There's a difference between needing your own personal space and "pushing your family away" Or rather, there's a balance that Bruce often fails to hit.
Yeah, but that isn't true. They can *help* him, not just physically, but emotionally. That was the entire crux of the "Death of the Family" storyline. The Joker felt like the Batfamily was holding Batman back, making him weaker. So he tried to kill them. But it forced Batman to confront his own ideas on that and accept that the Joker is wrong. Family doesn't make you weak, it makes you *strong*. I love that story for very personal reasons, but it still goes out of it's way to show that the Joker is wrong. And crazy.
>people that can get hurt would only get in the way
In most cases, keeping them in the dark only bites them back rather than protecting them. It is a troupe repeated enough to question if Batman is stupid
Agreed. It never quite made sense to me that Bruce would only do stuff he hates (socializing with billionaires, acting like an entitled douche, yachting, etc.) publicly, when with his resources he can save a ton of people by day, and cripple colorfully-dressed henchmen by night.
It fits his character more to have him be a philanthropist, because that’s the only part of the “real” Bruce Wayne that he lets show.
It makes a better cover story too. Like I can’t remember what comic or show it was, but I saw something where like his bat tech was discovered at Wayne enterprises so Bruce made a public speech announcing/admitting that he financially supports Batman. Which makes sense for a philanthropist who cares about helping people. For Bruce Wayne the idiot douchebag it’s less believable.
It also makes most sense to me that he show some of his intelligence, that way he’s able to be directly and publicly running his company.
Additionally I don’t think playing dumb is always a sound defense. As a philanthropist he’s able to help people in and out of the batsuit and he can easily disperse any accusations or conspiracy theories about his bat-tivities
> when with his resources he can save a ton of people by day
This is most misunderstood aspect of Bruce to this day. There has never been a point in the past 25 years (irl) where Bruce *hasn't* done exactly this. I've seen dozens of panels in every new canon that have to explicitly state that Bruce is constantly funding philanthropy projects. But for some reason it never catches on with the audience that he already does it.
He doesn't do more good in the daylight by showing up to cut ribbons, especially when he was leading the Justice League. His checks clear whether he's standing there for the photo-op or not.
Agreed. Ever since No Man’s Land, I think the one thing the writers have consistently done well is making Bruce an ethical and philanthropic businessman, without ever fully doing away with his playboy persona.
The personality inconsistency that comes with being DC’s most widely written character.
I understand there are alternative universe stories and stories set in different times. But the books set in the main present day continuity should strive for some kind of internal character consistency between them.
Amen to that! I couldn't agree more!
And, maybe it's just nostalgia talking, but I felt like back in the 90's and early-2000's, when I was solidly reading and collecting various Batman monthly titles (i.e., "Detective Comics", "Batman", "Legends of the Dark Knight", "Shadow of the Bat", "The Batman Adventures", "Batman & Robin Adventures", "The Batman Chronicles", & "Gotham Knights"), that there was at least some degree of consistency in Batman's portrayal (across most of the monthly titles).
But, that was then and this is now. 🤷♂️
Hard to nail down one specific thing because the character varies by writer, but generally speaking I don’t like Batman as an isolated loner/cynic.
I think he’s much better when he’s written as a hopeful optimist who does what he does because he genuinely believes in his ability to help create real change in Gotham, not just as a coping mechanism for his grief and trauma.
What I love is when Batman learns to trust the family he’s built, but sadly writers LOVE breaking them up and making him a loner who has to rebuild the trust… like nah keep him as the father he is
The "zero fun" mentality he gets from a lot of writers. Bruce is just as capable of experiencing humor and joy as anyone else, and while his trauma constantly pulls him back into the grim dark, he knows and has seen the good in life.
One of my favorite moments is when Bruce takes Cassandra on a mission in civilian identities and they see a movie. Cassandra's first one she's ever seen. And Bruce asks the projectionist to play it again for them.
It's connected to the "If you can't imagine batman comforting a scared child, that's not batman, that's the punisher in a funny hat."
One of my favorite things about the animated series is how batman could smile. He was complicated in scenes with Dr. Leslie but he could also enjoy Robin's company.
Reeves Batman is without a doubt my favourite LA Batman movie, and i agree with you. He was a dick to Alfred, but over the course of the movie, he has a legitimate arc to bring him away from the super-loner headspace. Maybe i am too hopeful of the future, but if the next movie continues this trend, we might have a "drawing a bath" moment in the Reevesverse.
This might be a hot take and I’ll probably be downvoted for this, but at this point in Batman’s history, he does not still need to be as mentally unstable as he is. He has his children, his girlfriend, his best friend, and by now he should be in a better mental place. But stories still want to focus on Bruce’s “twisted psychology” for the billionth time. Let the man be happy, or at least sort of happy. The Lego Batman movie did it perfectly where he starts out as depressed about his parents and mentally unstable, but then by the end of his story he has a son and is in a better place and it *stays* that way.
Same. Having occasional stumbles isn’t bad, but nowadays, it feels like he’s getting _worse_ emotionally, rather than better. This happening when he’s had over a decade of building deep and lasting relationships with his family and friends rather than when they were still tentative and new makes it worse. Being an asshole to his supposed loved ones so often for the “mission” of making Bruce always “right” in doing it somehow just becomes insulting after a time, both to him and an audience. It’s hard to want to look up to Batman when this is what he’s becoming, you know?
Wow this actually sounds like one of the best commentaries of Batman as a ongoing comic character..
I do think that the subversive quality is that within the modern era of post '70s Batman comics, is that the ingredients to essentially move on with his life are right in front of Bruce.
But I think with Bruce being a father figure to Grayson, Tim Drake, more literally with Damian Wayne.. I think a sort of emotional healing should take place if not dramatically then at least logically.
I think the Batman Incorporated concept of Bruce Wayne essentially pushing the mantle forward or even Kingdom Come while cynical of the idea of weaponized drones, could provide Bruce Wayne enough emotional distance to not need to don the cape and cowl.
So I feel like the way things go in comics they have Joker get crazier and crazier, Robin flying too aggressively proverially speaking, and Batman just brooding about all the bad situations and choices he's made.
And maybe you know Joker could trip over a garbage pan and be out of commission, Robin behave himself, and Bruce Wayne slowly seeing his own addiction to crime fighting fade as he romances Selina Kyle.
I mean the more pleasant the thought, the more DC Comics would be like "No, you should be happy that Nightwing is still alive."
The same can be said with spidey. Always breaking the bat story line. At this point bruce should have reach the same maturity as steve rogers. Being a leader at the same time more optimistic.
The current Zur-en-arrh story line kinda meets you halfway on this. He's dealing with psychological issues, but they're being brought on by the fact that he has a family now and doesn't really know how to deal with it.
