The Never Ending Battle...

It is no secret that I have an affinity for The Batman. I think I first took a liking to the character when I watched the 1989 Tim Burton movie at my Uncle Jun’s house in Glendale, California on VHS video. I distinctly remember a chill running up and down my spine when those rubber boots crunched on rubble followed by some thief being hoisted by Bats while the famous line is uttered, “I’m Batman.”

Who could forget Tim Burton’s take on the Batmobile? I didn’t know the word “badass” yet when I first saw the film, but that car definitely fit the description. I loved the car so much that when my mom and I saw the model kit for it at our local K-mart, I begged her to buy it for my birthday. She complied and it is now the only surviving item from my model building days.

This is where you’d expect me to go into a whole origins story. But you probably know it already. And if you don’t, well go rent Batman Begins with Christian Bale playing the role. They do a decent job in that film of explaining how Bruce Wayne dons the cape and cowl and assumes the responsibility of "the never ending battle."

I love Batman because he is human and he has issues “lots of issues” . Real life psychologists have studied this character and many have come up with the sobering conclusion that this is a damaged person who has never properly grieved over the death of his parents. Despite this, he commits himself to an ideal and dream much greater than he is. Some writers have deemed this dream too large for him to ever fulfill.

In many accounts Batman never cleans up Gotham of crime. Sad but true. In the process, his fanatic devotion to his calling, forces everyone that he loves away from him. He becomes obsessed with his dream knowing that if he slips, more than likely many will suffer. It is a thankless life. The truth is that Bruce Wayne never left the alley where his parents were killed. He died that same night at their side.