away from the daily planet in the heart of downtown metropolis. clark kent is celebrating his recent win - getting the printer to work without the hinge suffering a sheer fracture - with an extra sugar packet in his second cup of joe for the day and humoring his next desk neighbor’s heckling over it.

kal-el — superman — is the man receiving the mayor’s accolades with the world and the laser focused glare of the police chief weighing on his shoulders. according to, kal-el is,

clark kent is the well-meaning dork who never quite grew into his size and was bullied in high school, when asked he recounts being too sickly to join the football team and too unpopular to get over it. clark kent arrives early and works late to work off his four and a half years of student loan debt. clark kent has childhood friends, and an ex-girlfriend, and a budding romance with the abrasive, dyslexic, isn’t-she-just-lovely lois lane at the desk next to him who’s recently recruited him as her partner-in-foiling-crime.

superman — kal-el — has a baby blanket wrapped around his shoulders, a hunk of metal in a barn a couple thousand miles away, and a name with syllables even his mother can’t pronounce. a logo on his chest that he does not know and a dedication to love and truth and saving that is deeply, entirely human.

krypton is an aching absence in kal-el. krypton is the word he carries in his mind for when he fumbles his keys and almost breaks the doorknob, for when he hunches and smears his glasses. krypton is the lack of an explanation. krypton is, simply put, not. krypton is to kal-el not what kansas is to clark kent. kansas excuses the overfriendliness and the impromptu vacation days “to care for his ailing mother” and the handiness with a tractor. krypton is the torch they carry alongside their pitchforks when the bludgeoning begins. krypton is the response when the tragedy is unpreventable, when the wariness pitches into fear.

krypton is the world he holds in his heart when he can’t help but wonder. krypton is the sword his enemies hold over his head — a condemnation, a promise, a hope — and lord over him. the world is trapped in memories not his own, preserved in the perverted motives of those who would trade lives for tradition.

krypton is, later, eventually, a bridge. kal-el, an ambassador from a culture he’s borrowed to the one he was fated. clark kent, a haven. krypton is a girl in a spaceship of her own, fleeing from a krypton that was.

#text✨#capes cowls and crimefighting #superman #dc comics #technically fic????? i guess #fic✨#sorry was pissed off about man of steel and pondering the take on krypton as this thing he *knows* he should know about #this aching hole in his knowledge about himself #that he’s been using for so long as a crutch to support the superman identity that it hardly even has meaning anymore #bc even HE didn’t know what it meant #and then a take on zod as lording this over him. the only connection to a living kryptonian culture being . that #and then finally kara as his gateway to actually learning it #no actual canon here just me being 💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥and emotional #fuck the fortress of solitude i know jack shit about it . maybe it’s here maybe it’s not. whatevs #my superfam main is kon sorry folks i just had major sad clark moments for a bit #also i’m an anthro student it’s practically in the job description to be #angsty and sad about culture and world building #wrote this at 4am while Mad. humor me.

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jaydofmo · 4 years

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redtelephcne · 4 years

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Mobile Bio.

“Robin, the Constitution provides that a man is innocent until proven guilty. And the Constitution is the cornerstone of our great nation. We must abide by it.” | B a t m a n | B r u c e W a y n e | Modus Operandi: Stop lawbreakers & evil-doers. Solve mysteries. Keep Gotham City safe. Spread good morals and knowledge. Aka the: The Caped Crusader, The World’s Greatest Detective Career: Licensed Vigilante, National / Worldwide Superhero. Affiliations: GCPD, U.S. Government. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Height: 6′2 - Weight: 200lbs - Eyes: Blue Hair: Dirty Blonde, short Body: Muscular, weight-trained Male, 38yrs old, Closeted Bisexual. American, born February 19th in Gotham City, NY Personality: Relentless, Compassionate, Perceptive, Stoic Hobbies: Chess. Fly-fishing. Altruism. Reading to children. Relationship Status: Single. Eligible Bachelor. Ships verse-dependent. See rules. Scars: Various. | Costume | Attire | Face Canon | Body Canon | Voice Canon | Equipment: Utility Belt ( Grapple, Gadgets, Sprays), Cowl, Cape, Tri-weave kevlar lined spandex Skills: Martial Arts, Parkour, Escapism, Climbing - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Place of Residence: Wayne Manor in the Pallisades, Gotham City, New Jersey, USA, Earth One Place of Work: Wayne Enterprises, Wayne Tower ( CEO ), The Batcave ( Batman ) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Obligations: A Superstitious Cowardly Lot - Crimefighting Martha Wayne Foundation - Charity Gotham General Hospital - Thomas Wayne’s Legacy Arkham Asylum / Blackgate Penitentiary - Reform Wayne Enterprises - Citywide Employment.

#bio #mobile

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lfthinkerwrites · 5 years

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A Riddle for a Bat, pt. 14

Title: A Riddle for a Bat

Fandom: Batman

Pairing: Riddlebat

Rating: T

Chapter Summary: Edward gathers evidence against Thorne, but a face from the past threatens everything.

Previous Chapters: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13

AO3 Link

"So? Make any progress since we've seen you last, Mr. Nigma?"

Edward took a long gulp of water out of the glass Candace had given to him, all the while studying Thorne's facial expression. It had been slightly over twenty-four hours since he'd come face to face with Thorne and accepted his offer. Not long enough to make any kind of serious progress with his 'investigation', but long enough to have something to give to the crime lord. The man looked placid, almost friendly, sitting behind his oak desk, enforcers standing on either side of him, all with their eyes fixed on him. A lesser man might have trembled under such scrutiny, but not Edward. He was a man who relished an audience. He wet his lip, smirked and cleared his throat. This was the beginning of the greatest performance of his career. "Well, it's a bit premature to name names, but I have come up with a few deductions if you'd care to hear them."

Thorne extended a thick hand. He must have thought he looked magnanimous. "By all means."

