So y'all remember the issue of Batman Inc. where both Batmen were in Paris, and they introduced Nightrunner? At the end of the issue they had a second feature about his backstory (Parisian muslim whose friend was killed uses parkour, or free-running, to… ummm… run and… jump and… did I say run already? Wait, what DOES he do anyway?!). Well it turns out crazy bloggers on the internet have a problem with this. You can read more about it here. Here too. Maybe I think this is asinine because I'm a crazy left wing pinko (except that I'm not), maybe its because I hate America (not that either), or want the terrorists to "win" (wrong again). Maybe I'm a secret Muslim like the president (neither of those are true, and if he was Muslim why do people get so mad about his former priest?)
Alas, the real reason this story upsets me is twofold: One blogger states that he thinks the book will "CONFUSE" people about "what's really going on." Like he thinks comic readers will believe that there actually IS a Batman Incorporated? I mean who could forget that all comic book readers ACTUALLY thought there was a year when the VERY REAL PEOPLE Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman went missing after the ALSO NOT FAKE AT ALL Infinite Crisis?! Oh… that's not what he meant by "confused about what's really going on," Well that makes me even more upset. As racist or xenophobic or whatever you want to call it, as many of those comments are, the racists/xenophobes are ignoring the fact that it's obviously a world of make believe.
When it gets down to brass tacks, the racism isn't even the part I have the big problem with. I can read a racist statement and be like "oh well they're racist, I don't need to listen to them." What really grinds my gears is when they try to make it sound like they actually relate to the people they THINK are being "deceived" by a comic book. If they think an Algerian muslim Parisian superhero doesn't jibe with their view of reality, all they have to do is be dismissive and racist and it wouldn't come off as so underhandedly asshole-ish. Just say "oh, a muslim who is a good guy, that's how you know it's a fantasy world," and be an obvious racist asshole and be done with it.
And then there's the fact that some people write their opinions down on a web-based internet page and expect other people to CARE about them. I mean,. "blogs" come on. What kind of self-rightous, opinionated jerk thinks other people would want to read their opinions?!
Nightrunner
Character » Nightrunner appears in 34 issues.
Nightrunner is a well trained athlete in parkour from the Clichy-sous-Bois of Paris. He was recruited by Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson to be France's representative of Batman Incorporated.
Wait... WHAT?!
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