SHOW NOTES:
- Intro
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- Talk about last week’s call to action
- Background (10:35)
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- Jean-Paul Valley created by Denny O’Neill, Joe Quesada, Grant Morrison, and an uncredited Peter Milligan in Batman: Sword of Azrael #1 (Oct.1992)
- Jean-Paul Valley is a computer science student in Gotham City, who discovers his father was an assassin for a secret religious society called The Order of Saint Dumas, and that he is next in line
- He was sent to kill Carlton LeHah, who had murdered his father, and in so doing crossed paths with Batman – ends up saving Bruce and overriding his conditioning, becoming his own man
- Joins WayneTech, and after Bruce is paralyzed by Bane, takes over as Batman
- Operates much more ruthlessly, as a combination of his conditioning and his belief that Bruce is too lenient on criminals – after killing one villain, Bruce realizes Jean-Paul is going too far, rehabilitates himself, and battles Jean-Paul, finally winning after snapping Jean-Paul out of his deluded state
- Bruce takes pity on him, and gives him money, encouraging him to find out where he came from – discovers he was a test tube baby whose DNA was spliced with animals
- Works to regain Bruce’s trust, which he does after saving several Senators
- Later killed while battling his father’s murderer – later revived as part of Black Lantern Corps
- New 52 – Jean-Paul Valley was cloned by his father as the newest member of the Order of Saint Dumas
- Sent to battle Bane on Santa Prisca, where he encountered Red Robin (Tim Drake) & Red Hood (Jason Todd) – began to question the Order, and joined the Bat-Family
- His conditioning returned, and Bruce & the family were forced to battle him – Bruce then created a suit that would allow Jean-Paul to stay in control
- Became a member of Justice League Odyssey
- Issues (15:38)
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- Struggles with conditioning – ultimate nature vs nurture argument
- Extremism as a result of the Order – belief that mercy is weakness (24:35)
- Break (34:24)
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- Plugs for Parent Quest & Popcorn Psychology, plus Gail Simone
- Treatment (35:47)
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- In-universe – Create structure within the Bat-family for “controlled complexity”
- Out of universe – (42:00)
- Skit (47:49)
- Ending (53:33)
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- Recommended reading: Batman: Knightfall
- Next episodes: Northstar, Erica Schultz interview, Raphael
- Anthony’s appearance on P3
- Plugs for social
References:
- Bane episode – Anthony (12:22)
- Laura Kinney episode – Anthony (16:03)
- Jason Todd episode – Anthony (39:48)
- Dick Grayson episode – Anthony (39:50)
- Forrest Gump – “Life is like a box of chocolates…” – Anthony (59:05)
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