Hello all,
This is my final draft. But I can't give the big triumphant sigh of relief yet. I have to wait on my professor to give final approval. To those of you who took the time to peruse a few sections here and there, thanks. Wish me luck!!!
Craig Knight
Thesis Project
June 27, 2012
Over the past seven decades,
comic book superheroes have provided enduring tributes to the heroic ideal.
Characters were created to boldly defend truth, justice and the evolving
American way without question or dispute. In the early days of the medium
referred to by enthusiasts as the Golden Age,[1]
the superhero’s goal was straightforward because it was aligned with the
nation’s aim of defeating fascism. Heroes
like Captain America, Superman and Wonder Woman donned the colors of the flag
as they pummeled Nazis and other villains who threatened the nation’s security. During this stage in the development of
comics, one-dimensional neatly packaged characterizations of superheroes made
them ideal propaganda against real-life enemies abroad. In the 1950’s however, the end of World War
II and the allies’ victory left a void where the need for such heroes once
thrived. Among the survivors were
Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman.
In the Golden Age, comic book
writers strived to make vivid contrasts between superheroes and their nemeses. For example, characters like Superman were always
given positive characteristics such as unblemished integrity and a pleasant
disposition, in vivid contrast to his archenemy Lex Luthor, who often showed
disdain for the weak and less fortunate as he pursued his agenda of world
domination. The S emblazoned on Superman’s chest served both then and now as a
symbol for good, and left very little room for other interpretations.
Artist Bob Kane and writer
Bill Finger created Batman as a more complex alternative to heroes like
Superman. However, both these characters share loss of family as pivotal points
in their origins. Superman lost his
entire civilization when his planet exploded and Batman lost his parents at the
hands of a mugger. The vivid contrast between these characters is in their
paths in after their loss. For example,
Batman’s signature scowl and brooding temperament reveal a more complex and
conflicted superhero. Since the golden
age of comics appealed more to younger readers, artists and writers often
focused their talents on actions scenes leaving characters’ complexities to the
reader’s imagination. Batman is one of
the first of an imperfect breed of champions created to view truth, justice and
the American way as abstractions that take a secondary role to his more
pressing and immediate concerns. This
approach to comic book story telling has made it possible for writers and
artists to develop narratives and elaborate scenes that highlight the inner
struggles that plague the Batman character.
Although Batman’s local
battles sometimes take him to other cities, rarely is he fighting to defeat aliens
or deranged maniacs hell-bent on world domination. The lofty struggles that
were such a vital part of the golden age are usually left to the likes of
Superman and others. In contrast, Batman’s
personal agenda is fueled by angst and revenge.
This adds a more realistic dimension to his battle against injustice. It is a personal mission that drives his
character to accomplish super human feats even though he is only mortal. In the early days of the comic this was a
major appeal of the Batman character. In
the 1970’s however, the popular Batman television show introduced a more child-friendly
character whose personal agenda of revenge was replaced with slapstick comedy.
Frank Miller is one pioneer
in this genre who has skillfully reinterpreted Batman as a character who
struggles to balance his own desires with traditional comic book ideals. In his two celebrated graphic novels The
Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One, Miller displays the
evolution of the caped crusader as he fights two adversaries; the criminal
element in Gotham City and himself. In my analysis of these works, I will explore
Batman’s appeal as a complex superhero and the major character traits that define
him as such via Bob Kane and Bill Finger,[2]
Frank Miller and new-comer, Scott Snyder.
Each of these artists highlights the character Bruce Wayne’s genesis as
a superhero with particular focus on the origin sequence that features his ultimate
decision to become a menacing figure of justice. In each telling of the tale these artists
offer their own interpretations of the Batman story, contributing to the
widening array of elements that make up the heroic ideal in comics and graphic
novels.
Batman continues to endure in
print and other media because of the foundation laid by Kane and its later
development by Miller who is viewed by many as the artist who introduced the
character that is viewed today in graphic novels and films. Both have paved the way for others to continue
to skillfully maintain the character’s integrity and focus on his ability to persevere
in spite of his stature as a mortal man operating amongst a pantheon of super
beings with godlike powers. Instead of
super speed or strength, he uses human qualities, which can either be great
assets or liabilities in given situations. But regardless of their instability, these
qualities are vital to the Batman mythos.
His heroic status is often determined by decisions based on his angst, resourcefulness, will, wealth, vengefulness and virtue. Wealth, Batman’s lone external quality is
vital because without it, all of his other assets become irrelevant. All of the
artists mentioned above share the talent of showcasing both his internal characteristics
and his wealth as the engine that makes his pursuit of justice possible.
