Ple was talking about how The Huntress kept getting reworked until she made emotional sense.

Chris Claremont, for instance, has tossed out some bits of Kitty Pryde. But I read them. They inform my understanding/appreciation of her, and colour my discussions.

I, on the other hand, reject the "Madelyne unconsciously won the Storm/Cyclops fight for Storm" retcon because it's dumb, and ill-serves a character I like. But I read it, and if nothing else, my irritation at it makes me dislike Cyclops more, but that's neither here nor there. Nor fair, but whatEV.

As consumers, not as creators, we can't speak of one Batman. We don't get to pick. But we kinda have to, to communicate. None of us have the same canon, so we're not really talking about the same guy.

I found Elseworlds really helped me to nail down some core Batman, just through repetition, helping me understand what stuck to the mythos, what made it Batman when everything was mutable.

Still, some worked, and some completely didn't. Which is based on my canon Batman.

So my question can boil down to -- is there a vaguely mass-accepted ur-Batman/Wolverine/Wonder Woman? What composes him?

is there a vaguely mass-accepted ur-Batman/Wolverine/Wonder Woman? What composes him?

I'm gonna say psychosis, admantium, and a magic lasso.

I'm gonna say psychosis, admantium, and a magic lasso.

Okay, that's a kinda hot combo.

Okay, that's a kinda hot combo.

A bunny, some might even say.

Isn't it, though?

Batman's not psychotic! He can distinguish between reality and delusion. He's just fucked up.

He can distinguish between reality and delusion.

He dresses up as a bat and swoops through Gotham. You're going to need to argue your case more strongly.

amych -- tag, you're it. Or "tag, your fic!" perhaps.

Dude, your ur-Batman is not the ur-Batman of all the cool kids.

Some might say, he's driven.

Batman's not psychotic! He can distinguish between reality and delusion. He's just fucked up.

I just read this to chatty!co-worker, and we had a brief debate on "Batman: Repressed Homosexual Tendencies or Not?" (I say not, BTW, which is just my perception of him; to be fair, I don't think of him as a sexual being at all, Selina notwithstanding.) That conversation led into Robin/Huntress, which I said was Nightwing/Huntress, and Chatty said that Nightwing only liked Huntress because her costume looks so much like Batman's.

To which I pointed out that Nightwing is an indiscriminate man-ho.