Batman Inc. series (spoilers...was the Kathy Kane thread)

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

 

 

See Batman, Inc. #4...

 

I love you, Grant Morrison...oh, and your fantastic artist this time, Chris Burnham!

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

...How about the original Bat-Girl ?

  Oh , and what about the various continuity newspaper strip versions of Batman over the years ?

  Now THERE'S a kettle of fish...

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Wait, what? Really?

Jeff of Earth-J said:

Heck, even the wedding to MJ "happened"...she remembers it...but only she does.

Does she remember baby May?

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

Yes...Bat-Girl is back as well...she's in Batman, Inc. #4.

 

And...again...in this story Kathy Kane is still dead...she's not a zombie or a clone or anything...she's just back in Bruce's history.  Her part of the issue is all flashback.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Emerkeith Davyjack said:

...How about the original Bat-Girl ?

.

My guess is the original Bat-Girl is the "familiar face" who was impersonating Kathy Kane. 

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

Rob, I was wrong about what happened in One Moment in Time...as I didn't read it and have misinterpreted the ending from what has been in the Spidey books since then.  Here is the plot to OMIT which also answers the Baby May question. (spoilers)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary Jane Watson whispers to Mephisto that Peter will not trade his marriage for Aunt May's life unless Mary Jane tells him to accept the agreement, and that Mephisto will leave Peter alone forever once the deal is done. Mephisto agrees to these terms. In present time MJ shows up at Peter's door. They talk about how they have been acting towards each other lately and both agree they want to be friends with each other. Then then reminisce about what happened on what was supposed to be their wedding day. Spider-Man stops Electro and his gang. One of the gang members, Eddie, makes note of the arresting officer's name. Then Mephisto, as a red pigeon, swoops down and unlocks the door of the police car Eddie is in, allowing him to escape while the officers are occupied with cuffing Electro. Spider-Man is out patrolling that night and hears the gunshots of Eddie shooting at the arresting officer and his wife. While saving the policeman and his wife, Spider-Man gets hit in the head with a cinder block. He chases after Eddie and tackles him off the side of a building. Though Spider-Man foils the murder, during his struggle, he and Eddie fall from a building to the ground, with Spider-Man absorbing most of the impact. Eddie escapes, declining to kill Spider-Man because he saved Eddie's life. On the wedding morning, Mary Jane shows up but Peter does not as he is lying unconscious in an alleyway.

After Peter misses his wedding he tries to explain what happened to Mary Jane, but she knows that it is because of his crimefighting, and says she will only marry him if he gives up being Spider-Man. Peter declines, and Mary Jane leaves him. After Mary Jane's Aunt Anna urges her to reconsider, Mary Jane goes to Peter, and tells him that she always imagined having a daughter with him that took after both of them. She adds that she can’t have children with him because his life as a superhero would not be fair to them. They are still together when Aunt May gets shot during the events related to Civil War. Refusing to accept her death, Peter performs CPR, miraculously bringing her back to life.

Wilson Fisk, informed of May's survival by a disguised Mephisto, decides to send a masked hitman after Anna Watson. The assassin is interrupted by Mary Jane, who then becomes his target, and then by Spider-Man, who dispatches and unmasks him, revealing him to be Eddie. Spider-Man brings the wounded Mary Jane to Doctor Strange, who performs a healing spell on her. Peter insists that Doctor Strange should make people forget he is Spider-Man. Doctor Strange contacts Tony Stark and Reed Richards for advice on the matter, because they are partially responsible for Peter's identity becoming public.

 

Both Richards and Stark agree with Strange, but it takes some convincing. They decide that nobody, including themselves and Mary Jane, will remember anything. Peter enters a protective shell to shield himself from the changes. At the last moment, he leaps out of the shield and pulls Mary Jane in with him so she won't forget either. They wake up in the motel and Peter explains what has happened. Mary Jane asks why he couldn't just let her forget. She explains that she can't be with him because it's only a matter of time before somebody rips off his mask and they go after her family, a danger he cannot allow. Back in the present, Mary Jane explains that he has to move on and find somebody who can be with him. Spider-Man, standing on a rooftop, says that the best person he has ever known has set him free, that he can face anything in life and that today feels like a brand new day. 

 

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

...I don't see that that " answers " Baby May , simply ignores it/skates around the issue .

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

Doc Beechler said:

Well...as far as we know, in this story...SPOILER SPACE

 

...Yeah , but what about Julie Madison ?

  Sheesh , even Vicki Vale ............

  That siad , I like the " every story is in continuity...somehow " concept . :-)

  That's pretty much my belief .

  What , even Mopee ?

  Um...........YES . ( I think . ) !!

[ClarkKent_DC]

Eric L. Sofer said:

Well... I think it's better that she remain dead than that she suddenly come back to life after twenty years without being a zombie.  (Come to think of it, I'm not all that keen on zombies, either.)

 

Do you think it's better that dead characters don't remain dead?  That once again, character deaths are just an elementary story element that can be reversed when convenient?  (I'm sure that Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy have their bags packed and are just waiting for the writer who's "courageous" enough to bring THEM back now...)

If the cosmic reset button has been hit -- which it has at least THREE TIMES since Kathy Kane was murdered -- why NOT bring her back?

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Thanks, Doc!

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

Well...there was no Baby May to be stolen by Osborn in this new timeline.

 

Julie and Vicki could still be lovers of Bruce...but, according to Grant, Kathy was his "first".  

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

Doc Beechler said:

Well...there was no Baby May to be stolen by Osborn in this new timeline.

 

Julie and Vicki could still be lovers of Bruce...but, according to Grant, Kathy was his "first".  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...Just cheap snogs in the back of his Range Rover , eh ?

  All lightness aside:-)..........

  I don't much like the idea that a real human being , Baby May , could be just wiped away , perhaps especially by an evil ( small-S Satanic ) being , Mephisto , and/or even a goodie making a deal with him .

  Mary Jane consiously trying to prevent her born , lost , baby from bi- Or , rather , wipe her away ?

  I'm going to check Wiki now , and I'm going to try to see if ther's any explanation as to what the story was PRIOR to tis being adopted for the explanation about May Parker , either both the official Marvel version - and , too , the , kind of , " unofficial " " understood " expanation was , even if wasn't quite spelled out .

  Also about Harry's survival from , in the pre-OMD continuity , being dead .

  So , where was Harry all these years in the pre-OMD universe ?.

[Figserello]

Morrison had already brought Batwoman back into continuity.  I think the Final Crisis Tie-in issues where Batman was imprisoned had a flashback to the two of them having some far-out 50s adventure.

 

'Flashback' is the correct word too, as the scene naughtily implied that the crazy things they were experiencing had something to do with the wrong drugs in the wrong dosage!

 

For what its worth, I thought the issues of Hulk where he was inflicted with Lou Gerhig's Disease were great.  Of course he's a gamma-powered comicbook character and he got better, but the writer used a (modestly) popular medium to make people aware of something they would normally experience only under very tragic circumstances (or while studying for a medical qualification).  Society is all the better for more people understanding the suffering of others.  In that way, that Hulk comic did have a beneficial effect, however minor, on a real world disease.

 

Likewise, the Peter David's AIDS issue was a worthwhile publication, and a good read n'all.

 

Comics are largely for entertainment, but it's nice when they throw in a bit of education too.  A superhero comc that's ABOUT something is a nice change.