Although these are not the only characteristics that make Batman a hero, the
three artists featured skillfully demonstrate how they have enabled him to win
many battles against his enemies in a multitude of settings and under many circumstances.
My analysis of these character traits and their evolution via the three writers
mentioned will illustrate this.
Batman’s Return: The
evolution of the caped crusaders 1939 to present
Bob Kane, with the help of Bill Finger, a writer often
credited with co-creating Batman, was able to introduce a character that
epitomized the city where he was spawned.
Kane’s cover art often depicted a hero that was created out of the
grittiness of Gotham, a city where gun-related violence was an everyday event. Therefore, it was common to see many of
Batman’s enemies holding guns aimed at him as he swung into a crime scene. In this early period, the Batman character often
faced villains who were mortal like him.
Mob bosses and street thugs were typical enemies. These villains added to his mystique as a
masked vigilante and helped to solidify his image, as an equalizing force in a
city where crime seemed to be winning. Although
it seems a bit juvenile in comparison to modern versions, Kane’s cover art in
the first Batman issue introduced a comic book with clear intentions of integrating
elements of reality with fantasy (See figure 1).
Figure 1
Later, in the 1950’s Batman’s
battles were fought in more bizarre settings involving extraterrestrials and
even vampires (See figure 2). When DC
comics felt that this was getting out of hand they hired editor Julius Schwartz
to revamp the character’s image. Schwartz with the help of writer Dennis
“Denny” O’Neil and artist Neal Adams returned Batman back to its dark roots. This trio would later have a strong influence
on Frank Miller’s work, which provided the impetus for a more complex hero able
to battle in any arena, whether it was with mobsters or super villains. In an interview O’Neil discusses his vision
for the updated caped crusader and its link to the original concept created by
Kane and Finger.
The basic story is
that he [Batman] is an obsessed loner. Not crazy, not psychotic. There is a big difference between obsession
and psychosis. Batman knows who he is
and knows what drives him and he chooses not to fight it. He permits his obsession to be the meaning of
his life because he cannot think of anything better. He is also rife with natural gifts. He is not for one second ignorant of why he
is doing it and even what is unhealthy about it, nor is he ever out of
control. That is why I have to edit the
writers who have Batman kill somebody. I think this is not something he
does. The trauma that made him Batman
had to do with a wanton waste of life.
That same trauma that makes him go catch criminals will forbid his ever
taking a life…I think of Frank Miller’s and my Batman as the same person. I think that Frank may have taken the concept
further than I did but we were both working with the same guy who was nowhere
near as obsessed as mine (Uricchio 19).
It
would be safe to say that O’Neil’s version of Batman laid the foundation for
Miller. Both individuals reintroduced a
character that was rife with complexity and remains so today. As the stories grew in complexity so did the
cover art. This is evident (Kane)in
covers that focused solely on him as an individual in the foreground and the
villains he faced either in the background or not featured at all. For example, David Mazuchelli, the co-author
of Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One, focused on a version of the hero
that was shrouded in darkness, creating a more introspective character. This is
a direct contrast to the simplicity of Bob Kane’s first issue featured in
figure 1, which focused solely on the character’s athletic feats as he swung
into a crime in progress while bullets flew in his direction. Also, the red
background in the later version suggested that unlike Kane’s version this character
and the tales that featured him would be more foreboding and complex. (See
figure 3)
Figure 2
Figure 3
Kane Meets Wayne: Batman’s
Genesis and his Six Heroic Qualities
A major reason why the
Batman comic has endured over time is that since the 1940’s its writers have
created a character that is constantly aware of his own mortality. Unlike his
fellow superheroes, he destined to age and eventually die, so one of his
greatest strengths as a character has always been his will to survive. Therefore, all of the traits discussed earlier
serve that goal. His angst
from losing his parents, which led to his vengefulness
against Gotham’s criminal element is balanced by a sense of virtue that allows him to function as
hero without going over the edge. This
need for balance induces his resourcefulness
in the face of dangers both external and internal and is supported by his inherited
wealth, which funds all of the
devices used in his war on crime. All of these qualities are bolstered by a
monolithic will not only to survive but
also to achieve victory in the battle for the soul of Gotham City.
These traits have proven to
negatively and positively affect this character that is often depicted as struggling
with binary opposites of darkness and light. For example, many writers have
elected to hide his angst when showing his public image as a playboy
billionaire by day. But in the privacy
of his cave, this image is replaced by stoic perfectionism and obsessiveness. He is also often depicted as a man who is
guarded and unable to maintain relationships.
