Hrm. This looks like what I'd about expected - a bunch of terrible and not-very-sensical stuff with a handful of interesting ideas mixed in-between and at least one absolute gem. Looks like good ol' Croc got nominated for that last one. I'm told that a very similar subplot to this one happens in Alan Grant's The Batman of Arkham Elseworlds, so looks like I'll be picking that up next.
(Sidebar: hasn't Geoff Johns said before that he openly dislikes Batman? It kind of makes me wonder why he's writing this.)
And while I do like my Riddler kind of a cheat and not that polished, I draw the line at "LOL Imma mass-murder everyone anyways". Heck, my own headcanon!Riddler almost never kills (not even out of convenience), because out of all the rogues, he's the only one smart enough to be terrified of a murder rap.
Now, the Dents... yeah, I don't see much worth writing home about. I guess... kudos to Johns for pressing a more realistic version of the legal system?
But to be fair, off-hand, I can't think of that many shows of friendship between Gordon and Alfred - DCAU or otherwise. My biggest impression of them together was that scene from Year One where Jim narrates about how Alfred "makes [me and Barbara] feel as welcome as a virus", and that's more than likely what Johns was working from.
One last nitpick: I kind of hate it when they shoehorn Bullock into year-one retellings. It might just be my anal-retentiveness, but I envision him strictly as a character from the Jason Todd era. Something about him just doesn't work in the hyper-polarized "Corrupt GCPD vs. saintly Jim, Bruce, and Harvey"-ness of Year One.
The way I look at it, Eddie would be reluctant to kill because of his ego. His whole thing is outwitting the Batman/the law/anyone handy, so killing is counter-intuitive - he'd be killing off his audience. He wants to impress people, not murder them. (As for the murder rap business, I'd agree, except, well, he's crazy, so he'd just be sent back to Arkham again like the Joker and everyone else.) I think Gordon and Alfred knew each other back in the Pre-Crisis days - I seem to recall a story where Bruce's friends are planning a surprise birthday party or some such for him, and the Commissioner comes over to Wayne Manor to help set up - and, naturally, keeps coming perilously close to discovering the way into the Batcave, so Alfie has to wear himself to a frazzle leading him away from that damned grandfather clock over and over and over again.
Sidebar: hasn't Geoff Johns said before that he openly dislikes Batman? It kind of makes me wonder why he's writing this.
I don't recall him saying this, but it wouldn't surprise me. I imagine he was hired to write this because it's a high profile project and he's one of DC's very biggest writers, and I recall him saying that he saw it as a challenge. In any case, the first volume was a massive success, so the gamble paid off, regardless of how we feel about it one way or another.
Now, the Dents... yeah, I don't see much worth writing home about. I guess... kudos to Johns for pressing a more realistic version of the legal system?
Yeah, but if anything, the realistic problems of the legal system should be a springboard for a Harvey Dent origin story, since he's could be torn between his ideals and the compromised, failed reality of the justice system. Welp, looks like the only person who's interested in writing that one is me.
But to be fair, off-hand, I can't think of that many shows of friendship between Gordon and Alfred - DCAU or otherwise
Yeah, I think you're right, but I'm pretty sure there have been a few instances of that friendship in canon. The surprise party story from the 70's is a big one, as is the relationship they have going in Gotham. Maybe I'm just really, really fond of theseimages of Jim and Alfred by Chris Samnee, where they look like the best Gotham-based crime-fighting duo ever.
(Sidebar: hasn't Geoff Johns said before that he openly dislikes Batman? It kind of makes me wonder why he's writing this.)
And while I do like my Riddler kind of a cheat and not that polished, I draw the line at "LOL Imma mass-murder everyone anyways". Heck, my own headcanon!Riddler almost never kills (not even out of convenience), because out of all the rogues, he's the only one smart enough to be terrified of a murder rap.
Now, the Dents... yeah, I don't see much worth writing home about. I guess... kudos to Johns for pressing a more realistic version of the legal system?
But to be fair, off-hand, I can't think of that many shows of friendship between Gordon and Alfred - DCAU or otherwise. My biggest impression of them together was that scene from Year One where Jim narrates about how Alfred "makes [me and Barbara] feel as welcome as a virus", and that's more than likely what Johns was working from.
One last nitpick: I kind of hate it when they shoehorn Bullock into year-one retellings. It might just be my anal-retentiveness, but I envision him strictly as a character from the Jason Todd era. Something about him just doesn't work in the hyper-polarized "Corrupt GCPD vs. saintly Jim, Bruce, and Harvey"-ness of Year One.
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I think Gordon and Alfred knew each other back in the Pre-Crisis days - I seem to recall a story where Bruce's friends are planning a surprise birthday party or some such for him, and the Commissioner comes over to Wayne Manor to help set up - and, naturally, keeps coming perilously close to discovering the way into the Batcave, so Alfie has to wear himself to a frazzle leading him away from that damned grandfather clock over and over and over again.
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I don't recall him saying this, but it wouldn't surprise me. I imagine he was hired to write this because it's a high profile project and he's one of DC's very biggest writers, and I recall him saying that he saw it as a challenge. In any case, the first volume was a massive success, so the gamble paid off, regardless of how we feel about it one way or another.
Now, the Dents... yeah, I don't see much worth writing home about. I guess... kudos to Johns for pressing a more realistic version of the legal system?
Yeah, but if anything, the realistic problems of the legal system should be a springboard for a Harvey Dent origin story, since he's could be torn between his ideals and the compromised, failed reality of the justice system. Welp, looks like the only person who's interested in writing that one is me.
But to be fair, off-hand, I can't think of that many shows of friendship between Gordon and Alfred - DCAU or otherwise
Yeah, I think you're right, but I'm pretty sure there have been a few instances of that friendship in canon. The surprise party story from the 70's is a big one, as is the relationship they have going in Gotham. Maybe I'm just really, really fond of these images of Jim and Alfred by Chris Samnee, where they look like the best Gotham-based crime-fighting duo ever.
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