Would you vote to expel Batman from the JLA due to his actions in Tower of Babel?

[Naijaboy]

The last thing I would want is to not be sure where the person who knows how to take me down was. So yeah, I would keep Batman if only to make sure that at least I know where Batman is.

But in this situation, even then I wouldn't have kicked him out. He had plans for everyone including himself. Having everyone in the league know said plans does nothing when one is mind controlled and can share the secrets with the villains.

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I'd go one further. He loses his senior status and can never gain access to the inner workings and other members' abilities to make contingencies without their consent. The Martian Manhunter will make sure of that.

But yeah, fuck BatGod. Keeping him watch is the only reason he's still a Leager for this.

 

[Weltall Zero]

The problem with this story is that Batman nearly gets all of his friends killed because he's a paranoid lunatic, and instead the audience took from this that he's a practical badass who needs to keep all the overpowered gods in check. Every time there's a "can the heroes be trusted?!" story the answer is always "no shit dumbass" because there are decades of comics depicting them as morally upright almost to a fault.

So yes, fuck Batman.

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Right, except for the almost yearly incidence of one or another of the morally upright to a fault heroes being mind-controlled or falling to the dark side.
https://screenrant.com/superman-insane-defeated-stopped/
Batman is just genre savvy enough to know comic writers just love pitting heroes against each other. His "superpower" is planning and preparedness; without that, he's a splat in the wall the second any of the other JLA members turn against him.

I haven't actually read the storyline, but at a cursory glance, the silliest thing about it all (and the reason it's notable in the first place, versus the frequent and quickly forgotten times other JLA have gone rogue) is Batman being so freaking dumb as to let his plans fall into Ra's hands. Also note most of his plans involved non-lethal means of disabling the JLA members, including going to the lengths of devising a specific form of kryptonite that would disable but not kill Superman.

 

[Yasuke]

He has never been right, only a psychopath would be plotting to kill people he sits down with everyday

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I wanna agree with you so badly, but damn, these aren't ordinary people he's breaking bread with lmao.

 

[Weiss]

Remember all those times the League got brainwashed and Batman's super awesome contingency plans saved the day and not, like, fixing the mind control or beating up the dude who's causing it.

 

[Neoxon]

100% absolutely would vote to expel him. How do you trust someone with an intricate plan to kill you?

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His original plans were to incapacitate, not kill. They were modified to kill by those who stole the plans.

And going by the original plans, Batman was perfectly justified. Who's to say that the others couldn't be brainwashed or cloned?

 

[Naijaboy]

The issue isn't the contingencies. It's doing so without their back. I'm pretty sure they would have helped out and make sure they don't go into the wrong hands. It's pretty arrogant of him to think he could do all this and not have supervillains find out. Trust has always been an issue with him and this is example of this biting him in the ass.

 

[Deleted member 8468]

If I was Batman and god existed, I'd have a plan to kill him too.

 

[808s & Villainy]

The issue isn't the contingencies. It's doing so without their back. I'm pretty sure they would have helped out and make sure they don't go into the wrong hands. It's pretty arrogant of him to think he could do all this and not have supervillains find out. Trust has always been an issue with him and this is example of this biting him in the ass.

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How would contingencies work if the person they're meant for knows about them?

 

[Seductivpancakes]

I mean it beats Wonder Woman's way of dealing with mind control, which is to just straight up murder whoever is doing it.

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Thats the best way to deal with homicidal mass murdering maniacs who constantly escape prison to do it all over again.

 

[Jodez99]

Thats the best way to deal with homicidal mass murdering maniacs who constantly escape prison to do it all over again.

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Thats the kinda thinking that leads to Injustice

 

[Seductivpancakes]

Thats the kinda thinking that leads to Injustice

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In reality they would have gotten the death penalty, but by all means keep letting these super villains commit mass murder.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

How would contingencies work if the person they're meant for knows about them?

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Superman knowing Kryptonite exists has never stopped villains from weaponizing it against him.

