I love that. Bats doesn't think too highly of Clark's brain, and prefers him naive. That way, Clark will never see it coming when Bruce has to kill his alien ass (which I'm pretty sure Bats considers not a question of if, but when....).

Hell yeah.

You and I, Sean, have discussed this at length IRL, but I will state here that, in my opinion, the ONLY reason Bats is in the JLA is to keep all them SooperDoods in line.

In the "Tower of Babel" (?) story arc, I thought it was extremely lame of Ra's al Ghul to so nicely use Batman's non-lethal "protocols" to take out the JLA. I think Ra's would use the lethal ones.

And I know Bats has lethal protocols for all the members of the League.

Yes, yes...Bats doesn't kill. Sure. Fine. Except...he readily took on the responsibility of killing Supes when Supes handed him the green K.

That's Batman's primary purpose in the League. To sit in the shadows and quietly remind all them god-like bein's that, should they get too uppity, he'll kill them deader'n Elvis.

Batman: The Killing Joke

That is one of the greatest Bat stories ever told. And is also the source for the generally accepted origin story of the Joker (though the Joker is most certainly an unreliable narrator, and says so while relating the tale).

Oh, I dunno... I tend to think that Bats has great respect for Superman, although he's not blinded by the big giant S on his manly alien chest. They bicker. They snipe. They make a really awesome tag team.

Then again, I'm a little biased. Stuff like The Batman/Superman Movie and Loeb's current Superman/Batman run tend to make me go all Batz'N'Supez4Evah!!!!!!!1!

Ahem.

Batman: The Killing Joke

That is one of the greatest Bat stories ever told. And is also the source for the generally accepted origin story of the Joker (though the Joker is most certainly an unreliable narrator, and says so while relating the tale).

Also: Origin of Oracle.

Hee. Say that five times fast.

As to the origin of the Joker, Alan Moore has said that he doesn't know. He picked that potential origin and is of the opinion that it may be as fictitious as, say, the Joker being an alien prince from another dimension. Moore doesn't know and, equally as important, the Joker doesn't know. Or care.

Then again, I'm a little biased. Stuff like The Batman/Superman Movie and Loeb's current Superman/Batman run tend to make me go all Batz'N'Supez4Evah!!!!!!!1!

Karl Kesel's "World's Finest" was also a fantastic Bats/Supes story.

Karl Kesel's "World's Finest" was also a fantastic Bats/Supes story.

Yes, I enjoyed that one. Although... Bat-mite? I mean... BAT-MITE?!

Clark met the mermaid girl in college.

You and I, Sean, have discussed this at length IRL, but I will state here that, in my opinion, the ONLY reason Bats is in the JLA is to keep all them SooperDoods in line.

Oh yeah. One of our favorite conversations.

And I'm betting Bats has a little mental threat-scale, with Flash (and Steel, and Plastic Man) near the bottom of the list, being originally and primarily human just with freakish abilities gone wrong, Superman and Green Lantern being at the top because of alien origin or possible allegience to alien forces, and Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter somewhere in the middle (she's from this planet, but with questionable loyalties, he's only from the next planet over and thus considerably less alien than Clark).

Oh, I dunno... I tend to think that Bats has great respect for Superman, although he's not blinded by the big giant S on his manly alien chest. They bicker. They snipe. They make a really awesome tag team.

Then again, I'm a little biased. Stuff like The Batman/Superman Movie and Loeb's current Superman/Batman run tend to make me go all Batz'N'Supez4Evah!!!!!!!1!

Oh sure, but you of all people should know that respect between them and subtextual (or even texual) tension does not in any way preclude Bruce wanting Clark to remain naive in case he ever has to kill his alien ass, nor prevent Bruce from putting him down like a mad dog if it ever comes to that.

It's what spices up their relationship.

Actually, I think Bats would put Flash near the top of the list. You'd want to take out the man who can move faster than you can think really quickly. Preferably before the Flash even knew he was a threat to Bats.