Batman Vox Humana Issue #3 Page 16
Page 16
Clayface: Fuck you, Charlie.
Alfred: It seems that no matter how many times you are gotten rid of, you keep coming back. You go to jail, you get out, you are committed, you escape, you die and are resurrected, and every time, you come after Master Bruce.
Alfred walks off.
Clayface: He tried to kill me!
Alfred comes back with the garden hose and drapes it over the side of the well so that the nozzle is pointed towards Clayface and is too far away for Clayface to grab.
Alfred: Batman doesn’t kill people. He believes that there is no circumstance where it is okay to kill a person. He has believed so since his parents’ death.
Alfred: Thankfully, I don’t have that problem.
Alfred leaves and turns the garden hose on.
The last panel is a horizontal panel of the well with the hose in it, the house with its doors destroyed and the car askew in the driveway in the background, and the yard showing. No one is in sight.
Batman Vox Humana Issue #3 Page 15
Page 15
A grappling line shoots up out of the well and wraps around the branch above the well. Batman comes flying out of the well.
Clayface: Let me out!
Batman calls out.
Batman: Alfred!
Alfred comes outside.
Alfred: Yes, Master Bruce?
Batman: Call Gordon and have him pick Clayface up.
Alfred: Yes sir.
Alfred watches Batman leave.
Alfred turns to the well and talks down to Clayface.
Clayface: I’m going to kill you too, old man!
Alfred: I think it’s about time you and I had a talk.
Batman Vox Humana Issue #3 Page 8
Page 8
Batman: Thanks, Alfred. You’re a help.
Alfred: You misunderstand me, sir.
New Panel
Alfred: You are able to make your choices you did because of your station. The people of Gotham face the same tragedies you do, but they aren’t able to make the choice you did. Now, for good or ill, they can now. All you are doing is providing the means to make that choice, sir.
New Panel
Pulling into Wayne Manor, there is a decorative well in the front yard. There is an oak tree next to the well with a large branch that extends over the well.
Batman: Perhaps you’re right, Alfred.
Alfred: Of course I am, sir.
Batman Vox Humana Issue #3 Page 6-7
Page 6 – 7 The limo manages to break free of the crowd and Alfred drives away. As the limo drives through Gotham, people are managing to anticipate the limo’s route. People are lining the streets. Some hold signs supporting Batman, some hold signs damning, while a couple support the Joker. Fights may break out between all three. You decide. Batman: Alfred. Am I doing the right thing? Alfred: I don’t know, Master Bruce.
Batman Vox Humana Issue #3 Page 4-5
Page 4 – 5
Batman leaves the podium and heads towards the limo. The press corps is going nuts and are shouting questions and trying, desperately, to get Batman’s attention. The crowd is mesmerized.
Batman gets into the limo. Alfred is driving. The reporters follow. The crowd slowly circles around the limo, intermingling with the reporters.
The crowd presses itself against the limo and push their faces to the glass. Some are crying, some are shouting, some are thanking Batman, some are cursing him. Alfred slowly pushes the limo through the crowd.
What the hell took so god damn long?
Hello gentle readers (both of you),
Here is why things took so long for the script for issue 2.5. First, my computer broke, a lot, several times, and I had to get it repaired. Then, when I got it back, I just couldn’t bring myself to write. I know, it sounds stupid, but I just couldn’t do it until today. As you can see, I wrote a lot. On top of that, I have also written issue #3 already. I will post it in its entirety later on today or tomorrow. I am working a double today, so I don’t know if I will even want to look at a computer screen when I get home. Also, I have to post a few more random stuff first, just because I want to. Issue 3.5 is going to be a tough one as well. But, I will tell you that it has to do with Alfred, because he has one of the greatest histories in comics and needs some of his stories told.
Till then, thank you, both of you, for continuing to read my attempt at writing DC.
James
Batman Vox Humana Issue #2 Page 18
Page 18
Batman backhands Superman. Superman falls to the floor. There is a kryptonite ring on Batman’s exposed hand.
Batman: Look here, Boy Scout! Some of us can’t fly. Some of us don’t shoot fucking lasers out of their eyes.
Batman kicks Superman in the stomach.
Batman: Some of us work for a living! Some of us were born here!
Batman kneels down and punches Superman in the face with the kryptonite ring.
Batman(in Superman’s face): Not everything is a job for Superman!
Alfred walks in.
