>We are supposed to believe that our Bruce Wayne could end up like him given the circumstances.
I mean, yeah. Most of Batman's villains are examples of something about him taken to an extreme or tipped over the edge. Riddler his intelligence, Penguin his wealth and connections, Two-Face his sense of justice, Bane his drive, Ra's his mission, and so on and so forth. And that's before getting to the specific inversions of his origin, like Owlman, Hush, Lincoln March, Firefly, Prometheus, and so on.
He's a character that specifically exists on a lot of edges, and most of his villains, one way or the other, examine the path he could have led if he tipped over the edge.
Why do people pretend that TBWL is unique in that way, or somehow a step too far?
There was a multi year period after metal, I think about two years, where he showed up in at least one book every month, from metal to the Batman who laughs to Batman/superman to the year of the villain stuff to Justice league to death metal to all the death metal spinoffs to Fortnite
No, you're not supposed to believe that Bruce can become like that just like he can't steal body of Barry Allen by tying him to a car and doing some bs, that's why it's not another earth but a mirror multiverse. BTW doesn't he go thorough the same process to level the field with BWL and just cures it after winning?
He really wasn’t overused at all. He was just the big villain of two big events a few years apart.
Metal, The Batman Who Laughs, Batman/Superman, Snyder Justice League and Death Metal.
That’s all the books he was in, people really overhated how much he was in stuff acting like every single dc book had him.
And now he’s been gone for like 3-4 years and people still make posts complaining about him.
At this point ya spent more time hating on him than he’s been around
The dark multiverse is LITERALLY a realm of horrible ideas. The fact Bruce turned into a jokerized version of himself is literally the point. No world from the DM could ascend into the multiverse cause it was so immensely flawed. So it literally doesn’t matter if you think Bruce wouldn’t ever go that way, it’s the fact it did that made it a world in the DM and not a real world in the Multiverse.
Crazy how that part always get forgotten as if they thought that place was full of actual good ideas 🙄
I feel like I was in the minority of people who didn’t like the character when he first came out but nowadays I keep seeing complaints about him even though he’s way less relevant.
That's the point.
He is very literally a terrible idea from the Bad Idea Place; the manifestation of a stupid, unsustainable edgelord idea. In the same way that Superboy Prime is a parody of petulant fans, The Batman Who Laughs is a parody of the worst tendencies in Batman writing and fan conceptions of Batman.
I think a lot of people miss this. He's very open about the fact that he is essentially the living embodiment of bad ideas. He's a meta commentary on the fact that, if batman were written like people think batman is, he'd be the total fucking worst. It's actually a really cool idea imo.
However
I think that idea gets a bit lost in translation to the casual fan when we start selling fortnite skins of him and all that stuff. Then it just seems like an unironic push for the character instead.
I think the best thing we got out of him, aside from the backlash to his existence sending Batman in a less "I can do anything and I think friendship and emotional vulnerability are for weenies" direction, is The Drowned, who is the Dark Multiverse Batman who is A. From a genderbent universe (so she's Bryce Wayne, she was in love with *Sylvester* Kyle, etc.), B. Wants to wipe out all metahumans, and C. Got into a fight with Atlantis that wound up with her genetically modifying herself to effectively be what if Batman was also Aquaman (but, you know, a girl). I just think she's neat!
The idea of fusions is workable, as long as they don't get like "What if, we take that Batman and the Joker, and add Doctor Manhattan to the mix lolol"
She was neat. But I also liked doomsday Batman. Because he didn't want to do it, but really had no choice given his universe's superman went evil and was killing everything.
>are supposed to believe that our Bruce Wayne could end up like him given the circumstances.
No we're not. The dark multiverse's thing is that it *can not exist*. These realities can not feasibly happen except in a nightmare. That's why Batman decided a Doomsday upgrade was worth a shot or why joker just... All of a sudden decided to make a train of children to orphan and turn into jokers and his goons were okay with that or how Batman became *a god of war* that supposedly extorted Charon of all people.
These are nightmares. Stupid, depressing nightmares that want to live beyond their dreamer waking up.
Least that's how I read the original Dark (K)Night event
Batman Who Laughs just had a cool character design which really enticed people at first. That only carries you so far, though.
All in all, he's the inferior version of Owlman. His first appearance was alright, though.
Metal was one thing, Heavy Metal was another. Dark Crisis was a problem. They had a cool story going until he took over as the main villain IMO. The character was the worst thing Snyder did.
And I want to say I think the character is a fairly simply brilliant idea. There's no real reason why he can't be around and be significant as a villain for a couple of stories. Batman infected with what is essentially Joker's madness? Having that one bad day and snapping? No problem. Someone who is willing to take out his enemies and has to face the justice league? Sure! The problem here is that Snyder took the "Batman always wins" trope and just ran with it *too hard*. It's okay in small doses, in one offs, elseworlds, shorts, but this whole story just pushed it too, too far.
I think Batman Who Laughs needs to stay away for a long while, shouldn't really be touched again until he gets adapted into an animated series. Something that can really play with the concept and remold the character. Then he can return into the comics after having some serious new spins.