Edward placed the glass on Thorne desk, then folded his hands. "Well, to start with, Batman, despite several feats that would suggest otherwise, is a man-"

"No shit," one of Thorne's men snorted. He was silenced by a steely glare from Thorne.

"If I may continue," Edward huffed. "He's a mortal man. He's also a singular man. His fighting style and approach to crimefighting is too consistent for it to be multiple men wearing the same costume. The man we're looking for is also somewhat older-"

"Older?" Candace questioned, standing beside Edward's chair with her arms folded. "I've seen him in action. He seems pretty spry to me."

"Older in the sense he's not a younger man," Edward clarified, resisting the urge to snap at being interrupted again. "Remember, he's been active for a decade, and we have to account for a training period before he donned the cape and cowl. He wasn't born knowing every martial art known to man. I would say that he's in his mid-thirties, forty at the oldest. Any older and his body would begin to break down from the physical stress."

"Well, that only leaves a few million suspects," Thorne said. "I hope you have a way to narrow that down."

"As a matter of fact, I do," Edward replied. "Figuring out Batman's identity is simple, depending on what direction you look at it from." The gangster looked at him dumbly and Edward had to bite back a laugh. And to think, Kristen thought he had to worry about him figuring out he was playing him. He didn't look like he could figure his way out of a wet paper bag. "The real question you need to ask is, how does Batman manage to stay active? Where does the money come from for his gadgets, his car, his plane? His upkeep can't come cheap."

Thorne rubbed his chin in thought. "Slush fund from City Hall and the GCPD?"

Edward chuckled a bit. "While that would explain this city's ridiculous tax rates, no. His tech is a bit too sophisticated to be funded by the city. GCPD clearly doesn't have access to it, or else they'd be using it as well."

Thorne's eyebrows raised. "You suspect he's privately funded. You think one of our rich socialites is moonlighting as a vigilante?"

"That would be ridiculous even for Gotham. I do think though, that he's being funded by them. The most likely scenario is that Batman himself is a current or former member of GCPD or some other law enforcement agency who also happens to be connected to one of the upper-class families in Gotham. Or perhaps he's a bodyguard. The best way to stop him isn't finding out his identity, per se-"

"But to cut off his funds," Thorne finished, a cold smile on his face. "Very clever, Mr. Nigma. So then, how do we figure out who's funding him?"

"Well, clearly, it has to be someone with an overdeveloped civic interest-"

"What about Wayne?" Candace interrupted. "Weren't his parents gunned down in an alley? He'd be pretty interested in wiping out crime."

Edward stiffened in his chair. He needed to get them off this train of thought, fast. "I've personally dealt with the man," he said quickly. "Nice, but a bit dim and no sense of discretion. He wouldn't be able to keep something like this a secret." Candace didn't look entirely convinced but didn't say anything else. "I have contacts in high places," Edward continued. "I can look into this question today, then report back what I find out."

"Good," Thorne said, pushing his chair back and standing up. "I have to say, Mr. Nigma, I'm impressed. In one afternoon, you've come closer to uncovering the truth behind Batman than anyone else in this city has for years."

Edward got out of his chair as well. "Well, I'm flattered, Mr. Thorne." Hardly. All he had done was tell Thorne basic conclusions he'd come to years ago, but the idiot didn't need to know that. "If I may ask," Edward asked. "What do you intend to do with the information I give you?"

Thorne chuckled a bit, then reached over to pat Edward on the shoulder. Edward inwardly bristled at the contact but showed no outward reaction. "Don't concern yourself too much with that Mr. Nigma," he said. "Just focus on your work. Come back here tomorrow afternoon with what you find out." His tone was final.

Edward picked up his cane. Nothing incriminating again and he only had two days left before he would put an end to this game. He needed to earn Thorne's trust and get him to open up. "Of course. Good day, Mr. Thorne."

It was dusk when Edward returned to his apartment, having run errands while he was out in case Thorne had him followed. He hung his hat and cane upon his coat rack before taking off his suit jacket and hanging it up. He loosened his tie and sighed. He'd held Thorne off for now, but he would need to deliver something tangible to him tomorrow to prevent any suspicion. He'd have to give a name. He ran a hand through his hair. Not Veronica or her family. She'd been too good to him. Not anyone who had been a client either. Candace had gotten too close to Bruce for comfort. No matter what, his name couldn't come up again. So then, who? Who was he going to expose to Thorne? He felt a slight breeze waft through his office and he relaxed slightly. "I haven't kept you waiting, have I?"

"No," Batman answered. Edward turned to see the man walk around his desk and up to him. He stopped inches away. "Are you alright?"

Edward nodded. "Thorne isn't any wiser to my game, but I'll need to give him information tomorrow to keep him that way."

"What kind of information?"

Edward rubbed his shoulder. "I...might have said that a socialite is funding Batman's activities to get him away from the idea of unmasking him specifically."

"I see." He wasn't angry, Edward noticed. He seemed matter of fact. "Will you?"

"I don't want to," Edward admitted. "But I don't see any way I can avoid it."

"I thought as much," the vigilante said. For the first time, Edward noticed that he was carrying a manilla envelope. He handed it over to Edward. "This is a fake profile I've put together. There's a picture and some basic biographical information. It should be enough to fool Thorne for the time being."

Edward pulled out the paperwork and looked at the photograph. It was of a square-jawed man with a hideous haircut and familiar blue eyes. He scanned the name and did a double take. "'Coleman Reese'?" Edward asked. "Mr. Reese? Mysteries? Seriously?"

"Thought you might pick up on that."

Edward put the paperwork back in the envelope and chuckled. "Never thought you'd have much of a sense of humor. So," he said looking up. "You just happen to have a fake profile ready to go? You really are prepared for everything."

"I try to be," Batman said. "There are some things though that I couldn't anticipate. Some people I never thought to prepare for."

Edward rubbed the back of his neck. "Was I-" his face flushed. "Am I one of those people?"

