Hero Spotlight - Batman

Hero Spotlight – Batman


Na na na na na na na na Batman! NOT the recent movie, the character, the caped crusader, the Dark Knight. What makes Batman so cool? Why has he become so dark over the years? Why does almost every nerd believe Batman can defeat EVERYONE? Let’s get batty.

Batman is an iconic character. He has been in TV, radio, and comics, for decades. He first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in 1939! Batman has been around for a while, so I know that discussing him is like walking on a patch of sacred comic ground. From the moment the Caped Crusader hit the comics, it was something special. He looks as if he would have special powers, but he is just a man. When he gets hit, we all know exactly what he is going through. It would take extreme discipline to master all of the skills he has demonstrated. Before we get too deep, let’s cover his origins.

Batman’s Origins

Batman is Bruce Wayne. He was a young man with extremely wealthy parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. The Wayne family were socialites and owned Wayne Enterprises, which was a very successful corporation. Known as philanthropists, the Waynes did very well for themselves in Gotham city. Bruce was a happy boy who looked up to his father and looked forward to inheriting his family legacy of doing good in Gotham. 

One day, after leaving a movie theater, Bruce and his parents were held up in an alley by a petty thief. For whatever reason you might imagine, Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered in that alley. Bruce was left with no other family or relatives to assume guardianship, so his dedicated butler, Alfred took on the role. Bruce became obsessed with fighting crime and pursuing his parents killer.

Bruce Wayne has no super powers, but he is a genius, so he trained. He trained relentlessly under the best martial artists in the world and learned to be a master fighter and tactician. If you were to play chess with Bruce, he would be easily five moves ahead. I guess you could say Bruce is a super dork that kicks butt. Everyone around him is afraid to admit that he is a geek at heart (Except maybe the Flash). Albeit a super serious geek.

Bruce donned the cape and persona of a bat in order to strike fear into his foes. The mystery of Batman flying around and beating up people in the dark, while apparently bulletproof, elevated Batman to a legend in Gotham that paralyzed criminals with fear. That briefly covers the origins, now let’s get on with it.

Why is batman so cool?

At his heart, Batman is a detective. He finds clues, evidence, spy info, and intercepts communications. Batman has a super computer in a secret cave, a Batmobile, a Batplane, a Batcycle, and endless gadgets. Gadgets are cool. As a billionaire, the best car Bruce could drive pales in comparison to the Batmobile. I remember in one of the Christian Bale Batman movies, a girl admired Bruce Wayne’s Lamborgini. He nonchalantly looked away and said,”You should see my other car.” The man has gadgets, money, a successful company, and gadgets. Yes, I know I said gadgets twice.

Batman succeeds. He gets it done. Does that mean he might die or destroy his body to save the day? Yes, but that isn’t even an afterthought for Bruce Wayne because he is always willing to take the bullet. When he gets in a fight, you can bet that he has thought it through. He knows who that person really is and who they care about. Batman is a learner, and he learns everything he can about everyone he deals with.

Batman’s villains also make him cool. Yep, you heard me. The BEST villains come from Batman. Let’s name a few…Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Riddler, Fish Mooney (Just Kidding), Clay-Face, Red Hood, the Doll Maker, Scarecrow, and Penguin. These villains are classic. They aren’t just mean horrible people, they are mental cases. Batman also has several more foes, but these guys are my favorites.

Why has Batman become so dark?

Why don’t you spend a few days fighting the likes of the Joker or the Doll Maker and see how bright and cheery you turn out to be? Batman has followed the times. In 1940, he was presented as a somewhat happy hero who went out day or night to do what must be done. But as time progressed, it only made sense to have BATman go out mostly at night like a bat. Also, his villains have gotten worse. We’re not talking about bank heists and purse snatchers anymore. Batman graduated a long time ago to take on the real villains, some of which were a threat to the entire Earth.

Why do people think Batman can beat everyone???

Because he can. As a tactician, he has discovered and logged the weaknesses of every superhero and villain he has come into contact with. Batman is especially distrusting of heroes and keeps a plan in place to defeat each one if needed. I like to think that Bruce Wayne is like Iron Man, except that he is a much better tactician. If Batman had created the Ultron program, it would have worked. Take that Tony.

I will admit that the comics have brought Batman back from situations where everyone thought he was dead. It was like a bad soap opera, but I would never let him die either. So I don’t blame the writers. In short, Batman can defeat everyone because wait for it….. He’s Batman! I love Batman. He might be the most entertaining superhero of all time.

*Update: I forgot to add Mr. Freeze as a great Batman villain. He is one of my favorites as well.

In conclusion, Batman gets an A+ rating in the Hero Spotlight for being so smart and so cool. He has been kicking but since 1939 and he is still going strong!

What did you think of this Hero Spotlight? 

Who do you want to see in the spotlight next? 

I’ll be posting more Hero Spotlights in the future here. Same bat time, same bat channel.

