That moment a new fan told me Batman caused all his own villains

I was at a con last Saturday and some kid said Batman 'deserves' the Joker because he's rich, and I wanted to walk away but I couldn't. How do you even start explaining 80 years of comics to someone who thinks they've got it all figured out from one movie?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_amy1mo ago

The real irony is that Bruce Wayne becoming Batman actually stops new villains from popping up even more, since Gotham's corruption would keep spawning them regardless. If he just stayed a rich guy throwing money at the city, people like the Joker would still rise up against that system anyway, don't you think?

claire_gibson1mo ago

Wait, wait wait. 200 plus new villains? I mean, I knew Gotham was bad but that's a crazy number. Did you actually count them or read that somewhere? That's like a new supervillain every other month or something. It makes you wonder if Bruce just staying as a rich guy would've worked any better though. Idk, maybe the corruption is so deep it doesn't matter what you do, the crazies just pop up. But still, that specific number is wild to me.

dianaanderson1mo ago

Huh, I used to be on the other side of this argument honestly. I thought Batman's whole "fear of bats" thing was kind of a joke and that he just made everything worse by putting on a costume. But a few years back I read Gotham Central, the one where it shows regular cops dealing with the fallout, and it really clicked for me. The city was already a mess before Bruce put on the cowl, the Joker was gonna happen with or without him, that's just how Gotham works. Your mileage may vary, but I think people who only watch the movies miss how deep the corruption goes in the comics.