Batman was silent for a long moment. He took a step forward and Edward felt his heart begin to hammer in his chest. "Yes," he admitted. He was so close if he leaned down just an inch, he could-"Do you still feel safe around Thorne?"

Edward bit back a curse. "Yes," he said. He shook his head. "Honestly, you're a bit over-protective."

"I think I have a good reason to be."

"May I remind you that I personally dragged you out of a burning building and drove you to medical attention?" Edward placed his hands on his hips and glared up at the Dark Knight. "I can handle myself for two more days."

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt Batman's glove on his shoulder. "I know. Hopefully, you'll only need one day."

For such a powerfully built man, he had a gentle touch. Edward craved it more than anything. He wanted to melt into it. Impulsively, he grasped Batman's other hand and leaned his face upwards. "You know," he said. "Once this is over, it would be nice to talk to you about something other than Rupert Thorne."

Batman's facial expression didn't change, at least not that Edward could detect, but he felt the vigilante's hand slowly tighten around his own. "Yes," he said. "It would." Edward's heart leaped up and he closed his eyes almost expectantly. Then he felt Batman's grip loosen. He opened his eyes to see him climbing out the window to the fire escape. "Be safe, Edward," he said without looking back. "I'll be back tomorrow night." Then he disappeared.

Edward stood alone in his office and pouted. He'd been so close. Tomorrow. He'd get Thorne and Batman to open up to him tomorrow or he'd die trying.

Standing in front of the desk, Edward watched Thorne thumb through the contents of the manilla envelope with a mix of impatience and apprehension. It was a masterful forgery, Edward had to admit, but would Thorne see through it? Finally, Thorne put the papers down on his desk and looked up at Edward with a smile. "Well done, Mr. Nigma," he said. "Two days and you've found a potential source of Batman's income?"

Edward shrugged. "One credible suspect at least. Mr. Reese, in his position as CEO of a Tech corporation, has the ability to funnel tech Batman's way. He also donates extensively to law enforcement organizations in Gotham City. I think he's a more than credible lead. I've begun going through his financial records for proof, but it may take a while. I'm also looking into a few other suspects."

"Excellent!" Thorne said with a clap of his hands. "I should have hired you a long time ago. You're certainly less messy than my last hired help was."

Edward's ears pricked up. O'Reilly. Thorne was smart enough not to mention him by name, but that was the only person he could mean. He had him. He had him now. "Well," Edward said. "I do pride myself on my efficiency."

Thorne got out of his chair and extended his hand out. Edward narrowed his eyes, but took the hand and shook it, thankful for his habit of wearing gloves. "How would you like to join me for dinner tonight at the Falcon Club?" Thorne asked.

"I'm flattered, but I do have work I need to take care of," Edward answered.

Thorne shook his head. "Busy man. I like that. Well, don't let me keep you from it. Just come back tomorrow at Three. Depending on what you find out," Thorne smirked as he spoke. "I may decide to offer you a more permanent position in my organization."

I'd sooner have myself committed to Arkham Asylum than have anything to do with you and your organization, Edward thought. He smiled all the same. "I'll consider it. Thank you very much, Mr. Thorne." Edward withdrew his hand and tipped his hat to the man. "Until tomorrow." He turned and walked out the door and down the hall.

It took all that he had to avoid giggling as he made his way to the elevator. He had him. The fat fool actually wanted him to join his organization! Just one more slip, and he'd have Thorne dead to rights. He'd finally bring him down once and for all. When he told Batman tonight, the vigilante would want to kiss him. Well, at least Edward hoped so. He'd be pleased with him regardless. He passed a group of men in the hall walking towards Thorne's office but was too focused on thoughts both vengeful and romantic to pay them much mind.

By that time tomorrow, he would regret not looking at one of the men more closely, for the man had noticed him. Noticed and recognized him.

"Hey, Rupe? A couple of the boys found someone they think you should see."

Thorne sat back down at his desk, reading through the paperwork Nigma had left him. The private detective had exceeded all expectations so far, which left him in a good mood. "Alright. Send them in, Candace."

His office door opened and two of his enforcers came in, half escorting, half dragging a third man between them. Thorne looked up. The man in the middle paled when he met his gaze. He was a tall, well-built man. He looked vaguely familiar. "And you are?"

"This is Tom Dougherty boss," one of his enforcers said. "He used to be one of your guys in GCPD."

Tom Dougherty. Now Thorne remembered. "Ah, Officer Dougherty," he said. "I remember you." He scowled. "I remember you stole from me! Then you ran away for five years!"

Dougherty trembled and might have collapsed if the two men on either side of him didn't have such a firm grip on his shoulders. "Mr. Thorne, I'm sorry, I-"

Thorne banged his fist on the table. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't have you fed to the sharks!"

"No, boss!" Dougherty squealed. "I can explain-"

"We're a bit past explanations," Thorne growled. He gestured to his enforcers. "Take him to the docks-"

"No, wait!" Dougherty interrupted, with a desperate look on his face. "That guy who just left your office! The guy in the green suit! He's a cop!"

Thorne paused. "Mr. Nigma? Is that who you're talking about? There's a slight difference between a private detective and a cop, Dougherty. You ought to know that!"

"No, he really is a cop! His name's Nashton. Edward Nashton. I knew him in GCPD. Five years ago, he was a detective in Cybercrime's division!"

A detective? Was Nigma, or Nashton, or whoever he was, really attempting to take him for a ride? Was he really that arrogant, or was Dougherty that desperate? "Used to be? What happened?"

Dougherty had calmed down now, recounting the tale. "I used to date his dumb bitch friend in GCPD. I dumped her, she went crying to him that I beat her and he framed me! He's the reason I had to run, boss!"

Now Thorne knew Dougherty was lying. "He framed you for theft, did he? I suppose he magically made a couple thousand I was supposed to collect disappear, Dougherty? How stupid do you think I am? If he was a detective, why isn't he still in GCPD? Was he dirty?" Thorne could work with a dirty cop. It would explain quite a bit about Nigma, actually.