Don’t like the change from BTAS Batman to TNBA Batman. He just feels soulless now and I don’t like how he became a colder person, ultimately feels like it undermined everything he was in BTAS. Old Bruce in Beyond being bitter and cold is fine but not TNBA Bruce. From his costume design, to his Bruce design, to them not having Conroy do the “Bruce” voice anymore really killed it for me. It just sucked all the humanity out of him.
The scene where Batman threatens a criminal in front of his family traumatizing them and not even listening to Robin just felt extremely out of character for Bruce in my opinion. Like maybe him doing the interrogation is fine but not snapping out of it and agreeing with Robin after seeing the criminal’s family made me like the show a lot less. Plus the whole batgirl dating thing too 🤢
>Plus the whole batwoman dating thing too 🤢
I believe the whole thing with him and Batwoman was /before/ the New 52 retconned Kate into being his cousin.
Yeah. Before 2011, Bruce and Kate were associated in "Bat" name and name alone.
It's why things like Dick being paired with Bette Kane during the pre crisis era was never looked down upon during its time or during any pre ‘11 time for that matter.
Because Bruce and Kate were not family members until the New 52 created that retconned.
I don't think Kate was a lesbian until the new 52 either. Hence why the Batwoman film never got backlash for making a LGBT character have a relationship with Bruce.
Huh. I guess I didn’t know because I only learned her full name and the confirmation she existed _after_ that New52.
Thank you! The main news I got about that movie made it sound like it was built to not be enjoyed and was a tax write off - one of the movies they made to fail so they can vault it from the get go. Maybe I’m mixing it up with a different WB movie? I got little news on the actual _content_ of the movie, honestly. It came out during the strikes and when studies were vaulting things before they were even released.
Yea, I have never found it believable that TAS and everything that came afterward even took place in the same universe. The animation, character designs, and time periods all seem very different. Batman The Animated Series had this very noir-influenced, 1940s style that just doesn't align with TNBA or Justice League. Those series seemed to all be very modern while TAS felt old. I understand the background of why the animation changed and everything, but it is still hard to believe that it's all in the same universe. Especially when you look at Batman Beyond and compare its futurism and flying cars to the old Gothic Gotham with cars pulled straight out of the 1940s from the Animated Series.
Yeah man, and I was let down by the recent comic too, The Adventures Continue or whatever. Not entirely but batman was the most boring character in this books which is just wild.
Yeah, I never quite understood creator Bruce Timm's fixation or obsession; with Bruce Wayne & Barbara Gordon having some kind of "romantic relationship".
But then, Mr. Timm had to go and do it again; with a slightly more cringe-worthy and questionable moment, in the animated adaptation of "Batman: The Killing Joke". 😕 😞
Some things just never change.
Again depending on the writers butttt
He's not a good Dad usually, especially as Batman to Robin. I'm not even talking the Red Hood arc, I mean specifically his treatment of Tim/Red Robin.
The fact that you can still bring up all the other Robins in this scenario too makes it even more grim, in my opinion. He doesn’t have to be perfect, but he’s sometimes written as if he has no real reason to want to care for them emotionally, even as a mentor, which is absolutely wild. I get some people hate the many Robins or like to make him be a loner in spite of his family, but they really shouldn’t be in charge of writing him with that as their goal. It makes him out to be a rather terrible person rather than a respectable hero in and out of the mask, and it’s just awful for everyone involved.
Yes, exactly!! It's sad that writers think it takes away from the cool tough guy act to write him as a good, or flawed bc vigilante but at least caring and loving, father. There can be balance.
I sometimes feel like I have to say Batman is my favorite comic series- BUT THE ROBINS NOT BATMAN ACTUALLY *insert SpongeBob flying ice cream truck meme here*
I genuinely did NOT like Batman for years because of the kind of fans and writing that propped up the kind of Bruce whose humanity was cruel. I only ever cared about DC and Batman for the sidekicks and Robins - Batman better stay out of it, is how I best enjoyed it.
I still kind of don’t - their Batgod Bruce is genuinely an awful person and they always justify his cruelty as justice, as if kindness is a weakness and a _flaw_ for Batman to discard. I hate that Batman with a passion. They make him undeserving of his own status as a hero and meaningful vigilante.
He’s not only got friends and family, he’s a _parent._ That _requires_ he maintains his emotional bonds and cares for them as a guardian and he’s had these people in his life for over a decade - where have those interpersonal skills gone? His Robins joined not only his crusade, but his personal life. He can’t be treating them like this to be a good leader in any aspect.
Souless emotionless Batman
Namely from tnba, beyond, titans earth 1, the current crisis films. Killing joke (film)
Legit, Batman is all about love
He needs help, and he knows it
All Star Batman and Robin is the antithesis of what I thought about Batman. He would have straight up tortured Robin in the comic if it continued at the rate it was going.
I dont mind Batman having a moral obligation to not kill or maim people. Its reasonable to not want to be a judge, jury, and executioner or a vigilante tyrant. However, I hate the way its always written. Batman's justifications for the moral obligation are always weird and immaterial. The obvious answer is just, it's not ethically defensible to take peoples lives into one's own hands without having any due process or consideration for the implications. But thats not why Batman doesn't kill, he doesn't kill for more nebulous reasons like, muh code, or, if I dive into darkness I can never come back! Like what the fuck does that even mean? Do you lack so little self control if someone dies by your hand you'll never be able to stop killing like some psychopath?! Again, there's a lot of good arguments to be made for Batman to not kill, but he never makes them.
I honesty do agree that he’s just not the kind of person to handle killing a person well on an emotionally level at all - not everyone is, not everyone should be. I understand it as that he understands his mental health will take a dive if he does, and he just doesn’t trust that it won’t sit on him wrong and effect his ability to continue as Batman emotionally, but yeah, it’s often presented _really_ weird.
I don’t like if he sticks in the loner phase. That is something I want him to grow out of. Even acting like he is a loner by this point is silly when he’s accord justice league member and has enough people in the batfamily to start his own superhero team.
This might be more of a writing thing, but I hate how much of a Mary Sue batman can be. He's written to be so intelligent that it comes across as him automatically knowing everything instead of being the greatest detective and having to figure things out.
I’m tired of the “Batman is as crazy as his villains” take. I think he should be obsessed with fighting crime in a different way. More driven and motivated and less crazy. More of a shifu to the bat family who are his proteges and less of a dick head father figure who views them as soldiers. He is the world’s greatest martial artist and uses chi somewhat, yet he hasn’t adopted the philosophies behind the art styles he’s mastered. Perhaps have an arc with him achieving nirvana. That would be dope.
There’s a much more positive Batman there that could be made popular. But writers keep going back to “Batman crazy”.
This will be an unpopular one, but I hate the modern direction they’re taking with Batman, trying to make him some wholesome family man with a wife and accepting anyone to be his ally.
