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Aaron Robinson

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I'm thinking of reading the Deathmate crossover. Does anyone know the proper reading order? I've seen it listed as Preview (Green), Preview (Orange / Pink), Prologue, Yellow, Blue, Black, Red, Epilogue. But I've also seen Preview (Green), Preview (Orange / Pink), Prologue, Black, Yellow, Blue, Red, Epilogue.

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In an upcoming issue of Life With Archie, it will be revealed that Cheryl Blossom is suffering from breast cancer.

Dan and I spoke about this during our latest Grumpy Old Fans, but I'll repeat it here: How weird is it that Archie freaking Comics is the go-to publisher for real-world issues in mainstream comics?

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Dan Parent, who is pretty much the main reason for the current Archie revolution, is going to be at C2E2. I really hope they have a panel because I would love to hear some of his thinking. That said, Life With Archie is gradually reminding me more and more of Funky Winkerbean, only well written and without mimes that lead people to the afterlife.

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I quite like his point about pricing the digital stuff far lower than the print editions.

This needs to happen if the publishers are going to survive. While I absolutely do not want to see my LCS go out of business, it's going to happen. It will. I hate to see it, I will miss it incredibly, but it's going to go away. Digital is where things are headed, and the fact that I have to pay as much for a file as I do for a paper copy makes no sense. The fact that Diamond has such a stranglehold on the industry is choking the life out of it - HAS choked the life out of it - and the middleman has to go away.

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I think the entire comics industry has been backfiring on itself for decades.

But having DL codes in there is a good idea. Certainly better than the way DC's doing it, charging an extra dollar. They should really just drop the price of every digital-only issue to 99 cents, but that'd destroy the LCS market... which unfortunately might be a good thing for the industry as a whole.

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So, from a recent Cracked article:

Here's where I'm going to lose some readers: the boldest and most interesting thing that Christopher Nolan can do is prove that Bruce Wayne becoming Batman was the wrong choice. Because really, it is. Objectively. Batman helps clean up the street, but his vigilante-copycat-inspiring antics are ultimately dangerous for Gotham (a point raised in The Dark Knight), and his ridiculous, over-the-top style will only encourage more ridiculous and over-the-top villains (a point raised in After Hours). For Nolan's trilogy to reach its logical conclusion, Batman needs to, as Harvey Dent put it, "Live long enough to see [himself] become a villain."

He needs to become an ultimate villain, too, not just a power-hungry jerk that operates in a moral grey area. Rachel Dawes, the love of Wayne's life, died as a result of his reckless shenanibatmanigans, and that didn't stop Wayne from fighting the good bat-fight, so it's going to take quite a lot to get him to retire. Bruce Wayne needs to see himself as a monster, a monster that's so horrible he would have to hang up his mask and quit Batmanning forever. Since this is Bruce Wayne we're talking about, the most monstrous thing he could see himself doing would be to kill his own parents. Which, obviously, he can't do.

Or can he?

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Alfred cares more about Batman than anyone in the world (excluding me, obviously). He took care of Bruce as a boy. He raised Bruce. He covers for Bruce whenever he decides to go Batmanning all over town, he stitches Wayne up when said Batmanning doesn't go as well as Batplanned. He lies, helps defraud Wayne Enterprises and breaks several laws, all for Bruce Wayne. He's like a father to Bruce. And if you think that Alfred wouldn't kill to protect Bruce's secret identity, then you're vastly underestimating the strength of a father-son bond.

That's the Batman movie I'd make. The film opens on a series of murders, and all of the victims are people who, through research and analysis, are clearly on the verge of discovering Batman's identity. The police are hunting Batman, because clues support the idea that Batman would be the one to murder to protect his own identity, and Batman meanwhile is doing his best detective work to find the real killer, to clear his name and to, you know, stop all of that killing. But he can't catch the real killer, who always seems to be one step ahead of Batman. It's almost like the killer knows everything before Batman knows it; he's a better detective and knows exactly how to fly under Batman's radar. Only someone with intimate knowledge of Batman could be that good at avoiding capture. And obviously they'd probably have some kind of police or military background.

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Alfred. Because Alfred, decades ago, swore to Thomas Wayne that he would protect Bruce with his life, it's clear that he would do anything to preserve Wayne's secret identity, even if it meant killing a bunch of people who could potentially reveal everything. It wouldn't be an easy choice, but Alfred knew that being Batman's associate was never going to be easy. It means being the Alfred that Batman needs, not the Alfred that Batman deserves.

Batman, being Batman, would eventually catch and be forced to stop Alfred, by any means necessary (death or jail, which would also basically be death). Essentially, Batman would be killing his own father figure, thereby watching his father die twice. It would be heartbreaking and horrible and difficult, but it would also be the only thing that could teach Bruce that being Batman does come with a cost, a cost that even he can't withstand. Nolan's Batman universe is a realistic one, and in reality, no one should be Batman, because it's wrong. Legally, morally and ethically.

So, here's my question. Has anyone ever done a story in the comics along these lines (excepting what was hinted at in What Happened To the Caped Crusader)? Cause that sounds like something I'd actually like to read, if not see.

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Alfred was turned into a criminal in the 60's comics, if I remember, and then killed off, to be replaced by Aunt Harriet. And on a separate note, something similar was done in the "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive/Murderer" storyline, with Bruce being framed for murder, and Batman having to solve the case, while at the same time, considering that Bruce Wayne may just be the murderer this time. So, the two ideas have been done, but just not together.

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