SEEKERS OF THE BAT

If we are products of our environments, then without a Gotham City, there wouldn’t be a Batman. Informally described by writers as 1940s New York City by night (with Metropolis as NYC by day), Gotham city is typically depicted as an old time industrial ‘city of the future’ that degenerated into a decrepit cesspool of crime once their factories closed. It was a place so hopeless, that a crazed vigilante dressed as a flying rodent was welcomed as its protector.

But once Batman opened pandora’s box by putting on a mask, the city retaliated with the most colorful gallery of supervillains of any superhero. Criminals knew that if you wanted to step up as a supervillain or were looking for henchman jobs, Gotham was the place to be.  It is all Batman can do to keep tabs on everyone. Still if Batman’s crusade against crime is what defines him, then choosing Gotham as his battleground says something about the man.

Although Batman technically began his career using guns, he was retconned as being loathe to the idea due to their role in his his parents’ death. Thus, writer Grant Morrison set this scene; Batman’s ‘death’ during Final Crisis. At the moment that Batman breaks his sacrosanct code, he effects his own demise. By using a gun to kill, the Batman is no more.

No great achievement ever came without sacrifice. In Batman’s case, he has completely shut himself off from the possibility of happiness in another person. As this poignant scene shows, he readily admits that his relationship to Selina Kyle, the Catwoman, lasted only because she was ‘the enemy’.  Although his devotion to his mission is total, he clearly still has moments of regret. Whether it is the result of a man fulfilling the promise of a traumatized boy, or a deep seated survivor’s guilt preventing him from accepting happiness, the Batman has decided to fight on alone.

When all is said and done, young Timothy Drake may be regarded as the greatest of all those who have served under the name Robin. Although he will never surpass the other Robins at their strengths, his analytical skill has been compared to that of Batman himself. He is also the man who introduced the concept of pants to the role.

Single handedly deducing the identity of Batman after recognizing a quadruple flip performed by Dick Grayson, young Tim was welcomed into the Bat family. Not wanting to relive the events of Jason Todd’s death, Batman put Tim through extensive training by experts from around the world. To compensate his lack of natural skill, he developed a mastery of the staff, which would come to become his signature weapon.

Fiercely devoted to his friends, Time changed his costume to a red and black motif after the apparent death of his friend Conner Kent aka Superboy. He went on to abandon the Robin persona completely to investigate the death of Bruce Wayne, who he [correctly] believed to be trapped in time. To signify his new uncompromising view of life, he controversially took over the identity of the Red Robin, last used by the villainous Jason Todd.

After the murder of his father at the hands of Captain Boomerang, Tim joined Dick Grayson as a formal adoptee of Bruce Wayne.  Together with Damian, Batman’s biological son, each of these 3 Robins are doing their utmost in trying to uphold the legacy of their father.

With the majority of Batman’s rogues gallery, it is a foregone conclusion that Batman will always eventually physically get the upper hand.  Not so with Batman’s modern rival, Bane. Not only does Bane possess gifted intelligence rivalling Batman’s, but he is also demonstrably stronger than Batman.  Add to that an appetite for breaking spines and a daily IV drip of the fictional supersteroid Venom, which amplifies his strength many times over and allows him to heal quickly from any injury, and you have the makings of a villain who gives even the Dark Knight nightmares.

In fact, those nightmares are well deserved. Bane is most well known for deducing Batman’s identity, then orchestrating a series of events that culminated with his breaking of Batman’s spine over his knee.  Paralyzed, Batman was forced to surrender his cape to Jean-Paul Valley, an outsider. Bruce Wayne was broken in both body and mind for months while his replacement tarnished the reputation of the Batman. This was to be one of the most difficult times in the Batman’s life.

Bruce Wayne did eventually recover and took back both his caped identity and his confidence by defeating Bane in combat. Since then, Bane has straddled the line between hero and villain, kicking his addiction to Venom, and seeking redemption for his crimes. He has a deep respect for his one time rival, and even attempted to take over as Batman when Bruce Wayne appeared to die during Final Crisis. Bane currently serves as leader of the Secret Six, a sympathetic group of antiheroes, but it is unclear where the future will take him.

Batman is the embodiment of the triumphant human spirit. No matter what the odds, putting your money on Batman is always the safe bet.

A well dressed boy kneeling speechless over his murdered parents, his mother’s pearls scattered around them. With those few details, many people will recognize this scene as the birth of the Batman.  The tragic thing about this story is that it happened when young Bruce was only 8 years old. Whereas most other superheroes gain their powers as adults and immediately start their heroic careers, Batman is unique in that his childhood was ruined as he seethed for 12-20 years before donning a costume. This moment will haunt him for the rest of his life, fueling his obsessive crusade against crime.  He simply refuses to let that childhood trauma heal.

The story has been told a thousand times, but I think I prefer the one below. All the elements are the same, only with one small change. :)

Much like James Bond or MacGyver,  Batman is a character that can be counted on to ALWAYS triumph in the end, no matter how hopeless the situation seems. This photo depicts just another such impossible reversal of fortune, as Batman finds the strength and willpower to dig his way out of a buried coffin. In this way, he is much more than just a rich guy with gadgets. He is a irrepressible force of nature, and deserves to be feared by his foes.

After Dick Grayson left the fold to become Nightwing, Batman was left without a partner. That wouldn’t last long, as he soon came across an angry but extremely gifted juvenile delinquent named Jason Todd.

As the second Robin, Jason was violent, unmerciful and allowed people to die. Although Batman tried to reel in his tendencies, Jason soon became a very unpopular character, prompting DC Comics to conduct a nationwide poll on his fate.   The people spoke, and in the infamous ‘A Death in the Family’ story arc,  the Joker bludgeoned Jason Todd to death with a crowbar before Batman could save him.

Much like the obsessive, irrational guilt he holds over being unable to prevent his parents’ death, Batman also punishes himself for Jason Todd’s death. Soon after he took on Tim Drake as the third Robin, he erected the now-familiar glass memorial to Jason’s memory to ensure he never forgot his greatest failure.

The significance of Jason Todd’s glass case would eventually have gone the way of the giant penny and robot dinosaur except that in 2003, Jason was brought back to life by the ridiculous “Superboy-Prime Reality Punch”. In retroactive continuity, Jason now inexplicably clawed his way out of his grave shortly after his death to be nursed back to health by Talia, daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul. He has returned to plague the Bat family in a number of guises, first as an adult Robin, then as an evil Nightwing, then as the murderous Red Robin, then as a gun-toting stand-in for the recently killed (Omega Sanctioned) Batman, and currently as the new Red Hood, the original alter ego of the Joker. In all his versions, he sees himself as a more effective Batman, using lethal force to succeed where his mentor failed.

Update: His return in the comics has coincided with the release of the excellent animated film: Under the Red Hood, which recounts Batman’s reaction to his return:

The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh was introduced in a Golden Age story as an alternate Batman from a different planet. However in Grant Morrison’s Batman RIP story arc, he was reintroduced as an emergency backup personality tucked away just in case Bruce Wayne ever lost his mind. Although the garish costume was stitched together out of rags, the Zur-En-Arrh personality says the bright colors indicate absolute confidence. Once again, Batman proves his ‘superpower’ is super preparedness; having a backup plan in the case of any contingency.