"Criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot..."

I hate drawing Batman. I can't get him right. Or rather, I can't get him to not look absurd. I think something snaps in my brain, and I somehow bring out the silliness inherent in the character. When Batman succeeds as a visual, it's because he's a brooding, menacing figure. His reputation, his presence, his personality all go to distract us from what is really a very silly visual. He strikes terror into the hearts of criminals, but blue and grey spandex and a cape just won't do that. Heck, the only reason the Punisher gets away with his in-comparison-sensible outfit is because he's usually carrying a chuffing great machine gun.
I have to draw a Harley Quinn picture for someone. Meg suggests that I should put a brooding Batman as/in the background. It's an obvious choice that I was also considering, but my inability to do a non-silly Batman has given me second thoughts. The person receiving this picture also likes Spawn, so I could just use him as the backdrop, and I can certainly do a half-decent Spawn, but I suspect my brain will snap there too, this time because Harley and Spawn should never be in the same picture together...