"No, he wasn't dirty! He hated mobsters! I'm telling you, he's playing you, boss! I can prove he used to be in GCPD!"

Thorne leaned back in his leather chair and considered this. Dougherty was lying about the money, that was obvious. He'd say anything to save his own skin. But if there was the slightest chance Nigma used to be in GCPD, Thorne needed to take care of that. Finally, he snapped his fingers and his enforcers stepped forward. "Walk Officer Dougherty through our GCPD files and see if he can spot Mr. Nigma. You have two hours." The enforcers nodded, then took Dougherty to a side room. Candace walked forward, shaking her head.

"What do you think, Rupe? Is he telling the truth about Nigma?"

"Oh, I'm certain he's lying about many things, but we need to be absolutely sure. It's not Nigma being a former cop that bothers me. Half the guys on my payroll are or used to be cops. It's the fact that if he was one, he's concealing it. He changed his name even. Why?"

Candace shrugged. "If he was as clean as Dougherty says he was, why would he be a private detective? Those guys are sleazy. He probably got turned down for a raise or a promotion and quit. I wouldn't worry too much about it."

Thorne rubbed his chin. "A man can change a lot in five years," he murmured. "But just to be sure...Candace, follow him back to his office and keep an eye on him. Make sure he hasn't been making any visits to GCPD."

#A Riddle for a Bat #three chapters left folks #edward nigma #riddlebat

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aion-rsa · 2 years

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Michael Keaton Clashed with Joel Schumacher Over Batman’s Darkness

https://ift.tt/31mFNOf

The influence of Michael Keaton’s starring role in director Tim Burton’s 1989 big screen bonanza, Batman, remains powerful. It was not only a prime example of an unconventional casting choice that proved pontificators wrong, but was a bellwether moment for movies that—for better or worse—planted the seeds from which the modern, industry-dominating comic book genre sprouted. However, he famously called it quits after 1992 sequel Batman Returns over the direction of incoming threequel helmer Joel Schumacher. Now, as a Batman role reprisal glistens on the horizon for this year’s The Flash, Keaton describes the extent of the disagreements with Schumacher that nixed his return.

In an anecdote that is well-known at this point, Keaton put away his cape and cowl—permanently, as he thought—due to creative differences with Schumacher over the threequel that would eventually become 1995’s Batman Forever. Contextually, the nature of said differences was no mystery, seeing as Schumacher—who passed away back in 2020 at age 80 after a year-long cancer battle—radically reinvented the franchise in a flashy, colorfully-quirky manner that was miles from the Gothic, expressionist-cinema-influenced milieu of Burton’s two films. Nevertheless, he expounds the idea in a recent appearance on In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast, during which he recalls specific clashes, and even teases that he would have returned for the third film if Schumacher had just conceded some things.

“When the director who directed the third one came on I said, ‘I just can’t do it,'” explains Keaton. “And one of the reasons I couldn’t do it was—and you know, he’s a nice enough man, he’s passed away, so I wouldn’t speak ill of him even if he were alive—he, at one point, after more than a couple of meetings where I kept trying to rationalize doing it and hopefully talking him into saying I think we don’t want to go in this direction, I think we should go in this direction. And he wasn’t going to budge.”

While Batman Forever has a contingent of fans, the film felt like a sequel to a different franchise; a notion driven home by its bombarded green aesthetics and, notably, the fact that Val Kilmer was in the starring role, replacing the departed Keaton. While the threequel—scripted by Akiva Goldsman, Lee Batchler and Janet Scott Batchler—retained the idea established in the Burton films of Bruce Wayne’s crimefighting escapades being a dark, destructive manifestation of permanent childhood trauma from experiencing the murder of his parents, the dramatic element was overshadowed exponentially by Schumacher’s ostentatious approach. Moreover, the tone-dominating collective cacophony of Jim Carrey’s cackling role as the Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones’s howling-and-hooting oddball visage-split villain, Two-Face, left little room for any character development. This made the drama of Chris O’Donnell’s debuting role as vengeance-seeking orphaned teen Dick Grayson/Robin, and a romantic arc with Nicole Kidman’s secrets-prying psychologist, Chase Meridian, all feel rushed and tangential.

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Schumacher’s steadfast intent to go big left Keaton heading for the exit in spite of his apparent desire to keep playing the Caped Crusader. As he recalls of a specific conversation with the director, “I remember one of the things that I walked away going, ‘Oh boy, I can’t do this’. He [Schumacher] asked me, ‘I don’t understand why everything has to be so dark and everything so sad,’ and I went, ‘Wait a minute, do you know how this guy got to be Batman? Have you read… I mean, it’s pretty simple.'”

With Schumacher apparently not even on board with the basic concept of Batman’s story being dark and sad, his differences with Keaton appeared to be irreconcilable. Presenting a contrast by explaining the harmony of his collaboration with Burton, Keaton describes the central concept that seemingly eluded Schumacher, stating, “It was always Bruce Wayne, it was never Batman. [It’s about] who does that? Who becomes that? What kind of person [does that]? You just read the Frank Miller stuff [specifically in DC’s influential 1986 comic miniseries, The Dark Knight Returns] and talk to Tim, and you say, ‘Well, this is what I’m seeing,’ and we all know his history, all know what happened to him as a young boy. You got a lot of your work done for you right there, just work from that. And then I wanted to make him my take on him—there’s all that and then my take on him. It coincided with what Tim would see.”

Interestingly enough, Keaton has previously described the kind of Batman film he’d have taken. Based on comments he made back in 2013 on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast, he’s a big proponent of the dramatically-intense approach of director Christopher Nolan in his succeeding The Dark Knight Trilogy. “He’s so talented, it’s crazy,” exuded Keaton on Nolan. “[Star Christian Bale] is so talented. It’s so good…. You look at where he went, which is exactly what I wanted to do when I was having meetings about the third one. I said, ‘You want to see how this guy started. We’ve got a chance here to fix whatever we kind of maybe went off. This could be brilliant!’” He would also add of Schumacher’s tenure, “I could see that was going south.”

