Actually DC fixing Gotham's jailbreak problem or even killing a couple of Batman rogues would be such a breath of fresh air.
The roster is pretty tight as it is, so trying to fit new bad guys without stepping on a pre-existing rogue's niche is kinda hard. The old rogues are fun, we love a classic, but they're also a bit stale. There are only so many times you can re-invent the wheel before you need a break, and since we're shuffling between the same bad guys again and again you don't have enough time to miss them for the most part.
I'm not saying you can't do interesting stuff with the classic rogues, I actually think some of them could make for pretty interesting modern storylines. I just think it comes a point where it's to the detriment of Batman himself. How many times can Joker escape Arkham or Blackgate before you start scratching your head about it. Yes, I actually really like the whole no killing thing. Cassandra Cain is my favorite character, I don't think Batman has to start killing rogues, but he should definitely do something about the constant break outs.
Yes, I know, it's great to bring an old rogue back...but that's only if you're bringing them back from something.
Let Bruce Wayne fix Blackgate penitentiary, let him actually invest in cleaning Arkham and turning it into what's meant to be instead of a torture facility. Now, when he catches a rogue it has stakes. Once most of the old rogues are out, introduce new players taking over the power vacuum. Maybe one of them is in cahoots with police and we need an arc of cleaning the police force (god forbid we make an actual critique of the structure but that's DC for you). Maybe one of them is an anti Bruce Wayne with enough money and resources to keep his criminal and personal lives separate. Give him villains that require detective work to put behind bars! Or just give him villains that fit the new era.
You don't have to keep having the same rogues break out of jail again and again, especially if you're not interested in exploring other philosophies outside of Batman's "Killin is wrong and we can't do anything about how extremely ineffective our jails are nor change society in any meaningful way". The thing is, to keep Batman from stagnating they have to keep jumping the shark which means that Gotham keeps getting worse and worse despite Batman and Bruce's efforts. In fact, it almost seems like he's making things worse.
This post is my answer to that: make things better, give some semi permanent solutions, add new rogues to fill the power vacuum and keep things fresh without needing to have seven active gangs, several meta humans, the mob, ten serial killers, several assassin cults and the Joker all simultaneously active. I know nostalgia sells, but it also makes things worse! Also, I'm only suggesting this because of the direction I perceive DC to be taking with current Batman (which is edgy but a bit more wholesome than the Dark Knight era). If they wanted to go back to noir, super edgy and dark, sure, turn Gotham into a hell hole. But idk, having so many lighthearted issues and comics with way more family stuff (fluff and drama alike) doesn't jibe with the absolutely hopeless state of Gotham.
Idk, maybe someone will tell me "mmmm actually this has been done before" but I just want them to stick to it. Fix Blackgate or I can't take Batman seriously.
