Bruce Wayne as a father and a person
I thought, since it's Father's Day weekend, I will talk about a father in a favourite comicbook run of mine - Bruce Wayne from New 52 Batman and Robin by Tomasi.
For a lot of Batman fans, me included, Bruce is the mask. The New 52 Batman and Robin run is the first time Bruce was a person for me. We see him back from the dead and now teamed up with his young son, Damien. At the beginning of the series, Damien is transitioning from being Grayson's Robin to Wayne's. A transition that is not dissimilar to working for your fun big brother to suddenly working for your demanding dad.
Bruce and Damien is a really interesting pair because previously you always get a serious partner and a fun one. In the original, Bruce is serious and Grayson as Robin is fun. Later, Grayson becomes the fun Batman, and Damien becomes the serious Boy Wonder. So pairing Bruce and Damien, you end up with serious and serious. However this is not the case, and readers end up seeing two people with similar personalities both loosening up.
Bruce has to become more than Batman to be a father and in doing so, Bruce stops being a mask and starts being a real person.
I am trying to leave out spoilers, for both the plot and the characterization, which honestly made this really hard to write. For those who haven't read it, I recommend it. For those who have, what do you think?
How much does this fatherhood theme comprise of the comic compared to the usual superhero tropes? The reason I ask is because that actually sounds really interesting but I am decidedly not a superhero comic fan... in fact I usually despise them a great deal because of all the tropes and plot/character shielding that goes on. The only exceptions I have encountered so far are The Maxx (not really a superhero, more a deranged homeless person lost in a dream/delusion of being a superhero) and Sandman (I will read anything/everything by Gaiman).
I am more an indie, non-superhero comic fan in general (transmetropolitan, y:the last man, Locke & Key, Fables, etc) but I do like Batman as a character since he is far more tortured and “real” than most other superheroes. I have even read a few Batman graphic novels already (Frank Miller’s, Gaiman’s, etc) after hearing good things about them and found them reasonably enjoyable.
Oops, I meant to reply and ended up posting a separate comment...so here's a copy:
I would say the fatherhood theme is the main one running through this series. Of course, it does also have your standard superhero tropes, but I feel like they weren't the main focus. The story is very much about Bruce building a relationship with his son, as well as Batman's relationship with Robin.
Sandman is an amazing comic. Totally need to write another post for that sometime.
Ah okay, good to know. I guess I will have to check it out after all, so thanks for the recommendation. And yeah, 💖 Gaiman.