Riri.

Zatanna: Bring Down the House #4 (2024)

I’ve become increasingly irked at the treatment of Talia al Ghul under Grant Morrison’s pen, both in Batman and Son and, more recently, Batman Inc. Talia, being my favorite character, is also the object of hatred and disdain by some fans for various reasons. And Grant Morrison has not done her character justice - if all I knew of her was his writing, then I would hate her, too.

When I read Batman Inc Vol 2, #2, I cried angry tears. I wrote an angry letter to Morrison. I have never been so utterly and completely disappointed in a comic, and it was when I vowed never to buy anything else Batman Inc - or anything else Morrison, for that matter.

I’m going to demonstrate just how out-of-character Grant Morrison has written Talia, through panels and interpretations of her over the years of her existence - and how none of it lines up with the modern portrayal of Talia al Ghul under Morrison’s pen. 

The core of Talia’s character has always been a conflict between loyalties and loves. Every decision, every motivation up until Death and the Maidens (Greg Rucka) was love. Either love for Bruce Wayne or love for her father. On numerous occasions, Talia has spared Bruce’s life or put her own in danger for his sake. In Tower of Babel, for instance:

In this same arc, we see Talia’s first true fractures with Ra’s that are not based on Bruce. She specifically mentions that it “doesn’t sit well” that he commanded her to have “an active hand in assassination." Talia has the capacity and ability to kill, but we rarely see her do it. 

In "The Prison” (now in Batman Chronicles 8), we have what is our only story entirely from Talia’s point of view, and it does an excellent job of getting into her head. She wants to be free from Ra’s, and Bruce is both her love and hope for freedom.

Talia constantly worried for Bruce’s health and safety, in every facet. She doesn’t want to see him harmed or killed, and is seen constantly putting his needs and wants above her own. She:

Fakes a miscarriage and breaks off their marriage to protect him.

Has Ra’s spare his life/begs for Bruce on numerous occasions.

Constantly betrays Ra’s.

Saves Selina Kyle’s life in Hush.

Brings Jason Todd back to life against her father’s wishes, originally for Bruce’s sake.

Talia has been shown to be highly emotional, romantic (and affectionate), and sentimental.

(Above, quote, “I love you. I believe you love me. If this is true, our only chance at happiness - at peace - is being together. I offer you all that I am. I will forsake my father. I will live with you wherever you say, under any conditions you choose.”)

It is not to say Talia is perfect. She can be arrogant and enormously selfish, and she’s no doubt twisted by her upbringing. But this Talia:

Is not at all what we see in Batman and Son and Batman Inc: 

Morrison presented us with a Talia al Ghul who:

Is so obsessed with an heir in the way Ra’s was that she RAPES Bruce. Their sexual encounter under his pen is not born out of love, but by Talia drugging Bruce.

Would put a bounty on her son’s head - the son that she’s been seen fighting tooth and nail for, and who is a testimony to the love between herself and Bruce Wayne.

Would replace the son that she loves and stopped Ra’s from killing (by possessing his body), with a clone.

Is so insanely jealous of Bruce’s other love interests that she keeps up with celebrity gossip concerning him over Damian’s health, and had one of them (Jezebel Jet) decapitated.

Cared so little for her son that she didn’t even meet him until he was eight, reducing him to a tool that he never was supposed to be (see Son of the Demon, where he was meant to come from/be inspired by, BUT MORRISON ADMITTED TO NEVER READING IT - a PIVOTAL TALIA STORY, BEFORE WRITING HER)

Now, her shift in attitude COULD have been attributed to Death and the Maidens (highly recommended story, by the way, again, thank Greg Rucka). Talia is brainwashed via torture by her half-sister Nyssa.

After that arc, we do see a harsher Talia - here she was involved with The Society and more strictly “villainous” endeavors - but even so, she still deconstructed Lexcorp via intel and selling its assets, essentially, to the Wayne Foundation. 

It warped her mind and her thinking, yes, but it didn’t not forever change her essential being.

Peter Tomasi started to repair the damage with Batman and Robin #0. Talia raised Damian and in her sentimentality, keeps a cape and cowl in a hope chest at the foot of her bed. She embraces her son and pushes him to greatness and trains him how to survive and protect himself, as she was by Ra’s.

But there’s a lot of damage to undo if we can ever hope to see Talia al Ghul as she’s supposed to be, and has been, for decades.

But you freely admit the system is bad. That it values the wrong things.

Sun God [inspired on this post]