arcadysabo asked: In your opinion, being a comic writer who has worked with the Batfamily... Do you think that Batman has ever accidentally induced a heart attack in a thug that he was interrogating and then ended up working the code for 20 minutes? Or does he have Oracle on speed-dial to consult on how much terror each thug can take? "Yeah Bruce, this one's got a history of hypertension and is overweight, so take it easy on him a bit..."
I think a lot about some of the more brutal tropes in comics…stuff we applaud in fiction we would rightly condemn in real life. Two of my favorite characters to write are Black Canary and Barbara Gordon (both versions), because they actually DO take a moment to consider the morality of what they do, and the risks imparted on the thugs they beat up.
Huntress will put her boot in your mouth and she’s fine with it. But it makes less sense to me to have Canary or Batgirl beating up some disadvantaged teenager so gleefully. It’s askew, it doesn’t fit.
Batman, I give something of a pass to on this, because I write Batman in a way that the terror and danger is all there for criminals who see him…but in my heart, I think Batman cares what happens to those people. I think, of all the heroes, Batman is the one who pays for rehab clinics and job training. I get that he hates crime, but I think his perception is so intensely pinpoint that he knows what the line is and when not to cross it.
I may be wrong, but that’s how I feel. In Secret Six, Catman says, “I don’t get it…why do you even care what happens to us?”
And Batman says, “I thought you knew me better than that, Blake. I care about everyone.”
I thought it was one of the most badass things Batman has ever said.
