TF Views

I was gonna say, if druglords and organized crime guys can successfully funnel money, surely the World's Greateast Detective can figure it out.

Drug Lords and such are not so much hiding money as they are keeping it out of reach. Legal barriers and procedures can hinder investigators. And, those investigators can simply be bought/killed.

Such things would be an issue for Batman's enemies.

Dominic wrote:That is like saying "Bruce Wayne is magic". Nobody is *that* good. If somebody wrote a new character like that, they would be (rightly) accused of creating an over-powered gaming character.

I think this pretty much sums it up. Sure Bruce is just about the best there is at covering his tracks, but he's not perfect. He's not infallible. One of these days he's going to slip up, and now he's associated with Batman in a way that he wasn't before. The potential for a problem certainly exists where it didn't exist before.

And I'll bet you that's a thread Morrison wants to take.

It's 'right there.'

Batman will go global (or at least nationwide) on his Fight Against Crime. And then, inevitably, he will slip. He will fall. And he will be outed.

And Batman will retreat and this whole thing will be over with.

On the surface it could provide a good cover. "Of course Bruce Wayne is buying stuff for the Batmobile, he knows Batman" The problem is that rich people's money is rarely left alone. People always want to know *exactly* where all of it went and if Wayne were ever audited by either the IRS or the Wayne Enterprises Board of Investors he'd be screwed. You don't give the IRS an answer like "oh, that million went to Batman". They'd want receipts, Batman's tax ID number and full legal name and to be able to prove that Wayne wasn't doing something underhanded with it. Point being that there are financial authorities that Wayne has to answer to and because of that admitting publicly that several millions of dollars (or possibly more) have been going to fund some renegade vigilante is not a good business decision.

For those following any of the Brightest Day storyline, and in particular Justice League: Generation Lost (I'm waiting for the trade on that series but following the main book), there's an interesting Batman tidbit. Back in the first issue, Max Lord mind-wiped almost everyone into believing that he doesn't exist as part of his plan. But Bruce Wayne is back in the present day, and makes an appearance in Brightest Day #13 where he mentions Max Lord. Since he wasn't in the present day when Lord mind-wiped everyone, he wasn't affected. Which could be a nice plot twist for that storyline, since presumably Lord is none the wiser about there being two Batmen now.

I also saw that Batman Inc. #1 was on the shelf. I flipped through it, and may still buy the issue, but couldn't quite bring myself to bite the bullet today. The cover design is interesting, with the flags of multiple nations, Batman in the middle, and a very small Batman Inc. logo about a third of the way down the page.

Have it. Ain't read it yet.

Dom

andersonh1 wrote:But Bruce Wayne is back in the present day, and makes an appearance in Brightest Day #13 where he mentions Max Lord. Since he wasn't in the present day when Lord mind-wiped everyone, he wasn't affected. Which could be a nice plot twist for that storyline, since presumably Lord is none the wiser about there being two Batmen now.

Yeah, it should be interesting to see what Bruce has in mind being one of the few who even remembers who Lord is. I'd glad that was something this story touched on.

Good issue of Green Lantern this week as well. Really wasn't expecting to see one of the Entities that shows up at the end, let alone who it chose as a host.

I agree, that was a nice twist at the end. And I liked the way that having Barry Allen in the issue helped explain a lot about who Hal is. Barry's one of his closest friends and knows him well, and it's good to see the story exploit that.


Flash #6
"The Dastardly Death of the Rogues" finishes up with this issue, and as can be expected with the final issue of a storyline, the villain is revealed and most major plot threads are tied up, while new ones are laid out for future storylines. A question I had from last issue, namely how the Flash can be held by (futuristic) handcuffs is answered: he can't. And the whole issue feels like a Silver Age story with a modern style. We've got a broad canvas of easy time travel with plenty of colorful villains and improbable heroics, and yet the goofiness and terrible dialogue of the Silver Age is thankfully absent. It's a nice hybrid of retro and modern day comic book storytelling, which is appealing.

The only real flaw is that it didn't need six issues to tell this story. Not that all six issues weren't entertaining and well-drawn, but the plot didn't really advance for about three months. Writing for the trade strikes again. And in an interesting parallel with this month's issue of Green Lantern, the notion of what doubt does to the main character is touched upon, but left to be explored in future issues.

Green Lantern #59
Hal Jordan has spent the last 8 issues or so working with Sinestro, Atrocitus and Carol Ferris in an attempt to hunt down the other entities like Parallax and to contain them. It finally catches up with him as both the Green Lantern Corps and his friends figure it out. The Flash turns up to call him out, and spends the issue talking with Hal, and demonstrating just how well he knows him. A discussion of how Green Arrow made Hal doubt himself is a part of that conversation, which ties in with the Flash #6. And Larfleeze picks Barry Allens pocket and steals his wallet. It's a fun scene, but where does Barry keep a wallet in that form fitting suit?

Then the Indigo tribe show up with a reformed Black Hand, and then the mystery figure who has been trying to collect the emotional entities shows up and sics Parallax on Barry Allen. So now we've got the Flash as Parallax. And I'm thinking the New Guardians storyline has got to be coming to a head, but we'll see next month.

Brightest Day #14
Batman as a White Lantern makes a great cover. And it does happen in the story, briefly, as Boston Brand tries to rid himself of the white ring. But in a story focused entirely on him, the life entity sets him straight and tells him to simply live his life, and stop trying to hunt down the new host. And the next thing you know, he and Dove are smooching.

Deadman's never been a character I've been particularly interested in, but a lot of his story in this issue rang very true, emotionally. Particularly the scene with his grandfather. Brand spends his life as someone who's utterly self-absorbed, missing out on precious time with family and friends, and he never realizes how shallow and pointless that was until it's too late. And it's apparently a lesson he still needs to learn.

And then, as mentioned above, Batman contacts someone about Maxwell Lord. Nice.

Lord is a genius, and a telepath. It woudl not take much for him to figure out that there are two Batmen, even if he managed to miss Grayson being in the suit to begin with.

Then the Indigo tribe show up with a reformed Black Hand, and then the mystery figure who has been trying to collect the emotional entities shows up and sics Parallax on Barry Allen. So now we've got the Flash as Parallax. And I'm thinking the New Guardians storyline has got to be coming to a head, but we'll see next month.

No offense, but ugh.... If that reads even half as much like fanfic as it sounds like.....Barry-lax? Black Hand is reformed? Wha?

Dom
-and now to derail the thread with Gomess' help.