DC Comics Multimedia General - A crisis of infinite fuck ups

[Incecticyder]

I suspect that Ace Chemicals employs half of Gotham's populace, hence why they still continue to exist despite repeated instances of poison gas attacks linked to super villains. The other half work for Legal Aid.

You can't blame them for that. Criminals steal their stuff.

 

[Ultraman Orb Dark]

Pa Kent still being alive in the DCAU was wholesome, especially in the Justice League Christmas episode where he reveals Ma and him used to wrap Clark's gifts with lead only for Clark to say Santa wrapped them.

Don't forget how welcoming they were when Clark brought J'onn with him.

But I do agree, villains like the Joker *absolutely* should have been legally put to death after the Xth time they broke out of prison and went on an unrepentant killing spree.

It's been a while since I read it, but I think there was an old story about Joker getting the death penalty, but he was resurrected by his goons.

I suspect that Ace Chemicals employs half of Gotham's populace, hence why they still continue to exist despite repeated instances of poison gas attacks linked to super villains. The other half work for Legal Aid.

Reminds me the montage in the Merry Little Batman special where Batman rid Gotham of crime. He helped turn Ace Chemicals into a clean energy plant.

that was some wonderful "I also have that power"
M78 Nebula would be proud

Funny thing is that both Superman and Ultraman (not the DC one) get their powers from the sun. We're barely making solar energy work while those two are using the sun to do God knows what.

 

[BubbaRobot887]

Saw the latest Supergirl trailer and boy does this movie look bad, even from the trailer I can tell they have done a bunch of reshoots.

DC should just shelve this thing like they did Batgirl.

 

[Slighly Used Gum]

I am not sure Ps Kent had ever died in the comics before the 78 movie, I think that was something the movie did and then they added it to the comics.

Originally in 1939 Ma and Pa Kent died when Clark was a young adult, and on his deathbed Pa urged Clark to use his power for good, inspiring him to become Superman. When Superboy was retconned in, Ma and Pa were alive in Superboy comics but remained dead in the Superman comics. Superman #161 (1963) showed how they died late in Superboy's career from a disease that Superboy couldn't cure. That was basically the chronologically last Superboy story, so they kept appearing alive and well in Superboy stories for another two decades until Crisis. Then when John Byrne took over the Superman books he thought it would make for better stories if the post-Crisis versions of Ma and Pa Kent were still alive in present day, and that status was also used in the Lois and Clark TV show.

 

[BubbaRobot887]

Okay, good to know.

I really liked Eddie Jones in Lois and Clark, he is my favorite Pa Kent.

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

You can't blame them for that. Criminals steal their stuff.

It does beg the question why the cops, Feds or both don't treat it as a high security facility with APCs and satellite coverage. And you some annoying soccer mom is going to start an advocacy group against Ace Chemicals anyway.

The more you think about Gotham, the more it looks like the city itself is the problem.

 

[God of Nothing]

Ver archivo adjunto 9108123

I have no problem with what Darkseid did here.

was it rape?

 

[Incecticyder]

It does beg the question why the cops, Feds or both don't treat it as a high security facility with APCs and satellite coverage. And you some annoying soccer mom is going to start an advocacy group against Ace Chemicals anyway.

The more you think about Gotham, the more it looks like the city itself is the problem.

Gotham is a place where the honest cops are busy and the crooked cops are turning a blind eye. Everyone knows that. That is why there is a need for Batman.

 

[Basic Blond Boy]

One is that some of this comes about through what are on some level more isolated stories and turning them into an ongoing canon. Comics used to be more a story a kid would read at the time and wasn't so much meant to be "but ten years ago in this story..." stuff. So when people criticise Batman for not killing Joker or such, well that would be less of an issue in one story - a madman kidnaps some people and plants a bomb, Batman stops him. Self-contained, you don't have the issue of re-interpreting ethics through long-term consequences. Maybe the clown villain stays in prison or is cured or only escapes once more. It's an issue of there being two different models in which comics are read and viewed. And I would say that once upon a time, the less continuity-focused model was the prevailing one. Now that nobody buys them and they're only read by people who scour wikis for inconsistencies with stories two decades ago, the fact that Joker has escaped 150+ times becomes an issue where it wasn't before.