Regardless, Keaton is clearly in the midst of a career Renaissance, one for which his Oscar-nominated performance in director Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s 2014 avant-garde drama, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), was the catalyst. The poignancy of that moment stemmed from the film’s somewhat-meta premise, which had Keaton playing a struggling has-been actor who was famous for a film role from decades earlier as a Batman-like costumed crimefighter; a role that was starting to creep its way back to his life, to the detriment of his mental stability. Now, Keaton is set to presumably put on the cape and cowl he once discarded to once again play Bruce Wayne in the upcoming Ezra Miller-starring DC Extended Universe solo effort, The Flash, for a multiverse-mired plot that will also involve Ben Affleck’s version of the Caped Crusader. Moreover, Keaton will reprise the role yet again for the HBO Max-exclusive DCEU film, Batgirl, which will star Leslie Grace.

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For now, you can catch Michael Keaton’s most recent performance, one made for the small screen, on Hulu drama series Dopesick. After that, he’ll reprise his Marvel Cinematic Universe role as Adrian Toomes/The Vulture in Sony’s Spider-Man-adjacent spinoff, Morbius, which just endured another release delay, now set for April 1. As for his grand return as Bruce Wayne/Batman in The Flash, that is currently scheduled to hit theaters (new variant interference notwithstanding,) on November 4.

The post Michael Keaton Clashed with Joel Schumacher Over Batman’s Darkness appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3eSs4lS

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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fyeahbatcat · 6 years

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BATMAN ANNUAL #2

Written by TOM KING Art and cover by LEE WEEKS Travel back in time with us to see the early days of the Bat and the Cat. What was Bruce and Selina’s first date? How did this rivalry blossom into romance, and then go right back to being a rivalry again? Tom King reteams with his BATMAN/ELMER FUDD collaborator Lee Weeks to show us a little young love with capes and cowls. And a little crimefighting, too. On sale NOVEMBER 29 • 48 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T

Preview

Diamond Distributors has already sold out of the annual issue and it is going into a second printing. If you are planning on buying a print copy I strongly encourage you to contact your LCS to see if you are still able to reserve or pre-order a copy. Digital copies will be alternatively available through Kindle, Comixology, and Google Play.

#batcat #batman #catwoman #bruce wayne #selina kyle #annual 2 #rebirth #wednesday spoilers #this didn't go into the tags #harumph

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davidmann95 · 7 years

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Batman Starter Pack

I’ve been through this routine once before (including the preface that I recognize there are a million other lists exactly like this on every comics-related site out there) but after having shared some starting points for Superman on Miracle Monday, I figure my second-favorite guy with his own personalized set of crime-fighting pajamas merits the same treatment on his own special day.

Assuming you’re forgoing a more traditional celebration of DC’s Batman Day - either having your parents brutally shot to death in front of your terrified, uncomprehending young eyes, or finishing your criminology degree and engaging in anonymous back-alley karate fights with circus clowns in response to the same - looking into some solid starting points for the character is a respectable alternative. Especially given some of his most classic adventures have recently come under some degree of critical reevaluation, while the likes of The Lego Batman Movie, the much-missed Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and the resurgence of the 1960s Batman TV show alongside contemporary developments in the comics have done a great deal to change the general perception of the character. So once again, here’s ten stories in a recommended - but by no means strict - order that should, as a whole, give you a pretty decent idea of what Batman’s deal is and why you should care, all of which you should be able to find pretty easily on Comixology or a local bookstore/comic book shop.

1. Batman: Zero Year

What it’s about: The current ‘canon’ take on his origin, it’s a pretty straightforward take on Bruce Wayne’s return to Gotham, early forays into crimefighting against the Red Hood Gang, and assumption of his familiar mantle...until the Riddler, a city-wrecking superstorm, and a literal bone monster get involved, culminating in a final act that has a sleeveless, dirtbike-riding Batman trying to save a post-apocalyptic Gotham whose citizens have become hopeless slaves of Edward Nygma’s merciless totalitarian riddle kingdom.

Why you should read it: This comic is bonkers, in absolutely the best way. Writer Scott Snyder has repeatedly said that since the previous major take on Batman’s origin in Year One was so iconic - to the point that, unlike Superman’s regularly refreshed history, it remained solidly in continuity for 25 years - no attempt at hitting the reset button could feasibly follow in its footsteps, and so the only way to make it work was to go as far in the opposite direction as possible, hence Dirtbike Batman and a Gotham of neon pink skies. And for all that, it works remarkably: it’s perhaps the least subtle Batman comic of all time, but it’s a solid look into what drives him, why he does what he does in the way he does it, and the beginnings of his relationships with some of his closest friends and enemies in the context of a mad, blockbuster story ranging from scraps with cops and gangsters to a race against time to literally save a city from death by fire. It is in many ways perhaps the most proudly and bluntly Batmaney Batman story of all time, the core of his world as screamed through a megaphone.

Further recommendations if you liked it: While maybe the most iconic work from their time together, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo worked together on the main Batman title for 5 years and almost 50 issues, in arguably the most acclaimed run of Batman comics of the 21st century; I’d primarily suggest checking out Court of Owls, their first and for me best collaboration, but their entire tenure is worth your time, collected across 10 volumes. If you specifically want to indulge the off-kilter “wait, Batman’s doing what?” sensibility of Zero Year further, after his time on Batman proper Snyder wrote All-Star Batman, working with a number of iconic artists on some of his weirdest Batman comics; his later The Batman Who Laughs operates in much the same mode. If you’re mainly interested in the sort of Big Batman Event Story this and Court of Owls wrote the modern template for, Steve Orlando and companies’ Night of the Monster Men is maybe the most thoroughly entertaining example. And as a respectable recap of Batman’s life since his origins, while many longtime fans are ambivalent at best on it, Batman: Hush is an effective sampler platter of Batman’s history and relationships that’s proven enduringly popular among new readers.

