Will the Real Batman Please Stand Up

Most people know I'm a Batman fan, perhaps even a Batman fanatic. I tell people the TV room of my house is decorated in Early 20^th Century Batman. And it is. Really. (Actually, I’m even more of a Robin fan, but there’s another post brewing on that topic.) So I inevitably get the question “Why do you like Batman so much?”

One appeal of Batman is that he's a “regular guy" without super powers... assuming you consider having enough money to create your own arsenal of military-grade vehicles to be within the realm of “regular guy.”  However, Batman being a regular guy is not why I like Batman so much.

The cape is great too. Not sure why I like capes so much but I do. Batman. Zorro. Dracula. These are guys who knew how to rock a cape like nobody’s business. I think its definitely time for capes to make a fashion comeback. Yes, capes are cool, but I’m not a huge Batman fan solely for the cape.

There are probably dozens of reasons why I like Batman so much, but one sticks out over all the others. The reason I like Batman so much is that there is not just one Batman. Batman has more variability than any other comic here, perhaps more than any other fictional character. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of incarnations of Batman. Let’s take a look at a few of the many Batmen that have been introduced to pop culture over the years:

[caption id="attachment_291" align="alignright" width="150"] Bob Kane's original Batman[/caption]

First there was Bob Kane's Batman. He had no problem carrying a gun and shooting the bad guy. It's interesting that Batman's premier incarnation is very different than the Batman we know today.

There was Dick Sprang's Batman, a much more kid-friendly variant with a Batcave full of trophies like a giant penny. If you have an image in your head of the comic Batman saying something to Robin like “Good work, old chum” then that’s probably the Dick Sprang Batman.

In the early 70s Neal Adams and Denny O’Neil started the trend toward making Batman a grittier, darker detective.

[caption id="attachment_294" align="alignleft" width="150"] Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns Batman[/caption]

In the 1980’s Frank Miller single-handedly reshaped Batman with his iconic works The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One. In my opinion, these are not only two of the most seminal Batman works, but also two of the top 5 comics of all time. I was in awe when I read the Dark Knight Returns during its initial 4-part premium format release. It is one story I re-read on a regular basis. In Miller's stories Batman is dark and brooding. He is a one-man war on crime. He battles a lot of internal demons - scars of his fractured childhood. And he is no friend of Superman.

The series Legends of the Dark Knight contained a number of issues about possible Batman incarnations that were out of continuity from the regular comics. These out-of-continuity tales are referred to as “Elseworlds” stories. Among the more popular storylines are Gotham by Gaslight’s Victorian-era Batman, In Darkest Knight’s Batman as a member of the Green Lantern Corps, and Red Rain’s vampire Batman. The Elseworld’s concept showcased the potential for all sorts of different Batman instances.

[caption id="attachment_295" align="alignright" width="150"] Adam West's Batman says "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!"[/caption]

On TV, we had Adam West's Batman, a truly iconic portrayal for the lasting influence it had on pop culture. A lot of Batman purist will turn their nose up at this 1966 camp Batman incarnation. Not me. It remains a wonderful piece of Americana and portrait of the world at that time. I strongly believe that, if not for the popularity of Adam West's Batman series, Batman would be nowhere near as large of a pop culture icon as he is today.

In the world of animation Batman: The Animated Series put a darker detective Batman on TV for the first time and also led the path for a whole new style of comic book animation that continued with Batman Beyond, Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League. Then two decades later Batman: The Brave and the Bold strove to make Batman fun again.

[caption id="attachment_293" align="alignleft" width="150"] Batman from the "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" cartoon[/caption]

Once again, a lot of  Batman purists dislike Batman: The Brave and the Bold  because Batman does un-Batmanly things in it like time and space travel. But I loved it. It paid homage to many different forms of Batman throughout the years, it never took itself too seriously, but it also never strayed from the Batman mythos.

[caption id="attachment_296" align="alignright" width="150"] Michael Keaton brings Batman to the movies in 1989.[/caption]

And, of course there are the cinema portrayals of Batman by both Michael Keaton and Christian Bale. Both were terrific performances for their times and both gave new dimensions to the Batman character.

So, you see, there is no one Batman. The list I used here could easily be expanded 10-fold, if not more. And the best thing is that every Batman fan has "their" Batman. Who Batman is to me is shaped by the major Batman influences in my life. This is not going to be the same for other Batman fans who's image of Batman was shaped by separate influences. There are a few consistent attributes of all Batmen (e.g., rich guy whose parents were killed in front of him making him dedicate himself to a life of crime fighting) but the rest is open for interpretation. And there have been a lot of wonderful interpretations over the years.

And this, is why I love Batman so much - because what he is to me is probably not what he is to anyone else. And that's the whole beauty of it.