One reason for this is that letting his guard down always presents the
greatest danger. Writers often assign
Batman’s qualities the dual function of being tools of destruction or salvation
for the character. Compromising one of
these tools can often cause a domino affect on the others that could potentially
end his life.
For example, in a two
part graphic novel series entitled The Widening Gyre and Cacophony famed
filmmaker Kevin Smith, presents a scenario in which Batman experiences this
danger and is abruptly introduced its worse possible outcome. He shows a Batman that finally reaches the
happiness and catharsis of finding a woman that he both loves and trusts. The added bonus is that he does not have to
hide who he is to her. Further icing on
the cake is that he discovers a new hero in Gotham who is just as talented as
he is. In this story Batman does the
unthinkable. He reveals his identity and the location of the bat cave to his
new fiancé and this new hero. The catastrophic results are Batman witnessing
his bride to be being murdered before his eyes by his new friend. One could assume
that Smith, a relatively new contributor to the Batman mythos elected to make
this choice to add to the character’s angst and demonstrate the importance of
this element by creating an even heavier burden for him.
In his story he
shows that without the heavy burden of angst Batman becomes a man who begins to
show trust and hope. These newfound
abilities reveal a character that is less guarded and as a result more
vulnerable to attack. As the origin
story will reveal, angst is the catalyst that first sparked his rage against
injustice. Without it he is vulnerable
and all of his other qualities are adversely affected.
Batman’s conflicts, stemming
from angst have over the years created a theme of chaos vs. order, which runs
throughout his stories. Earlier versions merely scratch the surface of this
theme. However, his epic battles with more complex villains such as The Joker
and The Temple of Owls introduced by current writer Scott Snyder reveal an inner
struggle that goes beyond his physical attributes.
These conflicts are explored
through collaborations of artists and writers via dialog and elaborate
scenes. Although Smith’s series did not
receive the acclaim of some of his contemporaries, he did manage to show that
Batman’s war is indeed a war of attrition especially when his adversaries are
equally as passionate about chaos as he is about order. His choice to end this tale with Batman
helpless sans the usual last minute save, powerfully demonstrates that angst is
a vital component of Batman’s survival. In
other words, Batman’s losses are what anchor him and keep him focused. Without them he loses his edge and over the
years readers of this comic have become aware of this.
The genesis of Batman’s
characteristics leads back to Batman’s creator, Bob Kane. Although Kane did not suffer the same
tragedies as his creation, the roots of all of Batman’s major characteristics
may be found in Kane’s humble beginnings in the Bronx, NY. Bruce Wayne’s lamentable past is one that
does not come without a sense of irony.
On the surface, his wealth creates a gulf between him and other boys his
age until his parents’ death. Although
this event does not change his economic status, it is an equalizing force that
changes the course of his life. Wayne’s
lens, which was once clouded by wealth, privilege and naiveté, now reveals a
gloomier vision of life that up until this tragedy was only shared by others
outside of his field of vision. He makes
it his duty to wipe the muck from this lens not just for himself but also for
everyone in Gotham. Hence, he begins to
see that the happiness that he was robbed of is everyone’s right, not just his. To this character, tragedy became a resource
that he would use to change not only his own change life but other’s lives as
well.
Bob Kane’s life in the Bronx
probably helped him dream up the Batman myth. Like the thief depicted in the
first Batman comic, The Great Depression also took happiness from people’s
lives. But Kane relied on his own resourcefulness to navigate through
poverty. Although Kane’s character is
wealthy, he also decided to make him resourceful. This is probably because Batman’s status is
diminished once he dons the cape and cowl. These examples show that although
the effects of Kane’s personal hardships, which may not necessarily qualify as
tragic and did not carry the grotesque bite of murder, were nonetheless painful
enough to spawn a creative energy in him that was part angst and part hope. Making Batman wealthy seems to imply that
angst and will transcends all social
boundaries. For Kane, the angst he experienced from poverty created a need to
achieve personal fulfillment through his art. This drove him to create a
character whose angst drove him to seek a different canvas where crime fighting
was his art. Kane explains his motivation in the following excerpt:
“My father had to
struggle for most of his relatively short life to earn a living for my family. To supplement his income, he sold insurance
on the side. He rarely took a vacation, and his constant chasing of the dollar
left me with a feeling of insecurity…I realized that watching my dad’s plight
was my strongest motivating force, and this compelled me to use my talent for
cartooning to its fullest. I wanted the better things in life and poverty did
not fit into my plans...had he been wealthy I doubt whether I would have had
the incentive to work as hard as I did to become successful at my chosen craft
(Kane 6).”