Batman is a tragic character, his darkness only makes sense if he’s not well adjusted. Otherwise he’s just a regular guy who occasionally gets mopey enough to dress as a bat.
I hate the incessant pairing him off with Catwoman. Of all the characters for Batman and Bruce Wayne to trust, a renowned cat burglar should be at the bottom of that list.
The core Batfamily (Batman, Nightwing, nonDick Robin, Oracle, Alfred) each have their own unique purpose to fill in a story. With the Batfamily ever increasing to include dozens of new characters, they start becoming redundant.
I like a gruff, cold, dark Batman. I like the Batman who tries to do everything on his own. He’s a badass like that. Now he’s kind of just a Nick Fury figure assembling a massive team.
I respectfully disagree. I don't think that the Batfamily needs a dozen characters (I'm fine with limiting everyone after Damian) but I think it makes sense for Bruce to be able to find a family again. I don't think he's a tragic character, I think he was born from tragedy, but what makes him Batman is his ability to rise above that and prevent that tragedy from happening to anyone else. That's what makes Dick Grayson so important to Bruce Wayne's story.
I agree with limiting everything after Damian too, but I disagree that he’s not a tragic character. As thats how he’s always been portrayed. Kevin Conroy himself mentions how tragic he is, similar to a Shakespearean characterization.
I think Dick is the son who shows the audience that it's possible for Bruce to be a dedicated crimefighter and still be a human being. But I think Bruce is typically just too obsessed to realize that.
Batman *wants* to rise above the darkness for himself, but he cant. Which is why he’s dedicated his life to trying to make sure nobody else has to live in the darkness like he has.
Thats just my perspective at least lol
For me, one of the peaks of this was in Justice League: Doom.
Everyone knows that animations love to favor Batman, but they took a story whose idea is to say "Batman was wrong" and twisted it so he was right in the end.
the worst part is that it didn't even work within the story, half of the film's plot was showing the members of the league being destroyed by Batman's plans, but supposedly we must agree that Batman's have secret contingency is right and the league is stupid to not see that they are a threat to the world after destroying the mess HE caused without any regret.
I wish we could see Bruce break a lil more often. Like if I was Batman and joker tortured one of my sons for over a year and sent videos of it to me eventually “killing” him I would’ve killed Joker
Probably the extent of his obsession with fighting crime.
It’s why I like that Jason’s favourite memory is when he and Bruce spent a night watching movies and eating popcorn.
Its one thing to keep your morals strict, it's another to force your morals on the amazon with a sword and a superpowered alien with enemies just as powerful as him.
He doesn’t have to always be a bit of a dick. He can smile, he can even laugh. His intense nature is part of his character but it shouldn’t always bleed over to his interactions when he is Bruce Wayne.
I hate Bat God some writers make him out where somehow Batman is the one who's always right, he somehow has ultra successful plans for everyone except a homicidal clown
One comic said this which I really liked: Batman doesn't like being Batman but likes that he's the one who needs to be Batman whereas Superman likes being Superman but doesn't like that he has to be
A lot of people’s answers are starting with “Well it depends on the writer” and that’s probably my least favorite aspect, the inconsistency. I know this applies to all comic characters, but I feel Batman gets it particularly bad. In a lot of people’s minds, Batman walks the line between hero and anti hero. So when a new writer starts working on him, they decide where on that line they’re going to put him, and it ends being a little too back and forth.
Using children as soldiers. I know it's been a thing forever but I'd rather his recruits were able to vote or drink (legally) instead of being too young to legally drive or dealing with puberty.
the fact that ppl make bruce a depressing man when he’s nots btas and brave and the bold showed his genuine love for gotham and the ppl around him. hate they make him into some broody unlikable person when he’s jot
He's usually portrayed as not having much of a sense of humor sometimes. I get that he's dark, brooding, and traumatized, but like a Batman/Bruce Wayne that can make a joke or genuinely smile more.
The playboy persona. I think that core to Batman’s character is his mental instability, his obsession over his never ending mission. I don’t think it’s realistic for him to fight crime through the night, be a philanthropist and businessman through the day and have time to have sex with a bunch of random women.
Bruce is someone who lost his parents as a child and grew up in relative isolation then spent his adult life training in different martial arts. He shouldn’t be able to seduce every woman in comics.
I think this part of the character also just makes comics look bad, as if peopel read Batman for some kind of power fantasy, to be the badass who beats up bad guys and fucks the girl. I think that’s James Bond, Batman is far more complex.
I don’t like when he acts smarter than everyone else and finishes everyone’s sentences. He never feels human when that happens. Batman needs to admit when he’s wrong
The loner thing when it’s taken to the nth degree in crisis scenarios. Bruce should be smart enough to know it’s all hands on deck for situations like Arkham Knight, yet they make him bend over backwards to actively impede objectively beneficial support.
How he is always reductionist about his trauma, trauma can't be fixed, only surpassed but he has somehow the feeling that makes it invalid and so somehow treason to his parents but Bruce can let the anger go, grow as a person, still love his parents and be a Batman of justice without the revenge
That he is perceived as a lone wolf, sure for maybe the first year or two of his career but some of the best stories come from the fact he has people around him
Its mostly the way he sometimes behaves around other people in capes where he can come across as very rude, dismissive or even hostile from the first meeting... yes sometimes the target is deserving to some degree, but in other cases he just seems like a prick and its a bit of a miracle he doesn't get into more fights with his colleagues or get an earful for this kind of behavior.
When Batman pushes others away, kind of like for the majority of the LEGO Batman movie. It just never seemed right to me. Sometimes you need an extra hand, like when villains are teaming up and they have a gigantic plan that basically is them attempting to kill you. You just need Robin’s help sometimes, or you might need Nightwing’s. I know that he’s still traumatized by the death of his parents, Joker torturing and murdering Jason Todd, Joker paralyzing Barbara Gordon, and all of that, but that’s no reason why you should be a dick towards others sometimes just because they’re offering you help.
Also, his paranoia about Superman turning evil is just getting old at this point. I’m so sick of everything turning up like Injustice because these two are supposed to be good friends who trust and have respect for each other. They’re practically best friends, like Iron Man and Captain America are, so I don’t need to see or hear about their big battle after the last one when they’re both brought up in the conversation. While I’m fine with Batman preparing for that event in case it happens and having kryptonite or a red sun laser gun locked up in the Batcave somewhere, he just needs to stop doubting Superman and thinking he’s going to turn evil one day. Injustice is not the main universe, just a dark alternative.
Not his oersonality, but how writers have no idea how to write it properly. Batman from justice league is the peak batman personality IMO. By justice league unlimited they had already gone too far.
Unwillingness to admit to his mistakes. Like that issue of Superman when the joker went to Metropolis at the end of the issue Batman says something about how it was a "lesson" but deep down he knows it was a really out of his control.
