Infinite Crisis, Pt 1

I'm taking a break from homework and procrastinating jumping back into Hamlet (all of it by Monday... seriously?!) to talk about the comic I'm rereading at the moment. I'll confess, Reed, that I'm skipping some stuff (mainly Wonder Woman cause for whatever reason she really bores me a lot of time) and reading the Batman and Superman parts of INFINITE CRISIS:

I haven't reread this in a really long time and I forgot how good it really is. We'll save the Superboy vs Superboy-Prime for the wrap up post when I finish the rest of it. I want talk briefly in this post about something near and dear to my heart:

the Bat Family. In the case of INFINITE CRISIS, it's focused on Bruce Wayne and the first Robin, now Nightwing, Dick Grayson.

Okay, so, you know, SPOILERS AHEAD!

Right, so lots of stuff is happening and the world is falling apart, Wonder Woman killed Maxwell Lord on national television, Bruce created this computer program that's, like, taking over the world and trying to kill WW and the Justice League, mainly the Big 3, is splintered. Batman and Superman are fighting. It breaks my heart.

Mixed into all of this is the Superman and co from Earth 2. That Earth's Lois Lane is dying so old-guy Superman (from now on called OG Superman), Superboy-Prime (evil little rat boy) and Alexander Luthor are trying to replace our Earth with Earth 2 so that Lois will live and all the people they loved on Earth 2 will come back to life.

Now, to do this, OG Superman wants to recruit Batman to help with the cause. He tells Batman about how on Earth 2, Bruce Wayne married Selina Kyle (a girl can dream, right?) ((the before referenced girl is me, Kent Wayne, so you know)) and how they had Helena, aka the Huntress. He talks about how on our Earth, everyone Bruce knows is a corrupted version of that person on Earth 2. He thinks this will help convince Batman to go over his the dark his side. And it seems to be working. Until this little exchange that I just LOVE. I LOVE IT OKAY?

Batman: You mean they'll die. (He's talking about everyone on our Earth).
OG Superman: No. They'll be replaced, just as everyone on my Earth was. But they'll be better. I never lie, Bruce.
Batman: And what about Dick Grayson?
OG Superman: Yes?
Batman: You said this Earth corrupts everything. Is the Dick Grayson of my Earth a corrupted version of yours?
OG Superman: [sad face] [long pause] No.

And then Batman's like, "Oh, hecks no, brah, I will not join your the dark your side!" Because he LOVES Dick Grayson. And to Bruce, Dick Grayson is totally non-corruptible, he's such a good person down to the very core. Dick Grayson was the light to Batman's dark for so many years. And then as Nightwing he made friendships and started building relationships and still hung around to make wonderful jokes and be the best big brother to Tim, like, ever. And if helping OG Superman meant the death, or end, of the Dick Grayson that Bruce knows and LOVES, then no way Jose. He is not helping you in your evil plan.

So then Bruce figures out that Alexander Luthor and Superboy-Prime are evil and that they kidnapped the Martian Manhunter. So, of course, Batman needs to act. So he hunts down Dick to explain his plan. But when he finds him there's some big chemical explosion or something and then this happens (SO MUCH LOVE I HAVE FOR THIS):

Batman: Nightwing.
Nightwing: Bruce? What are you doing here?
Batman: ...I want to make sure... you're all right...

BECAUSE DADDY BAT CARES. HE REALLY REALLY CARES. I also think maybe he needed to remind himself that he made the right decision. That Dick really is as good as he remembers. So then Batman explains his plan and then they have this exchange which really made me feel all the good feelings and then I was like, "I'll post a part 1 or whatever and then go read Hamlet. Hamlet can wait. Batman is talking."

Nightwing: Why come to me?
Batman: Because everyone else trusts you. They always have. You've put an importance on keeping up relationships that I neglected. You care.
Nightwing: So do you. You just let everyone think different.

SQUEE! I just love when Dick and Bruce dialogue. I love how even though Bruce is a father figure to Dick, they're also equals. Dick has never been afraid to speak his mind to Bruce. Once he stepped out of the shadow of the Bat, he was out of the shadow. They became equals as well as mentor/mentee and partners. I also love dialogue like this because it lets us into the true depth of this relationship. It shows us that Dick knows Bruce really, really well. Which is expected since they've been together since Dick was a kid. It's just so nice. It's one of those levels that really good comic book writers add to a story. All this drama is going around, cities exploding, bad guys kidnapping people, and Geoff Jones (yes, him again) manages to remind us that even if these are people that do fantastic things, they're still people. And there's so much going on in each exchange that is way deeper than what they're actually talking about. That's how it is in real life, too. It's one of the reasons I love comic books.

Then at the end of this whole planning period we get the thing that I just, like, cried over cause I loved it so much.

Batman: ...Dick.
Nightwing: Yeah?
Batman: The early years. I've forgotten if... they were good for you, weren't they?
Nightwing: [smiles] The best.

I CAN'T EVEN EXPLAIN TO YOU HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS. SERIOUSLY I LOVE THE BAT FAMILY, LIKE, WAY TOO MUCH.

These moments, these exchanges, these relationships... You just get so invested and... and you get to know these characters so well that I love when the writers remind me that the characters know each other really well too.

I also love how Bruce really wanted Dick's childhood to be a good one, despite all they've been through. And I know Dick's answer is genuine because I know he loves Bruce. I know. And I appreciate any and all reminders about how totally solid and wonderful the Bat family is.

It's just one of the reasons why I love comic books.