Batman Began

This was the moment - True Love

In 1988, I discovered Batman when the newspapers ran with the story that Robin's death would be voted on by readers. Yep, the new readership they wanted by writing sensational event stories sucked me in. Until then I read black and white Phantom comics and had never considered buying the more expensive American magazines. And besides, Batman was some campy crap from TV. I was ignorant to the comic series, but this news that the Joker had pounded Robin to a bloody pulp with a crowbar got me interested. It seemed the campy stuff was over long ago. The first actual Batman comic I saw completely won me over. It showed him upside down, hanging from a tree. Oh yeah, I wanted to be that guy. It was the most striking image I had ever seen. I was smitten, and I still am.

Nipple free

I started to devour all things Batman. All the back stories and stand alone graphic novels, all the compendiums, and toys... everything. I drew batman icons on paper, and made suits for costume parties. There's something about that icon that is primal to me. I've even got a Batman symbol tattooed on my shoulder and I never tire of it. I became obsessive for the Dark Knight and I studied the character with devoted admiration. Soon after, I discovered that Tim Burton was making a film, and my imagination went wild. What would the Bat suit look like, and the car, and the cave? How would they show the years of dedicated training that formed this dark and disturbed yet focussed superior hero (yes, superhero) detective. It was a big budget movie and I hope it was going to be the biggest movie event of my lifetime.

Batman broods, and I like that idea. A hero that sulks. I could do that. Bruce Wayne is the epitome of obsessiveness and was a normal guy with billions of dollars, and dedication. Much like the Phantom, I was interested in the idea that anyone could be a superhero if you had a good reason and some determination. I've had plenty of arguments with people about the label 'Superhero', but I'll stand by it. Batman is 'super' enabled, much like most of the heroes of Gotham. He's more than ordinary... Super Ordinary? He's completely honed, so bad guys are completely owned.

Cool. Very cool.

Back to the movie. It opened to some deep emotionally charged soundtrack and a camera angle that weaved and swooped us through a maze that later revealed itself as the Batman emblem itself, in all its glory. It was beautiful and perfect. This was going to be great! The first scene involved a very dramatic and operatic caped figure instilling fear into a couple of thugs, and he told them... he, was Batman. The Batsuit looked dark and shiny and although he had a fat looking head and a chest emblem that didn't quite look right AT ALL, it had flair and presence.

It was all set up to be something more than magic, but then the Joker showed up, and literally stole the show. He stole it. He was in most of the scenes whereas I wanted to see more Batman. Not a Clark Kentish Bruce Wayne clutzing about and NOT the Joker being campy. I wanted to see the batsuit again. I wanted to see the cape fluttering by as he swang through the city and jumped from rooftops. He could hardly move his neck. He had so much rubber on him I couldn't see how he could make like Bruce-Lee and stealthily get around and kick ass, but for me, it's all about the cape, and the cape looked great.

Issue #700

I left the movie completely disappointed. Why wasn't he swinging through the city and jumping between rooftops? Why wasn't the movie simply called 'Joker'. I was underwhelmed, and kinda upset. On subsequent viewings I got a better perspective, but it wasn't my Batman. It was 'a' Batman though, and there was a lot to love about the movie. We never got enough time with BatBruce, and decades on we're still begging for more time with the man. In Batman Begins, we did at least get some backstory to the Bat story and then later we were lucky enough to get another Batman/Joker movie. Yeah, he still has the clunky bat-suit, and unfortunately it looks like it was made from car tires, tread and all, but it was a huge brilliant movie (although full of plot-holes). It'll probably be another twenty years before we see Batman and Joker at it again where their Dynamic Dual can be dissected some more, but I'm learning to be patient.

A Very Merry 40th Batmany Birthday to me!

After 40 years of wandering this wilderness like the children of Israel did for their 40 years, I'm expecting the Promised Land. Life begins now. It always begins now I suppose, but there's nothing like big round numbers to drive home the fact, that it's still happening... which is nice.

Thanks to my gorgeous and very graciously thoughtful partner, Joey, I've a very geeky bat-themed 40th birthday (or two) to try to keep me young. All six of our Brady Bunch family are here with me today and that's the best part of it.

I love the cake. Love it. I can't wait to eat the buildings in a few hours. I'm definitely putting dibs on the Bat Signal.

She had some frames for four of my favourite comics made out of some very rustic looking timber. I spent a good part of the day going through my collection trying to decide which to put behind the glass. Unfortunately 'The Killing Joke' was just a bit too faded to make the cut. A Death in the Family was my first, and I like the look of the others. A Joker-toxined Catwoman looks great, as does 'Speeding Bullets', an Elseworlds issue where the Waynes find Clark instead of the Kents.

I'm also chuffed with my first genuine DC Direct Batman statue and I freaking love the pose and the way the cape supports him. The 'Sock Monkey' Batman was custom made for us, and the little Bats and Supes are too incredibly cute. Thanks honey. Here's to another 40, at least. X PB.