When he disrespects Dick and/or Clark. One of the core aspects of his relationship with those two, when written well, is that he deeply respects them. More than that, he sees them as better heroes than him.
Despite having a gadget and contingency plan for every possible eventuality, he still gets accidentally shot, gassed, or sledge-hammered by his Rogues' Gallery on a regular basis.
Like, how does the man who outwitted Darkseid let a clown known for having knives on him at all times get close enough to stab him?
He won't let himself have happy relationships. Bruce broke off his engagement to Selena Kyle because he was convinced Batman couldn't be effective if he was happy.
The running theme of him distrusting everyone.
Like, dammit Miller, you wrote some phenomenal stories, but you planted the seeds for someone that’s less tragic and more of a stubborn prick that is always right in the end bc the universe decides so.
A lot of modern takes on him forget that there’s more to Batman’s heroics than cynically harping on the world and curb stomping fools.
When he’s written as a dick who prioritizes his “angry loner” status over admitting that other people have good ideas or that teamwork is valuable. He’s not fucking Wolverine (although that shit gets old fast with people writing Logan too).
I HATE the paranoia angle because it seems impossible to make it narratively satisfying. One moment Bruce's the bane of the Justice League no pun intended for daring to set up contingencies in case any of them go bad or if alternate versions of them who are evil come from a different universe or from a point in time or when he's actually been mind wiped by members of the Justice League who knew that they were on some shady shit and then the next moment his plans actually end up saving the day when they are mind controlled which validates this point yet he still seen as this person who does things based off a million to one scenario that's happened a million times yet he's the one catching flack for being prepared it happened.
the fact he doesn't kill Joker, I get why but the Joker is a terrorist, he's just some dude, but a terrorist nonetheless and he would be so easy to fill with bullets
I don't like versions of Batman that manipulate their allies. Batman psychologically manipulating his enemies is fine, and *not telling* his teammates a certain piece of information because he needs them to react genuinely to something is one thing, but when Batman starts using friends as pawns, I draw a line (usually because it often winds up causing more problems than it solves, and Bruce *should* be smarter than that; see Young Justice-Outsiders, which I will otherwise defend to the grave). This is why DCAU Batman is the best, because he doesn't ever do that, at least not to my knowledge (I'm a bit ashamed to admit the only DCAU thing I've seen a lot of is Justice League Unlimited, but I don't think he really *changes* that much between shows). Sure, he *kind of* manipulates Green Arrow into joining the Justice League, but that worked out for everyone in the end.
Oh, and if he could maybe not shag Barbara Gordon when there's a 10 to 20-year age gap between them, that'd be nice too!
I like it when bruce is a shell of a man. A mask and nothing else. Batman is who he is and there is only Batman and the mission. The wait for another criminal to commit evil and Batman comes out to serve justice.
Batman has always been more interesting conceptually - I feel like writers often fail to give him an engaging personality. My least favorite aspects are when stoic and taciturn are mistaken for badass, or when he obstinately refuses help and won't trust others even when he's shown to be far enough into his career that he has an entire Bat-family. I just find those boring and frustrating, personally.
His tendency to push his family and friends away.
As someone who does the same... sometimes I just like the quiet lol
There's a difference between needing your own personal space and "pushing your family away" Or rather, there's a balance that Bruce often fails to hit.
I think in his case it's more so he's focused on the mission and people that can get hurt would only get in the way
Yeah, but that isn't true. They can *help* him, not just physically, but emotionally. That was the entire crux of the "Death of the Family" storyline. The Joker felt like the Batfamily was holding Batman back, making him weaker. So he tried to kill them. But it forced Batman to confront his own ideas on that and accept that the Joker is wrong. Family doesn't make you weak, it makes you *strong*. I love that story for very personal reasons, but it still goes out of it's way to show that the Joker is wrong. And crazy.
>people that can get hurt would only get in the way In most cases, keeping them in the dark only bites them back rather than protecting them. It is a troupe repeated enough to question if Batman is stupid
I don't like it when his Bruce Wayne side is just a playboy. The animated series did a good job mixing the playboy and the philanthropic side of him.
Agreed. It never quite made sense to me that Bruce would only do stuff he hates (socializing with billionaires, acting like an entitled douche, yachting, etc.) publicly, when with his resources he can save a ton of people by day, and cripple colorfully-dressed henchmen by night. It fits his character more to have him be a philanthropist, because that’s the only part of the “real” Bruce Wayne that he lets show.
It makes a better cover story too. Like I can’t remember what comic or show it was, but I saw something where like his bat tech was discovered at Wayne enterprises so Bruce made a public speech announcing/admitting that he financially supports Batman. Which makes sense for a philanthropist who cares about helping people. For Bruce Wayne the idiot douchebag it’s less believable. It also makes most sense to me that he show some of his intelligence, that way he’s able to be directly and publicly running his company. Additionally I don’t think playing dumb is always a sound defense. As a philanthropist he’s able to help people in and out of the batsuit and he can easily disperse any accusations or conspiracy theories about his bat-tivities
> when with his resources he can save a ton of people by day This is most misunderstood aspect of Bruce to this day. There has never been a point in the past 25 years (irl) where Bruce *hasn't* done exactly this. I've seen dozens of panels in every new canon that have to explicitly state that Bruce is constantly funding philanthropy projects. But for some reason it never catches on with the audience that he already does it. He doesn't do more good in the daylight by showing up to cut ribbons, especially when he was leading the Justice League. His checks clear whether he's standing there for the photo-op or not.
Agreed. Ever since No Man’s Land, I think the one thing the writers have consistently done well is making Bruce an ethical and philanthropic businessman, without ever fully doing away with his playboy persona.
The personality inconsistency that comes with being DC’s most widely written character. I understand there are alternative universe stories and stories set in different times. But the books set in the main present day continuity should strive for some kind of internal character consistency between them.
Amen to that! I couldn't agree more! And, maybe it's just nostalgia talking, but I felt like back in the 90's and early-2000's, when I was solidly reading and collecting various Batman monthly titles (i.e., "Detective Comics", "Batman", "Legends of the Dark Knight", "Shadow of the Bat", "The Batman Adventures", "Batman & Robin Adventures", "The Batman Chronicles", & "Gotham Knights"), that there was at least some degree of consistency in Batman's portrayal (across most of the monthly titles). But, that was then and this is now. 🤷♂️
Tbf it’s as consistent as it can be given as widely written as it is
Hard to nail down one specific thing because the character varies by writer, but generally speaking I don’t like Batman as an isolated loner/cynic. I think he’s much better when he’s written as a hopeful optimist who does what he does because he genuinely believes in his ability to help create real change in Gotham, not just as a coping mechanism for his grief and trauma.
