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Heartwarming / Batman (Grant Morrison)

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  • "Alfred, if anyone asks for an obituary, tell them Batman's Big Secret was the Classic Whodunnit? Only it's not about who killed Batman but who kept him alive all these years."
  • In one of Damian Wayne's slowly growing collection of Pet the Dog moments, he tells his mother, Talia Al Ghul, that, despite being treated like a king and being given islands as birthday presents, being Robin and doing good has been the best thing in his relatively short life. And despite disparaging Dick's efforts at carrying the Bat-mantle at every turn, he does a 180 and interrupts when his mother tries to do the same:
    Talia: Your father is gone. His former Boy Wonder is barely fit to wear his mentor's mantle and you...
    Damian: You're wrong. Dick Grayson is...
    • He then goes on to refuse her orders to turn his back on Dick and Alfred. Needless to say, Talia does not take this rejection well, and she not only disowns him but also declares him a foe. Damian has just given up everything he's known for an uncertain future and status with a still-absent father and a brother he still cannot admit he respects to his face. But he takes it like any real Batkid would.
      Talia: ...I will permit you to leave with your circus boy in tow, but from now on, Damian, you are no longer welcome here. You may consider yourself an enemy of the house of Al Ghul.
      Damian: Very well. I hope I can be a worthy one, mother.
  • Batman tells a young streetwalker named Ellie that Wayne Enterprises is hiring, as a way to protect her from dangerous men. Sometime later, Ellie tells Batman that she took that job and is gradually turning her life around. If you think about it, this is the Batman equivalent of that moment from All-Star Superman where a teenage girl was talked out of suicide.
    • What's extra heartwarming about Batman's interactions with Ellie is that she sees him unmasked, yet rather than draw attention to the fact that she now knows Batman is Bruce Wayne, Ellie just has a friendly chat with him. She might not ever become a sidekick, but Ellie is still considered a trusted ally.
  • Damian learns that Bruce once lost a C-List criminal called Getaway Genius, a super villain who has been off the radar for 10 years, and he finds it disappointing. Dick tells him the truth: the guy stole chemotherapy drugs so that he could stay alive long enough to see his daughter grow up, and Bruce let him get away, reimbursing the clinic the cost of the drugs, because "no child should have to grow up without their parents."
  • In Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne, after a long journey home to earth, to his time, Bruce dies ("clinically dead for two minutes"), and the forces of Darkseid and The Devil himself are fighting to make sure Bruce stays dead. Wonder Woman and Superman are doing everything within their power to revive him, but don't look very hopeful on the matter. Throughout the story, Bruce has lost his memories and merely been acting as Batman instinctively, but getting shocks of who he was, of himself as Bruce Wayne. Now, here within inches, even less than that, of his life, he remembers one thing. The moment he knew what he was going to do. He remembers, being broken, and beaten, and a bat flying through the window. And he remembers the bell. He remembers that despite his feelings of loneliness, and isolation, he's never been alone. Alfred, Dick, Jim, Barbara, Jason, Tim, Stephanie, Damian, Helena, Selina, Kate, Cassandra, Jean, Katherine, Renee, Vic, Charlotte, Holly, Rory, Boston, Harvey, Bette, Sasha, Julie, Vicki, Talia, Ace, Lucius, Slam, Oliver, Dinah, Barry, Wally, J'onn, Arthur, Hal, John, Kyle, Guy, Diana, Clark, Thomas and Martha, they've all been there for him. He's never been alone, he's been surrounded by people who care about him, and share his determination. He was never alone. He had help. Tim then, looking at Wonder Woman and Superman as if this was nothing, holds out the cape and cowl "I know how to bring him back. Tell him Gotham's in trouble. And tell him he'll need this." He purges the evil from him, and dons his costume, proclaiming to the heroes before him in utter awe "The Bells are still ringing. I'm not done yet. Not while Gotham City needs Batman. Not until the Night's Over."
  • Talia accuses Dick and Bruce of brainwashing Damian into falling into their crimefighting doctrine. Dick's retort is that all Bruce did was teach him (Dick) to help others. If ever there was proof that Bruce really was doing good by being Batman, Dick Grayson is the absolute as displayed with this scene.
  • Once he found Bruce was Back from the Dead, what was Damian's reaction? To worriedly ask if that means he & Dick can't be Batman & Robin anymore.
  • Batman And Robin has many moments highlighting the fact that the titular Batman this time around is a grown-up Robin, much of which involves reminding the reader that Dick has known a lot of the supporting characters since he was a kid and they, whether they know it or not, had already grown fond of him due to watching him grow up. Gordon even assures Dick at one point that his cops actually prefer him to Bruce.
    Gordon: The... other Batman called me "Jim"...
    Dick: I'll call you Commissioner Gordon, sir, if that's okay.
  • Towards the end, Damian tells Dick that he was always his favourite partner.
    Damian: So far I'd say you've been my favorite partner. We were the best, Richard. No matter what anyone thinks.
    Dick: Hey. We can't help being great.
  • It's also pretty sweet in a slightly twisted way to see Jason Todd at his vilest adopting Scarlet as a sidekick after Damian failed to protect her, and treating her with stern kindness, not unlike how Bruce treated Todd when he adopted him as a kid.
    • It's even sweeter when Jason reconciles with Dick and adopts the Wingman identity to atone for his killins.
  • Batman Inc. is one on a global scale. Bruce could have recruited each nation's most elite soldier, but instead he employs the disenfranchised. Squire is a working-class Brit (Knight's an Earl, but you can't have everything), Man of Bats and Red Raven are native Americans, Nightrunner is a French Muslim, Dark Ranger is an Aborigine etc. He's not just fighting crime, he's also fighting inequality.
    • Additionally, Batman funding an updated equivalent of the Batman of Many Nations/Club of Heroes is also his way of making up for the way his lack of involvement in the original version led to its falling apart in acrimony.

Alternative Title(s): Grant Morrisons Batman

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