Panel Discussion: Sad Batfamily Edition!

This week's Fun Sized panel discussion features some scans that underline how sad everyone in Gotham is now that Batman is dead. Enjoy!

Splash Panel of the Week - Batman #687
Isn't this the saddest thing you ever did see! Of course we all know that neither Jason Todd OR Bruce Wayne are really dead. But outside of the larger DCU context, this image brings to mind an empty batcave, housing only the sad remains of the once unstoppable duo. And no one wants to see that.


Best Use of A Repeated Panel - Batman #687
Here we see the repeated-panel technique as a way to convey numbness, or shock. Great facial expression work here by Ed Benes. Alfred really hasn't gotten enough page-time to react to the death of Bruce, but this really says it all.


Burn of the Week - Red Robin #1
Bit of clarification here; That's Dick in the Batsuit, holding Tim in the orange shirt who just hit Damian in the Robin suit. Tim is mad because Damian is the new Robin and Tim is the new nothing! And Damian, who has the cruel insight of his father with none of the self-control, totally calls Tim on having nothing left to live for. And he's right! Tim, your life sucks!

This is really just a prelude to an upcoming Gnerd article that proves Tim Drake has the worst track record in the DCU when it comes to losing loved ones, and how it's a miracle he hasn't become the sort of villain that would make Jason Todd look like Jimmy Olsen. Stay tuned.

Panel Discussion: Scans from Fantastic Four: Dark Reign, Battle for the Cowl and Terror Inc

Warning: After the jump, the last panel of this post contains spoilers for the ending of Battle for the Cowl, ie who the new Batman is.

Worst Splash Panel - Terror Inc: Apocalypse Soon #2
The first series of Lapham's Terror Inc was great fun. But I am now realizing that a big part of what made this book cool and not ridiculous was the grimly realistic art by Patrick Zircher. Splash panels like the one above should have died in the 90s. The arc of the machine gun blast is like looking into another dimension where time and space have no meaning.

Reed Richards finally loses it, Batman is one cold sonofabitch, and Damian Wayne gets his bratty little way, after the jump...

Best Acting - Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #2
Here we see an alternate reality timeline in which Reed Richards, realizing that the formation of the Illuminati would lead to the current mess the Marvel U is in, decides to kill everyone to ensure the group is never formed. It worked! Here is what Reed's expression says to me: "I uh...okay. This - was this right? Yes. No. Yes. Hm. Oh boy. Ohhh boy. Hold it together Richards."

Clearest Example of Batman's Insanity - Battle for the Cowl #3
When making his video will, Batman thinks to himself; "I shall leave each of my adopted sons a special fatherly advise voicemail to cherish after I'm gone." So he records one for Tim and one for Dick, and then thinks to himself "Oh, Jason's alive now too, I guess I should record something for him. What would help him be less awful? I've got it - telling him he's the single biggest failure of my entire life will give him the motivational push he needs to start anew."

Batman, you should not be allowed around children or the mentally ill!

Also: note that at the end Bats says, "...but don't worry, I know this great doctor...." I like to think Bruce recorded this before the Black Casebook saga, and is in fact about to recommend his trusted physician Dr. Simon Hurt.

Banana Radomizer Award for Achievement in WTF - Battle for the Cowl #3
So the new Batman is Dick Grayson, and the new Robin is....DAMIAN WAYNE? Whaa? Um, Dick, I know you've been busy with your own career, but Damian is like, really, really evil. In fact you are actually the only member of the inner-circle Batfamily that he hasn't ALMOST SUCCEEDED in killing.

Look, he tries to kill Alfred earlier in this issue!

Um, Alfred, he'll do it.

First of all, why does Dick even NEED a Robin? He is a Robin. As Nightwing, he was both Batman...AND ROBIN. Teaming up with a homicidal tween seems like a step backwards in Dick's crime fighting career, and it's probably not good for his self-esteem either.

I also wonder what Tim is going to do with his nights, since he gave up being Robin to be Batman, and can now be neither. Oops! Guess you shouldn't have quit your Teen Titans dayjob, nerd!