He was a grim man under that dark mask, fighting injustice everywhere he faced it. Then In a flap of the leather cape, he was gone. That year he was everywhere.
The year was 1989. I was four years old and spent my days in kindergarten and Saturdays at my grandparents. The two completely different places had only one thing in common: Batman.
In kindergarten I would see my friends wearing Batman masks, before seeing their Faces. Batman was everywhere for one reason: Tim Burton's new blockbuster was out, making millions world wide.
To celebrate that, our TV would air the classic 60s show with Adam West. To me at that time, it wasn’t campy or silly at all. I was just the right audience. I remember just flashes of The Dynamic Duo sitting in The Batmobile, The Joker talking to the camera. I was terrified of clowns, so even Cesar Romero was creepy enough for me.
These flashes are very blur in my mind. And they mix with clips of the dark and gritty Burton trailers and TV clips. As a result, the bright and silly Adam West show seemed like a creepy horror-noir, as I grew up, after both had faded away. It left me an unforgettable image. And I loved it!
But why do others love it? What is it with this superpowerless man in a mask, that still holds so well after over eighty years? Let's find out!
Seeking originality
What really fascinates me is that the original Batman doesn’t have one single... well, original, idea. His looks and style combine noir characters of the thirties, such as The Shadow and The Phantom. The suit is pretty close to that of Phantom's, with cape and ears added. The whole gothic noir thing is from The Shadow. Also, a rich heir, who spends his nights wearing a mask and protecting the innocent is the very concept of Zorro.
On Batman’s case none of these matter. It steals and combines elements from movies, books, other comics, creating its own unique thing. Some of the elements are also straight rip-offs. The big inspiration was the 20's silent movie “The Bat”, which was also remade in 1930, as “The Bat Whispers.”
The film followed group of people being hunted down by a serial killer dressed up as a bat. He used much of the gadgets, such as the bat rope and the bat signal, which in the movie was a flashlight with very familiar bat symbol. When this light creeped through the room, you knew there would be trouble.
The Bat is what Batman gets his looks and style. But instead of killing innocents he uses his scare tactics to protect them and to scare criminals. Batman is exact opposite of his original inspiration. There's at least one character in his universe that's also the exact opposite of the character he took his looks from.
The Man Who Laughs
A certain Clown Prince of Crime got his face from another silent film, called “The Man Who Laughs”. Again, this film based on a novel by Victor Hugo was about a sad clown with an eternal grin on his face. The character, played by Conrad Veidt, was sympathetic and misunderstood clown. I wonder what Veidt would think, when one of the most iconic villains of our time uses his face.
Of course, apart from the grin, The Joker is a total opposite of the goodwilled and sympathetic Gwynplaine. The Joker was a vicious mass murderer since he first appeared in 1940, and though he was toned down in 50’s and 60’s, the combined effort of artist Neal Adams and writer Denny O'Neil brought him back In the 60s and 70s.
Let's not forget Jack Nicholsson’s unforgettable film performance of 1989, which was topped only by Heath Ledger's manic portrayal 19 years later. Last years masterpiece with Joaquin Phoenix seemed to pay some homage to The Man Who Laughs, by showing the character as sympathetic.
Batman and The Joker might owe their faces to earlier characters, but because of their archetypes, they are icons in our pop culture. They're here to stay and they're not the only ones.
The undying archetypes
Batman wouldn’t be anything without his rogues gallery, which are the best examples of characters defying the test of time. Just like Batman and Joker, the original villain's have their various sources too. But why they're so iconic are their archetypes. And these archetypes work, because they all show different sides of our hero.
Batman, in my opinion, has The Single Greatest Arch Nemesis in The Joker, who's his complete opposite in both philosophy and looks.
The biggest problem is, that the Clown Prince of Crime is over used on every media. Batman has The Best villains gallery there is, so it's sad to see iconic characters like Riddler or Two-Face sitting on bench.
His rogues gallery are unique for a reason. They each show one side of Batman himself, making the conflict personal and tough, despite of all that training.
Joker brings chaos to Batman's extreme order and discipline. Scarecrow uses fear, just like Batman, only to terrorize people. Two-Face has two sides, conflicting each others, just like Batman and Bruce Wayne.
These characters deserve deeper examine and I'm thrilled to do that soon. Now I just want to cover the big picture. There's one simple thing why this rogues gallery is so memorable. They're all human. Some of them are sympathetic, some are complete monsters and some are from between. But we understand what makes them tick. That was one of the biggest reasons, why Batman has stayed with me, since I found it again at the age of nine.
The best Batman
It was the mid-90's, the time of dumb superhero movies. Joel Schumacher's neon fests were still ahead. Batman craze of 1989 was far behind. Still, I was lucky enough to notice that the 89 Burton film would air on TV and record it. The next day, after school, I was in a ride of my life.
For two hours I would be delved into nightmarish Gotham City, seeing myself riding that sleak black car, fighting The Joker's goons. For a brief time, my troubles were over. School yard bullies and abusive mother were things of the past. I was free!
But that was nothing compared to what I saw few days later: Batman The Animated Series aired, making me a regular visitor of Gotham City.
Today, I still think Batman TAS is the best version of The Caped Crusader. It captures the spirit of Batman himself, his enemies and his world. It does it in a mature way that still works for kids.
It was Batman TAS, that got me interested in psychology, mythology and storytelling. I still watch the show on blu-ray. When I have kids, I'll show it to them and let the legacy continue. So does Batman.
The Story we deserve
Batman has gone through the perfect evolution: From dark and serious (In 30's standards anyway) to bright and silly, to again dark and gritty. It survived the near destruction of flashy and ridiculous Joel Schumacher films of the 90's, to the adult oriented overtly serious The Dark Knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan.
This trilogy is a small wonder, even with all its flaws (anyone who ever used a gun knows, that you can't take finger print from a shot bullet, even if you're Batman. Stop underestimating your audience!). It's a wonder, because it does, what Hollywood today seems to have forgotten: It tells a complete story.
It sets Bruce Wayne on a Hero's Journey for the first time in big screen. The Dark Knight trilogy is not worried about establishing the franchise. It's not busy on trying to build hype for Superman. It remembers its one purpose: To tell Batman's story and make it great.
By doing this, Nolan's trilogy did all this other stuff. The God awful Superman film The Man of Steel became a hit, because The Dark Knight paved a way to it. With the rest of the upcoming DC films, we got wiser and voted with our wallets. We wanted more stories, but they gave us soulless products.
The Stories We Need
What we lost In movies, we gained In videogames. Rocksteady's Arkham trilogy are some of the best games ever made and finally brought everything that is Batman to our living rooms. Too bad the movie industry doesn't understand videogames. But it's catching up too, slow and steady.
Finally we got what In 2017's excellent Wonder Woman and 2019s breath taking Joker. Unfortunately these still seem like exceptions in a sea of mediocrity.
We still get bombarded by movies like last years Birds of Prey, that put stuff like social justice (a horrible invention) ahead of storytelling. But the audience still votes with their wallets. Harley Quinn's first solo flick got what it deserved: oblivion.
Only time will tell, what the future of Batman will be. But we the fans haven't forgotten The reason, why we love it is because it's grown with us. Every generation has their own Batman, whether it's the 60s laughter fest, the 80's and 90's dark fantasy or post 9/11 thriller. It speaks to each age group, telling us to be the best ourselves.
Batman is a perfect example of a prime human being we all should strive for. Good storytellers know this. So one thing is as certain as it was back In 1989: In one form or another, Batman is here to stay.
Thanks for reading!
-Alex
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