DC Editor for a Day!

[samurainoir]

"Batman Sucks! Morrison has ruined my childhood!" you declare as you sob into your pillow for the umpteenth time, perhaps forgetting that your childhood is a good quarter century or more in the past.

But what is this? There within the latest issue of Blackest Night, lies one of the fabled Golden Tickets! Offering you safe passage to the New York Compound of DC Comics. Once there, you are taken on a tour of this mysterious factory of dreams, where you pass a series of trials involving all manner of atrocities inflicted on the other candidates because they are not as Pure of Heart as you!

Dan Didio proceeds to kiss you on both cheeks and touch you where no one else dares before declaring you King of Batman Comics.

You now have carte blanche to recreate the Batman line as you see fit and execute everyone currently associated with the current titles! What creative teams do you place on which Batman related books? What is your editorial directive on these titles in terms of who is Batman, who his supporting characters are, and which of them get books and what are the "hooks" for those books. More importantly, how do you guarantee that they sell BETTER than they currently do (which is pretty darn good)? This ain't Field of Dreams, this is cold hard commerce and your *** is now on the line and every hotshot wannabe on the internet is now gunning for your job.

Time to Put up or Shut up. What is your plan with the Batman titles?

[boynightwing]

This is an amazing set up!! and one I'll have to give some serious thought to before answering.

[Random Axe]

I'm not the biggest Batman fan, but here's a few ideas.

1. Artists need to refelct the atmosphere of the title. Finch is fine and should stay. Keep Tony Daniel.

2. Bruce returns as Batman full-time and not some overseer of an international group of other Batmen and women. Now, he could be more of a mentor to some solo guys like Batwoman and Red Robin.

3. Dick becomes Nightwing again. He forms his own group again and immediately clashes with Deathstroke's team. Grab Conner Kent, Cyborg, Donna, new Aqualad and maybe a couple others. This would be a new series or mini. Nightwing goes monthly again with a new creative team.

4. Jason Todd/Red Hood becomes a major personal feud with Dick and goes for at least a dozen issues.

5. Get a writer involved that has had no previous Batman experience and brings in a fresh perspective. He has to have a vast knowledge of comics and is well-known. I gotta go with Chris Claremont. He'll bring in some new ideas while still maintaining continuity and lore.

6. Cancel the crap out of Morrison's book.

Just a few ideas. I don't really keep up with Bats enough to make any more that superficial suggestions.

Scott

[Nostalgiabuff]

Bruce becomes the Batman full time. No Batman Inc. Dick becomes nightwing again but with new costume a little closer to the bat suit. Damien gets killed off permanently. Tim becomes Robin again and works side by side with Bruce.
Dick meanwhile starts a new team, based in the Gotham area, consisting of Batgirl, Batwoman and maybe a few of the other supporting bat players and a rotating cast of current and former Titans and Outsiders
these are the new Bat family.

[Nostalgiabuff]

and no more Batman having bladder spasm nonsense.....in fact keep Kevin Smith out of the bat universe. keep Frank Miller away for that matter too.....and Grant Morrison

[UnderdogDJLSW]

If I was going to revamp the Bat titles, I'd keep one of them as the heavy adult aimed story lines as they are now but slowly evolve the characters as being likable again. I would then bring back Detective comics as being one-off stories where Batman or guest needs to solve a crime using detective skills. Lots of favorite villains. Lots of cat & mouse and brain cells running. The Detective comics would not be Brave and the Bold, but they would be the type of stories, language, and visual images where they match with the heavy story books, but no blood, guts, bad language, etc so that kids could enjoy Detective comics again, too.

[kingdom warrior]

Batman-1939 unmarked car,Batarangs,Rope, Fists, Pure Detective skills, No supercomputers no Batplane just stripped down and Raw..........

[BlackKnight]

I'd Fire DD ..
Slap then boot Morrison .
Have Bruce wake up Patrick Duffy Style, for the last 2 yrs.
Write Cassy off, and Give Babs that Grey/Blue Big Boobie suit back !
Then Kill Dick Grayson 3 Times.

[kingdom warrior]

I'd Fire DD ..
Slap then boot Morrison .
Have Bruce wake up Patrick Duffy Style, for the last 2 yrs.
Write Cassy off, and Give Babs that Grey/Blue Big Boobie suit back !
Then Kill Dick Grayson 3 Times.

You're Hired!

[HardyGirl]

I'd love to see a special 60s edition in tribute to the series, or maybe a Filmation edition, in a giant size, like the old silver edition!

[The Toyroom]

My Batman manifesto:

The first thing we need to do is make Batman a feared creature of the night again (similarly to what Adams/O'Neil did back in the early 70s). For too long now Batman has been too high-profile of a super-hero, involved in various cosmic crisises, and is no longer an urban legend.

