Bruce Wayne is back... soon!

[MMPR]

So is every major decision in comics ever, when are you going to learn that?

It's also a very creative and game-changing idea that works within the mythos and where every major peice of Dennis O'Neil or Neil-Adams approved Batman had been going in the 1970s and beyond.

Batman stopped being about the "one man crusade" YEARS ago as the Bat-Family grew around him, so stop pretending otherwise.

This whole thing seems like DC is making a poor attempt to capitalize on their biggest character by giving him a very large amount of different titles and rebooting his franchise the same time

 

[Kenori]

There's a difference between having allies and INCORPORATING YOUR NAME AND LOGO INTO A FRANCHISE.

Its stupid...

 

[Blue Saint]

This whole thing seems like DC is making a poor attempt to capitalize on their biggest character by giving him a very large amount of different titles and rebooting his franchise the same time

Which they did last year too. Honestly right now DiDio is just trying to prove himself now that Warner is watching him more closely. I think they only reason this is happening is because his plan for a Watchmen sequel fell apart.
There is no other why to explain these major shifts for each member of the Trinity happening at the same time.

 

[Skyknight]

There's a difference between having allies and INCORPORATING YOUR NAME AND LOGO INTO A FRANCHISE.

Its stupid...

It's genius and a fine parody of mass marketing that creates new characters and allies, exactly what the comics have been about for years to the more objective readers.

 

[Lynxara]

There's a difference between having allies and INCORPORATING YOUR NAME AND LOGO INTO A FRANCHISE.

Its stupid...

I kind of find it interesting, in the context of some other things Morrison's been writing about with his Batman run. The idea of superheroes fully modernizing and taking advantage of modern marketing and business techniques to promote themselves and their "brand message," for example. It's not a very romantic depiction of superheroes, but it is something new, and corporate superhero books have precious new ideas.

 

[Blue Saint]

I kind of find it interesting, in the context of some other things Morrison's been writing about with his Batman run. The idea of superheroes fully modernizing and taking advantage of modern marketing and business techniques to promote themselves and their "brand message," for example. It's not a very romantic depiction of superheroes, but it is something new, and corporate superhero books have precious new ideas.

But it is really isn't that new either, the corporate and brand minded superhero has been around since at least Booster Gold. The franchise aspects has also been done within the DCU with regards to the Royal Flush Gang. Plus this honestly just feels like repackaging of his X-Corp idea from New X-Men.

 

[Lynxara]

But it is really isn't that new either, the corporate and brand minded superhero has been around since at least Booster Gold.

No, it hasn't. I've read the original Jurgens Booster Gold run. Booster Gold was about a superhero who was trying to make money off of his personal brand, inspired by the ad deals athletes were starting to make in the 80s. Booster Gold as conceived had more in common with the original concept of Power Man than this.

Batman Inc isn't about franchising the Batman idea to make money. It's about franchising the idea to make the Batman idea more powerful and effective through conscious use of 21st century marketing techniques. Bruce Wayne obviously doesn't care about money, nor would his "employees". They do all care about justice and terrifying criminals, though.

Batman Inc is really just a modernization of the "Batman Family" concept that comes in and out of fashion with Batman readers. Right now it's fashionable because people like the Dick Grayson Batman and side-characters like the Knight and Squire. Batman Inc is a clever way to doing this idea without just rehashing the early 70s approach directly.

This is similar to the X-Corp idea, certainly, and why not? It's not like Marvel's still using that idea. The Royal Flush Gang comparison strikes me as strained and desperate, an attempt to find some way to call Batman Inc a bad idea by somehow depriving of its virtue of originality through any comparison to any vaguely similar concept possible. I don't take such arguments seriously and they do little credit to those who make them.

 

[FlashNeko]

DC would never turn Bruce Wayne into an Oracle like character, it would kill their sales.

I dunno, it didn't exactly hurt Batman Beyond.