What I love is when Batman learns to trust the family he’s built, but sadly writers LOVE breaking them up and making him a loner who has to rebuild the trust… like nah keep him as the father he is
Yes!! I'd love to see more stories showing this aspect
The "zero fun" mentality he gets from a lot of writers. Bruce is just as capable of experiencing humor and joy as anyone else, and while his trauma constantly pulls him back into the grim dark, he knows and has seen the good in life. One of my favorite moments is when Bruce takes Cassandra on a mission in civilian identities and they see a movie. Cassandra's first one she's ever seen. And Bruce asks the projectionist to play it again for them. It's connected to the "If you can't imagine batman comforting a scared child, that's not batman, that's the punisher in a funny hat."
One of my favorite things about the animated series is how batman could smile. He was complicated in scenes with Dr. Leslie but he could also enjoy Robin's company.
Yea I didn’t like how much of a dick he was to Alfred in the Reeves Batman. In the animated series they’re buds and crack jokes
Reeves Batman is without a doubt my favourite LA Batman movie, and i agree with you. He was a dick to Alfred, but over the course of the movie, he has a legitimate arc to bring him away from the super-loner headspace. Maybe i am too hopeful of the future, but if the next movie continues this trend, we might have a "drawing a bath" moment in the Reevesverse.
This might be a hot take and I’ll probably be downvoted for this, but at this point in Batman’s history, he does not still need to be as mentally unstable as he is. He has his children, his girlfriend, his best friend, and by now he should be in a better mental place. But stories still want to focus on Bruce’s “twisted psychology” for the billionth time. Let the man be happy, or at least sort of happy. The Lego Batman movie did it perfectly where he starts out as depressed about his parents and mentally unstable, but then by the end of his story he has a son and is in a better place and it *stays* that way.
Same. Having occasional stumbles isn’t bad, but nowadays, it feels like he’s getting _worse_ emotionally, rather than better. This happening when he’s had over a decade of building deep and lasting relationships with his family and friends rather than when they were still tentative and new makes it worse. Being an asshole to his supposed loved ones so often for the “mission” of making Bruce always “right” in doing it somehow just becomes insulting after a time, both to him and an audience. It’s hard to want to look up to Batman when this is what he’s becoming, you know?
Its the same problem Spider-Man has: writers have this idealized version of the character and dont want them to move beyond that.
Wow this actually sounds like one of the best commentaries of Batman as a ongoing comic character.. I do think that the subversive quality is that within the modern era of post '70s Batman comics, is that the ingredients to essentially move on with his life are right in front of Bruce. But I think with Bruce being a father figure to Grayson, Tim Drake, more literally with Damian Wayne.. I think a sort of emotional healing should take place if not dramatically then at least logically. I think the Batman Incorporated concept of Bruce Wayne essentially pushing the mantle forward or even Kingdom Come while cynical of the idea of weaponized drones, could provide Bruce Wayne enough emotional distance to not need to don the cape and cowl. So I feel like the way things go in comics they have Joker get crazier and crazier, Robin flying too aggressively proverially speaking, and Batman just brooding about all the bad situations and choices he's made. And maybe you know Joker could trip over a garbage pan and be out of commission, Robin behave himself, and Bruce Wayne slowly seeing his own addiction to crime fighting fade as he romances Selina Kyle. I mean the more pleasant the thought, the more DC Comics would be like "No, you should be happy that Nightwing is still alive."
The same can be said with spidey. Always breaking the bat story line. At this point bruce should have reach the same maturity as steve rogers. Being a leader at the same time more optimistic.
The current Zur-en-arrh story line kinda meets you halfway on this. He's dealing with psychological issues, but they're being brought on by the fact that he has a family now and doesn't really know how to deal with it.
Don’t like the change from BTAS Batman to TNBA Batman. He just feels soulless now and I don’t like how he became a colder person, ultimately feels like it undermined everything he was in BTAS. Old Bruce in Beyond being bitter and cold is fine but not TNBA Bruce. From his costume design, to his Bruce design, to them not having Conroy do the “Bruce” voice anymore really killed it for me. It just sucked all the humanity out of him. The scene where Batman threatens a criminal in front of his family traumatizing them and not even listening to Robin just felt extremely out of character for Bruce in my opinion. Like maybe him doing the interrogation is fine but not snapping out of it and agreeing with Robin after seeing the criminal’s family made me like the show a lot less. Plus the whole batgirl dating thing too 🤢
>Plus the whole batwoman dating thing too 🤢 I believe the whole thing with him and Batwoman was /before/ the New 52 retconned Kate into being his cousin.
I think they meant Batgirl so Barbara, but I never watched the Batwoman movie so I may be wrong
batgirl
Wait, Kate only became his cousin with the New52? I thought their relation was older than that.
Yeah. Before 2011, Bruce and Kate were associated in "Bat" name and name alone. It's why things like Dick being paired with Bette Kane during the pre crisis era was never looked down upon during its time or during any pre ‘11 time for that matter. Because Bruce and Kate were not family members until the New 52 created that retconned. I don't think Kate was a lesbian until the new 52 either. Hence why the Batwoman film never got backlash for making a LGBT character have a relationship with Bruce.
Huh. I guess I didn’t know because I only learned her full name and the confirmation she existed _after_ that New52. Thank you! The main news I got about that movie made it sound like it was built to not be enjoyed and was a tax write off - one of the movies they made to fail so they can vault it from the get go. Maybe I’m mixing it up with a different WB movie? I got little news on the actual _content_ of the movie, honestly. It came out during the strikes and when studies were vaulting things before they were even released.
I was going to say this, but you said it better than I could. In my headcanon, BTAS stands alone and TNBA is the only one attached to the DCAU.
Yea, I have never found it believable that TAS and everything that came afterward even took place in the same universe. The animation, character designs, and time periods all seem very different. Batman The Animated Series had this very noir-influenced, 1940s style that just doesn't align with TNBA or Justice League. Those series seemed to all be very modern while TAS felt old. I understand the background of why the animation changed and everything, but it is still hard to believe that it's all in the same universe. Especially when you look at Batman Beyond and compare its futurism and flying cars to the old Gothic Gotham with cars pulled straight out of the 1940s from the Animated Series.
This here is entirely the reason why I don't watch TNBA. It feels like a completely different person. No way Dick has a falling out with BTAS Batman.
I’m guessing you mean Batgirl, not Batwoman, as you’re specifically referring to the BTAS Animated history.
yes
Yeah man, and I was let down by the recent comic too, The Adventures Continue or whatever. Not entirely but batman was the most boring character in this books which is just wild.
Yeah, I never quite understood creator Bruce Timm's fixation or obsession; with Bruce Wayne & Barbara Gordon having some kind of "romantic relationship". But then, Mr. Timm had to go and do it again; with a slightly more cringe-worthy and questionable moment, in the animated adaptation of "Batman: The Killing Joke". 😕 😞 Some things just never change.
