Batman Begins…again…and again….and again…

2

September 23, 2014 by JImbo

 

This new “Gotham” TV series coming out will supposedly show the early days of Commissioner Gordon and Bruce Wayne, just after Bruce’s parents are killed. So, you get to presumably see the story of Batman… again.

*yawn*

Haven’t we seen this story enough times yet? Sure this will “focus more on Commissioner Gordon”… I guess…. but c’mon. It’s still the same thing.

Why not go truly off the rails and different? Why not tell the story of a Gotham City without Batman? Wouldn’t that be interesting? What would have happened if he hadn’t survived the killing of his parents? Or he had been sent away from Gotham to live? Or if he just hadn’t turned vigilante?

What then?

Granted, Batman DID sorta kinda create about half of the arch villains in the city. In one way or another, he had a hand in a number of their tragic “accidents” which left them maimed, mutated and generally insane.

Would they have still been criminals? Most of them yes. They were already two-bit criminals when he ran across them. It just made them MUCH MUCH WORSE.

There’s an interesting debate in geekdom over what causes what… does an overabundance of supervillains create a need for a superhero to balance it out?

Or is it the other way around?

Would there be less crime without Batman around? Would it be lower level crime?

Even if there were still quite a bit of crime… would the city step up more to take care of it? Would ANOTHER super hero take on the role of “Defender of Gotham?”

What about an action comic featuring just gritty noir detectives and two-bit hoods? I’ve always thought it would be interesting to see the OTHER side of Gotham City… the world of the “blue shirt” cops on the street who keep trying to fight crime without all the fancy gadgets, masks or capes. The firefighters who have to put out burning warehouses all the time after they keep getting blown up and burned down by supervillains.

Not quite as bad as the poor sanitation workers who have to clean up all that goddamn webbing after Spider Man is done swinging around the city every night. That’s gotta be one disgusting, sticky job.

I bet the locals don’t care for the super heroes much more than the super villains. When Superman gets in a fight downtown with a giant robot and in the process levels 2 city blocks… how the hell many people are killed? Or at the very least apartments destroyed? Jobs closed for weeks or months while repairs are made?

Who the hell could POSSIBLY get INSURANCE in any major city in comic book land?

Do they ever just throw their hands up in the air and say “Who cares? Give them their ransom or whatever! I gotta get to work!” or “Screw it, I’m moving to the country where it’s quiet and there’s fewer alien death monster invasions.”

And what about human nature? The villains seem to keep coming back to Gotham (or Metropolis or whatever) despite getting beaten down over and over and over.

What the hell? Who would DO that? That’s AWFUL business modeling.

I mean… the super heroes are pretty picky about where they go. Big time criminals aren’t. They know Batman stays in Gotham. Superman stays in Metropolis for the most part (or into space to stop an Asteroid.)

You don’t see them popping up in Philly or Miami much though. I guess the drug cartel is still alive and well there. I have yet to read about a single super hero in Miami or Las Vegas.

Why wouldn’t the criminals all move there where there are no superheroes to stop them?

Or is it like the hot dog carts and a limited number of street corners? Are there even BETTER supervillains in those cities that actually outbid them? Are the losers in Gotham and Metropolis just there because they got the “short straw” and are stuck with the cities that have superheroes in them?

That would explain a lot. Or maybe they are just the few that refuse to relocate. That’s possible too. Maybe they have family in the area or rental properties to watch or something.

Anyway, I’ll give this show a chance. The character so far seems fresh enough. Maybe just ignoring the whole “Batman” thing will mean enjoying the show enough. Maybe they will give a glimpse of the backstory of Life in Gotham.

We’ll see.

Then maybe we’ll see Metropolis PD… or Freedom City CSI.

Or maybe they’ll just let the McManus Brothers loose from “Boondock Saints.”

That would kick ass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advertisement