On a side note: aren't all Batman costumes home-made? ...  Still, when Bruce Wayne decided to become Batman and he had to make a costume right?  The three Kents made Superman's costume in the Man of Steel. 

That's not the point. It's the grandeur of it all. It shouldn't LOOK homemade. Since you use Man of Steel as an example, JB's Superman's costume looked as it should (not home made).

I think Pope's and Mazzucchelli's costumes look far better than Neal's version.

You seriously think Pope's costume looks better than Neal's version? I know art is subjective...but seriously?

Well, they're gloves...but they still don't look like Bugs Bunny gloves like Pope's do.

All of these artists are very stylized.  They all have very distinct ways of doing the characters

Yes, but they still had a heroic looking Batman. Pope's Batman looks like some homeless guy with a malformed head in a dime store costume. U-G-L-Y...and it don't got no alibi.

While I do agree that heroes need to look iconic - "larger than life" - it should be in their home (re:most "visible") title.  I don't have a problem with Pope's Batman.  He's made it no secret that Batman is one of his favorite characters.  Paul Pope was hired to interpret Batman in his OWN style.  People that want to see a Paul Pope Batman don't want to see it drawn like how it's presented in Detective Comics.  It's also an Elseworlds book which caters more to a niche market with more than a passing familiarity with the source material.  It's fun to see the deviations from norm in an Elseworlds book.

As for "Pope loves Kirby" topic, I think this picture shows his appreciation of The King.  It's an homage to his "favorite Marvel comic".

In his words: "You know, that one where Doctor Doom takes the Invisible Woman hostage and then tricks the rest of The Fantastic Four into going back in time to steal Blackbeard's treasure...and it turns out The Thing was actually Blackbeard and wanted to stay back there and remain king of the pirates because there he had respect but in modern times he was just a freak? That one."

QUOTE: Well, they're gloves...but they still don't look like Bugs Bunny gloves like Pope's do.

So, Pope basically gave Batman Mickey Mouse's shorts and Bugs Bunny's gloves.  Swell.

QUOTE: Oddly enough, the "Mickey Mouse shorts" is one place where I do see a Kirby influence. Jack had a habit of drawing his characters with trunks with "legs" in them.

I don't mind the legs; I actually prefer those (if they're done as Kirby did them, anyway).  I'm referring to the big holes for the laces.  Honestly don't understand the laces; strikes me as nothing more than a misplaced quirk.

QUOTE: Which, perhaps, it is meant to have. This is not Bruce Wayne, right?

Fair points.

You know, I'm going to put this in white as a SPOILER in case someone does want to read it.

SPOILER:

Batman Year 100 is set in 2039.  One hundred years after the "first" appearance of Batman.  It's a dystopian world where there is no privacy and he is pursued by the great-grandson of Commisioner Gordon.  You never truly find out if this is a new Batman or the legendary old one although IMO, I think it might be a clone.

That's also why he's "dirty".  The comic opens up with him being chased by a pack of dogs.  He's a fugitive from the law.