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One Bad Day: Ra's al Ghul is Great

I've been reading each of these One Bad Day instalments as they come out and trying to think about what I do and don't like about them. Riddler's was pretty bleh, Two-Face and Mr. Freeze's was decent, Catwoman had a pretty good one from what I can recall and Bane, Clayface and Penguin's stories were fantastic stand-outs. One Bad Day: Penguin may be one of my favorite Gotham stories period now.

But One Bad Day: Ra's al Ghul is fantastic. Once again, Tom Taylor knows what he's doing and it shows.

Spoilers ahead, by the by! I assume there'll be a cutoff at some point but I'm still new to Tumblr so-

A running theme in all of these One Bad Day stories is that it takes one of Batman's main rogues and explores a new facet of their personal history that hasn't gotten as much focus in order to make a narrative that is uniquely theirs. Ra's has far too much history for even a large book like the OBD series to properly get into, but the angle Taylor took - the extinction of an animal kingdom connected to Ra's personal history - was a strong angle to take.

Speaking of strong, Ra's himself is an absolute powerhouse in this story. His global influence, his machinations that have laid undetected for years, his cold efficiency, his brutality. It's all shown off in an excellent manner. OBD stories likewise attempt to show off the best of what their chosen villain can do, and this absolutely fits for Ra's. And because of how the story is presented, you... get it. You empathize with Ra's, and because he's specifically targeting the corporate parasites that us normal people get so furious about and can do nothing about, we're almost... behind him? So like with the Penguin story, we find ourselves as an audience rooting against Batman for the right reasons.

Speaking of, I love how this story really digs into the status quo of the planet and why DC's corporate horribleness matches the corporate horribleness of our real world. Batman is protecting the worst people on Earth because of his values of protecting all life (which, to be clear, I agree with Batman's philosophy that all life is precious) and as Damian so succinctly points out, the fact they have to do this in the first place makes their place in this whole war of Ra's vs the Planet-Killers... questionable.

Ra's might be a murderer. But he's right. These old men and reckless new blood kids aren't going to change in a heartbeat to protect the world. They do need to be taken out of the way if real change is going to happen. Murder is an extreme method, but it does get results... especially if it's not seen as murder.

That doesn't mean Batman is wrong for wanting to protect people, though.

Especially from Ra's.

Ra's set out to kill thirty men. Thirty men responsible for the death and decay of the world. But because he needed to take out eleven people in one room, he killed three thousand at once in what would surely be one of the greatest 'accidents' of modern history. This is an extremely brief part of the story, but it has so many implications. How many were invited to the summit who would use the position as a voice for clean energy? How many would have helped Ra's indirectly by using their position to change the world for the better? You can claim that Ra's wouldn't have let anyone be in that hall who could really benefit the world, but I have to doubt that because of his actions and his very subjective judgement on the matter. And then this begs more questions - how many others, how many innocents died so that Ra's al Ghul could kill thirty men? How many bodybags provides the cost of secrecy?

And how much does that undermine his mission?

Let's talk about Ra's al Ghul, Batman and Robin.

There's an interesting juxtaposition between how Ra's and Batman are presented in the story. Both are depicted as emerging from the shadows when meeting the other faction on the field, both are depicted as temperamental and angry in spite of their calm facade and calculated nature. Ra's understands Batman, Batman understands Ra's, but their clashing philosophies means they will never truly stand on the same playing field.

And that comes to a boiling point in the best way possible.

This was a move that shocked me when I first read, but it makes perfect sense. It not only shows the brutality of Ra's, but when you realize the ultimate intention was to bring him back with the Lazarus Pit, it also shows the plan and how much Ra's respects Batman. He killed him, but only temporary - the moment he was 'done', Batman was allowed to come back. And when Bruce thought he was going to genuinely die, his last act was to hand his cowl to his son and make Damian promise not to give in and murder Ra's then and there. So Damian doesn't kill his grandfather, even if every boiling vein in his body makes him want to, and then Batman comes back.

During the final battle between the two, it goes beyond a simple moral clash. It goes beyond Ra's and Batman. It becomes about Damian and showing him what the true path in life is, showing him who's justice is what the world truly needs.

I've been thinking about what Robin's role in this story was (he didn't get as much spotlight as I was hoping, massive Damian fan that I am) but I'm content with what I got because of what he represents. He's the balance. He's the median point between both Ra's and Batman, who recognizes what's wrong with the world and seeks to make it better (see: Robin (2021)) but refuses to stoop to the level of a base murderer in order to do so.

I question if this really is all for Damian, as Bruce and Ra's claim in their desperation. It feels more like this conflict is about them, and Damian is the proof in the conflict between the two, the one who can decide who is 'right'. Damian agrees with Ra's - "Are you so sure we should be safeguarding the worst people on Earth?" - but he also agrees with Bruce - "He believes in preserving life, Grandfather. That's hardly a bad thing." - and gave both perspectives within the same minute. He's a counterbalance to both Bruce and Ra's perspectives because he stands between them and is capable of seeing the positives and negatives of both in a way that neither of the grown men can. It's why he sat to the side while Ra's committed his atrocities and waited for his father to return, but so violently opposed Ra's prior to his father's death.

This is, ultimately, a story of righteous anger clashing with unquestioning morality. This is about wrath against the rich and powerful poisoning the planet versus the desire to save others from death and not fall to the level of a base murderer. This is about two clashing ideals of justice.

Ra's 'wins' in achieving his goal and Bruce can never expose the truth or risk undoing all the legitimate good he's done, but Batman will never stop hunting Ra's until he is punished for what he's done. But the true resolution - the true answer on who was 'right' - is never answered, because Damian never truly sides with one or the other. He spends the latter half of the story sitting to the side observing, contemplating, and working through his own complicated emotions on everything that happened. Damian never says who is right and who is wrong, and Ra's never gives him a chance to, as he decides to sate Batman's desire for justice by simultaneously punishing himself and escaping further punishment by flinging himself to the bottom of the canyon.

Ra's gets to be at peace, and whether that's deserved or not is unclear. But he got his big win, as it were, and in the final pages it seems one of his first acts after that was restoring the extinct species of wolves that meant so much to him. It's an ending that leaves the reader content and, while not a complete thematic resolution, is purposeful and feels right for the long and complicated story of Ra's al Ghul.

Also he canonically killed Elon Musk and Alex Jones in this continuity and labeled them among the 'top thirty greatest threats to the planet' so that's neat