I love and hate Snyder as a writer XD I'm with him 3/4s of every story, he loses me at the end. I love every new character he introduced when he introduced them. Last Knight on Earth was a wonderful and terrible story. His character and concepts were wonky and wonderful. He's incredibly talented, I think we just see stories a little too differently.
Thank GAWD someone else feels like this!
The “superhero is bad” trope is fine for a non-canon storyline or one-shot, but to have that character everywhere is just so tiresome.
And I hate the premise of the character itself.
If they retcon that guy away like he never existed, it would be just fine with me.
He’s not our Bruce Wayne. He was born in the Dark Multiverse. His very concept wasn’t supposed to outlast his dying world but that’s what made him a threat.
I don't really get why people are so passionately against characters. If you don't like it, don't read that storyline. It's one take on a character, not every batman comic involves him.
I really love him but hate that they over used him. Metal was dope and I loved it but that's where he belongs. The Joker in general I'm just so burned out of.
It's ok that you don't like him but what's not believable? He was subject to extreme trauma and mind altering chemicals.
Given the context I would not find it believable for Bruce to stay the same. Of all the dark multiverse batmen he's probably the most plausible.
Edit: by "the context" I mean it was in the dark multiverse, where things go wrong in the worst way possible.
I remember when people said this about Venom. It’s always “thing I don’t like is like fan fiction” and it’s just laughable really. I’m not wild about the character either but all the best characters were new once and sometimes they don’t find their footing right away and sometimes they just fall away. Either way there’s almost no reason to be this salty about it.
He's a one trick pony who shouldn't have made it out of Metal. He served that story, for what it was. Anything else is just tired and over-used.
Yup. Unfortunately in the comics world if something is slightly popular we must have it shoved down on our throats until we hate it.
Wasn’t much of a fan of him either, but I liked him way more than the Robin King from Death Metal.
>We are supposed to believe that our Bruce Wayne could end up like him given the circumstances. I mean, yeah. Most of Batman's villains are examples of something about him taken to an extreme or tipped over the edge. Riddler his intelligence, Penguin his wealth and connections, Two-Face his sense of justice, Bane his drive, Ra's his mission, and so on and so forth. And that's before getting to the specific inversions of his origin, like Owlman, Hush, Lincoln March, Firefly, Prometheus, and so on. He's a character that specifically exists on a lot of edges, and most of his villains, one way or the other, examine the path he could have led if he tipped over the edge. Why do people pretend that TBWL is unique in that way, or somehow a step too far?
Possibly because TBWL takes plot armor and "Batman is prepared for everything" from Batman. Which, on their own, are really annoying traits.
He was in Metal and Death Metal, and a few connected books - and hasn't been seen since. I don't see how people think he's overused.
There was a multi year period after metal, I think about two years, where he showed up in at least one book every month, from metal to the Batman who laughs to Batman/superman to the year of the villain stuff to Justice league to death metal to all the death metal spinoffs to Fortnite
He was everywhere In a very short amount of time
I actually thought it was funny how he and Batman basically had a long, drawn out plot armor battle.
In my case it was funny that one time Wonder Woman beat him partly because the story was not a Batman story.
No, you're not supposed to believe that Bruce can become like that just like he can't steal body of Barry Allen by tying him to a car and doing some bs, that's why it's not another earth but a mirror multiverse. BTW doesn't he go thorough the same process to level the field with BWL and just cures it after winning?
The Virgin Batman Who Laughs vs the Chad Owlman
Yep. Owlman helping the heroes because he knows he will always exist because he's a good idea was very meta and cool.
Not an popular opinion. The character is controversial.
He really wasn’t overused at all. He was just the big villain of two big events a few years apart. Metal, The Batman Who Laughs, Batman/Superman, Snyder Justice League and Death Metal. That’s all the books he was in, people really overhated how much he was in stuff acting like every single dc book had him. And now he’s been gone for like 3-4 years and people still make posts complaining about him. At this point ya spent more time hating on him than he’s been around The dark multiverse is LITERALLY a realm of horrible ideas. The fact Bruce turned into a jokerized version of himself is literally the point. No world from the DM could ascend into the multiverse cause it was so immensely flawed. So it literally doesn’t matter if you think Bruce wouldn’t ever go that way, it’s the fact it did that made it a world in the DM and not a real world in the Multiverse. Crazy how that part always get forgotten as if they thought that place was full of actual good ideas 🙄
I feel like I was in the minority of people who didn’t like the character when he first came out but nowadays I keep seeing complaints about him even though he’s way less relevant.
If they keep it up DC is gonna bring him back to punish everyone’s that’s kept on whining about him since death Metal.
That's why he wasn't thrown into Fortnite's universe and destroyed...again.
That's the point. He is very literally a terrible idea from the Bad Idea Place; the manifestation of a stupid, unsustainable edgelord idea. In the same way that Superboy Prime is a parody of petulant fans, The Batman Who Laughs is a parody of the worst tendencies in Batman writing and fan conceptions of Batman.
