I'm a big proponent of rereading my favorite stories (sometimes over and over) in collected form. I prefer to do this because I feel like I am much more satisfied taking the story in in one or two sittings, as opposed to broken up over an entire 6 months or, worse, a year. I've had a lot of time due to being off from school for winter break recently and I've been able to reread Scott Snyder's Batman, Kyle Higgins' Nightwing, and Gates of Gotham. I plan on tearing into the Black Mirror hardcover sometime later this week also.

After rereading all these stories, which are, collectively, a sizeable portion of the recent Bat-mythos, I can't help but want for Dick to be back under the cowl. Now, I know this a somewhat loaded statement, so I don't want it to be misconstrued -- I'm thoroughly enjoying both Batman and Nightwing right now, but I feel like Dick's time under the cowl was rushed and cut short because of the New 52. I think the release of Leviathan right now kind of supports my claim; it certainly is evidence that Morrison did not have the time he would have liked with Batman, Inc..

I feel like there was so much more that writers could have done with Dick wearing the Bat-suit given enough time. I understand that Bruce had to come back, but I definitely thought Dick's time would have lasted a lot longer than it did. There's no reason why Dick couldn't have remained as Gotham's Batman while Bruce was expanding Batman, Inc., other than the fact that Batman, Inc. was cut way short by the New 52, of course. Morrison concluding his overarching story now is bad timing and I do feel like Batman, Inc., as a concept, lost a lot of its steam. I'll be rereading Morrison's entire run once I have all the trades and I know it will read like a masterpiece when I do, but for now, it is feeling kind of limp.

I just don't understanding why DC chose to have the Bat-books change the way that they did in September. There are no real astonishing changes, and the things that have been changed are a little ridiculous (yes, I'm referring to the ages of all the characters and the ludicrous timeline that's been established). And because of that, the books seem to be very similar to the standard. And again, this is not a critique of the stories that are going on right now -- they're fantastic Gotham City stories -- rather the editorial decision to abandon over a years worth of buildup and character growth in favor of starting over and getting back to the straight basics.

I'd even go as far as to say that I would have liked have seen Dick hold the mantle semi-permanently (i.e.: for >10 years), but I'm sure many would disagree with me and we all knew that would never happen. I do hope that, soon, the timeline will be straightened out and things will become more clear as to where they fit into continuity -- because, right now, it doesn't really fit -- and that writers will be allowed to go back and explore Dick's time under the cowl and in Gotham.

What do you guys think? Was Dick's time cut short? Do you think creators will, or would you like to see them, explore more of Dick's time as Batman?

I agree that the timeline is really screwed up, but there have been some really good stories within the Bat Family titles. There is one particular plot dangler that I would like to see adressed that occurred before the reboot: the jump drive that Dick found hidden in the Batcave that contained some information about his parents' deaths.

Eh. I don't know, I don't think having two Batmans is all that good for Dick as a character.

@ReVamp said:

Eh. I don't know, I don't think having two Batmans is all that good for Dick as a character.

Really? Why?

@sEsposito7 said:

@ReVamp said:

Eh. I don't know, I don't think having two Batmans is all that good for Dick as a character.

Really? Why?

Because there's nothing wrong with Dick having his own identity.

@jrock85: I didn't say there was anything wrong with Dick having his own identity; I'm just saying that his time as Batman was cut too short. @ReVamp said that it isn't good for Dick as a character, so I wanted to know why.

@sEsposito7 said:

@jrock85: I didn't say there was anything wrong with Dick having his own identity; I'm just saying that his time as Batman was cut too short. @ReVamp said that it isn't good for Dick as a character, so I wanted to know why.

No I didn't. I said that having two batmans wasn't doing anything for him in terms of characterization. N ever said him being bad did anything good.

@sEsposito7: Even if the reboot hadn't occurred, I'm not certain that DC would have kept him under the cowl for much longer.

@jrock85 said:

@sEsposito7: Even if the reboot hadn't occurred, I'm not certain that DC would have kept him under the cowl for much longer.

You could be right, which would be just as sad (to me). What I'm saying is that I think there's a great many more stories that could have been told featuring Dick as Batman, and that I hope that time period gets revisited one day.

well the thing that sucked was Morrison was working on Bruce while Snyder was working on Dick/Gotham.....I don't know why they rebooted the universe and undo THAT

@sEsposito7: You can tell great stories with Dick regardless of what costume he's wearing. I wouldn't be opposed to DC doing an "untold tales" mini covering his time under the cowl.

Yes his time was cut short.

I thought we wre really going somewhere and Morrison had made good on his promise to change Batman and Robin forever... but The Man had other plans and the New 52, cool and all as it is, shattered the potential to change Batman not only for fans but for the general public too!

I was loving the look of surprise non comicbook fans were giving me when I informed them that Bruce Wayne was no longer Batman and that Dick and Bruce's son ("he has a son?!?") were now Batman and Robin.

Bruce's return should have taken way longer, in fact I'd have loved to have seen at least a 5-10 year run Quantum Leap style of Bruce moving through time.

Ah well, it's all academic now.

Nah, Dick wasn't born to carry the weight of the cowl. It's Bruce's responsibility and his alone. There are some things that he's experienced that I doubt Dick would be able to survive. Not taking anything away from Dick, I'm a fan of his. I just think Bruce has chiseled his rock hard mentality over his many years.  
 
Also, dark and brooding doesn't suit Dick.

Yes, Dick's time as Batman was definitely cut short. I still think a lot was accomplished with the time he had though. Proved he's more than capable of bearing the cowls weight.

Bruce returned too quickly, just like Cable's about to return too quickly in Marvel. There's never any time for the death to sink in and for people to move on in the actual comic universe. That's been a major failing on BOTH DC and Marvel's part for the past few years now. In real time, I think letting the character be dead for about 5 years should be the norm. In comic time, 1-3 years.

Necro much...?

Indifferent. It was sad to see DC drop all the titles he'd carried along single handedly, but something about the return of Nightwing makes me feel all giddy inside.