Is That Batman With a Gun? "Huge" Comic Changes Coming

[Hairless Mammoth]

Didn't Batman originally have a gun? Like for the first few years in the 40s, didn't he kill people left and right? And doesn't he get a "darker" story line every decade or so where he just goes around killing people.
Seems like this isn't that big a change.

I know he did have a gun in the first comics, but I don't know how much killing he did. One issue did have him either shooting or staking (can't remember which) Dracula.

OT: This, along with all of the hate and bad things I hear about the New 52, makes it seem like DC is going back into another dark age. Hopefully, they won't drop the ball with the Batman/Supes movie and other upcoming films, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

I personally don't mind the design that much... though I have no idea how it's supposed to tie into Batman...

 

[Drake Barrow]

... I thought we left the bloody 90s behind!

This. This with all of my tiny-ankled, 3-cybernetic-arms-on-one-side-of-my-body heart. Who let the first-wave Image Comics crew back near classic characters? Is this some variation of the Outsider suit (perhaps the worst example of giving a Marty Stu unnecessary add-ons)? Or the Hellbat? Or something else equally stupid?

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Wonder Woman came out of this with a new costume too:

Which in a strange twist of fate; is actually pretty damn good. The arm blade things are a tad tacky and a few other minor things, but all in all it's pretty cool.

 

[Phil the Nervous]

That Wonder Woman costume is cool. Side star makes the whole thing look a little... crowded but quite possibly in the running for best hero costume ever.

 

[goliath6711]

And of course we can't leave out "Superman":

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Also in the news, the new version of Batman Beyond is supposed to be "Dark and Gritty" unlike that stupid cartoon it was based on. You know, the one that spliced Akira style Neo Gotham dystopia with superheroes?

 

[Fox12]

"Endgame, for instance, has already established that the Joker could be a literally immortal being."

So they're taking the comic in exciting, shittier directions? Why is it so impossible for them to get non shit-tier writers in this industry?

 

[FirstNameLastName]

That armour looks rather stupid. I know I'm a bit late to make bunny jokes since this has already been observed, but it really does look like a robotic Easter Bunny. If your first reaction to a character is to guffaw with laughter, then it seems a lost cause trying to make them gritty and serious beyond that point.

"Endgame, for instance, has already established that the Joker could be a literally immortal being."

So they're taking the comic in exciting, shittier directions? Why is it so impossible for them to get non shit-tier writers in this industry?

Why should it matter if the Joker is immortal? He's functionally immortal anyway. These are comics, after all. If a big villain/character dies, they'll be back anyway. So long as people are willing to pay to see them, they the writers will find some contrived way to bring them back.

 

[Sateru]

I always took the Batman and Joker rivalry to basically reflect the idea that the two of them are reflections of each other. In Joker's eyes, he cannot kill the Batman because the Batman is his main source of amusement. An antithesis of everything he isn't, but also someone that he can come close to empathizing with.

I'm kinda disgusted with the whole "gun" thing since I always took his attitude towards firearms to reflect his attitude towards never being like the people he fights against. Also, he never wanted to use the same sort of weapon that killed his parents off. I enjoyed that aspect of him, it is rare to have a hero subconsciously or willingly not do something or use something purely out of principle. Seeing that picture, I feel disgust and I really don't care to know more about the comic in general.

All fictional worlds have laws in them... set rules that the maker constructs and obeys. There are just certain things that the maker has to help distinguish their comic, book, or show from another. To go against a law, especially a hard-set one that spans into the basis of a character, that feels offensive.

 

[scotth266]

Honestly, comic-book covers are so misleading that I expect that gun to not be Batman's (if it IS Batman). Odds are this blue bat just picked it up in the street or something.

To be honest a lot of what I'm seeing of the upcoming DC covers has me concerned. Wonder Woman's costume looks great, and I'm interested in Hal Jordan's, but Superman looks like a really muscley Superboy (complete with punk bloody hand wraps) and Batman's ear things are... yeah. I just don't see how we got from point A to point B here.

 

[K-lusive]

My first thought when seeing a big, bulky blue superhero with antennea?

Spoiler: It's the Tick!

I suppose this new Batman does wear more armor than the Tick though..

 

[Sixcess]

... I thought we left the bloody 90s behind!

My thoughts exactly.

Poor DC. They appear so traumatised by Marvel's current success that they've regressed 20 years. Sales of belt pouches and spiky bits are about to go Xtreme to the Max in the dark and edgy new DC-X-verse.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

"Is That Batman With a Gun?" ... looks at the image... Nope, that's clearly Pikachu's ears!

Anyway, "whoa a gun!" doesn't do anything for me. Remember how the Batmobile and his other vehicles come packed with tons of machine guns and missiles and shit? So, as long as he doesn't shoot people but uses his handgun against armor and obstacles, that doesn't really 'rescind' the No-guns! rule IMHO. The rule is; not using guns to shoot people. NOT: never ever use anything that spits out bullets.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

Wonder Woman came out of this with a new costume too:

Which in a strange twist of fate; is actually pretty damn good. The arm blade things are a tad tacky and a few other minor things, but all in all it's pretty cool.

Hmmmmm. It's very Judge Dredd with the shoulder pauldrons. And those blades; hey, it's Wolverine! Ugh... :\

 

[MonsterCrit]

Okay.. first they give Superman the power tro 'Explode' as a new superpower... and now this.. wait didn't they already do something like this after the whole Knightfall thing?

Ugh? Man..I mean say what you want about Manga but dammit at least their characters retain some level of consistency and the stories actually go somewhere.. I think that's the problem here. DC and MArvel have reached a point where they've been telling the stories of these guys for decades and decades but the most important part to any story is an ending. THe hero's journey must end. It's only at the end of a story you reflect on how the character has changed, grown, and the story carries an over all message.

When the story is just dragged on indefinitely and passed from writer, to writer to writer.... it becomes well, a bit of butter spread over too much bread. I think DC has reached that point. What's worse the heroes themselves are no longer inspiring.

 

[hermes]

That looks ridiculous, and not in a good way.

It looks like a Liefeld student was put in charge of re-imagining Bugs Bunny.

 

[Banjo-Kazooie Blue]

That picture is not of Batman. I'm almost positive what we're seeing in this image is the Blue Beetle, who for whatever reason is going to be on the cover of Batman that month.

 

[happyninja42]

That...



...errm...



...That's a police-robot easter bunny there.

Now that's a comic I'd read. They could call it "Eggshells", and it would be a metaphor for the fragility of justice in a world gone mad.

In a world...filled with crime. One Bunny, shall leave hidden eggs...OF JUSTICE!! *cue explosions and slow motion leaping at massive mech bots* This Easter season, Justice will paint the eggs red, with the blood of the criminals! And evil, will get hard boiled! *screaming bad guy being killed in a big vat of bubbling stuff while Bunny-Bot looks on*

*cue shot of badguys picking up egg bombs* "Holy shi.." *BOOM*

Easter Day Massacre Bunny! This Spring, at a theater near you!

 

[Solkard]

That looks more like an armored/mechanized police unit, stylized in Batman fashion.

Look at the colors of the suit. It's blue with streaks of white, like police vehicles are often patterned. Also notice the blue and red lights on the back, indicative of police siren functions. It's more likely a Robo-Batman-Cop or some stupid "Since Batman is good a fighting crime. Dressing police up like Batman should also make them good at fighting crime" logic.