Could somebody spoilerbox out the various levels of revealing who Hush “is”? It’s not the ultimate secret, but it is one of the big reveals that made that particular story so interesting (as it was a source of major fan frenzy before it was revealed: there were many clues scattered about prior to the first big reveal).
We should also note that Batman’s supreme badassness came about in part not form his own title, but because he was part of the Justice League. Given that he was on a team that included people who could win a boxing match with a meteor, read minds, move near the speed of light, and so on, they had to find reasons to make him useful. The result was the infamous claim that Batman could beat ANYONE… if you know, he had time to prepare. This idea carried over to the JL animated series in which Batman goes toe to toe with some pretty improbably powerful foes and inexplicably kicks their asses.
Oddly enough, the animated origin/backstory for Harley Quinn was first given in the one-shot comic book Mad Love, written by Paul Dini. It was later adapted as a half-hour episode of the series.
And the look of the Batman animated series was referred to in-house as “Dark Deco.” I believe head artist Bruce Timm said he was somewhat inspired by the Max Fleischer Superman cartoons of yore.
I’ve read Mad Love. It’s a panel in Mad Love that makes it clear how Harley got through college. She’s walking out of a professor’s office. The professor is smiling. His hair is mussed. His tie is undone. He has lipstick marks on his face. Considering the state of his clothes, it’s likely they’ve just finished having sex. On the desk is a paper with Harleen Quinzel on it. The grade (I can’t remember if it was an F, or a D) has been strongly crossed out and replaced with an A.
IMHO One of the very few good things about the Birds Of Prey television series was Mia Sara’s portrayal of Harley Quin.
Re Comissioner Gordon And Secret Identities
I think it was Frank Miller who introduced the idea the Jim Gordon figured out Batman’s identity a long time ago. However, as he supports Batman’s work and sees him as something of an adopted son (Bruce also sees Gordon as an adopted father), Gordon has deliberately not done any formal investigation into the matter, left any record of it, or ever asked Bruce or Batman about it.
In an episode of the animated series, Barbara decides to tell her father that she’s BatGirl. She says that she has something important to tell him, something that she’s wanted to tell him for years. He stops her and says “Barbara, you’re not a little girl anymore. You’re an adult. You don’t need me to approve of your choices. And in this case, I can’t. But, I love you. All of you. And that is all I have to say in the matter.”
In the aforementioned Hush (nonspoiler), Bats mentions in one of his thought balloons that he believes Perry White (editor in chief of the Daily Planet) has figured out Clark’s secret identity in the same way Gordon has figured out his.
What you say about Batman’s abilities, as compared to some of the others, is quite true. However, we have to keep in mind we’re dealing with the World’s Greatest Detective, here, and a man who has made a life out of figuring out how to take people down… no matter how tough, no matter how powerful… in a variety of ways.
One of the plot points in both Frank Miller’s Batman stories is how Superman never had to think his way out of anything; he had superpowers to use. Batman did not, and therefore had to be super smart in order to compete. Furthermore, Batman has had to deal with any number of superhuman nuts in Gotham, with or without the Justice League… and has therefore had to rise to the occasion, because These Guys Had To Be Beaten.
Sure, you or I may be able to kick Sherlock Holmes’ ass, hand to hand… but I sure wouldn’t wanna give him a chance to think or speak. He’d hand me my head. And even then, he was no slouch when it came to fisticuffs.
But dem things ain’t evolution! Biologically, human beings are no different now than they were when they first started developing Civilization 10-12 thousand years ago. (Heck, western Europeans and Australian aborigines can still interbreed, and they’ve been out of touch with each other for 40-50 thousand years.)
As jayjay said, he’s been around for a while, and is arguably Batman’s most formidable foe. The first “arc” (which is actually a set of stories that was published intemittently of a period of a couple of years) is collected in Batman: Tales of the Demon. The animated series episodes are essentially a compressed version of the storyline, I believe.
I need to start collecting the B:TAS DVDs, since they stopped airing the show in my area.
But isnt he supposed to be the mentor of Batman or something? sort of like a friend-turned-foe? From what I read online, it seems Bruce travelled east where he met Al Ghul ([slight hijack]Where do they some up with such names??? Is there a comic code that says that superheroes and villans cannot have regular names, like jack, ahmed or noname :wally ?[/slight hijack]), who mentored him. Is this true?
