always with the Dick jokes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
irrelevant) wrote2011-04-24 12:10 am
irrelevant) wrote2011-04-24 12:10 am
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I mean, this isn't exactly what you'd call a normal childhood
BTAS -- Gotham Knights in particular -- is full of painful episodes, but for me, Old Wounds tops the list. It's the big gut punch: Batman and Robin's break-up episode.
And man, you think star-crossed teenage pathos is bad? Romeo and Juliet have nothing on these guys. I'm not kidding; if Bruce or Dick was female, they could have slapped a soap opera label on that ep and got away with it, maybe thrown Barbara as one third of a love triangle into the bargain.
I laugh, I mock, but that's how the story comes across on a purely emotional basis. All mockery aside, though, Old Wounds really is a great episode. It's one of my favorites, not least because in a way, it cleans up a nasty comics mess that's been bugging me since I was a kid.
The post-Crisis universe took a dump all over Bruce and Dick's comics relationship, and I have *never* forgotten or forgiven the editors and writers for that. The retcon of Bruce and Dick going their separate ways -- Bruce suddenly devolving into Bat-dickery and firing Dick -- was poorly imagined and poorly executed. It made little sense in-universe, and the real world explanation -- that DC wanted to generate tension, give Dick's leaving that melodramatic, angsty edge -- was insulting to both the characters and the readers. Many years afterward, the event still sticks in Bat fans' craws.
Dick and Bruce were ill-done-by characterization-wise, and after the fact and over the years, numerous comics writers have scrambled to explain away or otherwise attempt to make more plausible in-universe what was basically a glaring error in editorial judgment.
But that's one of the great things about the DCAU: the people who created the animated universe weren't obliged to make or hang onto the mistakes of their comics predecessors. Bruce Timm and his crew were able to take DC's unwieldy Batman canon and distill it down into something cohesive and coherent. Something that made sense.
It made sense that Richard, son of John and Mary Grayson, would grow up and away from Bruce Wayne's obsessions. Dick had those extra years with his parents, plus a completely different childhood from Bruce's. It made sense that he wouldn't wholly agree with Bruce's MO, something DCAU Dick never did. And it made sense that, Bruce being Bruce, his way of double life would eventually push Dick into realizing that it wasn't what he wanted for himself.
Bruce is an extremely perceptive person. He's also willfully blind as a bat when it comes to certain people, and Dick is one of those people. It made sense that Batman's demands and assumptions would cease to be acceptable to Dick or Robin, and that Bruce would fail to see it. It made sense that both Dick and Robin would take issue with Batman's MO. Because the thing is, Dick's never been good at splitting himself in two. He was Robin. He is Nightwing. And they're both pretty much him, at different times in his life.
I don't think BTAS Dick Grayson ever quite managed to square Batman with Bruce, or vice versa. In the end, he didn't want to deal with it anymore. So he didn't. He quit, and went to find out what it was he actually wanted out of life. Which made so much more sense than Bruce suddenly, after years of injuries, freaking out over Dick's bullet wound.
That moment when Bruce grabs Dick's arm and Dick turns around and punches him? I love that moment. As perfect moments go, it's second only to Dick throwing his domino and cape at Bruce and saying, "I quit." Or, three years later, Dick walking in on Bruce and Tim sparring. The moment Bruce sees him, the way he says Dick's name, it's like that punch coming full circle, knocking Bruce on his ass for the second time. Perfect.
Put together, those moments are almost enough to wash the bad taste of Dick getting fired out of my mouth. Is it any wonder that the DCAU is where I'm happiest? It's where I go when I can't take one second more of the mess Grant Morrison has made of the DCU, and it's where I go when the rest of the writers at DC chip away another piece of Dick Grayson or Jason Todd. Someday I'm going to pick up a Batman comic and there will be nothing left of the characters I remember. And then I'll probably stop reading DC for good.
Until then, I'll take my chances. But when I want a pure shot of distilled Bat-verse, written the way it should be, I'll drag out my BTAS DVDs. And when I want undiluted Dick Grayson, no matter what kind of suit he's wearing, I'll watch Old Wounds.
