So this whole Battle for the Cowl thing has me a bit bittersweet.

I’m an unabashed Batman fan (wearing the emblem hoodie right now), so I was naturally bummed out when Bruce Wayne “died”. I know he’s not REALLY dead, just elsewhere in reality somewhere, but seriously, this is not what I think the character needs.

I think Batman is at his best when he’s kind of insular from the rest of the DCU. This is why I like Legends of the Dark Knight and Batman Confidential so much. They don’t worry too much about canon, and they let him just be Batman, and defend Gotham City, and not have to worry about Darkseid or JLA or whatever. They let the character just be Batman.

That said, I’m both excited and nervous to see where they’re going with the current storyline, and I certainly have opinions about how they should handle this now that he IS gone (for however long or short that may be).

So far, they’re keeping away from the cosmic and most of the super-lofty stories that pull the Bat-Family away from what they do best (in my opinion and as defined above). This I like.

I like how they’re not really letting it become too apparent who will be the front-runner. But really, let’s be honest: it’s going to be Tim or Dick.

Jason Todd will want it, but he won’t get it.

Damien will probably have some kind of stupid argument about how he should be Batman – and he’ll duke it out with Tim again.

Hush will do everything to defame Batman and Bruce’s name.

This stupid Batman-with-Guns character will make a mess of things (and hopefully be dealt with quickly. I’m sick of this shit).

But really? To make it anyone but Tim or Dick is an insult. Plus, DC already cancelled Nightwing and Robin as titles.

My favored scenario:

Then when they bring Bruce back:

Or maybe Damien will work with Hush, when Bruce chooses Tim over Damien as his Robin. That could be sweet too.

Anyhow, these are just my thoughts, although I have to say that so far this story arch is already superior in my mind to Batman RIP.

Lets hope DC can pick up the pieces of the mess that Grant Morrison left us with.

Ian!