The one thing I never understood was why they went with this spelling. It’s pronounced Raysh. Though there may be subtleties to the pronunciation I’ve missed, I’d think Reish would be a better spelling. Heving only read about him, Terry McGinnis calls him ‘Rahss’.
Though noncanon, there are at least two alternate futures in which Bruce and Talia have a son. Non Spoilers In Brotherhood Of The Bat (and It’s hideous sequel, The League Of Batmen), Bruce is long dead. Al Ghul has thrown the world into chaos. Talia reveals to her son, Tallant, his father’s identity and legacy. Non Spoilers In Kingdom Come, Ibn Al Xufash (Son Of The Bat) has succeeded Al Ghul, and has serious issues with his father.
The animated episodes featuring Al Ghul are definitely worth watching. David Warner (Sark in Tron, among many other roles) is excellent as Al Ghul.
Astronomy buffs may connect this name with the star Beta Persei, familiarly known as Algol, which, after an intermediate stage of Al Ghul, came from the Arabic Ras al Ghul, the Demon’s Head. Algol was the first variable star known to telescopic astronomers. There have been speculations that naked-eye astronomers also noticed its variability and that the Demon name was placed on it because it was unlike all the other - constant - stars in the sky. It may even go back earlier. The Romans appeared to call it Caput Larvae, the Specter’s Head, while the Chinese referred to it by Tsieh She (by some transliteration system or other), a name that apparently translates as the piled-up corpses.
Which brings us around again to Batman’s Ras al Ghul. :eek:
DK2 is a senseless, narcissistic mess, and it doesn’t deserve to be stored in the same room, much less on the same bookshelf, as The Dark Knight Returns. That being said, it’s way too fun to be flat-out awful.
Anytime I’ve heard the series brought up at a comic store or such, the consensus seems to be that it’s great. I agree.
Great look and character designs.
Interesting new characters- Ink, Blight, Mad Stan, Spellbinder, Stalker etc.
Did some great things with old characters- Barbara Gordon, Mister Freeze, Bane.
I just wish it had answered some of the questions it raised- What happened to Dick Grayson and Tim Drake? Just how did Powers gain so much control of Wayne Industries? Is the Joker dead (We see a skeleton clad in Joker clothes in a shot of a cave the Joker gang uses for initiations, but it’s not clear if it’s actually the Joker’s bones.)? If so, how and when did he die? What happened to Harley (I read in an interview that they had thought of hinting that she had reformed and become President by having a news announcer in the background say ‘In other news today, President Quinzel . . .’).
Batman Beyond is justified by the Return of the Joker movie alone, the uncut version delivers a great story. In the episodes, I thought they did a good job with character development and art design. IMO, the “suit” led to some of the traditional “super-power” stuff which I don’t much care for.
I get you, though for me the artwork was lost under the weight of what I considered terrible characters and a meandering story. I’m probably not the best judge, since I know none of the DC chracters outside of the Batman TPBs. I was a fan of the WB Batman animated series, then a University roommate had DK Returns, Watchmen, Ronin and a few other titles. Since then I’ve read stuff like Transmetropolitan, Preacher, and Planetary, but not the traditional superhero titles.
Alot of this was answered in the BB: Return of the Joker movie, which it is worth tracking down the uncut version of. It answers the Joker/Harley/Drake questions. As for Grayson, he’s mentioned either in that movie or elsewhere in the series by Barbara. He’s still kicking around as Nightwing I believe.
As for Powers, I think it was mostly just that Wayne had neglected his company for so long as Batman that other stockholders had sort of taken over.
I’m not saying the development is wrong, just that this is how it happened. Batman wasn’t always a guy who could go toe to toe with Darkseid or Caliback.
Yes, I shouldn’t have left this out: Frank Miller was indeed partly responsible for the idea that Batman could be a world-class badass. That was where the idea first came into full view.
I’m not saying it rings false, just that it’s part of Batman’s development from guy in tights with a gun to the guy that kicks the ass of White Martians twice over. What sort of rings false is that he is often seen going hand to hand and holding his own with monsters that can knock over buildings with one punch. THAT’S a little excessive.