*Riddler jumps into an OC Transpo bus in an attempt to make a quick getaway.*
Riddler: Let’s go! I’ve got places to be!
Operator: I’m sorry, sir. We are on a timed stop.
Riddler: But this bus is late! You need to –
Operator: A timed stop, sir.
Riddler: You don’t understand, I’m running from Batman and –
Operator: A timed stop sir. While we’re waiting, may I see your POP, please?
Riddler: My – oh come on, does it look like I have anywhere to carry a Presto card? *gestures to his spandex*
*Scarecrow appears outside the open doors, astride a horse*
Scarecrow:
Edward, why on earth did you think you could depend on public transit??
Come, I will rescue you from your foolishness. Again.
Riddler:*leaping onto horse* I’m filing a complaint with your superiors!
Operator: Good luck with that.
*They ride three blocks before they have to stop*
Scarecrow: What a congested downtown core. Ghastly. What is it this time, a sinkhole?
*Riddler peers over Scarecrow’s shoulder at the problem. He sees what appear to be red uniformed men and women on horses.*
Together: The RCMP Musical Ride!
Riddler:
Dammit, Jonathan, I can’t believe you’ve just placed us straight in the
midst of a multitude of one of the most relentless police forces in all of
North America!“
*Scarecrow glares in response and Riddler raises his hands*
Riddler: I’m sorry! I’m sorry. Riding a horse in spandex isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world.
*Scarecrow
tries to turn around but now they’re blocked in. Who should come
through the mounted police in front of them but Batman!*
Riddler: Oh. Let me guess. Batman is an honorary member of the RCMP.
Batman *tipping his hat*: You guessed right, erstwhile evildoer! And I, much
like the RCMP, always get my man. Now come along. I believe a stint in
the Royal Ottawa would be good for the both of you!
Scarecrow: See if I rescue you again, Edward.
Riddler: I didn’t need rescued! OC Transpo is 100% reliable, user-friendly, and on schedule! Except for today.
*Batman winks. He was the transit operator in disguise.*
u know the part in who framed roger rabbit where the detective is trying to cut the handcuffs off of him and roger and roger takes his hand out of it to steady the box and the guy’s like “u could get out of it the whole time?” and rogers like “only when it was funny!” that’s harley and anyone
Who Framed Harley Quinn? Dee as Harley, Codot as Batman
I saw @harloquinn‘s post about Harley essentially being the Roger to any potential Valiant, and @tommysmelliot‘s amazing art addition, so we just HAD to have some fun ourselves.
Batman who is actually really easily amused by really basic shit
and the Joker can’t stand it, because he takes being funny seriously. He’s high-minded about comedic timing and irony in a very pretentious, bullshit way, but he’s got his head so far up his own pasty ass that he can’t understand why it is that the Bat starts corpsing when one of the henchmen fumbles a priceless antique, when Penguin accidentally puns, when Mister Freeze unintentionally says things that sound ridiculous in that flat affect monotone, when Robin keeps trying to get Two-Face to acknowledge things that come in threes or when the Signal literally catches some crooks red-handed in an incident at a dye factory.
and the Joker sits in one of the underworld dive bars, fuming about it. He’s staring into his dingy shot of punch (that is mostly spirytus), mumbling to himself about this and that incident, and why can’t he ever get a laugh out of the Bat, at least not when he’s meaning to. In fact, it seems like he gets even fewer accidental laughs out of the Rat With Wings than anyone else does.
sitting a little ways down the bar, sipping a daiquiri, Grimm mumbles the first words he’s spoken all night, “maybe you’re just not funny.”
A hand slaps down on Grimm’s shoulder.
The ape gangster and the Joker both look up.
It’s the Caped Crusader.
“I’m taking you in,” Batman says, the very corner of his mouth threatening to edge upwards, “for murder.”
Confused, Grimm raises a hand to protest…
…and the Bat gives him a high-five, and leaves the bar, chuckling into his cowl.
I like the Nolan movies tbh, I like all three of them, and I respect that the trajectory of the plot is the way it is, but in my personal opinion i would rather not see any more batman stories where the conclusion is “batman is a bad coping mechanism and it is destroying Bruce and thus it must be put away before he can be happy”. I know a lot of writers like to take the angle that putting on the suit every day is an act of sacrifice, and that’s… okay? I mean it’s depressing but it’s got merit. I’m just tired of it personally. I’d rather see the Bruce that feels most at home, most competent and satisfied and alive, when he’s being batman. The Bruce who still thinks of himself as “batman” even after he’s taken the cowl off for the day. Sure there are brutal nights and hard times and there will be sacrifice, but that’s the nature of living a life in relentless pursuit of your own vision.
Basically, batman is who he is, and if he’s destroying himself it’s not because of some cursed legacy of the bat suit that can be safely exorcized from him leaving him whole and happy the moment it’s gone.
I question if him being Batman is even a BAD thing, most of the time. Like, yes, if our world rules applied I would be all like ‘who does he think he is to put the law in his own hands?!’. But… in that world there are criminals that the every day police just can’t handle. And in many incarnations he heavily works with the police, so it’s practically like he’s part of the force anyway?
That said, the post is about Batman and what it does to Bruce. And… maybe it’s just me, but I don’t feel like coping mechanisms are bad? Yes, he is not a well person. Yes tragedy has caused him to become obsessed… But real talk? Being Batman, I think, helps Bruce THRIVE. As someone that has dealt with a lot of trauma in my life, I know what it’s like to latch onto things to help me get to the next day. Being Batman helps Bruce– maybe not in the MOST healthy way, mind you– deal with the loss of his parents. And in the process, do good for others around him.
I agree–I think in general the assumption is that Bruce can never have a normal life and doesn’t want to. It’s not something he even knows how to want or need. Most of my favorite stories portray his decision to become Batman as the moment of clarity for him. Everything clicks into place–and in a perfectly normal world, we might question it, but Bruce lives in a warped world, and this is the straightest path he can find for being able to live with himself and bring hope back into the world, even if it doesn’t look like hope on its face.
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