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Post by johnreiter902 on Aug 1, 2023 1:45:59 GMT
It's possible that the Batman Museum was dismantled by the late 1970s (Earth-1 time), however, along with several other Batman-themed landmarks in Gotham City (such as the Batman Lighthouse), since we don't really see any of those in the later Earth-1 Batman stories. It's almost as if there was an in-universe effort to make Batman more mysterious and fearsome to criminals (much like the real-life effort) and less of a pop star. My guess is Bruce Wayne probably spearheaded the efforts himself for that very reason, but the public (false) reason that it was more about beautifying or making Gotham City classier or something like that. (As a side note, perhaps Bat-Mite was given a good "scare" to discourage him from making any more pesky visits, which must've worked given that he only made one appearance after 1967 -- Batman likely had to play a mean trick on the poor little guy, but for his own good, a kind of "tough love."). Maybe tie the two together and Bat-mite in his last appearance makes a lot of the Batman themed things vanish. Bruce convinces Bat-Mite that Batman is losing an important edge or that his identity is more imperiled by Batman as a public figure. As a result Bat-Mite erases all the overly-public Batman stuff and 'Mite himslef limits his fanboy actions to only observing for the most part. I like this idea, and I agree with the others who like it as well.
Here's another thought though. The last two appearances of Bat-Mite (World's Finest #152 and 169) he teamed-up with/gambled with his old rival Mr. Mxyzptlk. Maybe Mxyzptlk finally got the advantage over Bat-Mite (something like the Elseworld's story World's Funnest) and prevented him from coming back
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Post by starskyhutch76 on Aug 1, 2023 3:39:28 GMT
Another possibility is that Bat-mite graduated from his own sidekick role and becomes the caped crusader of the 5th dimension.
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Post by redsycorax on Aug 1, 2023 4:30:28 GMT
Another, more mundane possibility is that Earth-One's Gotham went into a local recession in the seventies and so most of the Batman-themed local attractions were affected by reduced consumer intake, leading to their closure. Bruce Wayne may have purchased and then closed them, redeploying the funds to his philanthropic Wayne Foundation interests, diverting attention away from anyone who might deduce that Bruce was Batman, and diminishing public attention when it came to the Batman in the process. Probably the same applied to any residual staff employed by the local attractions. To do so would have increased the mystery and distance that the Batman thrives on. There might still be a repository for derelict and abandoned Batman public attractions somewhere in Gotham, as John says.
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Post by lawrenceliberty on Aug 1, 2023 17:03:19 GMT
I recall Bat-Mite visiting the DC offices in a Detective Comics story in which he saw people carrying signs saying they wanted Bat-Mite. Maybe this encouraged him to seek out his own career as S-H suggested.
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Post by dans on Aug 2, 2023 13:02:43 GMT
Another possibility is that Bat-mite graduated from his own sidekick role and becomes the caped crusader of the 5th dimension. Isn't Mxy more powerful than Bat-mite? He may have to use all the tricks he learned on Earth as a hero in his own dimension!
Do we know anything about Bat-mite before he first came to Earth? He must have been observing Batman magically for a while before he popped in...
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Post by DocQuantum on Aug 2, 2023 22:08:25 GMT
If Bat-Mite is "fighting crime" in the 5th dimension, then my guess is there are other "Mites" that are playing at being criminals for the fun of it (and to be intentionally caught by Bat-Mite the Hero), much as children might play cops and robbers.
Joker-Mite is a lot more like the whimsical Joker from the Batman TV show era than the mass killer from the early 1940s or the early 1970s on.
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Post by DocQuantum on Aug 2, 2023 22:12:48 GMT
Another possibility is that Bat-mite graduated from his own sidekick role and becomes the caped crusader of the 5th dimension. Isn't Mxy more powerful than Bat-mite? He may have to use all the tricks he learned on Earth as a hero in his own dimension! Do we know anything about Bat-mite before he first came to Earth? He must have been observing Batman magically for a while before he popped in...