And man, you think star-crossed teenage pathos is bad? Romeo and Juliet have nothing on these guys. I'm not kidding; if Bruce or Dick was female, they could have slapped a soap opera label on that ep and got away with it, maybe thrown Barbara as one third of a love triangle into the bargain.
I laugh, I mock, but that's how the story comes across on a purely emotional basis. All mockery aside, though, Old Wounds really is a great episode. It's one of my favorites, not least because in a way, it cleans up a nasty comics mess that's been bugging me since I was a kid.
The post-Crisis universe took a dump all over Bruce and Dick's comics relationship, and I have *never* forgotten or forgiven the editors and writers for that. The retcon of Bruce and Dick going their separate ways -- Bruce suddenly devolving into Bat-dickery and firing Dick -- was poorly imagined and poorly executed. It made little sense in-universe, and the real world explanation -- that DC wanted to generate tension, give Dick's leaving that melodramatic, angsty edge -- was insulting to both the characters and the readers. Many years afterward, the event still sticks in Bat fans' craws.
Dick and Bruce were ill-done-by characterization-wise, and after the fact and over the years, numerous comics writers have scrambled to explain away or otherwise attempt to make more plausible in-universe what was basically a glaring error in editorial judgment.
But that's one of the great things about the DCAU: the people who created the animated universe weren't obliged to make or hang onto the mistakes of their comics predecessors. Bruce Timm and his crew were able to take DC's unwieldy Batman canon and distill it down into something cohesive and coherent. Something that made sense.
It made sense that Richard, son of John and Mary Grayson, would grow up and away from Bruce Wayne's obsessions. Dick had those extra years with his parents, plus a completely different childhood from Bruce's. It made sense that he wouldn't wholly agree with Bruce's MO, something DCAU Dick never did. And it made sense that, Bruce being Bruce, his way of double life would eventually push Dick into realizing that it wasn't what he wanted for himself.
Bruce is an extremely perceptive person. He's also willfully blind as a bat when it comes to certain people, and Dick is one of those people. It made sense that Batman's demands and assumptions would cease to be acceptable to Dick or Robin, and that Bruce would fail to see it. It made sense that both Dick and Robin would take issue with Batman's MO. Because the thing is, Dick's never been good at splitting himself in two. He was Robin. He is Nightwing. And they're both pretty much him, at different times in his life.
I don't think BTAS Dick Grayson ever quite managed to square Batman with Bruce, or vice versa. In the end, he didn't want to deal with it anymore. So he didn't. He quit, and went to find out what it was he actually wanted out of life. Which made so much more sense than Bruce suddenly, after years of injuries, freaking out over Dick's bullet wound.
That moment when Bruce grabs Dick's arm and Dick turns around and punches him? I love that moment. As perfect moments go, it's second only to Dick throwing his domino and cape at Bruce and saying, "I quit." Or, three years later, Dick walking in on Bruce and Tim sparring. The moment Bruce sees him, the way he says Dick's name, it's like that punch coming full circle, knocking Bruce on his ass for the second time. Perfect.
Put together, those moments are almost enough to wash the bad taste of Dick getting fired out of my mouth. Is it any wonder that the DCAU is where I'm happiest? It's where I go when I can't take one second more of the mess Grant Morrison has made of the DCU, and it's where I go when the rest of the writers at DC chip away another piece of Dick Grayson or Jason Todd. Someday I'm going to pick up a Batman comic and there will be nothing left of the characters I remember. And then I'll probably stop reading DC for good.
Until then, I'll take my chances. But when I want a pure shot of distilled Bat-verse, written the way it should be, I'll drag out my BTAS DVDs. And when I want undiluted Dick Grayson, no matter what kind of suit he's wearing, I'll watch Old Wounds.
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no subject
Hope that helps. :)
no subject
P.S.
Re: P.S.
If you love Batman, you'll probably enjoy all of the animated series. But you can watch it in whatever order you like without problems. :D The DCAU wikia is a great place to go if you have questions about the series; it's very comprehensive.
Lately I've been thinking about doing a re-watch and posting my thoughts on each episode as I go; this might be a good time to do it!
Re: P.S.