Batman needs help now

Yeah we've all wondered how stable a guy dressed like a bat really is. But it's way past time we address how bad he's gotten AND there needs to be a real effort to fix this.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Is this the first time Bruce has aggressively physically attacked one of his kids? Oh hell no, he's done it plenty and I'd argue he's gone overboard a lot too. His fight with Dick before he becomes a spy comes to mind. I've seen excuses for his behavior time after time. I've seen people shrug off this for RHATO just because Bruce beat up Dick so somehow "it's no big deal." None of the times he's done it are justified. These are his freaking kids he's beating up!

And no, Jason "breaking the rules" (*1) doesn't mean Bruce wasn't in the wrong. As Jason himself pointed out Bruce isn't that rough with Joker despite hating him. Remember in UTH when there was a flashback of Jason beating up a guy and Batman told him off? That was excessive force and normally Batman frowns on it. That was one of the reasons he used to have a problem with Huntress. What he did to Jason went BEYOND the excessive force Jason did in the flashback.

Let's do a run down of the damage we're aware of that Batman dealt out.

• The line he wraps around Jason can't be cut due to the momentum Jason already has. He's too far off the roof and has his hands wrapped around his guns. Bruce uses this to his advantage and slams Jason onto the rooftop. It doesn't seem too bad considering some of the things we've seen them do and some of the protective gear Jason has. Still there's a chance for bruising.

• Bruce kicks the helmet hard enough to break it, makes Jason bleed (from the force of the kick and/or the helmet pieces cutting him) and his eye is bruised. To put this in perspective: Artemis didn't even break the entire face of the helmet open when she fought Jason in #2. Jason didn't even seem to bleed that much he just had bruises on his face. 

• After Jason points out how brutal Bruce is being he strikes Jason with his fist. More blood and bits of the helmet fly off.

• Holds Jason by the neck, which looks like he's holding Jason off of the ground.

• Head butts Jason. Throws him to the ground and prepares to continue when Bizarro interrupts. When his teammates hug him Jason looks visibly pained.

• The fight continues once the HQ is gone. Bruce punches Jason so hard he seems to be sent flying several feet. Possible blood and broken helmet bits in the air. Jason is knocked out. Artwork for the next story indicates Jason broke his arm. Since we see Jason's arm look fine leading up to the punch he must have landed on it wrong.

• When Bruce rips off the bat symbol we see Jason's chest is bruised. Probably from the grapple fall. Artemis' toss had him falling on his left side.

• I'm pretty sure the way Bruce drags Jason by the helmet can't be good for the spine. Jason leaves a trail of blood as he's moved meaning he must have other wounds since he's bleeding a lot. When Roy carries him Jason has a wound on his right arm.

We'll get a better picture how bad it was when the story continues but that's already REALLY bad. Jason barely fought back throughout the encounters yet Bruce continues to attack someone who stops resisting, is quickly unarmed and continues hurting someone who's badly injured. Most of the attacks seem to be to Jason's head which is pretty unnerving considering the head injury Joker gave him before his death.

Bruce is pretty damn self involved too when you consider all the variables. It's hinted at by Jason's comment that Bruce is lashing out due to Selina dumping him. Which is just childish and horrible. Before someone suggests this is due purely on Scott Lobdell' s writing, no it's not. King has already talked about how badly Bruce is taking the break up. Rumor is that we'll see his temper tantrum in other bat family titles too. 

I wasn't thrilled at the idea of King writing the wedding but I always loved the Bat/Cat dynamic. But you know what? If he can't handle it like an adult and has to take it out on his family I'm glad Selina left him. Bruce beat one of his kids, the one he mourned and agonized over losing, to a bloody pulp. He can't act like this every time things don't go his way. I've always hated when DC reduces the importance of the bat family with Batman treating them like dirt then everyone ends up forgetting it. This is a repeated pattern at this point.

But that's not all because Bruce is so focused on how he was wronged/betrayed he didn't ask the obvious question or notice his city was endangered. The man is a detective and he never bothers to ask Jason why he did it. We know why but for all he knew Jason was being mind controlled or framed. The man even brings up how Jason did it publicly so why doesn't he ask Jason why it was done out in the open? Because it wasn't important to him. Bruce was pissed off and wanted to hurt Jason. He's so consumed by this being about him that he never notices what Jason's trying to do. 

The Outlaws' headquarters was literally falling onto Gotham but he never quits chasing after Jason to try to do something about it. Lives were going to be lost but he has such tunnel vision that he never even notices. Jason screams Artemis' name while their headquarters implodes. Batman is unfazed.

I've talked about how nonsensical I find the HIC stuff especially since Bruce never attempts to send Jason there. But it's even more frustrating, now more than ever, that Bruce isn't getting help. He clearly needs it.

*1 I put it in quotes because there's a rumor Jason set the whole thing up for some reason. The claim is that if Jason wanted Penguin dead he'd be able to do it without anyone knowing it was him and actually kill him. Jason was trained by the All Caste, he knows how to kill discreetly. It would be another mislead like the start of the series but I question this direction solely because Jason revealed his ID to Penguin. Still I'll go along with this for now to see if Jason explains it to Roy.