When the original Batman movie came out, I got very involved in collecting the available Batman titles: Batman, Detective, Legends of the Dark Knight, and whatever trades I could lay my hands on, which were Dark Knight Returns, Year One, A Death in the Family, etc. It was pre-interwebs, so all my knowledge about continuity I got from a compendium I got in the 70's, with Batman stories from four decades. The 40's were gritty, the 50's were clownish, the late 60's and early 70's were drifting back toward the original vibe, getting people ready for the Frank Miller Renaissance, which was amplified by the movie.
 
That heavy collecting phase lasted maybe 7 years and I quit collecting. Now I'm back, partly because of the podcast, and I'm kind of feeling like Batman is suffering from a combination of X-Men soap opera affliction and a resurgence of 50's craziness. All the Robins, all the Batgirls, Nightwing, getting killed, going back in time, blah, blah, blah.
 
I think Batman has lost his roots. Too many writers are trying to make their mark by telling sensational stories about Batman, but the basics are the things that attracted us in the first place. A man dresses up, goes out at night, patrols his city and beats the hell out of criminals. He has gadgets and tech, but it really comes down to putting his knuckles on people. I have dozens of 80's and 90's Batman comics where the story has exactly that backdrop. Batman warns kids away from drugs or gangs, Batman sets a person back on the straight and narrow, Batman delivers justice when the system can't, all in the context of being out at night beating the hell out of criminals.
 
G-Man once asked you if Batman could rid Gotham of crime, and you rightfully said of course not, and added that crime is worse because he's there. Maybe, maybe not, but it's valid. But the point is that Bruce Wayne, despite his parents' murder, had every advantage in life. He could have done anything he wanted, but he chose not to get over their deaths. He chose a life devoted to vengeance. All his work at WayneTech is designed to facilitate the Batman. He chose all this and his life is what it is, and that is the drama we want to read about. Would we do that? Could we throw our future away on a fruitless quest to fight crime, knowing from the outset we'd never succeed and probably along the way lose all faith in humanity. Bruce Wayne is our proxy for a question we hope we'll never have to answer.
 
And then there's the Joker, another proxy for the side of us that wants to embrace chaos. The duality of the Batman and the Joker keeps the series going and adds punch to graphic novels that are focused elsewhere.
 
Notice I have not mentioned Robin, Batgirl, any of the DC Crises or crossovers, the Justice League, or going back in time. Batman doesn't need any of those bells and whistles to be compelling. I think the stories should get smaller. Batman should get back to Gotham and start beating up criminals again. There are stories and spaces to explore in those dark corners where he belongs.