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Opinion on the rather meteoric rise of vigilantes and powered heros in the gotham area? ((Aka the "only in gotham" crowd))

There's a lot of rumors that it's all part of the so called bat clan but ....I doubt they all know eachother that well.

Gotham is a very particular town, as anyone who's grown up there will tell you. And as you will be told even more LOUDLY by anyone who didn't grow up in the city but DID grow up within worthwhile driving distance of it. No one shit talks Gotham more than Metropolis, is all I'm saying.

And one of the reasons that Gotham stands out so strongly in the modern day is the sheer roster of superheroes that it has stalking its streets. The categorization or which has become a semi-eternal bugbear of my entire profession. Though there is a theory starting to make the rounds that begins to explain, in a colloquial sense, what might be going on here.

Let's talk about the Gotham Theory.

(Someone caught a VERY good picture of a handful of the Batman Family swooping down from above RIGHT as a lightning flash illuminates them all)

The Gotham theory is simple enough to explain so I can do just that.

Let's take the first superhero present in a city, in this case Batman. He starts of visibly alone perhaps with some civilian assistance behind the scenes but we can never be sure of that. He makes a name for himself, not only among normal criminals but among the superhuman criminals that begin to appear alongside him. His adventures and the image of him spread to the world at large and soon enough he's a local legend and a known quantity among the rest of the population.

And then, he takes a partner. In this case the original Robin.

HOW this came about we have no idea. Whether he's Batman's actual firstborn son, a clone of somebody, or a random person that got wrapped up in the same tides of emotion and history that gave rise to Batman himself. But now our single hero has a branch, he's set down a root. Then there's a Batgirl, and then there's a second Robin, then there's Nightwing (probably also the first Robin but it makes the point), and a Huntress, and Azrael, and a 3rd Robin, and Batwing, and the Signal, and a 2nd and 3rd Batgirl and on and on and on. The more of them there are the more of them there always tends to be and they come closer together in time and geography. Eventually it reaches a point where heroes begin to appear who aren't directly rooted in the Batman's iconography and motifs. The entire city becomes a wellspring of heroes not only within the community itself but across the world with heroes like Nightrunner in Paris or even Man-of-Bats right in South Dakota.

The Gotham Theory posits that once a hero takes a partner, of any kind, whether they be a sidekick, direct co-equal, costumed spouse, what have you that it exponentially begins to increase the RATE at which OTHER partners and etc will appear. If a superhero adopts a ward, then that shows them that they can. And it becomes a possible solution for them should they see ANOTHER child in distress without a home to go back to. Perhaps they have a sister who went through the same trauma as them. Perhaps a clone created for malicious purposes is offered a family instead. A former criminal enemy is shown a path to redemption. A civilian ally begins to feel they can contribute more directly to the cause, etc, etc, etc. Once the gate is open, every person who passes through leaves it open a little wider.

Now this is all dependent on the relation the members of the Bat Clan have to one another. Like I've said in previous asks there's no way for us to know that. Batman and his partners have the most locked tight secret identities in the business and whatever interpersonal drama they might or might not have going on, they're not sharing. Put the theory itself holds observable water in other cities too. The Flash Family in Central-Keystone or the Superman Family right across the bay in Metropolis. Once superheroes welcome others into their proverbial fold it becomes easier to do it the next time.

There's probably some very heartwarming lesson here about learning to let people in.

reading david zavimbe's batwing run is crazy bc i can only interpret it as the story of a white savior archetype (Batman) witnessing a Black African man with severe C-PTSD (David) and "empowering" him via technology & mentoring to destroy himself in much the same way Batman does, only without the social & economic safety net Bruce has as a wealthy white USAmerican. but it's so patently obvious that Winick had no idea he was writing this. he genuinely believes he's written Bruce as a hero.

#it's fascinating & uncomfortable & i kind of hate every minute of it.#david's suffering is almost too visceral. it makes me ill.#david zavimbe #machina.txt

I know it's because most people haven't read Batwing but it's a little funny to see 'Bruce recruits child soldiers' discussions and nobody mention the actual ex-child soldier he recruited and kinda sorta made 10 times worse

#david zavimbe #i mean it's not bruce's fault he was a child soldier but still #giving him the bat symbol was. well. not good for david imo #he ended his batwing era in a much worse place than he started #oh david you deserve happiness so BADDDD #this is not actually to participate in the bruce child soldiers discussion btw i just wanted to promote david zavimbe #anyway always & forever reading batwing as a cautionary tale about white saviourism

so obsessed with david zavimbe being proof that the only way to have a tolerable relationship with batman is to be on a different continent from him most of the time

#it’s so funny to me like david has gone through more than enough in his life #the last thing he needs is bruce in his face all the damn time #ani.txt #ani reads comics #david zavimbe #bruce wayne #batwing #batman

The New 52: Fifteen Years Later #3

The Launch Titles, Vol. 3: Batman

Here we come to DC’s favorite slate of titles (as well as the one I have the most familiarity with myself), the Bats!

These were the premier DC books coming out when I started reading monthlies, and I’ll admit upfront I felt a bit of unexpected nostalgia reading these. This took me back to playing Arkham Origins with that suit equipped, and that was nice.

But was it nice enough to pick up some second issues? Let’s find out together! As usual, read @zahri-melitor’s thoughts here.