I've been reading Batman comics for twenty years. Overall, I am really enjoying Snyder's Batman.
Is it perfect? No. But, I tend not to sweat the small stuff. For instance, Batman saying he hates Joker the most, or the bat family seemingly being very dense by not already realizing Joker knows their identities (which of course, from a reader's perspective, you would think that they should)... this isn't life or death stuff, to me, and in-and-of-itself certainly doesn't irreparably damage what has already been established about these characters and their motivations. Not for me. Not at all. I think for some people, especially reviewers, they tend to get caught up in looking for mistakes and things they can criticize, instead of simply enjoying a story for what it is.
Snyder has taken his liberties as the current Batman writer with the way he portrays the characters, that much is true. And whether I like it or not, there will be a new writer after him, and another... and another... all of whom take their own liberties with these characters. They won't always get everything right. They'll make mistakes along the way in how these characters are portrayed. But you know what... if the story is ultimately satisfying to me, I can hold onto the good and usually forget about the bad, so long as it isn't something that permanently damages a character for generations to come. Snyder certainly hasn't done that. Not even close.
So, does Snyder make mistakes with these stories and the way he portrays the characters? Of course he does. Every writer does. I certainly don't think it's because he doesn't have a firm grasp on the characters. I just think it's because nobody is perfect and, beyond that, every writer has his/her own style and interpretation.
Kudos to Mr. Snyder for giving us some truly great and memorable Batman tales. I know that my friends and I will be talking about them for years to come. When the next writer comes along, so long as he knows how to tell a good story and keep me engaged, and so long as he doesn't truly damage the characters for posterity, I am sure I will appreciate him or her as well. :)
God bless!
EDIT: I wanted to comment on this one other thing... Batman saying that he didn't kill Joker because a newer or bigger threat would take his place was certainly not the only thing that stopped him from doing so. That was just obvious to me. Every faithful Batman reader knows Bruce's moral and ethical code. As a writer with a good grasp on the character, Snyder knows this too. Consequently, he need not waste ink, or use up precious page space, explaining to us that "Oh, by the way, Batman primarily didn't kill Joker because of his code which says that if he crosses that line then he won't be able to stop." We all know this already. Batman was simply saying that, even if he didn't have his strict code of "no killing" in place, he wouldn't kill the Joker because he understands that a new and possibly greater threat would eventually rise up to take his place. That's what I took away from it, anyway.
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