Posted in: Batman, Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics | Tagged: catwoman, gotham gossip, Gotham Watr

The Gossip on What Divides Batman & Catwoman in Gotham War (Spoilers)

This is what is going to divide Batman and Catwoman. provide the impetus for the Gotham War and be the DC equivalent of Marvel's Civil War.

In yesterday's Bleeding Cool Batman Gossip, we pointed out that Batman has been through a lot of late in his monthly comic book courtesy of Chip Zdarsky, Jorge Jimenez, Mike Hawthorne and friends. The Joker War, the battle with the Failsafe robot that shunted him into a parallel world where he had to fight back, losing his hand in the process, and dealing with Zur-En-Arrh, right into the events of Knight Terrors, courtesy of Joshua Williamson, and of Deadman possessing his body, so he couldn't even sleep like everyone else. Eventually, something is going to give.

Bleeding Cool ran the gossip that, as a result of the events of DC's Knight Terrors, and you can read up on other Bleeding Cool gossip about that here, or even here, Batman was going to sleep. For eight weeks, As you do. But in his absence, it seems that things in Gotham improved. Violent crime was down. But it wasn't just the absence of Batman, it was the presence of Catwoman. And this is what is going to divide them, provide the impetus for the Gotham War and be the equivalent for the Batman comic books of Marvel's Civil War that decided all the superheroes of the Marvel Universe down the line between security and liberty.

Because in Batman's absence, Catwoman has been doing things differently. Taking the hoods, the hoodlums, the henchmen of Gotham, those who the Joker, the Riddler, the penguin and the like turn to when they have a plan to enact, and training them. Making them better thieves, independent criminals, no longer working for the man. And instead becoming high-end thieves like herself. Depriving the Big Bads of Gotham of their cannon fodder – or canon fodder – and taking the population out of the violent crime on the streets of the city. Burgling the upper penthouses of Gotham, rather than the muggings, stabbings and shootings on the streets. So the crime is there; it's just not of the violent kind. So fewer people die.

It is an absolutely pragmatic decision, that goes against Batman's approach, commonly criticised as a billionaire beating up the poor and mentally divergent people on the street. It just happens to go directly against Batman's ideological anti-crime position. Catwoman is pointing out that in the last two months, is has worked, violent crime in Gotham is down massively, it's beneficial to everyone except maybe the insurance companies, and they just put prices up for those who can most afford it. And Catwoman is asking Batman to look the other way, just as he has done with her. But Batman… isn't buying it. And all the Robins, Batgirls and more are going to have to take sides.

It reminds me a little of the British attitude to guns and firearms. Mostly banned in Great Britain, and not carried routinely by the police, it is rare for criminals to carry guns or use them in crime. There is less of an incentive for career criminals to carry guns, as they won't find themselves in a shootout with police or homeowner. If they do carry a gun, and it's called in, a rapid response unit of armed, trained and armoured police are rapidly deployed. If caught with a gun committing a crime, the perpetrator will have ten years added on to their sentence. So burglars, muggers and robbers, may carry a knife, but play the odds and choose not to carry a gun. the crime is still there, but it is relatively gun-less, and so overall, fewer people die. It's not an ideological solution, but it is pragmatic.

One might also look to Terry Pratchett's take on the Assassin's Guild of Ankh-Morpock in his Discworld novels, in which their assassinations are correctly accounted for, do not count as murder, and those who murder without being paid are seen as scabs, and action is taken by the Guild against them. A pragmatic situation that Captain Vimes of the Watch accepts to keep the peace, and has to teach the more idealised Corporal Carrot…

But it looks like Batman is not going to take this lesson from Catwoman. Welcome to the Gang War, by way of The Ladykillers…

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