Alfred: Master Bruce! What do you think you are doing? Go upstairs, now!
Batman stops, gets up, and walks away.
Superman (to Batman’s back): Unlike me, one of you isn’t enough. I can save them alone, but you can’t! You are only human! There is only one of you and there are some things you can’t face!
Batman Vox Humana Issue #2 Page 14
Page 14
Location: Batcave
Scene: Several shots of the floronic man strapped to a slab and being tested on by Batman.
Scene: Batman hands a clipboard to Alfred.
Batman: Call down to Wayne Chemical. Tell them to make as much of this as they can.
Alfred: Very good, sir.
Batman Vox Humana Issue #2 Page 9
Page 9
Location: Batcave
Scene: Batman is sitting at the bat-computer. The computer is on the right hand side of the page and Batman is on the left. His cowl is pushed back, leaving his head and face exposed and clearly visible. He has a wistful and longing look on his face. He is leaned back in the chair, his feet on the computer. In Batman’s right hand is a beer. In his left hand is one of Batzarro’s chains. He is holding the chain up in front of his face, dangling it and playing with it slightly.
Batman (singing to himself): Reflections in the waves spark my memory…
Alfred walks in.
Alfred: You may want to turn on the news, Master Bruce.
Batman turns the screen to the local news.
Location: News helicopter above Gotham.
Scene: The view from the side of the helicopter of the ground. It is still raining. On the ground are hoards of floronic men, killing males and raping females of all ages. The females who cannot get pregnant, either due to age or other reasons, are repeatedly raped to death. Some women are on the ground, giving birth to floronic seeds right there on the street. People are either running into or out of buildings, as are floronic men.
News Anchor: As you can see below me, there is a scene of total chaos. No one knows where these men came from. They don’t appear to be interesting in anything besides rape and murder. There have been reports of looting, but not by any of these strange men. The riots are escalating and are threatening to engulf the city. Fleeing residents are being being caught in traffic, so citizens are being asked to stay inside, lock your doors, and draw your blinds.
Done with the First Issue
One of my friends, after reading this script, looked at me in horror and said to me, “You can’t do that to Batman! That is not Batman!”.
It amazed me how hurt he looked. He had been a Batman fan for as far back as he could remember and this script did not make him happy.
He was wrong though, I could do this Batman. I can do whatever I like, because this isn’t for DC, this is for me and is about what I want. Mind you, this is not necessarily the events I would like DC to have happen, but it is the characters as I understand them or would like them to be.
I would like a Batman who is a human being, and 52 presented a unique opportunity for that. Often times it has been portrayed that Bruce Wayne is an act and Batman is who this character is. Still, even if that were true that Batman was just playing the role of Bruce Wayne, any actor will tell you that a role develops a character and personality of its own, hence Jack Nicholson taking the time to talk to Heath Ledger about the emotional toll of playing the Joker.
And who is Bruce Wayne? Bruce Wayne is an asshole. A drinking, womanizing, and playful asshole.
But why hang out with Batzarro? Because Batzarro wants nothing from Bruce Wayne. Anyone else would either be looking for money or for Bruce to do something for them. Bruce Wayne is a man trapped by his own inheritance, for his inheritance makes any and all of his relationships suspect, and Batzarro is so clear in his wants and needs that their is no place for duplicity on his part.
Batzarro also has a desire, though, and that is to be Batman, and the closest he can get to being Batman is to hang out with him.
But what about Alfred? Hasn’t he wanted Bruce Wayne to stop being Batman since forever? Well, once Alfred sees that the Bruce Wayne act is no longer and act, but who Bruce Wayne is, he doesn’t like him much, either. Alfred wants a balance between the persona that is Bruce Wayne and the persona that is Batman, as both men are extremes.
But how does this relate to Batman being human? Human beings make mistakes. Some may argue that Batman does not, but he does, he just doesn’t when it comes to fighting crime. Batman/Bruce has screwed up so many relationships, mostly by simply not paying attention, and now is no different, it just has harsher consequences when it comes to Batzarro.
Of course, I am sure Keith Giffen will complain about this, but why the Joker? Why the hell did the Joker have to tie into this? As my friend had mentioned to me at one time, the Joker and Batman need each other. I don’t believe that. I believe the Joker feels a need for Batman, not vice versa. Since Batman was gone, Joker had to find some way to prompt him to come back.
