10 Stupid Arguments About Batman That Don't Make Sense
9. Neither Does His "No Killing" Rule
This is another big one that gets reeled out frequently, apparently attempting to apply real world logic onto a superhero comic. You know, for kids. Trying to introduce any sort of complex morality into a thing for children is bound to bog it down in the banal and the troubling. Watchmen is good and all, but sometimes you just wanna see Batman beat up Clayface and drag him back to Arkham. Therein lies the problem for some people. Every villain Batman subdues and returns to prison at some point breaks out to commit more crimes, then gets arrested, breaks out, and the cylce continues. Sometimes that means some low-level thievery by The Penguin; sometimes it means mass murder sprees by The Joker. Clearly being locked up doesn't work, so why doesn't Batman just kill them? Even with the no killing rule designed to stop him from stooping to the level of a criminal, surely giving them the chance to continue being criminals is doing more harm than good? Basically that means you are for the death penalty. Which is not legal in Gotham City anyway. Probably.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