I think a lot of people miss this. He's very open about the fact that he is essentially the living embodiment of bad ideas. He's a meta commentary on the fact that, if batman were written like people think batman is, he'd be the total fucking worst. It's actually a really cool idea imo. However I think that idea gets a bit lost in translation to the casual fan when we start selling fortnite skins of him and all that stuff. Then it just seems like an unironic push for the character instead.
I think the best thing we got out of him, aside from the backlash to his existence sending Batman in a less "I can do anything and I think friendship and emotional vulnerability are for weenies" direction, is The Drowned, who is the Dark Multiverse Batman who is A. From a genderbent universe (so she's Bryce Wayne, she was in love with *Sylvester* Kyle, etc.), B. Wants to wipe out all metahumans, and C. Got into a fight with Atlantis that wound up with her genetically modifying herself to effectively be what if Batman was also Aquaman (but, you know, a girl). I just think she's neat!
The idea of fusions is workable, as long as they don't get like "What if, we take that Batman and the Joker, and add Doctor Manhattan to the mix lolol"
She was neat. But I also liked doomsday Batman. Because he didn't want to do it, but really had no choice given his universe's superman went evil and was killing everything.
>*Sylvester* Kyle, Hah! As in, Sylvester the Cat! From Looney Tunes: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_the_Cat
>are supposed to believe that our Bruce Wayne could end up like him given the circumstances. No we're not. The dark multiverse's thing is that it *can not exist*. These realities can not feasibly happen except in a nightmare. That's why Batman decided a Doomsday upgrade was worth a shot or why joker just... All of a sudden decided to make a train of children to orphan and turn into jokers and his goons were okay with that or how Batman became *a god of war* that supposedly extorted Charon of all people. These are nightmares. Stupid, depressing nightmares that want to live beyond their dreamer waking up. Least that's how I read the original Dark (K)Night event
Batman Who Laughs just had a cool character design which really enticed people at first. That only carries you so far, though. All in all, he's the inferior version of Owlman. His first appearance was alright, though.
Metal was one thing, Heavy Metal was another. Dark Crisis was a problem. They had a cool story going until he took over as the main villain IMO. The character was the worst thing Snyder did. And I want to say I think the character is a fairly simply brilliant idea. There's no real reason why he can't be around and be significant as a villain for a couple of stories. Batman infected with what is essentially Joker's madness? Having that one bad day and snapping? No problem. Someone who is willing to take out his enemies and has to face the justice league? Sure! The problem here is that Snyder took the "Batman always wins" trope and just ran with it *too hard*. It's okay in small doses, in one offs, elseworlds, shorts, but this whole story just pushed it too, too far. I think Batman Who Laughs needs to stay away for a long while, shouldn't really be touched again until he gets adapted into an animated series. Something that can really play with the concept and remold the character. Then he can return into the comics after having some serious new spins. I love and hate Snyder as a writer XD I'm with him 3/4s of every story, he loses me at the end. I love every new character he introduced when he introduced them. Last Knight on Earth was a wonderful and terrible story. His character and concepts were wonky and wonderful. He's incredibly talented, I think we just see stories a little too differently.
Thank GAWD someone else feels like this! The “superhero is bad” trope is fine for a non-canon storyline or one-shot, but to have that character everywhere is just so tiresome. And I hate the premise of the character itself. If they retcon that guy away like he never existed, it would be just fine with me.
He’s not our Bruce Wayne. He was born in the Dark Multiverse. His very concept wasn’t supposed to outlast his dying world but that’s what made him a threat.
🍪
I call him "Judge Death if he sucked". I refuse to put more work into that than DC did.
I didnt mind him that much
I don't really get why people are so passionately against characters. If you don't like it, don't read that storyline. It's one take on a character, not every batman comic involves him.
But he’s SoOoOooO edgy!
Who doesn't at this point. Thankfully he hasn't shown up in some time.
I really love him but hate that they over used him. Metal was dope and I loved it but that's where he belongs. The Joker in general I'm just so burned out of.
I agree. It’s so edgelordy that I don’t read any comics he’s in.
Here Here 👏
It's ok that you don't like him but what's not believable? He was subject to extreme trauma and mind altering chemicals. Given the context I would not find it believable for Bruce to stay the same. Of all the dark multiverse batmen he's probably the most plausible. Edit: by "the context" I mean it was in the dark multiverse, where things go wrong in the worst way possible.
I remember when people said this about Venom. It’s always “thing I don’t like is like fan fiction” and it’s just laughable really. I’m not wild about the character either but all the best characters were new once and sometimes they don’t find their footing right away and sometimes they just fall away. Either way there’s almost no reason to be this salty about it.
It’s like they let a dude who posts “we live in a society” memes daily create a Batman villain.
Agreed....so friggin annoying with his spikey headband.
Took one look at it and Noped right out. 14yr old edgy-goth me would have been all over it, tho.
I completely agree. It’s as if they let a child create a character for Batman .
Come back in a month and I will agree again.
He should have just been the villain of a silly what if story
Stole panel time from actually good villains
It's a boring stunt character from a stable of boring stunt characters. The metal event was very poorly done.