2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control

How does that fit? Batman isn't trying to rule Gotham. He's just keeping it safe.

I think Objectivism certainly lends itself to the "fascist" label. Hell, it practically whores itself, what with the idea of an authoritarian natural aristocracy whose individual contributions to themselves are more meaningful (in Rand's view) than any altruistic actions (naturally, the actions of lesser people) on behalf of the general public. That was the essence of Mussolini's fascism, wasn't it? Industry leaders acting in their own self-interest are more valuable to the state than any centralized bureaucracy. Since I haven't read The Question, I don't know if the label fits there, but I know the early Batman comics, like the Death Wish or Dirty Harry movies, were about lone vigilantes acting out their personal vendettas at the expense of bystanders & the rights of petty criminals, usually because the bureaucracy of state-supported police couldn't or wouldn't act effectively.

Remember, The Question was one of the Charlton heroes (as everyone points out, created by Steve Ditko). After Charlton went under, DC bought the characters and incorporated them into the DC Unifverse (the main heroes being The Question, Captain Atom, and Blue Beatle). When Alan Moore proposed doing Watchmen, he was originally going to use the Charlton characters, but since DC decided that they were going to use them in their own continuity, Moore used analogues of the Charlton characters (which actually suited Moore's inclination anyway).

That (partially) explains why DC's The Question differs so much from the Ditko creation.

How does that fit? Batman isn't trying to rule Gotham. He's just keeping it safe.

What Hayden said. I was talking about VERY early Batman where the bad guys had a tendency to fall into vats of acid or from very high places. Deciding who gets to live and who gets to die is pretty autocratic in my book.

On the other hand, that lingering undercurrent, and the struggle against it, is one of the reasons I've always found Bats the most interesting superhero.

Whatever happened to DC's notion that they were going to stick The Question in Metropolis (altering the character yet again) as part of their move to refresh Superman?

(I ask here, because I got sick of attempting to parse the bad spelling and stupid arguments on comics boards.)

Whatever happened to DC's notion that they were going to stick The Question in Metropolis (altering the character yet again) as part of their move to refresh Superman?

I don't have an answer to that, but it's an interesting concept. Would they be allies or would Vic (I think the Question's name is Vic Sage) be trying to do his thing despite Supe's disapproval?

Now that I think about it, I seem to remember Vic's day job was reporter, but I'm not 100% on that, as it's been a loooong time since I looked at those.

I don't have an answer to that, but it's an interesting concept. Would they be allies or would Vic (I think the Question's name is Vic Sage) be trying to do his thing despite Supe's disapproval?

I don't know too much beyond that it was going to be a six-issue mini written by, crap... what's his name. I now can no longer recall.

Oh, and that the character was going to appear older and blahblahblah, and that he'd know Lois Lane.

Yeah, Vic was a reporter.

I think all my Question stuff is in the basement. Hmm. Should dig it out.

Yeah, Vic was a reporter.

Woohoo! My memory's not completely shot.

I should dig those out, too. I remember really liking the series a lot (I had something like the first 30 issues of the DC run).

Oh, looking at the "Who's Who in the JLU" thing -- now when I read BoP I can imagine Gina Torres' voice for Vixen!

Batmobile footage featuring the 'mobile from Batman Begins. (Link ganked from the LJ de Pete, who loses some adorable points for not having shared it here. Hrrmph.)

on edit: this is random-bystander-with-camcorder footage, shot by someone who saw them shooting in Chicago. Not spoilery, unless you don't want to see the look of the new Batmobile.