15 Most Inappropriate Batman Storylines Of All Time

4. The Widening Gyre, As A Whole

Kevin Smith has made some good films. Some funny films, some scary films, mostly films that feature the sort of humour you wouldn't want to expose your mother to, and which you feel a little uneasy watching yourself. Like somebody might overhear the comparisons of pink and brown eyes and think you're just as perverted as Jay And Silent Bob. Since he both writes and directs his pictures you can see why somebody gave Smith a shot writing comic books; his movies are stuffed full of fanboy references, too, so you know he knows his stuff. So he's got the credentials and the chops, but what he lacks is good ideas. And taste. Which is what lead to him making one of the most inappropriate Batman storylines ever.

After the three-issue Batman: Cacophony (which was mostly okay, save for a moment The Joker offered himself to a supervillain who broke him out of Arkham Asylum), Smith went fully terrible with the twelve-issue The Widening Gyre, whose Yeats-referencing title was at odds with the tosh featured within. You know how Batman is a cool, competent superhero? Well guess what, he isn't, he's a guy who wet himself during his first big confrontation with Gotham's criminal underworld. You know how Bruce Wayne is a smart, well-rounded and mature character? Nope, he's an idiot who tells his new girlfriend his secret identity three dates in. You know how comics are for kids? Wrong, they're an avenue for Smith to put sex jokes in about the amount of times said girlfriend orgasmed the first time she and the Dark Knight knocked boots. Yeesh. None of this is okay. None of it.