 

[Blue Saint]

No, it hasn't. I've read the original Jurgens Booster Gold run. Booster Gold was about a superhero who was trying to make money off of his personal brand, inspired by the ad deals athletes were starting to make in the 80s. Booster Gold as conceived had more in common with the original concept of Power Man than this.

Batman Inc isn't about franchising the Batman idea to make money. It's about franchising the idea to make the Batman idea more powerful and effective through conscious use of 21st century marketing techniques. Bruce Wayne obviously doesn't care about money, nor would his "employees". They do all care about justice and terrifying criminals, though.

Batman Inc is really just a modernization of the "Batman Family" concept that comes in and out of fashion with Batman readers. Right now it's fashionable because people like the Dick Grayson Batman and side-characters like the Knight and Squire. Batman Inc is a clever way to doing this idea without just rehashing the early 70s approach directly.

This is similar to the X-Corp idea, certainly, and why not? It's not like Marvel's still using that idea. The Royal Flush Gang comparison strikes me as strained and desperate, an attempt to find some way to call Batman Inc a bad idea by somehow depriving of its virtue of originality through any comparison to any vaguely similar concept possible. I don't take such arguments seriously and they do little credit to those who make them.

First I brought up Booster because I feel both him and Batman, Inc. are exploration of branding in regard to superheroics. While obviously Booster is profit driven and Batman, Inc. is going be from a non-profit direction, I feel both cover (or will cover) the exceptions that comes when a brand is presented to the public. While I agree that Booster came from developments with regards to sport stars he also became an examination of balancing expectations of a brand with actual performance and the consequences of the failure to do so especially in the early part of 52. And as for the Royal Flush Gang inclusion I feel it has merit in regards to this discussion. It may not be the best parallel, I admit, which was never expanded upon but it still exists.

And as base concept Batman, Inc. isn't that bad. My issues stem from Bruce Wayne leaving the control of Gotham to someone else, even if it is Dick. I know the in story reason is Bruce now sees Dick is more than capable and he trusts him more than anyone else in the world, but still I feel it doesn't mesh with the portrayal of Bruce for most of his existence. Which is something that is quite common in Morrison's work, his New X-Men run was full of this just look at Scott Summers.

My other issue is this tacked on meta-commentary with regards to the branding in what would otherwise be, as you said, an updated version of the Batman Family concept. This is another part of Morrison's style that gets in the way of an otherwise interesting story. I know we haven't seen anything from the book yet but by his choice in title alone suggests that his message is his first concern here.

As I have admitted before I am not a Morrison fan, which I also admit comes in part from the damage he brought to the X-Men in my eyes. That said Morrison is a good writer when he plays to his strengths, in continuity mainstream superheroes isn't one of them.

 

[Lynxara]

First I brought up Booster because I feel both him and Batman, Inc. are exploration of branding in regard to superheroics.

Yeah, and I just... feel this comparison is totally off-base. Batman Inc is about using brand techniques to spread a positive message. Booster Gold was about a superhero who intentionally sought out endorsement deals so he could make a living. Those are really different concepts, they don't merit comparison.

I know the in story reason is Bruce now sees Dick is more than capable and he trusts him more than anyone else in the world, but still I feel it doesn't mesh with the portrayal of Bruce for most of his existence.

No, it doesn't. This is because it's a new idea and new ideas must necessarily disagree somewhat with what came before. It is also an idea built specifically around the notion that Bruce has had a recent experience which fundamentally changed his outlook.

If you truly object to Bruce Wayne's outlook ever changing-- well, I don't see how you can like the character at all. Throughout Batman's history, we've had at least 6 or 7 very distinct personalities for Bruce Wayne used at various points in time.

I know we haven't seen anything from the book yet but by his choice in title alone suggests that his message is his first concern here.

Are you objecting to the very idea of a story having themes? Or is it simply abhorrent to write a superhero story with theme primarily in mind, rather than say character or plot?