Even factoring this in, you don't need multiple stories to say the Joker should be put down. Writers go to great lengths to make the Jonkler le edgy and have him just spout out how he has skinned 100 babies before he does his next crossing-the-line act that should reasonably result in his death. Even my example, Injustice, is self-contained and has the asshole nuke a city, yet somehow Superman is wrong for shoving a fist through his chest. The consistent upping the scales to try to out-do the Killing Joke is why people think Batman should kill. That story already vaguely alludes to Batman killing him and that is for the personal crime of torturing Gordon. He has done so much worse since to not only Batman, but Gotham as a whole, yet seems to get less consequences with each round. The Killing Joke was supposed to be a final straw, a point of no return, not the invitation to scale up Joker it has become.

 

[Incecticyder]

Even factoring this in, you don't need multiple stories to say the Joker should be put down. Writers go to great lengths to make the Jonkler le edgy and have him just spout out how he has skinned 100 babies before he does his next crossing-the-line act that should reasonably result in his death. Even my example, Injustice, is self-contained and has the asshole nuke a city, yet somehow Superman is wrong for shoving a fist through his chest. The consistent upping the scales to try to out-do the Killing Joke is why people think Batman should kill. That story already vaguely alludes to Batman killing him and that is for the personal crime of torturing Gordon. He has done so much worse since to not only Batman, but Gotham as a whole, yet seems to get less consequences with each round. The Killing Joke was supposed to be a final straw, a point of no return, not the invitation to scale up Joker it has become.

On Injustice: Killing the Joker was justified but Superman and the rest of the JL turning into dictators was not. It is out of character for all of them. When JL of DCAU turned into the Justice Lords, it was more justified. Lex was the president and he killed the Flash. Getting away with killing a close friend and the heart of the team while being an elected president made it more understandable. Going full dictator for a villain doesn't make sense. Lex was elected by the people and that made the JL the enemy of America. The fact that the people voted for him was the major contributing factor other than the murder of the Flash.

As for the death penalty of the Joker, I think the idea that he resurrects himself works. Killing him just frees him to return to life. Imprisoning him is keeping him off the streets. The fact that he escapes is the fault of whoever doesn't guard him well enough.

 

[Overly Serious]

Even factoring this in, you don't need multiple stories to say the Joker should be put down. Writers go to great lengths to make the Jonkler le edgy and have him just spout out how he has skinned 100 babies before he does his next crossing-the-line act that should reasonably result in his death. Even my example, Injustice, is self-contained and has the asshole nuke a city, yet somehow Superman is wrong for shoving a fist through his chest. The consistent upping the scales to try to out-do the Killing Joke is why people think Batman should kill. That story already vaguely alludes to Batman killing him and that is for the personal crime of torturing Gordon. He has done so much worse since to not only Batman, but Gotham as a whole, yet seems to get less consequences with each round. The Killing Joke was supposed to be a final straw, a point of no return, not the invitation to scale up Joker it has become.

You could explain the endless times that the Joker is let go to continue to maim and kill with a small tweak. Just say that Gotham is in the UK, then everything becomes explicable by our legal system.

 

[Pedophobe]

In the real world (which comics obviously are not) someone like Batman or even Superman, should not unilaterally have the power to kill villains.
But I do agree, villains like the Joker *absolutely* should have been legally put to death after the Xth time they broke out of prison and went on an unrepentant killing spree.

There's at least a couple of Batman stories I've read where he taunts the villain with the fact they're going to be executed for their crimes (with all due process of course) once he brings them. So, depending on the writer, Batman is fine with villains being killed, he just doesn't want to be the one who has to do it.

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

You could explain the endless times that the Joker is let go to continue to maim and kill with a small tweak. Just say that Gotham is in the UK, then everything becomes explicable by our legal system.

I would blame anti-Death Penalty groupies. Women love convicts on Death Row and impeded the actual use of the Death Penalty for decades at a time. That's why the other half of Gotham works in Legal Aid.

 

[AverageQuarianEnjoyer]

If there is a Bruce Wayne heroic Batman variant that would make sense that would kill it was him. But it feels odd they want him to be the most brutal Batman and even gave him an axe, as his signature weapon and he still doesn't kill somehow.

