Batman has this attitude thing going on. He's ALWAYS prepared. He ALWAYS has a plan. He ALWAYS thinks that he is the smartest person in the room. What is annoying, is that he's usually right. But that doesn't make it any easier to work with the man.
Hal and Bruce have always seemed to rub against each other. And now that I've typed it, that seems awfully suggestive. But it's not. Part of the problem is that in quite a number of ways, they are actually quite similar. Both have lost parents at a very young age, and both were present when they were killed. That has always been presented as one of the defining moments in both of their lives. They are both brave and fearless of course. They both seems to have trouble with personal relationships. Hal is a playboy, and Bruce works at being perceived as one. Both of them always think that they know best in any given situation. Both are definitely Alpha Males, and as arrogant as hell.
On the other hand, they couldn't be more different. Bats always has a plan. Hal never has a plan. He's impetuous and impulsive, and Batman is cool and calculating. Batman is also pretty smart, while Hal...not so much. So it makes sense, for them to clash.
This seems to be the reaction that Batman has to Hal a lot of the time.
I swear, that this happens on a regular basis. And except for the infamous "One Punch", I can't really recall Batman hitting Guy Gardner nearly as often as he decked Hal. Granted, he treated Guy like a misbehaving child, but for some reason Hal really seems to get his goat.
I'm wondering if it is because Hal has a remarkably thick skin when it comes to criticism. Hal is so convinced that he's fabulous, that Batman's taunts and fists just bounce off. He's the same way with the rest of the Green Lantern Corps. Seriously, nobody else comes close to Hal when it comes to Self-Esteem. This has to be very frustrating for Batman.
Guy and Bats clashed right from the start of course. Back then, when Guy was braindead, it was a lot easier for Batman to control him. Now of course, Guy just laughs at him...which also has to be really really annoying.
John is too diplomatic to laugh at Batman, nor does he present the problems that Hal does. And Kyle is young enough to be intimidated. But even so, they're Green Lanterns, and Bats just doesn't have the control over them that he seems to have over everyone else.
And there's Alan Scott. Even Batman knows that you don't mess with Alan Scott.
I'm starting to meander here, and have probably lost the whole point of my comparison. What it all boils down to however, is that the Bat/Green Lantern relationships are some of the most fascinating...at least to me. I wish that they would explore it more, there really hasn't been that much interaction lately. It's one of the things that I really enjoyed in the early "Brave & the Bold" issues, where they had teamed Hal and Bruce together in Las Vegas. It was interesting...and it was fun. And they should do it again.
See? They CAN be in the same room together!
