SEEKERS OF THE BAT

Here we have a gorgeous shot of Ms. Selina Kyle, aka Mrs. Selina Wayne in a past life.  In many ways, she and Bruce are perfect for each other. Unfortunately, life keeps getting in the way. Picture by Wakkawa.

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.

This wonderful fan trailer depicts an alternate future where Dick Grayson, the original Robin, has to come out of retirement to avenge the death of the Batman.  They appear to ignore Dick’s time as Nightwing, as well as [his wife!] Barbara’s crippling at the hands of the Joker (although one shot alludes to it). Superman appears to play a minor role as a boy scout blindly following orders, as well as several great appearances by Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman?, Batgirl, Catwoman, the Riddler, Penguin and of course the Joker. If there was one fan trailer I’d want to see made into a full film, this would definitely be it.

via Untamed Cinema

This commercial sells what? Not sure, but I’m sold.

“Umm, Selina… Maybe we should hang out at my place next time.”

This scene from the infamous All-Star Batman and Robin run shows Batman tending to a severely beaten Catwoman. The horror of the situation is that the realization that the Joker now has a weakness in the young Batman to exploit.

One common trope in the comics is that Batman’s inner monologue is often depicted as being hand written.  Before computers were ubiquitous, Batman kept meticulous handwritten logs and journals of his cases, and so the convention of using his ‘diary’ entries as narration has continued to the present day. For all his machismo, his journals often reveal an introspective, tortured emotion under the stoic, confident exterior .

Dustin Nguyen gives us a lovely depiction of Batman and his on-again, off-again love interest: The Catwoman.  Although Batman has been involved with several exceptional women over the years, Selina Kyle is special in that she is the only woman who doesn’t need to be rescued on a regular basis. Having her own dual identity, she fully understands the life he leads.  In many ways, they are mirror images of each other, albeit on different sides of the law.