 

[Keldroc]

I would not expel him, because he's 100% right. The JLA members' indignation and anger in that story comes off as hopelessly naive, which I admit is in character for some of them, but they are effectively gods and his concerns are completely justified. Their reaction just makes his planning even more justified, in fact, because they're clearly unwilling to be put in any kind of meaningful check by the only person on the core team who knows what it's like to be a regular person. And, as others have said, considering how successful he was, even leaving the modifications made by Ra's aside, wouldn't you want him where you could watch him, in turn?

It was a pretty silly outcome to what was otherwise a solid story.

Thats the kinda thinking that leads to Injustice

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Injustice could never happen because in a sane world the Joker would have had an "accident" on the way to Blackgate and/or Arkham years ago. Batman could have a no-kill policy because the cops would do it for him.

 

[Jodez99]

In reality they would have gotten the death penalty, but by all means keep letting these super villains commit mass murder.

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And in the Injustice-verse Superman becomes a fascist dictator who kills everyone that he and his regime buddies see as villains. Real world rules don't apply

 

[LProtagonist]

I'd vote him out for not having superpowers.

 

[Inugami]

Deja Vu... we've definitely had this thread before...

Answer is the same as last time, it's absolutely the right answer to keep him because he did the right thing having a backup plan for anyone of these monsters of human beings going crazy

He just needs to beef up his own security.

 

[Thordinson]

The problem I have is that some of the plans require the superheroes to be docile to really work. Green Lantern had to be asleep which, likely, wouldn't be the case if he was a mind-controlled murder machine. The Flash had to stop and get shot by a bullet that he tried to vibrate through instead of dodge. If the Flash truly was evil, Batman would have no way of stopping him.

But yeah, Batman being a paranoid psychopath is kinda his thing.

 

[CenaToon]

didnt something similar happened in the JL cartoon and Batman chose to leave by himself?

 

[Seductivpancakes]

And in the Injustice-verse Superman becomes a fascist dictator who kills everyone that he and his regime buddies see as villains. Real world rules don't apply

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As always with superhero comics the more you look into it, the more comic logic falls apart.

 

[Nightwing123]

76.7% of the people that voted are right. Batman is not in the wrong here and the Justice League is way too powerful to not have plans for. We have so many stories of one of them going bad whether it's through their own volition or it's just mind controller.

 

[reclaimerzzzzz]

didnt something similar happened in the JL cartoon and Batman chose to leave by himself?

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That was an animated movie based on this comic; Justice League: Doom.

 

[AlgusUnderdunk]

I'd vote him out because he was stupid enough to write that plan down somewhere. Hey Bruce? Keep it to yourself. Do you have someone else you trust you were planning on giving a copy of that to? Did you then have a plan for defeating them too?

Or BETTER, like an adult, encourage the Justice League members to discuss, as a group, how they'd each best be taken down if they went rogue/mind-controlled/killer-cloned/justice-lorded/black-lantern'd/etc. That goes for you too Bruce.

Batman, dead serious, "If I ever go rogue Clark, I need you to pick me up, get a buttcheek in each hand, and tear me in half like fresh bread."

"Gee Bruce, don't talk like that, I'm sure I-"

"NO CLARK. YOU PROMISE ME."

"Maybe just... choking you out or freezing-"

"NO CLARK. I've gone over the scenarios. The only way to be sure is to rip me in half starting from the buttcheeks. I confirmed it on my supercomputer."

 

[Jarmel]

Injustice could never happen because in a sane world the Joker would have had an "accident" on the way to Blackgate and/or Arkham years ago. Batman could have a no-kill policy because the cops would do it for him.

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"We have no clue how Joker shot himself in the back of the police car. I guess we didn't search him well enough."

 

[SageShinigami]

Are you on an exclusive seat amongst the most powerful people on the planet who could commit mass atrocities any second, whether by your will or by mental manipulation?

If the League can't even consider just how fucking dangerous they are, then they shouldn't be there in the first place.

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Sure. But get off my team. I can't trust you.

Because he hates that Batman is more popular than Black Panther.

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Black Panther trash for the same reason Bruce is. He beat Silver Surfer with a hold. Gtfo.

 

[SageShinigami]

Injustice could never happen because in a sane world the Joker would have had an "accident" on the way to Blackgate and/or Arkham years ago. Batman could have a no-kill policy because the cops would do it for him.

