Welcome to another installment of The Short Report, which like Matt and Multiversity101, is my new favorite column to write. Today I’d like to share a few thoughts on the world’s biggest hero in the world: The Batman.
Before I start, let me state one thing. I enjoy Batman. I love his comics and I think he’s probably one of the best characters that can cross platforms from one medium to another. I loved his cartoon, his movies (OK, not the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher franchise) and unlike Matt, Arkham Asylum is one of my favorite games on the Xbox 360. I find him fascinating and I admire his strength of character. But while I really like Batman, sometimes it can be hard to appreciate the character because of one reason: his fans.
And before you get all bent out of shape, I do not mean all of his fans. I don’t even mean most of his fans, or even half. I mean plain and simple, the assholes (pardon my language). I cannot think of another comic book character where there is such a reverence for a character while completely misunderstanding that same character. This comes in many ways. There’s his personality, the realism of Batman, his relationship with the supporting cast, his relationship with Superman, and many more misconceptions about the character that strikes fear in the heart of criminals everywhere. Now excuse me while I bitch.
Realism:
Probably the most common reason I hear about Batman’s superiority. He’s the most realistic character out there. This is probably the most fallacious argument I’ve heard. Sure, he’s just a guy, but that’s the very reason he’s not realistic. If he were simply a crime noir character (much like he is in the new series First Wave) I would agree that he was the most realistic. However, since one of his most famous villains is a walking Ice Sculpture (Mr. Freeze) and another regularly comes back from the dead via pits around the world that reanimate the dead(Ra’s Al Ghul), he can’t be realistic. You can’t pick and choose realism. Thanks. Furthermore, I would argue Superman is more realistic with regard to his respective universe because he is a sci-fi character who fights other sci-fi characters.
His Personality:
This is probably the most widespread misconception of Bruce Wayne. They have the impression that he’s this unbelievably withdrawn borderline psychotic (actual words used to describe him) with no friends and even less family. But if you actually cared about the character, you’d see this just isn’t the case.
What he is happens to be a deeply scarred individual who was traumatized when he was young. He is NOT a psychotic. If he were a psychotic, he would not have a line he does not cross (I.E.: having guns and not killing). Jason Todd is a psychotic. The Joker is a psychotic. Batman may be withdrawn, and have trouble connecting with people, but he is most certainly not a psychotic.
His Supporting Cast:
Contrary to popular belief, Bruce Wayne is not a complete orphan. Much like other heroes (Superman and Spider-Man for instance) his parents died when he was very young. But while his parents were gone, he had a very caring if not outright loving father figure in Alfred Pennyworth. Alfred made sure that a boy who could have turned his anger and rage inward to the point of self destruction instead directed it outward.
Aside from Alfred, he has one of the most diverse groups of characters that he reaches out to and gets help from on a regular basis. This goes from Commissioner Gordon to the various Robins that would be more closely identified as family than anything else. And no disrespect to Batgirl or the Huntress, my focus will be on Robin.
Robin is the more important example. Probably the most derided part of the Batman mythos happens to be the most important. Why does Batman take in these children? Sometimes I joke it’s that he’s secretly a member of NAMBLA, but this really isn’t the case. Batman sees a lot of himself in Robin, and he does what he can to make sure they don’t suffer the same life he does. His biggest successes in this area are Dick Grayson and Tim Drake. These are both great characters that don’t get the respect they deserve, mainly because they can never get out of the shadow of Batman. Dick Grayson was the first child superhero. He fought alongside Batman almost as long as there has BEEN a Batman. He has since grown from The Boy Wonder into The Dark Knight himself, while Tim Drake is a boy who is nearly as good a detective as Bruce is himself, deducing the identity of Batman when he was just 13 years old. That’s an impressive accomplishment, but despite this, he is considered a lame character because he wore the red and yellow costume with the domino mask.
Continued belowBut if you want to focus on Batgirl or Huntress, let’s. Batman, while somewhat of a solitary individual, has nearly a legion of people that help him in his war on crime. We have the aforementioned Robin and Commissioner Gordon, the former Batgirl Barbara Gordon, who has grown to support every hero. If Batman were truly a solitary, distrustful person, he wouldn’t rely on help from any of these people, much less Superman or the Justice League.
Superman:
Speaking of Superman, he and Bruce could possibly have the most complicated relationship in the DCU, but it’s also the one that makes me love the character. Despite general fanboy disapproval of Jeph Loeb, he crafted an arc on Superman/Batman that showed while they’re the opposite sometimes, they happen to share a lot in common with each other. Despite sometimes being at odds with one another, they’re still good friends, and they do trust each other to take care of business if the other is unable to for whatever reason. Batman asks Superman to take care of Gotham every once in a while, and Superman entrusts a kryptonite ring to him in case things go south. These two aren’t just friends because they’re the mascots of the DC universe. They’re friends because while it might be an odd pairing, it also makes a whole lot of sense.
The most confusing thing, however, is the seeming rivalry between the fans of either character. Take a few nights ago for instance. I was talking to someone, and they mentioned they liked Batman, he asked who I liked, and I said I preferred Superman and Green Lantern. And what kind of response did I get? A snide remark about how Superman “likes boys” (I’ll leave the obvious irony about a Batman fan saying that alone). While I get it’s a joke, it’s something that actually happens to me on a more frequent basis than it should. Why does this happen?
It’s a puzzling conundrum. Some fans seem to look down their nose at any character that doesn’t wear a Bat on their chest, whether it’s Spider-Man (who is probably more relatable than Batman in many ways) or Superman. I don’t really know why it happens, but it actually makes me appreciate the character less than I would if there weren’t so many fans who were so obnoxious.
In all honesty, I do think that Batman’s character is the closest he’s ever been in terms of accuracy, thanks to Grant Morrison. A lot of badass with a little ridiculousness goes a long way when you dress up like a giant flying rodent. Now, I’m not saying that I want him to dress up in the Rainbow Batman suit any time soon, but his characterization now is pretty much perfect.
It’s ridiculous how some fans of this character act, because it reminds me of kids starting that “my dad could beat up your dad!” shtick, or some bro trying to get into a pissing contest. It’s immature, it’s silly, and it just makes you look like a jerk.
