Bats and Lanterns

Sometimes I just start thinking about the darndest things. Like exactly what is behind the apparent antipathy between Batman and three out of four Green Lanterns. Well, three out of five, if you count Alan Scott.

Of course even Alan has had a bit of snippiness from the Bat, since it has been inferred that Bruce actually blames Alan for not stopping the murder of his parents, since he had left Gotham City at that point. Bruce sure knows how to carry a grudge.

Sure, Batman and Hal Jordan SEEMED to get along ok, when they were both in the newly-formed Justice League. That's back when Batman wasn't quite the douchebag that he turned into later. I can't really say in all honesty that Hal has changed that much. He's ALWAYS been a bit flighty, arrogant and self-absorbed. But hey, he got the job done.

It's just the WAY that he managed to get the job done that seemed to stick in Batman's proverbial craw. No preparation, no mind-bogglingly thorough planning, no reconnaisance...everything Hal did was by the seat of his pants, and it drove Batman nuts. Plus, Hal was fairly easy-going and seemed to eke a great deal of enjoyment out of life...unlike Bruce, who...broods. A lot.

Then Guy Gardner came along, and the uneasy co-existance between Lantern and Bat really underwent a sea-change. Guy wasn't much like Hal, except that he too had a tendancy to leap before he looked. Hell, Guy never even bothered to look. Of course, he was basically a brain-damaged ten-year old, and must have been AWFULLY hard to deal with, but still...you would think that Bruce would have had some experience in dealing with children. But I guess his experience only applied to highly motivated acrobatic black-haired children.

Batman and Guy clashed on practically every level and occasion. Batman couldn't abide the fact that Guy was the loosest of lose cannons, and Guy couldn't stand that Batman did his best to humiliate and ride roughshod over him at every opportunity. Even when Guy was in his sweet little girl stage, a result by the way of further brain damage CAUSED BY BATMAN...Batman STILL treated him like crap.

I don't think that Batman and John Stewart have quite the problems that Hal and Guy have with Batman, nor does Batman seem to be quite so cranky around John...but still I always feel that there is tension. John is the most dependable of the Lanterns, the quietest, and the most likely to be a good soldier. But he still doesn't just lie down and let Batman walk all over him, which is what Batman always tries to do...with everybody. So although they've managed to work together relatively harmoniously...they still aren't bestest buddies.

Kyle Rayner is probably the only Lantern that doesn't drive Batman crazy. There are any number of reasons, Kyle is impulsive, but not arrogant like Hal, and he's not crazy like Guy and he's not as cold as John can appear to be. He's younger, and more easily intimidated, and Batman likes intimidating people. It's his whole stock in trade. As John once pointed out, Batman uses Fear as a weapon, and Hal, Guy and John aren't afraid of him. Kyle is a little bit. But even Batman can't control the fierce creativity and impulsiveness of Kyle, so Batman still gets a bit crabby.

I suppose that it is just as well that Batman was conspicuously absent during the whole Blackest Night kerfuffle. He would have disapproved of it. Enormously.