Visit my blog at CheckMeOutBro.com

15 thoughts on “Hero Spotlight – Batman

  1. Interesting article. Growing up in the 1970s, I experienced a very different take on Batman. He wasn’t always the smartest or toughest guy in the room. He made mistakes and sometimes exhibited questionable judgement. To me, that makes him more interesting than today’s unbeatable, ten-steps-ahead-of-everybody Dark Knight. I feel the most heroic characters are also the most mortal — those who choose to do the right thing in spite of the danger to themselves. Like most super-heroes, Batman is more interesting when he has something to lose.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I feel kind of bad for writing this, but I never really liked Batman. Never warmed up to him.
    He’s “main-protagonist-syndrome” personified (Even with struggle he manages to overcome everything that’s thrown in his way and that’s kind of boring for me) and that just puts him on the list of characters I couldn’t care less about…

    Though I don’t mind reading about him to see, if maybe I’m wrong and there is something I’m not seeing that makes him more relate-able or something.
    You’re article – while it had some interesting things – didn’t really have that for me, as it was more celebrating Batman because he’s Batman than showing more thoroughly why that makes him awesome – if that makes any sense.
    Don’t get me wrong the read was fun, but for me it only translated to “he’s smart, because he’s the main character”, “he’s strong because as a main character he has to have had some special training that makes him capable of easily defeating his foes”.
    I know there is some interesting backstory and you hinted at it – really liked the stuff about the Justice League and Grayson being fail safes for him – but the whole article still felt more like fanboying to me, sorry…
    I really get that you love this character and that’s awesome, but I would have liked this to be a bit more objective to make it easier for people like me to understand why you love him and what makes him special.
    But that’s just me! Don’t let me stop you from shining a Spotlight on more characters!

    On another note: What I dislike most about Batman is the fact that you can find his merchandise everywhere and are practically bombarded with it, like in non-geeky clothing stores they suddenly have Batman leggings or socks and stuff, but that’s a thing that’s slowly spreading to other fandoms (Avengers) and another discussion as well.

    On an entirely different note: I really like bats…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I really appreciate the feedback. These articles, so far, have been a celebration of the characters. I do usually turn into a fanboy over comics because to me it’s more lighthearted fun. I understand what you are saying though. I guess I have been writing more subjectively about comic heroes than objectively. Since I offer a rating at the end, I do see the value of a more objective article. Again, thanks for the feedback and honesty.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Glad you’re not mad at it!

        It’s totally understandable to fanboy/girl over stuff you love and it’s never easy to write objectively about something you’re passionate about, so no worries there, I understand where you’re coming from.

        I’m sure you’ll find a way to keep it a light hearted celebration – and incredible characters should be celebrated – and put some objectivity into it when writing about what makes them incredible. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Batman is the best. I mean like most of the other heroes out there only go out to save the day after they’ve been bitten by a radioactive spider or some junk. You know something that truly gives them an upper hand. But Batman is super rich and could live a cozy life style, but instead chooses to risk his life to try and make his city better. He’s an inspiration. And I’ve been told in some versions of the comics now he’s killed, I know like originally he did until they decided he’d no longer carry a gun and swore never to kill again, and that’s the version I like. Like in one there was debating whether it was right that he would just capture the Joker to lock him up only for the Joker to escape and hurt more people, like wouldn’t it be better for him to just kill the Joker. But his response was that he couldn’t control the Joker’s actions he could only control his own. He wants to be better than the villains he fights, and in the end that what makes him a hero to me.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I saw a quote from Batman somewhere. It goes something like this. “If I kill a murderer, the amount of murderers in the world doesn’t change.” I really like the ideals presented with Batman sometimes.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Nice article. One of the things I love most about Batman is his genius and his reputation as ‘the world’s greatest detective’. Feel like this is the most important aspect of Batman’s character and yet oddly and disappointingly we haven’t really seen this side of him in any of the film adaptations so far. He’s mainly portrayed as a clever brawler really. We haven’t really seen the extent of his genius. Here’s hoping that Batflecks solo film (if it happens) may have some detective work in it!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. My favourite bit about Batman is as you said he distrusts everyone, hero or villain alike. But what a few people forget is that he doesn’t trust himself either. Not only does he have back up personalities implanted in his head to take over should he be compromised. But just like that spare chunk of kryptonite in the batcave is a fail safe for superman he considers the Justice League a fail safe for him.
    Though my personal favourite theory is that the true fail safe for Bruce is the boy he trained, Dick Grayson. Who by now knows pretty much everything Bruce knows and a fair bit more from his own personal adventures.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Batman’s great. He’s absolutely one of the best heroes out there, just as you say. The only real problem I have with Batman is that he totally has superpowers. Everyone likes to say that he doesn’t because it’s a better story if that’s the case, but he does, and that doesn’t diminish how great he is.

    Like

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