- Thomas M.
- Friday, December 18, 2020
If there’s a Batman fan in your life, there’s a good chance they’ve been through one or more of the phases described below. In each case, there are corresponding Batman comics available on demand through Hoopla, linked above each descriptive monologue.
1. I learned Batman was cool from watching cartoons as a kid.
(Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1-3 / Batman Adventures)
Who’s your favorite superhero? Mine’s Batman! He doesn’t need powers because he has martial arts and high-tech gadgets. He drives the coolest car, disappears up buildings with a grappling gun, solves crimes on a supercomputer, and has a butler who always worries about him. He swore an oath to fight crime and protect people for the rest of his life, and that’s what he does, no matter how hard it gets or how lonely he feels. If he teamed up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that would be the greatest cartoon ever, but his own cartoon’s pretty cool, too. I think they made some of those stories into comics?
2. Batman is a serious superhero and definitely not kid stuff.
(The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke)
Batman has cartoons, but those are for children. He is a living metaphor of psychological intrigue, attracting deranged villains who reflect his own traumatic history and struggle to seek justice. The Joker used to laugh and throw pies but now he shoots people with a real gun. Batman is a mature adult who either frightens or beats corruption out of his city. He knows we do not deserve him, but he is dedicated to his mission and that mission keeps us safe. He would beat up Superman for looking at him the wrong way. Batman stares into the abyss and we, the readers, stare back.
3. Batman would be more compelling if he had to confront his methods.
(Batman: Creature of the Night / The World’s Greatest Super-Heroes)
I used to be into superheroes, but they’re just too unrealistic. A billionaire deputizes himself into beating up people in “his” city, free of due process? What part of that is heroic? Where’s the Batman story where he uses some of that wealth to affect change in Gotham City so he doesn’t have to beat people into being nicer? Where’s the Batman story where he recognizes his war on crime perpetuates a cycle of violence? Even the world’s greatest detective will eventually catch someone on faulty evidence - what then?
4. Batman is a tired archetype that can still be interesting when mixed with other media.
(Batman Tales: Once Upon A Crime / The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga)
Batman? I guess, maybe if the right artist did something unique with him. Like mashing up the Bat-family with fairy tales, done in watercolor! Okay, I’ll read that, but I’m really more into manga these days - those are Japanese comics. There was this one Bat-manga done by Jiro Kuwata that puts modern superhero stories to shame. Lots of weird plot twists and inventive characters. Comics are more fun when they play with their boundaries and break stylish new ground.
5. Batman holds up.
(Batman ‘66 / Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman)
Who’s your favorite superhero? Mine’s Batman! He doesn’t need powers because he has martial arts and high-tech gadgets. He drives the coolest car, disappears up buildings with a grappling gun, solves crimes on a supercomputer, and has a butler who always worries about him. He swore an oath to fight crime and protect people for the rest of his life, and that’s what he does, no matter how hard it gets or how lonely he feels. There have been different versions of him for over eighty years and they all reflect on each other, even his campy live-action show from the 1960s. I think they made some of those stories into comics?