FireStormTrooper
07-27-2006, 09:36 AM
Is it true?
It's being said that DC plans on re-introducing Ibn al Xuffasch (in Arabic, literally means "Son of the Bat"), the biological son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al-Ghul, into the current comics continuity.
As furious as I was with the half-assed notion of Superman having a biological son in SUPERMAN RETURNS, I can accept this new development in the Batman mythos for a couple reasons ...
1. Ibn's birth was already chronicled in the awesome BATMAN: SON OF THE DEMON graphic novel that came out almost 20 years ago. SPOILER: It turns out that Bruce married Talia with Ras al-Ghul himself presiding over the ceremony ... and it was a real but brief marriage. Bruce found out that Talia was pregnant, and was ready to quit being Batman. He wanted to name the child Thomas or Martha. But then there was a terrorist crisis, Talia was caught in a gunfight and then said she lost the baby. Bruce was crushed, and took his revenge on the culprit. It turns out Talia lied, because she thought the world needed a driven Batman more than a happy Bruce, so she secretly gave the child up for adoption. The child was unnamed and unseen until the last panel of the last page as a newborn. There was always some confusion (at least to me) as to whether that was in continuity or not. Anyway, great story, made sense for Batman, was in keeping with his character (unlike Supes' unlikely irresponsible actions in SII and SR)
2. Ibn al-Xuffasch was next seen as a young adult in the awesome KINGDOM COME miniseries 10 years ago and then again in the follow-up THE KINGDOM event. In the latter, he was really given a chance to shine. SPOILER: Ibn ultimately kills his grandfather Ra's al Ghul in the Batcave. But KINGDOM COME, like SON OF THE DEMON before it, were not exactly in continuity. But you at least could sorta get used to the idea that Bruce had a son somewhere before they made it official. And you got a chance to maybe like the guy a little.
3. Batman's almost always had a father-son relationship with someone, be it Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake (or even Carrie Kelly from DARK KNIGHT RETURNS). So him actually having a kid doesn't seem so out of place. He 's always been training someone younger to eventually replace him anyway. Why not his own son?
And finally, Bruce is a billionaire with the image of a playboy to match. So it's not that difficult to accept him as having had affairs, especially under those circumstances, where he knew what happened but was still ready to give it all up to have a family. Saw nothing of the kind in SUPERMAN RETURNS with Clark, who always had a much more stand-up nice-guy character.
I actually hope they go through with this idea, provided they continue to do it right. They laid the groundwork 20 years ago and then continued on it 10 years later. I'm for it.
What do the rest of you Bat-fans think of this development?
It's being said that DC plans on re-introducing Ibn al Xuffasch (in Arabic, literally means "Son of the Bat"), the biological son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al-Ghul, into the current comics continuity.
As furious as I was with the half-assed notion of Superman having a biological son in SUPERMAN RETURNS, I can accept this new development in the Batman mythos for a couple reasons ...
1. Ibn's birth was already chronicled in the awesome BATMAN: SON OF THE DEMON graphic novel that came out almost 20 years ago. SPOILER: It turns out that Bruce married Talia with Ras al-Ghul himself presiding over the ceremony ... and it was a real but brief marriage. Bruce found out that Talia was pregnant, and was ready to quit being Batman. He wanted to name the child Thomas or Martha. But then there was a terrorist crisis, Talia was caught in a gunfight and then said she lost the baby. Bruce was crushed, and took his revenge on the culprit. It turns out Talia lied, because she thought the world needed a driven Batman more than a happy Bruce, so she secretly gave the child up for adoption. The child was unnamed and unseen until the last panel of the last page as a newborn. There was always some confusion (at least to me) as to whether that was in continuity or not. Anyway, great story, made sense for Batman, was in keeping with his character (unlike Supes' unlikely irresponsible actions in SII and SR)
2. Ibn al-Xuffasch was next seen as a young adult in the awesome KINGDOM COME miniseries 10 years ago and then again in the follow-up THE KINGDOM event. In the latter, he was really given a chance to shine. SPOILER: Ibn ultimately kills his grandfather Ra's al Ghul in the Batcave. But KINGDOM COME, like SON OF THE DEMON before it, were not exactly in continuity. But you at least could sorta get used to the idea that Bruce had a son somewhere before they made it official. And you got a chance to maybe like the guy a little.
3. Batman's almost always had a father-son relationship with someone, be it Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake (or even Carrie Kelly from DARK KNIGHT RETURNS). So him actually having a kid doesn't seem so out of place. He 's always been training someone younger to eventually replace him anyway. Why not his own son?
And finally, Bruce is a billionaire with the image of a playboy to match. So it's not that difficult to accept him as having had affairs, especially under those circumstances, where he knew what happened but was still ready to give it all up to have a family. Saw nothing of the kind in SUPERMAN RETURNS with Clark, who always had a much more stand-up nice-guy character.
I actually hope they go through with this idea, provided they continue to do it right. They laid the groundwork 20 years ago and then continued on it 10 years later. I'm for it.
What do the rest of you Bat-fans think of this development?