2. Gotham Central

What: Set from the perspective of the grunts of the GCPD, Gotham Central shows what it means to be a cop in a city where you’re a pawn of the Bat at best, corrupt or a casualty if you’re not so lucky.

Why: Certainly the most acclaimed Batman-related ongoing ever published, there’s no book that better sells the ‘street level’ take on his world that so many want; Batman himself is largely a background presence, feared and resented by our actual leads as they go up against the incidental fallout of Gotham’s particular brand of horror. And all that’s before you even get to the Joker story that directly inspired The Dark Knight. While Gotham’s more traditional heroes may rarely show up, there’s no story that better explains why they’re needed, and what it means to live in their wake. And it’s Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka and Michael Lark doing a cop book, so even Batman aside it’s worth your money ten times over.

Recommendations: Gotham Central may be a cop comic, but the cities’ most iconic officer in Commissioner Gordon only makes one or two appearances since he had retired at the time (an obviously temporary condition). If you really want to see him in action, you’re looking for Batman: Year One. Typically cited as one of the all-time great Batman stories - and it absolutely has some of his definitive moments and iconography - at heart it’s Lieutenant Jim Gordon’s year of figuring out how to make it in Gotham without losing his soul in the process, and it was that infusion of grim crime noir into the world of Gotham that defined the aesthetic Gotham Central operates under. If you’d like to pursue that particular line further, Batman: Turning Points is also worth hunting down, showing Batman and Gordon’s relationship develop over the years in reference to major upheavals in Batman’s world, and Batman: The Black Mirror, operating under a similar tone and showing Dick Grayson working with Gordon during the former’s own time in the cape and cowl, in a mystery connecting to both Batman: Year One and my next recommendation. Additionally, Kurt Busiek and John Paul Leon’s Batman: Creature of the Night provides an entirely different and disturbing type of ‘street-level’, ‘realistic’ view of Batman.

3. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

What: A decade after his retirement, an unprecedented Gotham crime wave forces a middle-aged Bruce Wayne out of retirement as he proves unable to resist the call of his demons. But even as he fights back the Mutant gang and recruits a new Robin, his resurgence has caught the attention of familiar enemies, and the political shockwaves of his vigilantism will ultimately bring him face-to-face with his oldest ally in a fight he simply can’t win.

Why: Commonly held up alongside Watchmen, which is a...touch of an overstatement in hindsight, while aspects of its politics and portrayal of the Dark Knight in question have aged somewhat questionably it’s regardless a justified classic by a one-time master of the medium at the top of his form, packed from top to bottom with brilliant storytelling, jaw-dropping moments, and a redefinition of the character that not only shapes him to this day, but the superhero genre as a whole. Definitely and very reasonably not for everyone, but essential to Batman as he exists today.

Recommendations: Frank Miller’s presented numerous followups to The Dark Knight Returns, and while The Dark Knight Strikes Back and All-Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder are hardly lacking in lively experimental flavor or gonzo charm, they’re an acquired taste at best: if you want to see more of this version of Batman’s world, you’re safest going for The Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade, a one-shot portraying the events leading up to Batman’s retirement a decade before DKR. For other seminal Batman stories that either don’t quite live up to the hype or have aged questionably but are all-in-all still probably worth looking into, check Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth, Batman: The Long Halloween (followed up by Batman: Dark Victory) and possibly The Killing Joke.

4. Batman: Ego and other Tails

What: Before he was widely lauded for DC: The New Frontier, Darwyn Cooke was a storyboard artist for what we now know as the DCAU family of cartoons; his pitch for the job included a 14-page Batman story that years later would be edited and expanded upon to become Batman: Ego, where a catastrophic series of events leads Bruce to consider leaving his mission behind, forcing him to confront his demons more literally than ever before.

Why: Stories that question Batman’s sanity and his place in the world are a dime a dozen, but none like this, probably the deepest individual dive of all time into what exactly makes Batman tick. To say much more would spoil the amazing central conceit, but from his moral code to what he does or doesn’t give up by forgoing his life as Bruce Wayne, there are few aspects of his world this doesn’t touch on one way or another. Plus, while Ego may be the lead, the modern collection is stuffed full of other excellent Batman comics Darwyn Cooke had a hand in one way or another.

Recommendations: Most significantly, the collection also contains Selina’s Big Score, a Catwoman heist comic that leads into Ed Brubaker’s seminal run on the character, which are spread out over three trades that are absolutely worth picking up. If you’re interested in another story in the DCAU style and tone that goes into darker territory than the cartoons would typically dare, try Mad Love, the definitive Harley Quinn story. And if you want another headtrippy Batman comic that delves into his psychology, you’re looking for Death and the Maidens, intended at the time to be Batman’s final confrontation with Ra’s Al Ghul and featuring a conversation 65 years in the making.

5. Matt Wagner’s Dark Moon Rising titles

What: Eventually branded under the title of Dark Moon Rising, this series is actually made up of two six-part tales: Batman and the Monster Men and Batman and the Mad Monk, each Matt Wagner’s retelling of a classic Golden Age Batman story, from an era where the supernatural was not quite so distanced from Batman’s usual world.

Why: On a simple level, these are just some real good Batman comics; Matt Wagner’s a phenomenal fit for the character, these are nice and standalone, and Batman has to escape some deathtraps, which is always a treat. But the introduction of the truly bizarre to Batman’s world - by a standard that allows for coin-flipping disfigured District Attorneys and maladjusted widowers with freeze-rays as all part of the regular scenery, anyway - can be something of a hurdle, especially for new readers. In that regard this is a perfect introduction to the more outré side of Batman’s job, cushioning the transition with wild pulp adventure and thrilling horror in a series that feels entirely of the same world seen in the likes of Year One, even as Batman fights a vampire who is also a werewolf.

