How would you save Batman?

>>87436308
No more of this sjw bullshit, he should start killing his enemies starting with the Joker, then Two-Face, Riddler, Penguin, Mr.Freeze, all of them.
This liberal crap about mental illness legal defense excuses needs to stop and Batman needs to start killing them all.

>>87436405
He dosen't kill them, because of his 'code'.

Or his own mental illness.

>>87436551
>He doesn't kill them, because of the Comics Code.
ftfy

>>87436405
If he killied them then the series would have to stop wouldn't it?
I doubt writers can write decent villains to replace the traditional ones.

>>87436587
Is that why Ollie had punch-arrows?

>>87436308
get a good writer

>>87436587
Snyder, go to bed.

Batman had a no-kill rule years before the Comics Code Authority. Furthermore the no-kill version of the character is the one that has become an icon. I suggest you read The Punisher.

Make him Brave
And make him Bold

Maybe give him some friends outside the bat family.

>>87438093
>Batman had a no-kill rule years before the Comics Code Authority.
Glad someone mentioned it. I think it was part of an effort to popularize it with kids, along with the introduction of Robin.

Focus more on Bruce Wayne, his inner demons and his inner monologue. Focus on his loneliness and isolation. Focus on him balancing his playboy facade and managing his company. Focus more on the detective angle and stop making him rely on gadgets as much. A little more grit without being gratuitous or over the top. Make him human.

Id have his growing Bat-family help him conquer his personal demons, either shaping him into a more compassionate/well-adjusted hero over time, or helping him eventually give up the cowl and accept what happened to his parents. Maybe you could do both, having Bruce transition into a person who uses his vast wealth and skills to reform Gotham through legal means, with the occasional help of a winged friend (or two, or three) when things get too hot.

Maybe you could go in a different direction entirely, and have him become a villain. Not some black hearted moustache-twirler, one that retains the motive of keeping Gotham (and the world) safe. Just through more brutal, underhanded means than before; given that the man is basically a one-person secret service, this could be more frightening than Superman going rogue.

>>87436587
Kinda blew my mind there

That was an idea that never crossed my mind.

Let him rest.

Not a "he's really dead guys (or back in time) so let's have Dick take over" rest.

Retire the character for... say, 5 years.

In the meantime, flesh out Gotham outside of Batman. Bring back the GCPD, do some more villain spotlights (remember Joker's Asylum?) do something with the characters you already have cluttering up the streets before adding new, forced ones (looking at you, Harper Row).

>>87438214
In universe, it seemed like Batman just wasn't comfortable with killing somebody in front of a child.

>>87438340
Because he gave up killing years before the inception of the Code.

>>87436587
Wait, I thought the Comics Code was the reason he didn't molest Robin?

>>87436308
Hm... Tough question.

Alright, if I were doing a main universe Batman, I'd show him that he is not 'Batman' but was Bruce Wayne wearing a costume. I'd show that Bruce doesn't just throw himself into the role of Batman and instead tries other ways to save Gotham. Batman is just his last resort, when he can't do anything else about a situation or it needs quick and direct invervention. Show that Bruce also tries to help some of the people he puts away. Show Batman playing chess with Harvey, engaging in discussion with Riddler, shit like that.

Also, cut down on the amount of romantic subtext between him and the Joker or show that it is completely one sided. Show that Bruce finds Joker repulsive and show that when training, he imagines that it's Joker that he is beating and show the beatings in a non-erotic manner.

Also, make sure to cut down on how effective the Joker is. Show that he is good at killing and what not, but also demonstrate how being insane is a double edged sword for him. For while it makes him unpredictable, it also makes his plans very easy to stop as they are so completely out there.

>>87436405
>>87436551
>>87436587

>I don't want to sound like some fuddy-duddy Silver Age apologist but I've noticed a lot recently of people saying Batman should kill the Joker and, yeah, Superman should kill, he should make the tough moral decisions we all have to make every day. I don't know about you, but the last moral decision I made didn't have anything to do with killing people. And I don't think many of us ever have to make the decision whether or not to kill. In fact, the more you think about it, unless you're in one of the Armed Forces, killing is illegal and immoral. Why would we want our superheroes to do that?

- Grant Morrison

>>87436308

Allow him - now bare with me here - to develop as a character beyond what he's been for the past 30 years.

>>87436308
Just two Batman books. Batman is for big action packed stories. Detective is for crime stuff, single issue stories and short arcs, no 12+ issue crap.

Make a point of there being three sides to Bruce, playboy Bruce, asshole Batman and normal Bruce who isn't a twat to everyone.

Clean up the Batfamily. Put Babs back in the wheelchair, have Spoiler, Cass and Harper share the Batgirl name in a Batgirls book. Get rid of Duke as not-Robin, have Damian as his permanent partner.

>>87438374
I like this. I would add - show that he has a pretty good relationship with the GCPD, not just Gordon. A lot of it is corrupt, but those cops that aren't, he will aid them in their cases and defer to them if the situation doesn't demand his immediate involvement. Basically show that he has a healthy amount of respect for good cops and is trying to work with them, not around them.


Also, give him a Robin and stick with him. The rest of the family can be sidelined and pushed to the fringes, but Batman really does need a partner to bounce off of.

>>87438878

I disagree all my favorite Batman stories don't feature Robin at all. Shaman, Gothic, Heart of Hush, Prey, etc.

Stop stealing his stuff
Now we can't even have Batman deal with the supernatural because that's Batwoman gimmick now.

They are reducing Batman to just a prop to make other heroes.

>>87438737
>Damian
why

>>87436308
I don't know because the title has become such a pile of dogshit I haven't read it for about two decades. Respect for posting a Breyfogle Bats in your thread header though, OP. Hey, that's a though. get Wagner/Grant and Breyfogle back on the title! Oh wait can Norm Breyfogle still draw? Poor guy had a stroke, didn't he? Get Wagner/Grant and a decent, zesty artist then, in that case. There, fixed.

>>87436308
Make Batman fun again. Get rid of any and all grimdark and pump out as many animated features starring Adam West and Burt Ward as possible until one of them kicks the bucket.

with a razor

>>87436405
>batman doesn't kill because the sjw's don't want him to.

Batman had a no kill code decades before social justice warriors were a thing.

>>87438386
For as much shit as I give the guy, Morrison understands and respects the genre.

>>87436308
Take the Joker so he doesn't have to

>>87441660
Holy shit I meant rape. Goddamn phone

>>87436308
candys.