#batman gothic

[geek-antic]

Inspired by the Batman gothic comic and the song Oranges and Lemons

[brucewayneglazer]

alfred unironically did the "my child is normal"💀

[imsorrybruce]

Okay I almost forgot about intending to write a post about Gothic and themes of SA and CSA within it and the parallels between burning nun and Bruce but I remembered so here it is this one a long one so yeah First of all let's look at the most obvious textual examples

In the first we have Bruce talking about having "to fight off the advances of degenerate old teachers" followed by him admitting that he wasn't athletic or strong, implying that he couldn't fight those off. In the second, we have a very obvious imagery of the capuchins tearing the clothes off the young nun after Manfred gives in into sin. These two are the more known examples.

However, there is actually one other example of the in text allusion to SA and specifically CSA, and it happens before either Manfred or Batman even appear on page. I personally think it is a subtle foreshadowing to the next issue where the above Bruce panel happens.

Now, let's look at what were Morrison's inspirations when writing this story.

Manfred obviously takes a lot from the idea of Faust. In Goethe's work, Faust, who is somewhere around 50 yo at the time, falls for and seduces, with the help of Mephistopheles, a young girl Gretchen who is about 14 years old. As a result her life is ruined.

Another work, which is directly quoted within Gothic, is Don Giovanni. Giovanni in the opera is a known womanizer with hundreds of women "of all ages" that he slept with prior to the plot, and on the stage he attempts to assault Zerlina too. Within Gothic Manfred is clearly meant to parallel Giovanni, as one of his opponents is named Ottavio, same as one of the opponents of Giovanni in the opera.

Another work which seemingly inspired Morrison, and which I want to point out especially, is The Monk. I did find claims that was a source of inspiration, but couldn't find a quote supporting it, yet I feel the similarities between the plots are strong enough that it doesn't need official confirmation. Basically in the book a devoted monk Ambrosio is seduced into sin when a younger monk who reveals he is actually a woman, and then Ambrosio commits rape and murder (and, unknowidngly, incest). After that he makes a deal with Lucifer to escape the cage and punishment, and Lucifer complies, however, there's a loophole - Ambrosio only asked to get out of the cell. Lucifer then proceeds to float him high above ground and let him fall to the rocks, where he suffers for days before dying, damned for eternal suffering. Now what happens in Gothic? Manfred, a devoted monk, is "seduced" into sin by a younger abbot (tho he doesn't reveal himself to be a woman), and then commits rape and murder.

Interestingly, there is also the parallel with the death of Ambrosio: when Batman first appears on page, he says that he is "the king of hell" aka Lucifer, and later, during his and Manfred's first fight Manfred falls from up high, but doesn't die yet, as he is immortal at that time, and only dies a few days later (from different causes)

(and also the fact that both "The Monk: a romance" and the "Gothic: a romance" share the "a romance" part of their title... could be nothing, but everything else considered...) Let's also point out that Gothic literature in general often deals with themes of taboos and specifically SA, and it was evidently a big influence in creation of this arc. (there is a reason it's called Gothic and it's not just because of the cathedrall...) So while the panel of Bruce talking about his childhood expereinces by itself, could, potentially, be dismissed as not evidence enough (though even then I wouldn't agree with the dismissal), the fact that there are other instances of allusions to SA on panel and in the other works Morrison draws parallels to makes the "Bruce was assaulted as a child" reading all the more strong in my opinion. On second thought as I'm writing this I feel like this is too long so the parallels with the burning nun will be in the reblog key bye

[jarbongopy]

A day late for Batman day but here he is

[hyacinth-paris]

I started reading Batman comics! And so I thought I'd share some of my thoughts on them. I've read 5 currently.

• Batman Year One: This one I bought on paperback trade cause I thought I'd be nice to have in my collection. (It was also an early birthday present!) The story was really good, I like the art a lot. The Jim Gordon cheating thing is umm yk not really it but I heard its kinda not canon anymore and even if its still canon I'm gonna ignore it. Overall I liked it a lot :)

• Catwoman Her Sister's Keeper: This was alright. The story is nice and art is great. Nothing really stood out to me but maybe it's because I don't know much about Catwoman. Hopefully when I read more things I'll like her stories more.

• Batman Shaman: This was good. I liked it. I don't have any notes about it at the top of my head. Solid read.

• Batman Gothic: This one is the one that I would rank the lowest out of these. It's not like its bad but its not really something that speaks to me personally. I found the 300 years old ex-princible of Bruce Wayne thing kinda weird.

• Batman Venom: I liked this a lot. The idea of Bruce getting lost in grief and thinking he isnt strong enough so him getting addicted to drugs was really interesting! It was great to see him breaking out of addiction and using his wit along with his strength was amazing to read.

This is what I've read so far and I'm currently reading more. I have never read like a charater from the start before. I usually watch marvel movies and then pick up a random comic that say "1" on it. So this is a nice change for me.

[batmancurated]

batman: gothic; art by klaus janson

[kingcrow01]

haha yeah this is a great party *grabs your face and stares intensely into your eyes* do you remember that batman comic where Bruce went to a boarding school and his only friend stopped showing up one day and then the headmaster made Bruce lean over his desk so he could beat him with a stick where Bruce had full view of his friends decapitated head in his trash bin so he gets his dad to pick him up and then that night his dad says, "let's all go and see a movie tonight :)" and it is heavily implied that that's when they all see zorro and get killed

anyways go read Batman Gothic I guess

[my-brain-on-mars]

Why is it so hard to get a physical copy of batman gothic! I'm tired of settling for pixels