And They Could Have Fought Crime, If It Wasn't For That Meddling Batman

I picked up a copy of Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood a couple weeks ago. I might get around to a formal review eventually, but there's something sort of related I felt like discussing today. I'll mention I'm discussing Batman in the present tense in this post, even though it's referencing the continuity pre-relaunch. I have no idea what he acts like in the current DCU.

I recall reading someone talking about why they liked Kate Kane, the current Batwoman. One of the reasons was she was a rare Gotham-related character that isn't striving for Batman's approval. This was in contrast to other female vigilantes in Gotham, like Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, and Helena Bertinelli.

I don't know if it's really fair, since Kate had been fighting crime for about five minutes before she got the Bat Seal of Approval. OK, it was like 22 weeks, if we figure she made her initial appearance in 52 #11, and received that Batarang Christmas gift from Nightwing (which seems like a pretty obvious thumbs up to me) in 52 #33. Still, that's not very long at all compared to the amount of time Steph, Cass, and Helena had to deal with Batman being this scowling, meddling authority figure.

Because that's the thing I realized reading Cry for Blood. Early on he comes to Helena's apartment to basically accuse her of killing a mobster, and it's the same as when he interrogates regular thugs, except for not dangling her by an ankle over a rooftop. If Batman isn't OK with you fighting crime in his city, it isn't as simple as his not hooking you up with cool Bat-gadgets. He's going to harass you in an attempt to make you either do things his way, or quit. He's not going to give you much benefit of the doubt, you're going to be kept out of the loop, and he'll likely actively encourage his proteges to treat you the same way (like when he tells Cass to stay away from Steph). It's much easier to be unconcerned with whether someone approves of you or not if you never experience what it's like not having their approval.

If Gotham City was a high school, Batsy would be the leader of the popular kids, but not one that's content to simply ignore those he deems unpopular. He's the kid that makes the cutting remark about someone's clothes just loudly enough for them to hear when they walk past. Or the jerk who "accidentally" knocks their books off their desk every time he walks past. He's Flash Thompson, and Steph/Helena/Cass are Peter Parker, pre-spider bite. You know those stories where the popular kids pretend to befriend the outsider as part of a plan to humiliate said outsider later on? That's pretty much Stephanie Brown's first fifteen years as a character. Or maybe Bats is Lucy with the football. Take your pick.

And he can do it because he has the money, the resources, the support of all the other vigilantes in town and the police commissioner. He knows all your secrets, and you know none of his. Between the condescension, the ostracism, the suspicion, he can make a vigilante's life miserable, and apparently is willing to take time out of his busy schedule of punching clowns to do so. I suppose the determined vigilante could try and turn the tables, step away from fighting crime to make Batman's life difficult, or to at least find some useful information on him. But it would take them away from what they're really trying to accomplish, and it would likely play into Batman's preconceived notions about why they aren't cut out for vigilante work.

Really, if you want to fight crime in a costume in Gotham, and do it yuor way, with your interests, rather than being an offshoot of the Bat, you have two choices. A) he decides you aren't worth noticing and leaves you to it, or b) he gives you the OK and leaves you to it. "A" seemed to work for Six-Pack and Section Eight, but there wasn't much of a blind eye in effect when it came to Batgirl, Huntress, or Spoiler. Given that situation, where they aren't going to be able to fight crime without Batjerk looming just over their shoulder, getting his approval could be rather helpful.

Whether they really crave that approval, as Vic suggests Helena does, or simply recognize it as an occupational necessity, would seem to depend on the writer and the reader. I tend to think Helena, Cassandra, and Stephanie all would have gone on doing what they were doing with or without his approval, as long as he wasn't interfering. He did help serve as the impetus for all of them, to varying degrees, but I think once each of them got into crimefighting, it took up its own momentum in their lives independent of him.