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I have been saying this for almost a decade now. Joker wouldn't survive trip one to Arkham.

 

[DeltaRed]

Anyone who thinks Batman betrayed their trust or something, do you never make contingency plans at work in case colleagues are away or sick or leave? Batman's line of work just happens to be with superhumans and life and death.

 

[5taquitos]

Make them personal, not these puny piddly piss plans that any pitious profligate would prepare anywhere

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I appreciate the descent into alliteration at the end here.

 

[Cosmic Schwung]

He should have a plan for literally every every individual who could potentially be a serious threat. It's all part of his prep time bollocks. It would be weird if he didn't.

Bet the Injustice verse wish they had this Batman.

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[Weiss]

God I fucking hate how Batman's been written for years now.

He's no fun, he's barely even a hero. Every shitty joke made at his expense by people who would never read a comic in their life has been rammed through as canon.

 

[808s & Villainy]

Superman knowing Kryptonite exists has never stopped villains from weaponizing it against him.

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Yeah, but if he knew exactly where they held it, how they planned to get it near him undetected, and how/when they planned to use it on him that might change things

 

[OhSatan]

I mean the story is trash and that is what tints the concept, a better writer could probably make it work...

Oh wait

 

[Village]

I think the correct take is . Batman is a psychopath. However, he's kinda not wrong for having that. Yeah you all feel like shit, but them dudes regularly get mind controlled have alternate versions that just turn evil. Have dopple gangers that are just evil , have alternate reality versions of themselves that come to the main earth ect ect ect. Batman is a shit head for thinkin of this, but batman lives in a comic book universe where there's literally multiple evil supermen one of which was so powerful he punched through fucking reality. Tower of babel was always a flawed criticism because of this. Like this would work better in a watchmen scenario where they are kinda just dudes doing super hero stuff and the outer limits of comic book fuckery isn't a thing. I would have 8 billion contingency plans after dealing with fucking super boy prime. Or the black lanterns, or the reverse flash.

God I fucking hate how Batman's been written for years now.

He's no fun, he's barely even a hero. Every shitty joke made at his expense by people who would never read a comic in their life has been rammed through as canon.

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Uh... do you read his books. He hasn't been that way for a hot ass minute and a lot of the books that come up out are critical of his ass these days.

 

[The Adder]

I mean it beats Wonder Woman's way of dealing with mind control, which is to just straight up murder whoever is doing it.

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He said there was no other way while tied by the lasso of truth. There was no other way.

 

[SuperBoss]

There are lots of stories of Superman losing his shit. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

Also who is paying for shit if Bruce isn't in the JLU? Oliver Queen?

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How do those stories turn out?
And im sure they'll be fine.
Superman alone has saved the entire human civilization countless times. He good.

 

[RocketKiss]

Nah. All is forgiven. Super friends. The power of friendship forever.

 

[BigDes]

I would have expelled him but not for having contingency plans to take down the League if it went rogue. They're the most powerful people on the planet and we've seen what happens when the League decides to be evil with things like the Justice Lords and the Crime Society. Not having a way to deal with them is incredibly naive. If I were Superman I would have insisted that every member of the Justice League comes up with contingency plans to take down the rest should it become necessary.

I would have expelled Batman however, for his sheer negligence in allowing those plans to fall into the hands of Ra's and his cronies. Absolute negligence that comes from his own Bat-arrogance.

 

[MechaMarmaset]

Him having to the sole ability to disable the human equivalent of nukes in itself makes him one of those same nukes were he to be compromised. Intent is good but he shouldn't be the one to control it.

 

[Helix]

having a contingency plan is normally fine but being an ass and not telling anyone is probably the shittiest move one can pull! despite how much I admire him, this is arguably the most dumb thing Bruce has followed through with

 

[Viewt]

Does he DESERVE it? Sure, but no, I wouldn't vote him out. Batman INSIDE the group is much less dangerous than pushing him out. You think those failsafes are gonna get more lenient when Bruce has an axe to grind? Can you imagine what Damien might want to add? Rayner would be lucky if all he went was blind again.