Batman with a gun? Smart move in my opinion.

Much better than the suit in Batman Begins!

A very huggable Bat Sock Monkey

The Darth Knight

I've always thought about this mash-up... Bruce Skywalker. Erin Fife’s mash-up of the two iconic dark pop culture icons is dated 2007, but has only begun to spread around the web this week. Found via Reddit,

The Dark Knight- Joker Interrogation Scene Spoof

Sinful Batmobile Lust

I was observing a discussion in our forum today about fornication and I got stuck on the following quote from a christian fellow:

"It does not matter even if it was not a sexual act that was the result of lust, for example lusting after a sportscar, it is still the outcome of lust, then it is sin."

Lusting after cars is a sin now? Aww man, they've got a sin for everything! Luckily my old Camry isn't enticing any poor sods into damnation... Where's the line between longing, deep admiration and evil car lust? Lusting after the car in your heart is the same as actually having sex with the car.

Forgive me father for I have looked lustfully on the Batmobile. It seems I was guilty of 'lust' way before puberty 'cause I always longed for a big black bat car. I thought this forum comment was a good excuse to compile a series of Batmobile pictures to lust after. I'm told they're pretty phallic... if you're into black phallic things.

'10 Things' about Heath Ledger

Named after Heathcliffe of Wuthering heights
Bronte's brooding haunted man who laughed
Three years ago he bought a house at Bronte beach
Money and fame from the mastering of his craft

He was experienced with Shakespeares plays
Famed for his modern 'Taming of the Shrew'
"And thereby hangs a tale"
In Ten Things I Hate About You.

Obssessed with Nick Drake who over-dosed at 26
Ledger tragically followed in his path
Heath made his music video this year
The final scene showed him drowning in his bath

He played a gay man on television
in Brokeback Mountain, the same male bond
He named his only daughter Matilda
After a 'waltzing' man drowned in a pond

His first acting role was Peter Pan
At age ten, the boy who could fly
His youthful look, his cheeky smile
the boy that would never die

So much opportunity ahead awaited
Heath's death was tragic and mysterious
His final role as the brooding clown who laughed
The Joker who asks, "Why so serious?"

- Peter Bainbridge (Moth) 2008

"I hate the way you're always right. I hate it when you lie. I hate it when you make me laugh - even worse when you make me cry. I hate it that you're not around. And the fact that you didnt call. But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you - not even close, not even a little bit, not any at all."

- 10 things I hate about you

Silent Dark Knight... Holy Dark Knight

I have seen the face of my god and he has black pointy ears.

This is the movie I hoped to see 20 years ago that would explore and contrast the heroic self-control of the Batman with the villainous anarchy of the Joker. Good versus evil. Control verses chaos. This is a huge epic story of Gotham City and a war against crime that can be easily seen as social commentary of a war against terror. There is despair, there is pain, and there is only a little hope. It's dark and there are plenty of dragons for this knight to slay.

Nolan's sequel to Batman Begins doesn't go over old ground and is a very different movie. The colour and mood is different and it is bigger and far Superior to the 'origin' story that almost acted as a warm up act.

The supporting cast get a fair share of screen time and in the two and a half hours there is no room for 'filler'. George Lucas should have written a story so well of a two-faced hero that falls from grace.

The use of sound reminded me of how tension is built in 'Lost' and the tension builds as the choices people are forced to make rival the ones given by Jigsaw in 'Saw'.

One helluva an intelligent movie for comic book superhero movie fans, for Batman fans, for crime movie fans and for fanboys who will see the subtlest of winks to Batman lore (don't miss the whites of his eyes or the cat nod).

Heath Ledger pulled the strings so well for his character than I never really saw or heard the actor himself. I saw the Joker as he is and was imagined and developed by writers over the decades in the comics and graphic novels. He nailed it for us and will forever be hailed as an utter legend and master of his craft.

My favourite movie of it's genre... as I thought it would be, and thankfully made up for the disappointment of Burton's Batman of 1989 which, in hindsight, had its redeeming features too.

The Joker's On You

Silent Dark Knight, oh Holy Dark Knight

All is calm, and filled with such fright

Why so quiet? What happened when young?

Has the Catwoman got your bat tongue?

Batman, oh Batman, how you complete me

Sneer and grimace but you'll never beat me

No winners at all, not me and not you

We can't have your cape and both eat it too

Gotham is ours, our playground of fools
Its borish people are all but my tools

The city is ripe for my class of crime

all ready to squeal, at my fine punchline

So brooding, so black, stark from my white

A smile on your dial would be my delight
Two sides of a penny, chaos and control,

No smile lines showing, frowns take their toll

Dance with me Batman, make my dark night

show me that passion, keep up that fight

Hit me until we're far past delirious

I'll smack lips asking, Oh... why so serious?

