Today's question comes from Justice League Of America #168 (1979):
Uhhh...are you sure about that?That just strikes me as off, even given the wibbly-wobbly timey-whimey nature of aging and time compression in the comic book universes.
Let's look at it this way...this is after Barbara Gordon's time as a member of the U.S. Congress; in our universe, at least, you must be 25 to be a congressperson (but then again, this is DC--Prez, right??). So are we being told that Bruce Wayne is less than four years older than Barbara Gordon? Does that feel right, at all?
Another take--Dick Grayson was in college at this point. Since, at least in some versions, Dick was 8 when his parents were killed and he became Robin. If he left for college at 18 or 19, and Bruce is "under 30," does that mean Bruce became Dick's guardian when Bruce was only 18 or 19?? I mean, billionaire or not, who's going to give an unrelated young adult custody of a minor? Does it feel right, Bruce being fully established as Batman at 18 or 19?? And don't you see Bruce and Dick being farther apart in age--closer to a father/son than the older brother/younger brother this would require?
And overall, doesn't Batman just feel like he has to be older than 29??
So, sorry, Answer Man, we're not buying this particular answer.
Old course, post-Crisis, post-Zero Hour, post-Infinite Crisis, post-52, post-Final Crisis, post-whatever-the-hell-happened-to-Bruce-in-the-timestream-under Grant-Morrison, none of this is relevant anymore.
So, sorry to waste your time...
I buy it, according to their official stats anyways.
ReplyDeleteThey've always been ludicrously understated in their approximations of their characters' bios...it's why 6'+ Wonder Woman is given a weight of less-than 140 lbs or so, because that's what a "sexy" woman's weight is, regardless of her height or stature or musculature or mythical origins, etc.
But even then, their answer is completely justifiable even in-universe, as you correctly pointed out that Batgirl could very well serve in Congress while still in her 'teens with Prez set as a precedent and with Robin actually originally being a ward of Alfred with the provision that it was only until Bruce himself became of age, etc.
And re: Robin/college...I seriously doubt that Robin went to public school, or even private school as you might expect from rich-boy Bruce, he was most likely home-schooled (as befitting the recluse Batman) and ready for college by 16 at the latest (although I haven't researched it specifically and I'm not enough of a fan to know off-hand)...and the Wayne Estate money could easily open up any and all doors to whatever barriers that might otherwise be in the way of that.
And no, the Batman/Robin-Father/Son thing *doesn't* actually feel more right than a Brother-to-Brother thing...it would explain why they were able to function so close as a team in the first place (no generational gap to skew their individual viewpoints, etc) as well as why they would have a falling out later when both as adults (with their own differing emerging opinions starting to separate them)...later Robins, definitely maybe, yes, but the original Dick Grayson? No.
And again, no, Batman does *not* feel like he should be older than 29...because he's still in the totally idealistic "my way is best and the *only* way"-type of thinking with almost no room for compromise that comes from an opinionated and idealistic youth; as one example, just look at John Lennon around the time of his immediate breakup with the Beatles and his last interview in Playboy magazine 10 years later...his ages were 30 and 40, I know, but his opinions were drastically different with the younger John singing and calling for *everyone* *everywhere* to actively take up the peace movement and be in opposition to war, among other things, while happy house-husband older John had seemingly adopted the "live and let live" philosophy and put his past forceful notions behind him (with a seeming admission that he just didn't know how to do it effectively with the statement "I honestly thought that love would save us all") while being content to bake bread for his family on a day-to-day basis.
Oh yeah, and before you ask, "Yes, 29 *IS* still considered a 'Youth'", at least in most "youth-oriented" government-type social programmes and such that I've seen, many of which are stated as being for those between the ages of "18-29" (if not even higher like 31, 35, etc, or lower, like 15/16, etc).
So Batman as "under 30 (years old)"? Yeah, I buy that...
Remember the time frame for that answer.
ReplyDeleteNever Trust Anyone Over 30 was still a cultural echo at that point. Under 30 was the ONLY answer to give.