Ah, but that’s why I specified “after Knightmares” - because that’s inside Bruce’s head. I don’t subscribe to the Batman Beyond “Batman is the name I call myself” thing. I believe that there’s actually three personas we must consider - both Batman and the Playboy are masks - Bruce is the real man underneath both.
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You are mistaking me for Clark.
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Clark and Bruce are not that different, you and I. 
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This is great news!
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It’s a funny thing. Him of all coming in to do the Batman. I’m a loyal DC reader mainly Batman and related titles and have been for over 20 years. The only other book I’ve read from any other company is the amazing run this man has don on Daredevil. I don’t subscribe to fate but him doing this is uncannily awesome and I can’t wait.
We have a four page unlettered preview from Batman #125! A fan-favorite Batman art team returns for their first crack at Bruce Wayne | GamesRadar+
Looks pretty classic. And a glimpse of Tim in the sewers!
It apparently will be a 48 page story, but some of those pages are a Catwoman backup (honestly…this is a bit frustrating. Catwoman literally has her own book. It feels really like a waste of a backup. I get that people love Catwoman and want to tell stories about her, even if she does have an ongoing, but I feel like editorial isn’t using the backups nearly as efficiently as they should. But that’s my own crankiness).
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I like that it looks like we finally have someone being full time Robin the Batman book which is great. I’d prefer it be Damian so Tim can finally move on again but I get Williamson still has plans for him in his own series
I love Tim and Damian (though the best is clearly Steph ), and I’m glad that there seems to be actual plans for both of them. My own personal wish is that Damian would be paired with Dick in a Nightwing and Robin (or some other codename) book, since that pairing is much more appealing to me than Bruce and Damian. I love how much Bruce loves Damian, but I don’t think he’s nearly as good for Damian as Dick is.
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Damian’s been in a weird spot for the past decade because he was clearly promoted to be Dick’s Robin, it’s a flip of the traditional Batman and Robin dynamic, but he’s too much his father’s son for him to work as well as Bruce’s Robin. His flaws are largely expanded on versions of Bruce’s flaws and they don’t provide the tonal balance that is so crucial to Robin. I think that (along with the general directionless bumbling of the Batfamily this past decade) is part of why both him and Tim have been so weirdly and badly used since the New 52.
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You said it so well - he’s too much like Bruce to work very effectively with Bruce, because Bruce won’t be able to effectively model or challenge the behavior that Damian most needs to develop.
Tim has been so badly used, I think, because Lobdell set a really bad status quo for him as well as a generally generic and dull personality writing for him for so long in the n52. Tynion tried, but Tynion’s tendencies weren’t quite strongly different enough from Lobdell to break Tim free of that negative pattern and back towards the Dixon/Yost type of writing that I think highlights the best of Tim. (I know he’s popular, but I’ve never liked Fabian Nicieza and Geoff Johns’s cold, arrogant Tim.)
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It’s always funny when I see people say that, because I think the only creators that made me even remotely care for Tim are James Tynion and Geoff Johns. Like, Chuck Dixon does NOTHING for me in general, let alone his Tim. Though to be fair, the fact that Dixon is…really problematic probably plays a big role.
I feel like I’m opening a can of worms here, but: how so?
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There are certainly a lot of Dixon stories that I could take or leave, but I still think his Tim is generally very sweet and “normal guy who works really hard”. I also am a bit influenced by the way Dixon has talked about how he deliberately fashioned some elements of Tim Drake for Jordan Gorfinkel, who told his wistfully that he wished there were more Jewish characters in comics, so Dixon never explicitly stated Tim was Jewish, but always had that in mind for the character because of his relationship with Gorf.
@KookieSuperApe I kinda hope we don’t get into that in this thread. There’s other threads about Dixon on the boards where they go into it. But I posted in this thread with the new pages hoping that we could discuss and get excited about/discuss our fears for the upcoming Zdarsky run, not get into a fight about past creators. Just my personally hopes, though.
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Dixon did something with Comicsgate that made many people mad.
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I’m gonna defer to miller and just say to look up “Chuck Dixon Rawhide Kid” to see the incident that basically blacklisted him from the Big Two. Also, I don’t have the receipts for it, but let’s just say he didn’t take Tim coming out as bi well at all.
Anyway, I’m going to give Zdarsky a shot with his Tim. If anyone can make me a fan of him, it’s probably Chip.
Also, the book itself sounds promising. I’m SO GLAD that we have a writer who’s actually writing some Bruce Wayne content for once (the fact that Jorge Jimenez had to point out this was the first time he’s really drawn Bruce Wayne outside of the batcave is WILD to me). The comment about this new villain being Bruce’s “Doomsday” feels like a bit too tall an order, but I’m willing to let him shoot his shot.
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I am very curious to see what Zdarsky does with Tim, for sure! And see how Jorge draws him! Jorge’s been one of my absolute favorite artists since he did Smallville Season 11 with Bryan Q. Miller (still wish DC would put him on a mainstream Wonder Woman run, because he did such a phenomenal job with her for that series).
As for writers writing Bruce Wayne content…Tamaki’s done a whole lot of that since Infinite Frontier started! Her run is super good and well worth checking out.
I also am curious to see what the over/under on Zdarsky starting a big crossover even in December/January after his first arc is over is. I think it’s inevitable. DC loves their events, pumping things up. Williamson got one, I can’t see Zdarsky not getting one, especially with what he’s saying about trying to work with other writers to make sure the whole line feels like they all matter to each other.
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I’m thinking they probably wait a few months because I doubt they want to step on Dark Crisis’s toes but by the end of 2023 I’m sure we’ll have a Bat crossover again.
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Oh, for sure within 12 months. But my personal prediction is 6 months. When is Dark Crisis scheduled to wrap up?
it’s a 7 issue monthly I think so it wraps up December I believe?
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So January we’ll get Zdarsky Batman: The Birthday Present Crisis crossover! (joke based on his story with Fraction in Tec 1027). 
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