I discovered Batman on the old TV reruns and in the original Superfriends cartoons.  Then in comics by Neal Aadams and Jim Aparo.  I like the blue and the oval and would love to see it make a comeback.  In my mind, the bat was his original pre-Robin costume.

A few years ago, we were discussing his origin, and I mentioned that since he 'now' lives in the same world as Superman and its very likely that he appeared in their world after Superman, Bruce may have been inspired by the bat flying throguth the window but became Batman to be a super hero, like Superman, with some hope that criminals might think he was super like Superman.  The blue and oval help further this notion that Batman, too, is a super hero and therefore 'normal' criminals dont have a chance.

 That would ALMOST work if the Batman was an international figure, like Superman.

One could argue that the Blue Batman in the Justice League fits this mold and that this further helps my idea for Bruce choosing the costume he did, i.e. he wants criminals to think he is a super hero like Superman, so he joins them in the Justice League.  Criminals are scared, because they don't know which powers he has, but they think he has them.

Some of the comments in that link Matt posted are unbelievable. Several people say that it's not Smith's fault, it's the editors. What??!!! Obviously the editors are at fault for letting this stuff through but Smith is the one who wrote the fucking mess in the first place!

Wow.

Just when I thought comics couldn't get any worse these days...thanks a lot, Mr. Smith. To think, I just saw one of his movies while shopping today, and thought, "Man, I really hate what Smith represents". And then I come home and read this. Thanks for the confirmation!

Disgusting. This is the reason I don't buy new comics anymore (with rare exceptions). There's no dignity, no rules, no fun. The inmates are having a ball decorating the asylum with their own feces. And I for one have no interest in staying at that asylum anymore. I think I'll stick with a good old-fashioned therapist!

Batman deserves better. All of these characters deserve better. But I've resigned myself to the possibility that it may never get better--only worse. I guess that's what nostalgia and back issues are for.

Batman needs the Yellow Oval.

Lack of yellow oval is only fine for a young Batman.

Batman who's been on the job for a few years needs the yellow oval.

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Lack of yellow oval is only fine for a young Batman.

Batman who's been on the job for a few years needs the yellow oval.

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That makes no sense at all.

:) Ok. by "needs", i mean that i like the idea that he got a first version of his costume without the oval when he was a rookie and that after a few years he got his more iconic costume.

Of course, that may be linked to the fact i preffer to have Batman working "side to side" with the cops rather than beeing a pariah.

Maybe a loner, maybe masked but still someone the police can rely on and that people think of as being an hero, not a criminal.