DC's Relaunch caused waves of resentment, praise, and controversy amongst the masses who filed in to see their favorite characters revived in yet another attempt to keep the classic, iconic appeal of some of the world's most famous heroes whilst still maintaining a certain freshness. Some things, as documented in my blog, didn't end up becoming tantalizingly fresh so much as tired and rotten but in light of those particular issues some smaller but possibly equally important characterizations definitely have at least me scratching my head. The most prominent for me? Damian Wayne.

Take it from sitcoms, nothing says jumping-the-shark like introducing a cute little kid who suddenly becomes the main character's responsibility. Even Leonardo Dicaprio, one of the best actors of our generation, wasn't able to entice the "Growing Pains" viewers into investing in another few seasons. Was it because people are repulsed by little kids? In some instances but I think more importantly it messes up the dynamic. Dawn on Buffy worked (mostly) and Valeria and Franklin in the Fantastic Four comics were successful as characters but when you take a character such as Batman and try to turn him into a father all sorts of things are trifled with.

Personally, I feel that Bruce Wayne doesn't quite have the paternal instinct to be responsible for a child. It's difficult for him to be emotionally available, he very seldom allows himself to be light-hearted about pretty much anything, but most importantly...he someone incorporates all the young men in his life to crime fighting. With Dick Grayson, it maybe sort of made sense in part because he was always depicted as having been more mature than other Robins. In the animated series he was a college student, in Batman Forever he was played by Chris O'donnell while he was in his late 20's, in the 60's show he was depicted as at least post-pubescent, and even in the golden age days (rife with possible sexual innuendo) he never felt as though he were a child but rather a smaller, more happy-go-lucky and exuberant contrast to Batman. This is arguably true for Tim Drake and Jason Todd as well, they were "kids" but not quite children yet Damian is a mere 10 years old which causes me to ask myself: Would Batman really let a child, furthermore his own biological son fight crime?

Just think for a moment- Bruce Wayne has never been able to fully recover from the death of his parents. It's tortured him for years and caused a ripple effect of issues within his life that would plague him for years. Would he really risk the highly probable chance that his son may witness his very own death some day in an even worse scenario than the ones his parents died in? Think about his villains, if any one of them had the chance to really make Batman suffer before the eyes of his child would they just shoot him? Or make it excruciatingly painful? I tend to think the latter.

Now, I know Damian Wayne was raised to be a warrior but that provides even more reason for why he shouldn't be in the line of fire. He was raised to be a warrior by Talia and while I love Talia, she's just all kinds of nuts about living up to her father's expectations by way of men she believes could be his successor. Her attempt at approval caused Damian's childhood to be very thoroughly corrupted to a point where's he is a bit to chillingly devoted to the cause. Shouldn't a child be allowed to have a childhood? A sense of relative normalcy that makes it easier for him to relate to the rest of the world? Something Bruce was unfairly robbed of very early on?

Is it because Damian is his son that drives Bruce to push him into this position? Are Dick or Tim not sufficient enough to fulfill the role of Batman when the time comes for Bruce to retire? Or what about Barbara even? They are all capable and effective allies who've been able to transition into adulthood while maintaining most of their sanity so why disrupt the life of a child? It's always been a question whether or not Batman should have such young sidekicks but this seems like even more of a hole in the logic of Bruce Wayne as person, as a man, but most importantly as a father. I thought for sure it would be one of the first things about Batman to change but I find myself really ill at ease with the whole idea now.

Whaddaya you think?