Recommendations: If you enjoyed the look at a Batman who’s still somewhat figuring out his limits and the parameters of his operation, you’re in luck, as Year One-era Batman stories formed their own effective subgenre for the character for awhile, primarily in the series Legends of the Dark Knight, which had one of the better hit-to-miss ratios for Batman ongoing titles, and Batman: The Man Who Laughs, Ed Brubaker and Doug Mahnke’s take on his first encounter with the Clown Prince of Crime. If the pulpy noir approach is what appealed, I’d say you might be in the market for Batman: Strange Apparitions, the collection of Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers’ highly influential 1977-1978 tenure on Detective Comics (plus a preceding couple issues by Englehart drawn by Walter Simonson, and a couple issues by Rogers without Englehart), a major step on the road to Batman as he exists today which also featured the - at the time - unexpected return of one of the Golden Age villains Wagner features.

6. Nightwing: Better Than Batman

What: Under the thumb of the Parliament of Owls, the Courts’ international equivalent - if with more up his sleeve than they expect - Nightwing finds himself in deeper than he ever could have imagined as he falls under the ‘mentorship’ of the mercenary Raptor, who not only leaves Dick questioning lessons he had previously taken as gospel, but tumbling down a rabbit hole through his own past that threatens to destroy the life he’s built for himself in the present.

Why: There’s no comprehensive look at Batman that doesn’t involve the family he’s built for himself, and this in my mind is the definitive story of the original Robin. Touching on his heritage, his early days as the Boy Wonder, his modern MO as a dashing international superhero with a pinch of espionage, and his connections with the rest of his crime-fighting family, the heart of the story is his relationship with Bruce: their days as Batman and Robin, their differing methods and ideologies, the complications stemming from their distinct backgrounds, and how their brotherhood ultimately saved them both. More than any other single book it underlines the foundation of what makes Dick Grayson work, and by extension the entire concept of the Batman Family.

Recommendations: Better Than Batman is the most compact and satisfying example of what defines Robin and the Batman Family as a whole, but if you’d prefer something more expansive in scope, Batman and Robin Eternal touches on many of the some ideas. For both a solid look back at Dick’s career back when wearing pixie boots, as well as the origin of one of the other two major templates for Batman’s sidekicks, Robin/Batgirl: Year One collects a pair of cult classic stories, Batgirl in particular being the one to check out. As for the third, while Jason Todd’s most iconic story is unquestionably Death in the Family, its actual quality hardly lives up to its enduring imagery and impact; you’ll be best served looking at his return from the grave in Batman: Under The Hood. Alfred’s the other major foundation of the family, and for him I’d probably recommend the soon-to-conclude All-Star Batman arc The First Ally. As for the rest of the family, for hitting the most members in one package I’d recommend James Tynion IV’s run on Detective Comics - beginning with the trade Rise of the Batmen - which returns or recontextualizes a number of fan-favorite characters under an umbrella of incredibly solid Batman Family adventure stories.

7. Paul Dini’s Detective Comics

What: Collected across Batman: Detective, Batman: Death and the City, Batman: Private Casebook, and Batman: Heart of Hush, Paul Dini - one of the main architects of Batman: The Animated Series, and much of the later DCAU as well - serves up a run of almost uniformly excellent, largely done-in-one Batman adventure stories.

Why: Iconic storylines may draw attention to a character, but the brick and mortar of the greats is laid on a foundation of just plain good comics, month-in and month-out, and there are few better examples for Batman than with Dini’s tenure on Detective Comics, especially with the likes of J.H. Williams, Don Kramer and Dustin Nguyen in tow. They may not be stories that redefined the character for a new generation, but they’re simply and unassailably Quality Comics of a sort rarely achieved.

Recommendations: For a more old-school example of the same principle, Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams’ classic tenure on the character is as good as it gets, featuring the likes of The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge - the first comic since his earliest appearances in the 1940s to portray him as the killer clown we know today - and the first appearance of Ra’s Al Ghul. The multiple spinoff comics of Batman: The Animated Series such as the multiple iterations of Batman Adventures and Batman: Gotham Adventures also have a solid hit-to-miss ratio in that regard. And if you’re interested in more of Paul Dini’s Batman comics, Batman: City of Crime with Alex Ross is one of the characters’ all-time great stories, and Dark Night: A True Batman Story with Eduardo Risso is a powerful autobiographical piece on how Dini’s life and work collided in his darkest hour.

8. The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told

What: Exactly what it sounds like, this trade collects standout Batman stories from across the first 50 years of his history.

Why: The trouble with comics is that not all of a characters’ best material is necessarily in individual trades, or single runs - just stick to those and you’ll miss out on some stone-cold classics. There have been plenty of collections attempting to gather up the ‘best of the rest’ to rectify that though, and of those I’d particularly recommend the edition above, filled from top-to-bottom with not only delightful artifacts like The Batman Nobody Knows! and A Caper a Day Keeps the Batman at Bay!, but definitive stories such as The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne! and Death Strikes at Midnight and Three.

Recommendations: For a similarly charming - though I believe far more difficult to track down - retrospective, Batman from the 30′s to the 70′s is certainly worth picking up if you ever happen to see it around. If you find older Batman stories appeal, it’s worth checking out both The Batman Chronicles, collecting his earliest appearances in the 30s and 40s, as well as Showcase Presents: Batman with his 60s adventures, and perhaps the more recent run Batman ‘66, a direct continuation of the Adam West/Burt Ward TV series. You might also be interested in The Brave and the Bold #200, featuring a 'teamup' of sorts between the Batmen of two eras. If what mainly appeals to you is the thrill and comic value of seeing Batman in bizarre situations you’d never see now, Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold might be your speed, containing Bob Haney and Jim Aparo’s madcap tenure, as well as Neal Adams’ relatively recent lunatic masterpiece Batman: Odyssey.

9. Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth

EDIT: This list was written prior to allegations made against Warren Ellis. It’s your money, but while I’d still recommend checking the book out of the library - the quality of the work isn’t going to change now that it’s out there in the universe - if you’re looking to pad your bookshelf I might recommend skipping to some of the books suggested below in its place.

What: “Mystery archaeologists” Jakita Wagner, Elijah Snow and The Drummer are a group of superhumans investigating beneath the skin of the Wildstorm universe to uncover the wonders and terrors lurking in its darkest corners. On a trip to Gotham City to apprehend serial killer John Black, his own abilities trigger when cornered to rotate them all through different realities...and in other versions of Gotham, they find they’re not the only ones looking to bring Black to justice.

Why: Planetary built itself on distilling artifacts of 19th and 20th century pop culture (typically by proxy) down to their most essential ideas and iconic values as mysteries to be unveiled, whether 1920s pulp heroes, Godzilla, Sherlock Holmes, 80s and 90s Vertigo comics, James Bond, John Woo revenge flicks, or any of a dozen others. While the other two Planetary crossovers break with formula, this applies it to the biggest modern 20th century icon of all, as a group of hardened Warren Ellis-y superbeings entirely unfamiliar with the concept of ‘Batman’ are forced to run a gauntlet of over 60 years of his most iconic takes when their versions of justice collide. As far as I can tell regarded as a footnote in Batman’s own history, it’s regardless one of his all-time greatest stories, extrapolating him in every direction at once to find the core that unites them all, topping it off with the no-shit best Batman moment of all time.

Recommendations: Most obviously, soon as of the time of this writing Warren Ellis will be tackling a full-scale Batman project alongside longtime collaborator Bryan Hitch, The Batman’s Grave, which I couldn’t be more excited for and obviously recommend checking out. For other stories taking a particularly off-kilter look at Batman and his world, whether through unusual styles or with versions of the character entirely unlike anything ever known, you’ll want to check out the trades of Batman: Black and White, an anthology running as a backup through numerous Batman titles eventually collected in trade, showing a gauntlet of top creators doing their own brief takes on Batman and his world, kicking off no less with another Ellis-written Batman story that powerfully sums up his drive. If you’re looking for something more specifically in the vein of Night on Earth though - a stripped-down, iconic Batman that acknowledges the odder parts of his history and confronts deep emotional truths about himself amidst high-action spectacle - then the current run on Batman proper by Tom King and company is something I’d certainly recommend checking out on the understanding it comes with ups and downs.

10. Batman: The Black Glove

What: From his great lost love to family he’s never known, from the basement of the GCPD to the bowls of Arkham, from the secrets of the past to the horrors of the future, from the ends of the Earth to the inside of his mind, the grip of Batman’s greatest enemy reaches wherever his shadow falls. Collected variously as Batman and Son and Batman: The Black Glove, Bruce Wayne finds himself matched against a seemingly disconnected series of challenges ultimately pointing towards the machinations of a greater threat; one that has constructed his downfall across decades, weaponizing his own mind and history against him as they build towards breaking the Batman once and for all.

Why: These issues are the start of the best Batman comics of all time. They’re absolutely fantastic all on their own, make no mistake; the first arc introduces one of the most significant Bat-family characters of all time, The Clown At Midnight is a criminally underrated classic, and Club of Heroes has J.H. Williams III drawing what amounts to 7 Batmen and 3 Robins being trapped in the plot of And Then There Were None. But more than that, these issues lay the foundation of a 7-year run by Grant Morrison built around mysteries that reach across every facet of Batman’s world, which not only reinvents him as a character, but is frankly and simply the best sustained run on a major superhero of all time. This should by no means be the first Batman comic you ever read, but make no mistake: everything leads to this.

Recommendations: Well, for one thing there’s the rest of the run. Before moving on, you may if possible want to check out Batman: The Black Casebook, a collection of numerous Golden and Silver Age comics that Morrison drew on significant plot and thematic elements of for his work, and Dark Knight Dark City, a supernatural thriller and one of the best Batman-as-detective comics out there which ends up forming much of the spine of some of Morrison’s biggest developments. From there, the rest of his run is collected across Batman R.I.P. > Batman and Robin: Batman Reborn > Time and the Batman > Batman vs. Robin > Return of Bruce Wayne > Batman and Robin Must Die! > Batman Incorporated > Batman Incorporated: Demon Star > Batman Incorporated: Gotham’s Most Wanted.

While much of the impact of the run was immediately dismantled (in large part by Morrison himself, who’s had similar experiences in the past and wanted to show the ideas he introduced off on his own terms here), slowly but surely creators are coming around to what he was doing and have followed up accordingly. Grayson - one of the most beloved DC titles of the last several years - follows the original Robin as he infiltrates the superspy agency Spyral introduced in Batman Incorporated, and leads directly into the previously mentioned current excellent run on Nightwing, which itself has a direct sequel to Morrison’s Bat-tenure in the arc Nightwing Must Die! The major DC event book Dark Nights: Metal by the team behind Batman: Zero Year is itself a direct sequel to several of Morrison’s biggest DC stories, his Batman run most of all. Morrison himself at one point announced plans for Arkham Asylum 2, which rather than following up on his graphic novel Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth is apparently a direct sequel to his Batman epic starring Damian Wayne as the Dark Knight; hopefully it will one day see fruition. Finally, if you’re simply looking for something on a similar wavelength of bizarre, lurid international pulp mystery mixed with wild fist-pumping superhero action and character moments, the ongoing crossover Batman/The Shadow - soon to end and be directly followed-up by The Shadow/Batman with the same writer - is easily one of the best of its kind of cross-company team up and absolutely a descendant of the type of Batman comics Morrison’s tenure produced.

#Batman #Opinion

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