My first Batman Tattoo - The Bat Tatt

It's Batweek! It's finally here and I'm pumped for it. I've been a Batmaniac for nearly 20 years and I finally decided to make my love for this imaginary character permanent in the shape of a tattoo. I'm glad I didn't make the same 'branding' for the imaginary character I had while I was growing up or I'd have the Holy Spirit on my other shoulder (whatever the hell that looks like - Holy Spirit Batman!). It was my birthday last week and with the biggest movie of my life coming out this week I thought it most appropriate to get the tattoo you can see in the image below.

In my previous life as a fundamentalist fuck-knuckle I would never have entertained the idea of embellishing the fleshy temple of mine that housed 'the holy spirit'. Leviticus made it somewhat clear that doing so made god and his unborn baby son sad - Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:28 - This embedded ink marks another step away from the control of the cult that had me for all those years.

At a recent 'fancy dress' party I suited up as the Joker and loved being the bad guy for a while. I remember being incredibly let down in 1989 when Jack Nicholson's Joker stole the show from the big black bat guy, but this time I'm actually hoping to see plenty of the Joker. Heath Ledger is going to make this movie rock like Old Testament Parents at a rebellious teenager stoning. Perhaps I should get the Joker for the other shoulder...

The Religion of Batman

On the subject of Batman's religious affiliation, there is some disagreement among fans as well as among writers about whether the character is a mostly lapsed Catholic or a mostly lapsed Episcopalian. There is universal agreement that the character is not an active churchgoer in any faith.

The headstone of Bruce Wayne (Batman): a Christian cross. This type of cross, with its flared rounded ends, is known as a "cross bottony."The choice of a cross for Bruce Wayne's headstone is not an accident, and was not a default choice. Perhaps the future Bruce Wayne will be more actively religious than the contemporary character. This headstone may have been selected by Bruce Wayne's wife, possibly Selena Kyle. A later panel shows Kyle's headstone, which is not a cross, despite the fact that she has been portrayed as a Catholic in some comics.

As Batman's religious affiliation is listed as "Episcopalian/Catholic (lapsed)" in various places, we have noticed a few people who incorrectly interpret this as an indicator that Batman is a "lapsed Catholic" who has now become an Episcopalian. This is certainly not the case. What is meant is that Batman is an "Episcopalian/Catholic" who is lapsed in the bi-denominational upbringing of his childhood. It is a valid observation that children raised in homes with a split religious identity are more likely to be lapsed or religiously non-observant as adults than children of parents with a united religious identity. Batman is certainly no exception to this trend, although it is possible to think of many reasons other than his parents' inter-faith marriage for his lack of traditional religious observation and identification as an adult.

On rare occasions, stories have been published in which Batman has simply identified himself as an atheist or a Christian. It is reasonable to assume that, as with other people, Batman's precise beliefs, spirituality and relationship to God vary over the years, and sometimes shift depending on his experiences. The religious aspects of Batman's character also vary depending on the writer.

Bruce Wayne studied Buddhism, participated in Buddhist practices such as meditation, and spoke in clearly Buddhist terms during his time in the Orient. Nevertheless, Batman is not known to have ever overtly identified himself as a Buddhist, nor is known to have practiced Buddhism in any religious sense since returning to Gotham and embarking on his career as Batman.

Although Batman's Christian background (as opposed to a non-Christian background) is essentially taken as a given among writers and fans alike, the character's precise denominational affiliation has been a matter of disagreement. The brooding, vengeful, purpose driven (or clearly obsessed) Dark Knight is who Batman really is. He is constantly aware that he is not a normal person living a normal life, and he isn't even capable of relating to people who strive for such a life. Batman's mission is driven by the singular fact of having witnessed the murder of his parents when he was a child. Guilt, retribution and a desire for social justice intermingle in the character's psyche to create the peculiar motivations that compel him to dress as a bat and physically confront criminals.

It is interesting to contrast the origin and character of Batman with that of rival Marvel Comics' most popular character, Spider-Man (Peter Parker). These two super-heroes could hardly be farther apart in disposition. Effervescent Parker is the epitome of everyman humanity compared to the almost inhuman, some would say monstrous, spirit of vengeance the Batman has crafted himself into. Yet the tragic events which launched both characters onto the path of the hero (or vigilante) was remarkable similar: The murder of Peter Parker's parental Uncle Ben and the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents. If anything, Parker's tragedy should have triggered far more guilt and obsession, as he was more directly culpable because he let the killer escape from an earlier crime when he could easily have stopped the man. Traditionally, young Bruce Wayne bears no such burden of guilt (although the movie Batman Begins introduced some small but unjustified childlike feelings of responsibility). In a literary sense, the difference between Parker's homey Protestant upbringing and Batman's Catholic background provides a plausible explanation for why such similar motivations produced such dissimilar results. (Of course, concepts such as Catholic guilt and Protestant commonness are often literary traditions or conventions more than real-world phenomena.)

Bat-hell: Do you want to know what hell actually looks like?