From comics to movies to video games, we can’t seem to get enough of Gotham’s Dark Knight
Like Batman, sci-fi, video games, cosplay or anime? Then you most definitely cannot miss the MCM Comic Con which is coming to the RDS in Dublin on 12th and 13th April.
Recently, this particular JOE has gotten back into reading comics/graphic novels, and in particular, Batman has been the character that has most appealed to us. Having read through a few of the definitive collections, it does make us think about why the story around this character has never significantly changed, despite the various reboots that DC have done to all their franchises.
A large part of that appeal is in the origin story, and the way in which it’s simple, yet appeals to a more frightening aspect of 20th & 21st century life: violence. There has, of course, always been some form of violence that is almost innate to the human character, but the way in which murder has become so passé that it is put on display for our entertainment, through TV shows and violent movies, is on the rise.
Furthermore, it fits, generally, into a genre which has been successful for a long time: detective fiction. Batman is a sort of film noir detective whose violent methods and vigilante attitude appeal to the part of us that enjoys that slight bending of the rules. However, his unwavering commitment to not using guns and a moral compass which almost never moves from pointing in the right direction also allow for the character to appeal to the part of us that sees societal order as an imperative to hold on to. So he breaks the law, but he does it to help the law, in a way.
Pic via ScienceFiction.com
What else appeals to us is his past, his origin story. You can’t help but have sympathy for the victim of a childhood tragedy, the driving force behind Batman’s/Bruce Wayne’s quest for justice is after all the death of his parents, Martha and Thomas Wayne.
In issue #33 of Detective Comics, the back story of Batman was first addressed, introducing Dr. Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne as the parents of Bruce, who were killed in a robbery. The distraught Bruce then vows to fight all criminals, and eventually chooses the symbol of the bat, which flies in his window, as if it were an omen. This scene also makes a reappearance in Frank Millers’ seminal Year One.
Pic via Ladybatman.com
This story remains the genesis of Batman since it draws on such primary fears of both children and adults: that you should lose your parents, or that you would not be able to see your child grow up. Largely, this story has remained completely unchanged, bar some more detail being fleshed out as authors and filmmakers each impose their own vision of the character on the franchise.
Through each incarnation, something different is brought to the character. The Bill Dozier 1960s camped up TV show brought a comic element to the franchise, and tainted the image to a certain respect for a period of time, both through the ridiculous scripting and hammed up acting of Adam West’s overly-ponderous Batman. Still, for many, this was their first introduction to a character who was much darker in the comic books which had spawned him than the show which made him a household name.
Pic via Collider.com
With little ‘cool’ left to pull from in the wake of the television series, Batman faced an identity crisis and building on some other work as a foundation, the major turn in the Batman story comes with the Frank Miller reboot in Year One, influencing the character all the way through to Christopher Nolan’s latest Batman trilogy.
Year One was a Frank Miller story which painted the character in a darker, more gritty world which situated the violence of his parents’ death into a modern setting, when the late twentieth century media was turning to focus on the increase in organised and violent crime. The decay of the fictional city of Gotham from the crime lords and corrupt politicians was also an added realistic feature of Miller’s work. The most impacting scene, both in the comic and the animated version, is that in which Batman chooses a fat cats’ dinner party to introduce himself to the corrupt and the powerful in Gotham: “Ladies. Gentlemen. You have eaten well. You’ve eaten Gotham’s wealth. Its spirit. Your feast is nearly over. From this moment on, none of you are safe”.
One of the most interesting features of Gotham City is the place where Batman ends up sending many of his rogue gallery, Arkham Asylum. Grant Morrison and Dave Mckean’s Arkham Asylum: A Serious Place on Serious Earth is a story which encapsulates much of the parts of the asylum which make it hugely fascinating. A dark, disturbing vision of insanity, Arkham Asylum is designed to highlight that these criminals not only suffer from mental illnesses, which allows their exaggerated characters to have a realistic edge, but also to show that an archaic and backwards asylum is much worse than ending up simply in jail, where they are forced to confront issues and problems which have pushed them towards the edge.
Having Batman himself address his own past and issues in the Asylum was also a ground-breaking idea, although through further works and Nolan’s recent movies, that obsession which drives Batman has been highlighted as having severe effects on his mental health, with visions of him as reclusive, damaged and incapable of interacting with society outside of the guise of Batman.
This last point is perhaps the most telling about his character. Really and truly, the costume he puts on is that of Bruce Wayne, as he fake smiles and phoney small talks his way through Gotham city’s elite, all the time looking for connections to the underworld and waiting for something bad to happen. This possibly explains also why the few villains and characters who do know Batman’s true identity keep it to themselves or wilfully ignore it, since they realise it’s all for show. It is quite a stretch for readers to imagine, for example, that Jim Gordon, the best detective and police officer in Gotham has no idea who the man behind the mask is.
Perhaps what it comes down to is that deep down, we all enjoy the fact that this is on the very, very limits of plausibility. We don’t need to suspend our disbelief too much to think that a billionaire could afford all these gadgets and might have the time to learn to be the world’s best fighter. Maybe, also we hope that there is someone in the world who is that good that they would sacrifice themselves for the rest of us, because they believe in our ability to be good. Or maybe we just enjoy a good story. Your call.
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