About Kevin Smith, I checked the link that Lance posted to see what everyone was talking about and that page led me to a review on Comicsalliance.com, which in turn led me to a comment from a poster who posted a quote from Kevin Smith who believes smoking pot while writing "Batman: The Widening Gyre" has made him write better than ever before:

Kevin Smith wrote: ... I’m far more creative now, you know. I’ve been writing this Batman: The Widening Gyre miniseries, and I’m stoned all the time when I’m writing it. And, I swear, I’ll write it, and then, it’s not so much blackout, but forget, so much so that the next morning, I go to read what I wrote, and it’s, like, I’m that f***in’ little cobbler and elves came and f***in' wrote it in the night, because I’m, like, 'This is better than anything I’ve ever written before.' I mean, like, I’ve done comics, but this is way better....

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/07/29/worst-of-the-worst- batman-the-widening-gyre-6/

Batman getting high, pissing himself, and discussing with Alfred the number of times Silver St. Cloud had orgasms when they first slept together, among many other things... Yep, sounds like Kevin Smith was high when he wrote the story, all right.

Every so often, I think comics have reached their nadir and that they couldn't possibly get any worse. 

Someone always proves me wrong.

The thing is, Batman's oval isn't supposed to be the size of a turkey. It should be about fist-sized, an emblem that appears in that black, roiling cape, if old Batman chooses to show it off. And who would be show it off to? Gotham criminals, obviously, if only to freak them out. And the Gotham police, so they won't shoot at the big black roiling cape thing against the night.

Wouldn't that make sense? Isn't that what an emblem is supposed to do, denote visually an identity? The oval is not just there for no reason, and Batman doesn't have to be "targeted" by it, since he's got a big ass cape that allows him to dodge bullets and all kinds of wickedness!

Wow, if those stories were actually published by DC Comics, rather than some rogue fanboy publication that DC will obviously sue the pants off of, I'd be really disappointed... oh wait.

Much like the Spider-Man losing his eye, growing stingers, and eating his enemy storyline, I ultimately blame the publishers. They are the custodians of these characters. You don't blame the monkey for shooting someone. You blame the person who gave the monkey the gun.

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Why can't we blame both? Yes, the publishers are at fault, but the writer should know better as well.