Will Batman be stripped of his friends and allies by the time Death of the Family is over?
Warning!
Spoilers Ahead:
In this week’s Batman #15 Bruce was confronted by Barbara, Tim, Dick, Jason and Damian. The Joker claims to know the identities of Gotham City’s crime fighting “family” and that Batman will be responsible for killing all of his friends and allies within hours. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have redefined the Joker. The Clown Prince of Crime is more horrific, sadistic and creepy than ever. The creative team is redefining Batman and the heroes of Gotham City. We will soon know what the story title means. I wanted to share this part of Snyder’s interview with Comics Newsarama about how Bruce’s conflict in Death of the Family about being Batman and head of this family.
“What The Joker is saying, essentially, is “you don’t want them around for that reason.” And “deep down, you wish you weren’t responsible for them. You want to just be Batman. You don’t want the father figure role that is more of a Bruce Wayne role.”
“Well, the thing the Joker does, that I think makes him the greatest villain of all time, is he sees the things you’re afraid are true about yourself, and then brings them to life.
So they don’t necessarily have to be true….. Having young children, I was thinking about Bruce’s position as someone who’s responsible for all these younger allies and how much he is a father to them, and how in some ways, that would make him — especially coming off of the Court of Owls where he was so reliant on them — both proud of them and incredibly attached to him, but also make him worried. Not just for them, but also worried that he does rely on them in ways that he didn’t before.
The Joker, as his villain, hears that. You know what I mean? Not in a supernatural way, but in a kind of metaphorical way. He hears it and says, “I know what you’re feeling. I know you well enough, darling, to know that you just said you want the family dead, and you want to go back to being me and you.”
And Batman is saying, “No, I didn’t say that. I never said that.”
But Joker is like, “Sure you did. When you said you wanted to stop worrying about them, that’s what you meant. You’re not willing to say it, but deep down, that’s what you’re thinking.”
The Batman Family of books could be radically changed by the time this is over. Would you want to see a Batman completely on his own in a war on crime? No Robins. No allies. Batman a complete lone wolf?
Death of the Family rolls into Nightwing #15 and Red Hood and the Outlaws #15 next week. Batman #16 is Bruce’s showdown in Arkham Asylum.
By Editor