SEEKERS OF THE BAT

In the left image we see Batman in his heyday. Clearly an homage to the 1960s TV series, with the fight sound effects in bright neon lights (Biff! Bam! Pow!). Grant Morrison imagined this to be an era of “popcrime”, with his foes being more akin to quirky performance artists than hardened criminals. The worst crimes were a penguin or cat themed theft, littered with childish riddles or bad puns leading them exactly to their hideouts, and the only backup he ever needed was a pair of wisecracking teenagers. Also note that Batman is wearing his cheery bright blue and gray costume with large yellow chest logo.

But in the right image are the darker times that would come from the 1970s on. From Robin turning his back on him and leaving as Nightwing, to the vicious crippling of Batgirl, to fathering an assassin with the daughter of a global terrorist, to the Joker beating Jason Todd to death, to the frustration at filling Arkham Asylum with murderous lunatics, only to see them escape again and again without hope of rehabilitation, it is no wonder Batman now wears the mournful midnight blue and dark gray costume.

Alex Ross gives us Batman’s impressive gargoyle-eye view of Gotham City. It’s easy to see how Batman can patrol an entire city from his perch high in the sky. Just hope those bat-lines hold!

Going into nightly fights against thugs with guns and knives, leaping off rooftops, escaping from burning buildings, straitjackets, ticking bombs, swinging saw blades …  All this action is bound to leave a few permanent marks on a human body. Bruce Wayne does his best to explain his visible scars as mishaps from any number of polo matches, skiing accidents, spelunking excursions, etc.  but the rest need to be covered up at all times.

With his history of mistakes or failures literally carved into his body, it is a constant reminder to himself that he is still only human. And that he has to be better.

The definitive modern Batman as imagined by Alex Ross