We may need some kind of story arc to generate this persona of Batman again...perhaps Batman needs to experience some sort of loss (killing Damian would work) or be held publicly responsible for some tragedy that results in him being wanted by the Gotham City PD (ala the end of Nolan's "Dark Knight").

Dick Grayson goes back to being Nightwing, with Tim Drake staying as Red Robin. For a time being Dick and Tim will work together...and Bruce will operate as Batman purely solo. Even Superman will have to be careful not to be seen associating with Batman (shades of Miller's "Dark Knight"). And Batman will not be associated with the Justice League or the Outsiders for some time.

Eventually this isolation will lessen but for the time being we need Batman to be brought back to his purest form....creature of the night....urban myth...hunted by the police....operating solo.

Perhaps this is part of some underlying plot by a Ra's Al Ghul or a Hush to discredit Batman. There could be layers and layers of mystery that our great detective must uncover to clear himself in the public eye.

But in order to avoid the appearance (and frustration) of long drawn out arcs, many of the stories in "Batman" and "Detective" (AND ONLY THESE TWO BAT-BOOKS WILL FEATURE BATMAN!) will be done-in-one or two parts. Only when you put all of the pieces together will you realize the great scheme against the Dark Knight.

The foes he will fight will be of the Joker, Two-Face, Scarecrow variety. The Riddler may appear from time to time to work alongside and against Batman trying to solve the puzzle before Batman can. Several of Batman's older foes will return and be revamped a bit. Dr. Double X is an early favorite. King Tut will return (again with guest art by Garcia Lopez!) And Egghead will make his 1st mainstream DCU appearance. And I would like to see Penguin revert back to his Silver/Bronze Age persona and do away with the crime czar approach.
A bounty can be placed on Batman's head, leading to occassional appearances by characters like Deadshot, Merlyn and other assassins. Perhaps even Deathstroke.

Batman may engage with supernatural forces like Deadman or Ra's Al Ghuls Lazarus Pit but cosmic foes like Darkseid are OFF THE TABLE! And speaking of the supernatural, a Halloween visit from Ralph and Sue Dibny to help solve a case will be in order. In fact, this may be the start of an annual tradition.

Batman's main romantic interests will be Selina Kyle/Catwoman. We will probably bring back the amnesia angle. Selina doesn't know she is Catwoman (and vice versa) but Batman/Bruce does know her dual identity.

If Damian is killed off, then Batman's relationship with Talia will be taken to a different level. In fact, Damian's unexpected death could be the catalyst to Talia and Ra's Al Ghul setting up Batman for his public downfall.

This would be a 5-year plan tops....maybe 3 if appears that fan-interest is waning. There always needs to be a quick escape route before readership is lost.

[samurainoir]

and no more Batman having bladder spasm nonsense.....in fact keep Kevin Smith out of the bat universe. keep Frank Miller away for that matter too.....and Grant Morrison

I'm suspecting Kevin Smith and Frank Miller will be heading to Legendary Comics.

[samurainoir]

Give Babs that Grey/Blue Big Boobie suit back !

As long as she gets to keep on leading the Birds of Prey, and they chain Adam Hughes to the drawing board with no bathroom breaks or convention schedule, hobbled Misery-style.

[madmarva]

I'd go ahead with the Batman Inc. idea, but each time Bruce sanctions a new hero, Ra's and Talia would deploy an assassin(s) to take the hero out in a brutal, gory and public way.

Eventually the relatives of the deceased would ban together to sue Bruce,which would ultimately cripple Batman Inc.

I would use the resulting war between Ra's and Batman to thin the ranks of the "Batman Family," and set a new landscape for all the characters.

Dick, Barbara, Jim Gordon and Tim would survive, but they would be severely alienated from Bruce.

Dick would cut ties with Bruce and be on his own without the Wayne wealth behind him. He and Alfred would probably head to San Francisco to work with the Titans

Barbara would be uncovered as Oracle and be forced to work for Checkmate as a plea bargain for various hacker crimes committed. She'd be running the place in no time.

Tim would take over Ra's organization, but try to re-focus it from the inside to be more of a Robin Hood-type global force.

Jim would still be running PD in Gotham.

Bruce would realize what he's good at. Concentrating on Gotham City.

[Earth 2 Chris]

CHUCK DIXON.

Hire the man. Put him on Detective. Bruce is Batman. Done in one stories in Detective.

Damian is revealed to be a genetically engineered clone, and NOT the true son of Bruce and Talia. In fact, the Talia we've seen over the last several years is ALSO a clone. The real Talia was locked up somewhere.

Chuck could also write Nightwing and Robin again. Dick back as Nightwing. Tim as Robin. Jason Todd...also a clone! Ra's was really wanting to mess with Bruce's head!!! Clone Jason dies.

Batman title would be more super-heroic. Written by Geoff Johns! Drawn by Ivan Reis or someone hot like that.

This is just off the top of my head.

Chris