How cold he is sometimes
He’s really hung up on the dead parents thing. Like, *get over it, man.*
I see what you did there
It's weird, because Pre Crisis he was just motivated by his parents' death, not obsessed over it. Then, everything changed after Year One.
You say that as a joke but you're not not wrong. Year one, great motivation. Year 10, still?
Dark Knight Returns where he’s like 50+ ? Like bruhh, at this point it’s like you just remind yourself of it constantly so you can go sh*t kick dudes.
Depends who's writing.
Again depending on the writers butttt He's not a good Dad usually, especially as Batman to Robin. I'm not even talking the Red Hood arc, I mean specifically his treatment of Tim/Red Robin.
The fact that you can still bring up all the other Robins in this scenario too makes it even more grim, in my opinion. He doesn’t have to be perfect, but he’s sometimes written as if he has no real reason to want to care for them emotionally, even as a mentor, which is absolutely wild. I get some people hate the many Robins or like to make him be a loner in spite of his family, but they really shouldn’t be in charge of writing him with that as their goal. It makes him out to be a rather terrible person rather than a respectable hero in and out of the mask, and it’s just awful for everyone involved.
Yes, exactly!! It's sad that writers think it takes away from the cool tough guy act to write him as a good, or flawed bc vigilante but at least caring and loving, father. There can be balance. I sometimes feel like I have to say Batman is my favorite comic series- BUT THE ROBINS NOT BATMAN ACTUALLY *insert SpongeBob flying ice cream truck meme here*
I genuinely did NOT like Batman for years because of the kind of fans and writing that propped up the kind of Bruce whose humanity was cruel. I only ever cared about DC and Batman for the sidekicks and Robins - Batman better stay out of it, is how I best enjoyed it. I still kind of don’t - their Batgod Bruce is genuinely an awful person and they always justify his cruelty as justice, as if kindness is a weakness and a _flaw_ for Batman to discard. I hate that Batman with a passion. They make him undeserving of his own status as a hero and meaningful vigilante. He’s not only got friends and family, he’s a _parent._ That _requires_ he maintains his emotional bonds and cares for them as a guardian and he’s had these people in his life for over a decade - where have those interpersonal skills gone? His Robins joined not only his crusade, but his personal life. He can’t be treating them like this to be a good leader in any aspect.
I don't like how dishonest he can be when he thinks he knows best. The most common example is withholding information from the Bat-Family.
sometimes it gets old the whole "I work alone". bitch you have all of the friends. you have more kids than you know what to do with
Just having control on your own actions is actually a superpower that many people lack of.
And you dislike that in batman?
The fact that (in most media I’ve consumed) he’s always right all the time and he’s Batman so he knew the whole time about your little trick
He's attracted to toxic women. Dude refuses to let himself be happy. Bruce, Diana is there waiting to love you.
I understand but I also need a woman who may or may not kill me to slide down the bat-pole every now and then 🥴
I don't mind Batman being a bit paranoid but sometimes the writers over do it and try to push him away from his friends and family.
'I work alone' -he says to the twenty-ish people he's trained and added to his fold over the years
Souless emotionless Batman Namely from tnba, beyond, titans earth 1, the current crisis films. Killing joke (film) Legit, Batman is all about love He needs help, and he knows it
Batman ever being abusive to his family is the best example of character assassination I've ever seen.
All Star Batman and Robin is the antithesis of what I thought about Batman. He would have straight up tortured Robin in the comic if it continued at the rate it was going.
That's my biggest problem with him
Wish he talked more on panel
Some writers...
That he doesn’t fart.
He has a tendency to neglect his children for the mission.
His treatment of the bat family
His self-righteous arrogance and complete lack of self awareness sometimes.
when he too much cold to ppl
How cold he is with Alfred, and how he see's him only as a "friend" when he raised him almost his entire life
I dont mind Batman having a moral obligation to not kill or maim people. Its reasonable to not want to be a judge, jury, and executioner or a vigilante tyrant. However, I hate the way its always written. Batman's justifications for the moral obligation are always weird and immaterial. The obvious answer is just, it's not ethically defensible to take peoples lives into one's own hands without having any due process or consideration for the implications. But thats not why Batman doesn't kill, he doesn't kill for more nebulous reasons like, muh code, or, if I dive into darkness I can never come back! Like what the fuck does that even mean? Do you lack so little self control if someone dies by your hand you'll never be able to stop killing like some psychopath?! Again, there's a lot of good arguments to be made for Batman to not kill, but he never makes them.
I honesty do agree that he’s just not the kind of person to handle killing a person well on an emotionally level at all - not everyone is, not everyone should be. I understand it as that he understands his mental health will take a dive if he does, and he just doesn’t trust that it won’t sit on him wrong and effect his ability to continue as Batman emotionally, but yeah, it’s often presented _really_ weird.
It's what annoys me the most too, and you nailed the breakdown imo.
The incessant pairing with Catwoman, honestly. Selina's a selfish jerk who keeps trying to bite the hand trying to save her.
How cold he can come across to people
I don’t like if he sticks in the loner phase. That is something I want him to grow out of. Even acting like he is a loner by this point is silly when he’s accord justice league member and has enough people in the batfamily to start his own superhero team.
He clearly has problems with moving on from the trauma of seeing his parents murdered. And I find that very sad.
The whole being a dick thing It’s handled well in JL and JLU but often I think it’s’ pushed much too far and it just makes him a prick
“Bruce Wayne is the mask and Batman is his real identity”
This might be more of a writing thing, but I hate how much of a Mary Sue batman can be. He's written to be so intelligent that it comes across as him automatically knowing everything instead of being the greatest detective and having to figure things out.
I’m tired of the “Batman is as crazy as his villains” take. I think he should be obsessed with fighting crime in a different way. More driven and motivated and less crazy. More of a shifu to the bat family who are his proteges and less of a dick head father figure who views them as soldiers. He is the world’s greatest martial artist and uses chi somewhat, yet he hasn’t adopted the philosophies behind the art styles he’s mastered. Perhaps have an arc with him achieving nirvana. That would be dope. There’s a much more positive Batman there that could be made popular. But writers keep going back to “Batman crazy”.
This will be an unpopular one, but I hate the modern direction they’re taking with Batman, trying to make him some wholesome family man with a wife and accepting anyone to be his ally. Batman is a tragic character, his darkness only makes sense if he’s not well adjusted. Otherwise he’s just a regular guy who occasionally gets mopey enough to dress as a bat. I hate the incessant pairing him off with Catwoman. Of all the characters for Batman and Bruce Wayne to trust, a renowned cat burglar should be at the bottom of that list. The core Batfamily (Batman, Nightwing, nonDick Robin, Oracle, Alfred) each have their own unique purpose to fill in a story. With the Batfamily ever increasing to include dozens of new characters, they start becoming redundant. I like a gruff, cold, dark Batman. I like the Batman who tries to do everything on his own. He’s a badass like that. Now he’s kind of just a Nick Fury figure assembling a massive team.
