I seem to be on a kick today with comic book tropes, here is one that has bugged me since I was like 12.
Bruce Wayne is one of the wealthiest, most intelligent and most tech savvy people in the DC Universe. He knows many people in possession of hypertechnology, from the Earth-born Steel to Superman and Mr. Miracle. He never shies from using gadgets and gear that are often just shy of techno-magic. So why does he restrain himself to Earth-manufactured polymer outfits and techno-ninja gadgets? Even if he doesn't want to go full Iron Man due to not wanting to rely on powered armor, that doesn't at all explain why he doesn't build suits from miracle materials that are impervious to normal weapons and energy blasts, and why he doesn't routinely carry advanced sensor arrays, flight rings and ranged stun weapons. Or is Bruce Wayne's kung-fu egotism more important than being more effective at saving lives and the occasional Universe? If he's really that paranoid that he won't accept stuff from Scott Free and Superman then why not reverse engineer it and at least make some primitive copies? Given what run-of-the-mill scientists in poorly funded secret labs manage to pull off routinely, you think he could do better than a kevlar ninja outfit and smoke bombs.
the desire not to jump the shark ?
Or... he could just let himself get bitten by a radioactive bat. Imagine that.
His gadgets are as good as the story demands. I do recall some stories where he's saved the day by whipping out some implausibly high-tech gadget, but those always struck me as rather lazy and unsatisfying stories. (rather like Star Trek TNG which always had 40 minutes of absolute peril before they reconfigured the defelector dish to emit tachyon particles or something and POOF, problem solved).
Batman's LACK of superpowers (and super alien gizmos) is one of his most important defining characteristics.
You may as well ask why he let post-earthquake Gotham become a lawless warzone run by murderous criminal gangs for a full year rather than ask Superman and the Justice League to supply humanitarian aid or something. I think there was an issue during all this where Superman turns up to help and Batman says something like "You and your 'flying in medical supplies and repairing infrastructure' - you just don't get it, maaaaaaaaaaan. Gotham isn't like other cities." and Superman kinda goes away at the end rather than point out "fuck you, Batman, that's just stupid."
Apart from anything else, it makes Batman look like a pro-war hawk in putting the elimination of criminal gangs one by one ahead of the rebuilding of quality of life in Iraq/Gotham. Yeah, fuck those orphans dying of starvation on the streets - operation: Enduring Batman is a resounding success.
COULDN'T GIVE A FUCK
Whining about decade old storylines FTW!!!!
Ps. Which Batman?
This is basically why Batman does not belong in DC comics. He would 1) get killed in 2 days, 2) can't plausibly beat Justice League villains and, 3) the people he fights should not be able to exist in a world where normal scientists can make power armor and galactic space police with magical rings live in town. Batman on his own is a pulp character, Batman in the DCU is absurd and frankly annoying. Every time he shows up in the Justice League it's just endless CIS.
Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 24 September, 2010, 12:53:55 PM
Whining about decade old storylines FTW!!!!
It's been that long since any Bat-book's had a major storyline worth commenting on in and of itself - 'events' since, like War Games and Batman: RIP have only been noteworthy in showcasing how insensitive DC are to gender and racial issues, or how compromised their production process has become even for top-tier talent.
QuoteI seem to be on a kick today with comic book tropes, here is one that has bugged me since I was like 12.
Bruce Wayne is one of the wealthiest, most intelligent and most tech savvy people in the DC Universe. He knows many people in possession of hypertechnology, from the Earth-born Steel to Superman and Mr. Miracle. He never shies from using gadgets and gear that are often just shy of techno-magic. So why does he restrain himself to Earth-manufactured polymer outfits and techno-ninja gadgets? Even if he doesn't want to go full Iron Man due to not wanting to rely on powered armor, that doesn't at all explain why he doesn't build suits from miracle materials that are impervious to normal weapons and energy blasts, and why he doesn't routinely carry advanced sensor arrays, flight rings and ranged stun weapons. Or is Bruce Wayne's kung-fu egotism more important than being more effective at saving lives and the occasional Universe? If he's really that paranoid that he won't accept stuff from Scott Free and Superman then why not reverse engineer it and at least make some primitive copies? Given what run-of-the-mill scientists in poorly funded secret labs manage to pull off routinely, you think he could do better than a kevlar ninja outfit and smoke bombs.
Ive always viewed this a number of ways 1)As money is no object it may well be safe to assume that he is limited by human advancement with regards to technology and that even the top engineers/scientists just are'nt that far along with technology or
2)Using technology as is the same in real life poses its own problems you have a piece of technology that some one can bug/use another weapon etc to switch your weapon off or render useless and sometimes even the best technology can break down which you wouldnt want at a time when it may make the difference between life and death.
I had always though because there were alien races amongst others in the DC universe that opportunity may have presented itself to some one like batman to pick up some alien weapons far advanced to his own.....but again how far can batman or any of us really trust that when needed technology wont breakdown???
Why Does Batman's Technology Suck So Much?
designed by Dyson?