Batman in the crossfire at Newsarama
Newsarama is running a debate of sorts on whether or not Batman is responsible for the crimes committed by the OMAC robots, and the Great Curve's own Alex Segura has taken the position that "Batman is a villain."
There's no nice way around it. If you step back, cover up our gray and black friend and just look at his actions, the conclusion is simple to arrive at:
Created massive satellite to monitor superheroes
Said satellite created deadly proto-humans to destroy superheroes
Proto-humans created by Bats' satellite have killed a number of people and kicked the crap out of the GOOD guys.
Now, I know. "Wah! Wah! But Batman was mindwiped! By his FRIENDS!" Ok, yeah. This is true. But this isn't the first time Batman has proven to be more paranoid than Jacko after three bottles of Jesus Juice. Remember when it was revealed he had contingency plans on all the members of the JLA? Contingency plans to destroy world's most powerful heroes + Ra's Al Ghul = major JLA ass-kicking. All thanks to Batman.
How can you argue with that? Taking the other position is Troy Brownfield:
Batman, for better or worse, took preemptive steps that he believed might ensure the future safety of the planet. Batman's entire motivation from the beginning is to prevent others from enduring the same kind of loss that he himself had to contend with. At the root of his daily affairs, he sees the worst that metahumans and costumed criminals can do. And unfortunately, he's also seen that side of the world's so-called "heroes".
The court of public opinion, i.e. the Newsarama jury, is all over the place on the issue:
I don't think Batman is a villain but I think he should be strung up by the same rope he hung Hal Jordan with. You get mindwiped, you get mind-controlled, you get taken over by the living embodiment of fear...it happens.
if you're gonna blame batman for the OMACs, then you should blame Ollie, Dinah, Hal, Barry, Ray, Carter, and Zatanna for Brother Eye. We wouldn't have OMACs if Batman hadn't created Brother Eye, but we wouldn't have Brother Eye if those League members hadn't chosen to mindwipe Batman and others. Their actions were the first domino in a chain of events.
Batman is smart he should of thought of the probability of someone gaining control of his creation, hell Ra's Al Ghul done it, why couldn't someone else? Batman needs a good kick in the nuts.
So does Batman deserve a Hal Jordan-like second chance or a kick to the nads? You decide!
posted by JK Parkin @ 11:19 PM
8 Comments:
I think Batman made a mistake, one that came from arrogance and paranoia. But that doesn't negate his previous heroism, and overall, he's a hero.
(from my Newsarama post)
In light of the current state of the DCU, I have to wonder if guilt or culpability are even relevant right now as the pressing dilemma for the meantime is "How to we get rid of all these OMACs?". After this is out of the way, I think Wonder Woman's situation specifically has pointed out the reason Infinite Crisis may force a shift in how morality is approached in a metahuman/human world. As the judge at the Hague stated, they don't have the ability to incarcerate or detain Wonder Woman, so effectively, their justice system has no more authority than she is willing to allow it to have. The Authority and other stories have long dealt with this dynamic. Wonder Woman has stated that she is innocent. It seems to me, particularly because she has already violated the terms of her detainment, that if she says she is innocent, she is effectively innocent. If she claims she killed him in self-defense and more powerful forces cannot hold her accountable, what difference does it make?
I think something similar applies to Batman without any evidence of malicious intention. Each hero in the DC Universe possesses their own unique (if only finely tuned) moral center. Infinite Crisis when it is all said and done looks to be the result of that condition. Thus, I think the moral of the story of the Justice League seems to be questioning more how an enforcement of justice can or should be carried out in such a state, regardless of whose actions have resulted in what. They are the ones capable of and committed to trying to regulate the status quo of peace in the world, and if their action have inadvertantly contributed to the prevalence of injustice, then they are responsible for writing their own wrongs or whatever wrongs (the actions of Maxwell Lord) sprang up by proxy of their actions.
So to counter the honorable Mr. Segura's claim, no, I don't believe Batman is a villain. He's only a pawn whose righteous and well-intentioned actions were not in and of themselves villainous. Checkmate intervened and appropriated the fruits of Batman's endeavors for their own villainous intentions. End of story. If Batman's actions were to be considered immoral, then why would they be immoral? Such categorization has blatantly fascist implications, because, in effect, it would assert the inherent moral center among the other Justice League members and state that morality and justice could not exist without their existence.
Instead, justice as something to be enforced is a concept that can only be strived for by the Justice League (who have the greatest ability and thus responsibility to enforce it) but outside of the Justice League and humanity.
True, Batman may have inner demons to contend with now that he is a perfectionist believing religiously in his own moral center and responsiblity, but I think it will be interesting to see how he views and places himself after the fact regardless of the the moral integrity of his actions.
If anyone deserves a kick to the nads, it's the editors who approved The OMAC Project without the substantial rewrites it desperately needed.
kick him in the nads and maybe it will shake him out of this big gloomy depression he's been in for ages.
If you condemn Batman for the OMACs, then you will have to condemn Superman for his runaway robot that killed Donna Troy and Lilith.
whether or not Batman is responsible for the crimes committed by the OMAC robots
I'm pretty sure Greg Rucka is responsible, although compelling alternate theories do suggest Dan Didio.
Who is this Segura guy?
Condemn that Superman robot. I want to shake his metal hand.
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