We don't know. But if Bat-Mite started watching Batman (and became such a fanboy that he called himself Bat-Mite in the first place -- who knows if his real name is even pronounceable by the human tongue?), perhaps the reason he began watching him at all is thanks to a certain other-dimensional OptiTiVi producer named Jolax, who popularized the viewing of many Earth-1 heroes across the dimensions, beginning with Superboy. See my story: Secret Files: Galaxo Movie Studios Presents... |
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Post by lawrenceliberty on Aug 3, 2023 15:03:27 GMT
Good idea.
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Post by redsycorax on Aug 3, 2023 23:26:15 GMT
As for Bat-Mite, perhaps he simply lost interest in Batman when that character became darker and moved on to become the five-dimensional impish encumbrance of another hero. It's odd that only Batman, Superman and Aquaman appear to have attendant imps in their environs- what about the Flash, Green Lantern, J'onn J'onnz, Hawkman and Hawkwoman and Wonder Woman? Surely at least some of them must be aware or have encountered Zrfff (or perhaps other worlds in its fifth dimensional universe) in the course of their careers?
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Post by dans on Aug 4, 2023 2:07:55 GMT
As for Bat-Mite, perhaps he simply lost interest in Batman when that character became darker and moved on to become the five-dimensional impish encumbrance of another hero. It's odd that only Batman, Superman and Aquaman appear to have attendant imps in their environs- what about the Flash, Green Lantern, J'onn J'onnz, Hawkman and Hawkwoman and Wonder Woman? Surely at least some of them must be aware or have encountered Zrfff (or perhaps other worlds in its fifth dimensional universe) in the course of their careers? J'onn had his own imp, Zook. |
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Post by redsycorax on Aug 4, 2023 2:27:16 GMT
I'm not sure Zook counts, given his presence was somewhat ephemeral and I don't think his provenance was five dimensional- although he might have originated from another five dimensional world than Zrfff. However, even counting Zook, that still means Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Hawkwoman and Wonder Woman don't have their own acolytes/nuisances. Surely the speed force would enable the Flash and his companions to enter Zrfff, as well as Green Lantern's power ring, which has enabled him to travel to alternate universes in the past. Wonder Woman also doesn't seem to have a female imp of her own, which does raise some interesting questions about female five dimensional imps like Gsptlsnz. Might she pursue a career of her own as encumbrance or companion to Wonder Woman, Supergirl or other female DC heroes? Gsptlsnz: dc.fandom.com/wiki/Miss_Gsptlsnz |
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Post by jonclark on Aug 4, 2023 6:35:23 GMT
I'm not sure Zook counts, given his presence was somewhat ephemeral and I don't think his provenance was five dimensional- although he might have originated from another five dimensional world than Zrfff. However, even counting Zook, that still means Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Hawkwoman and Wonder Woman don't have their own acolytes/nuisances. Surely the speed force would enable the Flash and his companions to enter Zrfff, as well as Green Lantern's power ring, which has enabled him to travel to alternate universes in the past. Wonder Woman also doesn't seem to have a female imp of her own, which does raise some interesting questions about female five dimensional imps like Gsptlsnz. Might she pursue a career of her own as encumbrance or companion to Wonder Woman, Supergirl or other female DC heroes? Gsptlsnz: dc.fandom.com/wiki/Miss_GsptlsnzMaybe Mopee was the Flash's imp and he just didn't find Barry interesting enough after their first meeting. And just because a small group of 5th dimensional beings found one of the 3rd dimensional locations interesting doesn't make it a fact that every hero on Earth-One or Earth-Two would get a 5th dimensional follower. Not every trope has to be made universal. One of the bad things with the Silver Age was taking an idea that works great as a one-off and driving it into the ground. |
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Post by dans on Aug 4, 2023 16:42:31 GMT
One of the bad things with the Silver Age was taking an idea that works great as a one-off and driving it into the ground.
One of the bad things about Hollywood, too...
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Post by redsycorax on Aug 5, 2023 1:10:37 GMT
Or for that matter, Marvel Comics. Witness the exhaustion of the Marvel Zombies trope due to the number of sequels, or for that matter, I spy with my Cyclops eye, titles beginning with X...
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