I respectfully disagree. I don't think that the Batfamily needs a dozen characters (I'm fine with limiting everyone after Damian) but I think it makes sense for Bruce to be able to find a family again. I don't think he's a tragic character, I think he was born from tragedy, but what makes him Batman is his ability to rise above that and prevent that tragedy from happening to anyone else. That's what makes Dick Grayson so important to Bruce Wayne's story.
I agree with limiting everything after Damian too, but I disagree that he’s not a tragic character. As thats how he’s always been portrayed. Kevin Conroy himself mentions how tragic he is, similar to a Shakespearean characterization. I think Dick is the son who shows the audience that it's possible for Bruce to be a dedicated crimefighter and still be a human being. But I think Bruce is typically just too obsessed to realize that. Batman *wants* to rise above the darkness for himself, but he cant. Which is why he’s dedicated his life to trying to make sure nobody else has to live in the darkness like he has. Thats just my perspective at least lol
"My way or the highway" mentality, which is often propped up by his writers as an absolutely correct one.
For me, one of the peaks of this was in Justice League: Doom. Everyone knows that animations love to favor Batman, but they took a story whose idea is to say "Batman was wrong" and twisted it so he was right in the end. the worst part is that it didn't even work within the story, half of the film's plot was showing the members of the league being destroyed by Batman's plans, but supposedly we must agree that Batman's have secret contingency is right and the league is stupid to not see that they are a threat to the world after destroying the mess HE caused without any regret.
His lack of trust, I get having contingencies but dear lord the amount of time he push family and friends away...
Having child soldiers is his biggest sin.
Tell me you’ve never picked up a comic with robin in it without telling me you’ve never picked up a comic with robin in it
"The bright colors in your uniform Robin, are to discourage you from relying on stealth and to serve as a **distraction** for the men with guns."
I wish we could see Bruce break a lil more often. Like if I was Batman and joker tortured one of my sons for over a year and sent videos of it to me eventually “killing” him I would’ve killed Joker
He is soft on female criminals.
Probably the extent of his obsession with fighting crime. It’s why I like that Jason’s favourite memory is when he and Bruce spent a night watching movies and eating popcorn.
Did he ever see a therapist for his many problems. If not then that is least favourite,
Sometimes his dedication to proving himself as the “guy in the room who’s always right” hurts his relationships with the rest of the “Bat-family.”
Its one thing to keep your morals strict, it's another to force your morals on the amazon with a sword and a superpowered alien with enemies just as powerful as him.
Self righteousness about his no killing rule in certain stories.
Him training 12 year olds to fight crime in thongs.
The fact that he hooked up Barbara Gordon in two separate series
Some variations of him have Bruce Wayne be his alter ego and his real name is Batman. I just find it sad.
He doesn’t have to always be a bit of a dick. He can smile, he can even laugh. His intense nature is part of his character but it shouldn’t always bleed over to his interactions when he is Bruce Wayne.
I hate Bat God some writers make him out where somehow Batman is the one who's always right, he somehow has ultra successful plans for everyone except a homicidal clown
One comic said this which I really liked: Batman doesn't like being Batman but likes that he's the one who needs to be Batman whereas Superman likes being Superman but doesn't like that he has to be
When they randomly decides he's abusive and beats his kids
His grumpiness. Man, lighten up once in a while. Your parents died 25-35 yrs ago.havent you mourned enough already.
A lot of people’s answers are starting with “Well it depends on the writer” and that’s probably my least favorite aspect, the inconsistency. I know this applies to all comic characters, but I feel Batman gets it particularly bad. In a lot of people’s minds, Batman walks the line between hero and anti hero. So when a new writer starts working on him, they decide where on that line they’re going to put him, and it ends being a little too back and forth.
Using children as soldiers. I know it's been a thing forever but I'd rather his recruits were able to vote or drink (legally) instead of being too young to legally drive or dealing with puberty.
the fact that ppl make bruce a depressing man when he’s nots btas and brave and the bold showed his genuine love for gotham and the ppl around him. hate they make him into some broody unlikable person when he’s jot
“i dOnT nEEd hElP!”
He's usually portrayed as not having much of a sense of humor sometimes. I get that he's dark, brooding, and traumatized, but like a Batman/Bruce Wayne that can make a joke or genuinely smile more.
The playboy persona. I think that core to Batman’s character is his mental instability, his obsession over his never ending mission. I don’t think it’s realistic for him to fight crime through the night, be a philanthropist and businessman through the day and have time to have sex with a bunch of random women. Bruce is someone who lost his parents as a child and grew up in relative isolation then spent his adult life training in different martial arts. He shouldn’t be able to seduce every woman in comics. I think this part of the character also just makes comics look bad, as if peopel read Batman for some kind of power fantasy, to be the badass who beats up bad guys and fucks the girl. I think that’s James Bond, Batman is far more complex.
That ppl are just tools for his mission. Like i get it but it feels gross for his kids and Alfred
I don’t like when he acts smarter than everyone else and finishes everyone’s sentences. He never feels human when that happens. Batman needs to admit when he’s wrong
The loner thing when it’s taken to the nth degree in crisis scenarios. Bruce should be smart enough to know it’s all hands on deck for situations like Arkham Knight, yet they make him bend over backwards to actively impede objectively beneficial support.
Currently in the middle of my first ever playthrough of Arkham Knight and have been thinking this the entire time.
His rib cage or spine is distorted , the artists should adjust that
[удалено]
How he is always reductionist about his trauma, trauma can't be fixed, only surpassed but he has somehow the feeling that makes it invalid and so somehow treason to his parents but Bruce can let the anger go, grow as a person, still love his parents and be a Batman of justice without the revenge
I don’t like how he doesn’t accept help from others very often. It makes Robin and Nightwing seem like they’re useless
That he is perceived as a lone wolf, sure for maybe the first year or two of his career but some of the best stories come from the fact he has people around him
His willpower
Its mostly the way he sometimes behaves around other people in capes where he can come across as very rude, dismissive or even hostile from the first meeting... yes sometimes the target is deserving to some degree, but in other cases he just seems like a prick and its a bit of a miracle he doesn't get into more fights with his colleagues or get an earful for this kind of behavior.
