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comics - If Batman has such strong will power, why hasn't he been recruited by the Lantern corps?


Batman has crazy strong willpower, as evidence in Only a dream where he remains awake across two (?) nights keeping Dee (a psychic dream manipulator) from forcing him to sleep and out of his head simply by humming Frère Jacques.


I'm sure there are other times when batman has shown superhuman willpower. So why has he never been approached by the Green Lantern Corps, whom rely on willpower as their source of strength?



Answer



It seems this did happen in a 1994 comic. The results were somewhat less than stellar. The reasons, as I see it, are these:



  1. Bruce Wayne has a massive amount of emotional baggage -- his willpower is a result of his crusade to exact revenge on criminals. A ring attuned to emotions is not the sort of thing one gives to a person like that.

  2. Batman does not take orders and is unlikely to work well in a corp-like organization with rules. He works alone and chooses his own missions.


  3. The modern Batman persona is meant to strike fear into the minds of criminals. Again, not Lantern MO, IMHO.

  4. The Lanterns (or the Guardians?) probably realize that Batman is already playing his part on Earth. Except in an emergency, converting him into a Lantern (rather than recruiting a person with untapped potential such as Hal) would be a net minus.


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