How to really break Batman

It really was a good idea at the time. After years of a semi-broken Batman, with his fucked back and self-doubts about his place in the world, Grant Morrison turned the bat into the ultra-competent figure of rough justice, with a plan for everything 

And he did it straight away, without any messing about, with Bruce Wayne demolishing a group of White Martians who couldn't believe they were being undone by a mere mortal. This one moment, early in the JLA run, had a massive immediate impact and set the standard for a truly 21st century Batman. 

Morrison made the Justice League the biggest, baddest superhero team in the multiverse, and nobody wanted to drop that ball when he finished his run on the DC series. The comic needed to stay big and epic and clever, with simple hooks played out to ultimate results.

So when Morrison moved on, it was perfectly logical to take that idea to the obvious conclusion, where the man with a plan for everything would clearly have something in place to deal with his meta-powered teammates if they went bad.

And that's what they did in The Tower of Babel storyline that writer Mark Waid did with Howard Porter - the artist staying on to smooth the transition. And it's a good story, while also forever ruining Batman as a team player.

Once you've admitted you've gone to considerable effort to beat the shit out of your best friends, they're never going to trust you again. Not fully. They might admit to the logic, but that kind of willful action means you can never really be sure if he's ever going to have your back.

He can only ever be the scowling mentor, not the trusted teammate, and attempts to rehabilitate this image haven't really taken, even with multiple reboots of the entire universe. Batman will always be that kind of dickhead, and that's how you really break him.