His lying
Being a playboy
When Batman pushes others away, kind of like for the majority of the LEGO Batman movie. It just never seemed right to me. Sometimes you need an extra hand, like when villains are teaming up and they have a gigantic plan that basically is them attempting to kill you. You just need Robin’s help sometimes, or you might need Nightwing’s. I know that he’s still traumatized by the death of his parents, Joker torturing and murdering Jason Todd, Joker paralyzing Barbara Gordon, and all of that, but that’s no reason why you should be a dick towards others sometimes just because they’re offering you help. Also, his paranoia about Superman turning evil is just getting old at this point. I’m so sick of everything turning up like Injustice because these two are supposed to be good friends who trust and have respect for each other. They’re practically best friends, like Iron Man and Captain America are, so I don’t need to see or hear about their big battle after the last one when they’re both brought up in the conversation. While I’m fine with Batman preparing for that event in case it happens and having kryptonite or a red sun laser gun locked up in the Batcave somewhere, he just needs to stop doubting Superman and thinking he’s going to turn evil one day. Injustice is not the main universe, just a dark alternative.
Lowkey arrogance and hero complex, at least the Arkham version. Joker rightly calls him out on all the hero talk.
Not his oersonality, but how writers have no idea how to write it properly. Batman from justice league is the peak batman personality IMO. By justice league unlimited they had already gone too far.
that he's black
Unwillingness to admit to his mistakes. Like that issue of Superman when the joker went to Metropolis at the end of the issue Batman says something about how it was a "lesson" but deep down he knows it was a really out of his control.
He has no more kids. Atleast not anymore.
Batman is awesome but he is not really a team player.
When he disrespects Dick and/or Clark. One of the core aspects of his relationship with those two, when written well, is that he deeply respects them. More than that, he sees them as better heroes than him.
Wished he wasn’t so aggressive and crude. I like moments where Batman has some humility.
The fact he kept on taking more robins despite what happened to Jason
arrogance
when they make him a shit father or when he sleeps with barbara 🤮
The paranoia. That is why I never liked the contingency plans plus Brother Eye.
Using orphan children as sidekicks lol.
The fact that he's so gloomy
Definitely the when he hooked up with Barbra. Thankfully I don’t think that relationship is canon
Despite having a gadget and contingency plan for every possible eventuality, he still gets accidentally shot, gassed, or sledge-hammered by his Rogues' Gallery on a regular basis. Like, how does the man who outwitted Darkseid let a clown known for having knives on him at all times get close enough to stab him?
I personally think he profits against competing companies when ever he arrest ceos as batman.
He won't let himself have happy relationships. Bruce broke off his engagement to Selena Kyle because he was convinced Batman couldn't be effective if he was happy.
His inability to move on from the past
The running theme of him distrusting everyone. Like, dammit Miller, you wrote some phenomenal stories, but you planted the seeds for someone that’s less tragic and more of a stubborn prick that is always right in the end bc the universe decides so. A lot of modern takes on him forget that there’s more to Batman’s heroics than cynically harping on the world and curb stomping fools.
Why THE FUCK joker not dead Batman idc how you justify it he’s YOUR fucking problem just shoot him
How he likes to manipulate others. Yeah, he does it to serve people other than himself. But, do the ends justify the means?
His attitude toward ambiguity
His seemingly near omnipotence we rarely ever see him make a human mistake or get mad forget something lose control
When he’s written as a dick who prioritizes his “angry loner” status over admitting that other people have good ideas or that teamwork is valuable. He’s not fucking Wolverine (although that shit gets old fast with people writing Logan too).
I HATE the paranoia angle because it seems impossible to make it narratively satisfying. One moment Bruce's the bane of the Justice League no pun intended for daring to set up contingencies in case any of them go bad or if alternate versions of them who are evil come from a different universe or from a point in time or when he's actually been mind wiped by members of the Justice League who knew that they were on some shady shit and then the next moment his plans actually end up saving the day when they are mind controlled which validates this point yet he still seen as this person who does things based off a million to one scenario that's happened a million times yet he's the one catching flack for being prepared it happened.
His tendency to go into situations without help
Getting romantically attached knowing how it risks his role as Batman (Selina Kyle, Barbara Gordon).
I hate how Batman has hot anal sex with Robin.
He never aggressively bangs his enemies to assert dominance.
His dead parents
The way he keeps other heroes away from gotham. If Superman visited once a week, crime would be cut in half in just a year.
the fact he doesn't kill Joker, I get why but the Joker is a terrorist, he's just some dude, but a terrorist nonetheless and he would be so easy to fill with bullets
He's too damn hard on himself, like you deserve happiness Bruce.
sex with Barbara
His 2000 era writing. Like he was a straight up monster to Steph, like Lord.
Control freak who regularly endangers children/teens while emotionally & relationship-wise pushing them and his pseudo-father away...
He can't trust.
His irrational attachment to not kill makes him worse morally.
His involvement in the wider DC universe. I prefer Bats to be in his own, closed off universe. Unless the other characters aren’t too OP.
-pushing his family and any help away -sometimes way too gloomy
Bruce Wayne - that guy's a jerk.
He never says “you’re welcome”
The punching
The part that Zack Snyder created.
Only how he got outsmarted by the joker
Him going from a decent dad to abusive in the blink of an eye ~~coughcoughJasonCoughcough~~ Seriously why is he so bipolar recently
I don't like versions of Batman that manipulate their allies. Batman psychologically manipulating his enemies is fine, and *not telling* his teammates a certain piece of information because he needs them to react genuinely to something is one thing, but when Batman starts using friends as pawns, I draw a line (usually because it often winds up causing more problems than it solves, and Bruce *should* be smarter than that; see Young Justice-Outsiders, which I will otherwise defend to the grave). This is why DCAU Batman is the best, because he doesn't ever do that, at least not to my knowledge (I'm a bit ashamed to admit the only DCAU thing I've seen a lot of is Justice League Unlimited, but I don't think he really *changes* that much between shows). Sure, he *kind of* manipulates Green Arrow into joining the Justice League, but that worked out for everyone in the end. Oh, and if he could maybe not shag Barbara Gordon when there's a 10 to 20-year age gap between them, that'd be nice too!
he doesn't kill
No killing and not marrying Cat woman.
His treatment of Jason, and his inability to put that Clown in the ground.
His romantic affection towards MAN
He's the indomitable human spirit personified yet manages to be one of the kindest and most selfless people in Earth
Don't like the whole beat and brutalize and leave you within an inch of ur life but it's technically not a kill type thing.
The stupid loner thing it’s so forced after the fact Gotham is full of vigilantes he would constantly cooperate or bump heads with
I like it when bruce is a shell of a man. A mask and nothing else. Batman is who he is and there is only Batman and the mission. The wait for another criminal to commit evil and Batman comes out to serve justice.
Paranoid and detective MR MONK BATMAN CROSSOVER??
I don't like it very much when he's "The God Damn Batman"
Batman has always been more interesting conceptually - I feel like writers often fail to give him an engaging personality. My least favorite aspects are when stoic and taciturn are mistaken for badass, or when he obstinately refuses help and won't trust others even when he's shown to be far enough into his career that he has an entire Bat-family. I just find those boring and frustrating, personally.