Random thought

[trinityvixen]

My comic-twitter-pated friend here at work handed me "Last Son," a Superman story wherein Supes babysits a Kryptonian boy and it's all awwwww, ain't it cute but ultimately tragic because of course this can't last.

All I could think of afterwards is: Maybe all his "kids" turn into disaffected, bitter freaks, but Batman is so totally a better father than Superman.

Even I think I'm wrong about that, yet I cannot make myself refute my own brain-dropping. So, yeah, there it is. Supes is just too...not good at the parenting thing. Bats might be hella demanding, demeaning, and intimidating, but if the end result is more superheroes, it's hard to fault the guy, is it?

Comments

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I do not think Bruce Wayne would at all be a good parent. As someone once described to me, whenever Bruce has been teetering at the edge, he's always had Alfred to pull him back. Whenever one of the Robins has been at the edge, they've always had Bruce pushing them over.

I don't know about better father than Superman or not, but he demands so much of his kids they kill themselves giving until they're old enough to realize how unreasonable he is. It's clear that he cares for them, but clear also that he cares more for the mission. The fact that he'd let Timothy Drake fight crime ever says to me he's a bad parent. That's freaking child endangerment. That's crazy.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

This is so much "it depends on the writer" it's not even funny. But if you can get your hands on a copy of John Byrne's Superman/Batman: Generations, I highly recommend it.

The general facts of which of them would be a better parent are mired in the bit that they don't have (and won't have, because the status quo is everything) biological children. The difference I'll note, though, is that Batman has three adopted sons and an adopted daughter (not counting the extended Bat-family of Oracle, Spoiler, Catwoman, etc), by choice. He has a paternal instinct for kids who re-live his origin (basically, orphans). Superman has "adopted" Supergirl (both Kara Zor-El and Matrix), Superboy (Kon-El), Christopher Dru-Zod Kent, and a few others, but it's not because he wants to parent them, it's because he's the only one who can. And he tends to dump them on the Kents as soon as he can.

Bruce wants to be "active" parent. Clark wants to be the "distant" parent. And damn, suddenly there's a slash image I didn't want. I wonder if this idea is why Apollo and Midnighter adopted Jenny Quantum?