Taking away both Bruce Wayne's money and Batman's no-kill rule could've been interesting commentary on how pacifism is a luxury belief but the writers are too busy virtue signaling about white supremacy and capitalism.

 

[Newcomer 42]

Absolute Bats eventually does kill though... A bunch of neo-nazis that are meant to represent DRUMPF! supporters, but he feels bad afterwards.

Gotham also has the issue of, besides having something like 10 criminals per citizen, tons of curses conflicting with each other, terrible housing plans, worse safety rules than the average Imperium workplace, vampires and other monsters, Dracula, and way worse.
So the place is literally cursed to never get better.

I remember someone here mentioned that an interesting idea would have been Batman somehow "completing" Gotham and thus going out to other cities to muscle his way in here, but I dunno if Current Year writers could even do that.

 

[Basic Blond Boy]

As for the death penalty of the Joker, I think the idea that he resurrects himself works. Killing him just frees him to return to life. Imprisoning him is keeping him off the streets. The fact that he escapes is the fault of whoever doesn't guard him well enough.

As contradictory as it sounds, I think the best explanation is that Gotham needs him to a degree. I always find it funny how a Gotham without Joker almost always seems to be worse off as suddenly all the villains who hated each other are now able to work together. Joker's need for chaos throws off the entire Gotham underworld and prevent any unification. Helps that most of the rogues are terrified of him, so they don't want to push too hard lest they end up a victim of the clown.

For all Joker's issues, he is a fantastic limiter as to what the rogues can do. He really prevents all of Batman's other foes from executing on their true potential.

Also, his death typically leads to power struggles and the rise of new gangs, like Beyond's the Jokers. Someone will try to take the clown's mantle in his absence.

 

[Humble Architect]

I mean Gotham is clearly the Underworld and Batman is just Hades keeping the damned in Tartarus/Arkham.

Batman, Superman and Aquaman have been “not insane” versions of Hades, Zeus and Poseidon for awhile now. I think Diana has commented a few times that her new friends are just the modern replacements for her fucked family.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

As contradictory as it sounds, I think the best explanation is that Gotham needs him to a degree. I always find it funny how a Gotham without Joker almost always seems to be worse off as suddenly all the villains who hated each other are now able to work together. Joker's need for chaos throws off the entire Gotham underworld and prevent any unification. Helps that most of the rogues are terrified of him, so they don't want to push too hard lest they end up a victim of the clown.

For all Joker's issues, he is a fantastic limiter as to what the rogues can do. He really prevents all of Batman's other foes from executing on their true potential.

Also, his death typically leads to power struggles and the rise of new gangs, like Beyond's the Jokers. Someone will try to take the clown's mantle in his absence.

that sounds like a good handwave
not being mean so much, but yeah

speaking of early Supes and stuff, I recall my dad mentioning he was catching the ancient radio serials and in that iirc apparently he just shows up on Earth as an adult, meets some rando and is like "dang, sounds like being a news guy is how to help people! Clark Kent away!"
then my dad and I started trying to think hard about when exactly did Ma and Pa Kent become a thing

 

[Mystery Spy]

Canonically most villains and criminals are afraid of Batman, but realistically I wonder how many would actually be scared of him if they knew for a fact he wouldn't kill them. That should I think remove a lot of his intimidating aura.

I think Batman has abused in interrogation the fact the villains think he would kill them as an intimidation tactic:

I could see random goons reassure each other that he has never killed anyone and he won't kill them no matter what.

 

[BubbaRobot887]

that sounds like a good handwave
not being mean so much, but yeah

speaking of early Supes and stuff, I recall my dad mentioning he was catching the ancient radio serials and in that iirc apparently he just shows up on Earth as an adult, meets some rando and is like "dang, sounds like being a news guy is how to help people! Clark Kent away!"
then my dad and I started trying to think hard about when exactly did Ma and Pa Kent become a thing

The Superman radio show is pretty good, it's where the Daily Planet and Perry White get their names. The episodes are 15 minutes long each so that section was rushed to get to the cliffhanger but it is a well written serial adventure show and Bud Collyer has the best voice of any Superman.

It is also the first time Batman and Superman crossed over with each other.

It is in the public domain so it is pretty easy to find on Youtube.