First: Marry Christmas and Happy holidays and a happy new year for all. mild spoilers ahead for Dark Nights: Death Metal: The Last Stories of the DC Universe (2020-) #1 and a rant.
I finally realized just why there is so many evil batman in the dark multiverse, ever crisis batman does not really have much other than his Oath to drive him forward, he literally is the guy who inspires more hope then superman as the league knows Batman has a plan to get them out of the crisis…yet Dc never really gives him something to give him hope for his future in the crisis events, they literally ruin his relationship (again) with Catwoman in the identity crisis’s which leaders to him creating brother’s eye, they literally kill him off for a time in Final crisis…eally the only Batman that seems to get hope in a crisis crossover is old man batman from Kingdom come and they do that by killing off 90’s Catwoman in front of him.
In Dark Nights: Death Metal: The Last Stories of the DC Universe Sinestro gets to be a green lantern again, superman gets to have his moment to save have the chance to save everyone, the titans get a party, Batman marries Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordan…Raises Roy Harper from the dead to bolster the Titan’s hope…yet is also killed off at the start of the event and is now a Black Lanter…he does not get a black text box with 4 claw marks ‘Hay bat’ in his last panel…
I hope he gets an epic as heck revival seen at the end of this event and Finally gets his ‘happy hopeful moment’ with his family and Catwoman. Because DC is cruel to their creation this is true…but batman always gets the cruelest moments. Ya, he gets his happy ending with Catwoman in the Dark Knight Rises, but that’s after batman has been killed. He gets a happy moment with Catwoman at the end of the City of Bane however the kill off Alfred. generally, he is just ok I just saved the universe again…there are three jokers running around… time to get back to work. Batman says he can be happy and be batman…I hope DC will have this be the new normal once the reboot is set.
I am likely going to be shown oh he gets happy moments and he does but there literally fleeting moments well superman (injustice exception) since his own marriage gets to go home, kiss his wife and eat her horrible cooking. batman gets to move on to the next great horror in Gotham, get in a fight with his kids, or one of his kids is just flat out killed off (for the millionth time) or horribly maimed…Catwoman dies before his eyes, ya lets give batman happiness for a change I mean superman gets a taste of Batman’s life and he becomes a crazy dictator…batman just stoically moves on to the next maniac wondering if this next guy will give him a good death… let’s give Bruce Wayne a good life let him be Batman and be happy with his new partner in crime-fighting Selina kyle and have them adopt the Wayne children together and have them lean on each other when times are tough…
Because really the only time I really have seen batman happy is if his parents live there are two versions of this one were Gotham goes downhill but bruce has just bad attachments to his parents and only his parents and Catwoman goes crazy that’s the gift, and it’s likely had booster not gotten involved…honestly, it could be interesting. Then there are Batman Gotham adventures Phantom stranger shows Batman a world where his parents were not killed, a world where Bruce Wayne is happy has two sons with Catwoman, however, all his allies are on the wrong side of the law instead of the cities greatest heroes. I would say in batman Catwoman we are finally getting a series where we get to see those missing twenty years of Batman and Catwoman’s relationship before Selina Wayne was killed on Earth two and batman dies a year after her death.