Batman and the Outsiders #6: Pages 3-4

Katana leaves Halo at the school because she's in a hurry to get to a meeting with Bruce Wayne that's supposed to be at 10 AM. And now he's late. Just how far was this location from the school? School starts at 8h30 or so, right? Katana does seem to be the kind of person who likes to get there early. And as Wayne later proposes brunch, I'd say it's getting on 11 by the time he arrives. Meditation skills come in handy."Darling Tatsu." Secret cover as a douchebag... PRESERVED! Either Batman's really burning the candle at both ends between Batman, Detective, and the Outsiders or he's getting to places late on purpose. To protect his secret identity, of course, not to jerk his team mates around. He'd never do that.
"Call me Darling Bruce." So why ARE they meeting at Yet Another Closed Gotham City Business(TM)?
Batman's decided to give Katana a day job. This plan makes complete sense. He's as rich as Croesus, so he could pay the Outsiders for just serving on the team, but noooooooo, they've got to have "real lives" that interfere with superheroing. The Joker's on the loose! Oh sorry, I've got to keep the store open and pick up Halo after school. Batman is essentially giving her a business that WILL fail (I used to think Gotham businesses tended to close because of the crime rate, but it looks like it may just be bad investments - Japanese language-only books?) and cutting off her Wayne Enterprises stipend. And it looks like he didn't even have his people put the books on the shelves, nor does she have employees to help her! As for the "private life" aspect, what's he rattling on about. He's NEVER been able to juggle a private life and is running the Outsiders like a military unit. Why would he WANT them to have private lives when they don't even want them (at least, in Katana's case). When she refuses, he manipulates her through her code of honor.
Maybe Bruce Wayne is screwing up where he puts the em-PHAY-sis on the word, but really, Bushido sounds pretty much like Bushy-Doe, so what's Katana so testy about? That bit only works in a world where people read each others' speech bubbles rather than hear them.

Anyway, back to the imposed bookstore. At least Batman chose something that matched her skill set, right?
Wrong. Oh she can read Japanese alright, but she has no business experience whatsoever! Would it have killed him to ask what she wanted to do with her so-called private life before forcing her into a profession she knows nothing about?
Nice. He leaves her a thin envelope of documents, which is all she needs to run the bookstore. Well, then, she's all set. It's THAT easy. I think the only businesses that stay open in Gotham are fronts for either the mob or Wayne Enterprises, because there's no way Tatsu's Japanese Books Emporium would ever stay open for more than 6 months in the real world.

And then we're back to that incredibly wide street...
I like Aparo's work, but sometimes... Let's just say he doesn't put much effort in his perspectives. I know Katana is petite, but those cars are ENORMOUS. Gotham must be really polluted to boot.

Tomorrow on Outsiders: Dr. Jace is in the hospital! (Can you stand the excitement?)

Comments

smacky said…
"Tatsu's Japanese Books Emporium"

Awesome.

And I do indeed love him giving her a business to run with no knowledge of her skills or interests. I hope all the books are erotic short stories. That would make her even more uncomfortable.
Siskoid said…
The real question is: Does she carry manga?

It's the only way she can even hope to survive. Maybe hold some cosplay events.
smacky said…
"I can't come help the Outsiders, Wednesday is Pokemon tournament night!"
Siskoid said…
Smack, you are showcasing why I love to do these Outsiders posts. I absolutely do it to attract the best snark on the Internet. The comments are almost always funnier than my piece.
Austin Gorton said…
He leaves her a thin envelope of documents, which is all she needs to run the bookstore.

Hopefully, one of those documents cautioned her to never have a "two for one" sale, to keep the store as environmentally friendly as possible, to avoid selling Sudoku and other puzzle books, etc.
Siskoid said…
2-for-1 Japanese language books? I'm THERE!