This short description of
Kane’s life perhaps alludes to the work of Miller and others who have continued
the Batman mythos. It addresses the
angst and the will to succeed that poverty created. In response to his
challenges he gave the world a character whose unlimited financial stability is
overshadowed by an iron will to survive, which perpetuated a heroic creed that
was reminiscent of the American soldiers who fought fearlessly in World War II
and the American worker that conquered the Great Depression. There is also the
classic desire to achieve what his father couldn’t.
Kane’s biography also suggests the roots of his
character’s resourcefulness in the face of danger. Kane realized early in his youth when he
joined a gang called “The Zorros” that, like the character he would later
create, he was a loner, who “in order to survive had to join a neighborhood
gang for protection. Like Zorro [they]
wore hooded black masks at night to conceal [their] real identities” (Kane 1). The name Kane chose for this gang is of
course an obvious precursor to the Batman character
who lost his parents after seeing a Zorro film, but it doesn’t stop there. The following is an account of one of Kane’s
most vivid memories as a Zorro. In this scene, he was spotted by a rival gang
and chased into the lumber yard where he and his fellow Zorros often initiated
potential members by challenging them to perform various feats of bravery such
as leaping off of 20 foot piles of lumber.
One night while I
was walking home alone from my violin class, I was followed by a group of
seedy-looking roughnecks from the tough Hunts Point district. They wore the sweatshirts of the Vultures,
and they were whistling at me and making snide remarks that only “goils” played
with violins. I stepped up my pace and
so did they. Finally, I started running
and they did likewise, until I reached my neighborhood. Unfortunately, my buddies were not hanging
around the block at the time… I made a snap decision to run for the back
fence. I got up and dislodged some
lumber, which came rolling down with a crash!
Spotting me as I began climbing up a high pile of lumber, the Vultures
started after me. I finally reached the
top of the thirty-foot high pile and looked down breathlessly at my
antagonists. As I started pitching
shafts of lumber down upon them, some of the gang ducked and others were
knocked out cold by the cascading beams of timber.
The Vultures (they could not have chosen a more befitting name) had me
surrounded below, as I surveyed the scene from my vantage point fifteen feet
above them. As the frustrated ringleader
ordered his palookas to climb up after me, I spotted a block and tackle hanging
nearby that must have been used as an implement to hoist the lumber. I leaped for the hanging tackle, caught it in
mid-air and swung down in an arc, bowling over a couple of Vultures with my
feet until I completed my swing high onto another stack of boards. I heard a Vulture curse bellow, “That s.o.b
has gotta be one of the Zorro Gang, the way he leaps around like ‘dat Fairbanks
guy in ‘da movies!”(Kane 8)
Although Kane’s Zorro
adventure may seem a bit far-fetched, it sheds light on two very important components
of the Batman mythos. One, it shows
Kane’s belief in impossible feats that can be accomplished when an individual
uses the resources available to him. And two, it shows that a hero always needs
reminders of his limits. Later in Kane’s
tale, he eventually gets caught and beaten up and in the process sustains an
injury that almost ends his art career.
Kane later reveals that he did not wish to seek revenge despite his
gang’s vow to even the score. It is possible that Kane’s decision to not seek
retribution was another precursor to Batman’s, virtuous characteristic that
would later be revealed in future stories. Although he is a character motivated
by vengeance his motivation is never clouded by anger.
Bob Kane and Bill Finger
were the first to reveal Bruce Wayne’s decision to become a terrifying figure
to the criminals of Gotham. This was a
bold statement because Batman despite his many athletic gifts is still a mortal
man. Therefore, fear would later prove to be one of his most useful weapons in
the war against crime. Kane and Finger depict a character that decides to don
the disguise of a bat, a creature of the night, when a bat flies through his
window while he sits brooding in his father’s study. He views this as a definitive omen and says
the famous words from issue one[3];
‘Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot, so I must wear a costume that
will strike terror into their hearts! I must be creature of the night, like a…a
…A Bat! Finger (Finger 139)
Although their version may seem a bit corny, their intent was clear; Bruce
Wayne’s decision to become a bat was meant to establish him as a dark force
that spawned from the same city that created its unsavory elements. This decision established as a character that
was willing to use the same intimidating tactics as the worst thugs in the city
to achieve his goals. Although the
darkness and complexity associated with Batman can directly be attributed to
his tragic origin, Kane and Finger presented it in a two-page comic strip (see
figures 4 a and b).
In twelve panels they
present experience of Bruce Wayne’s most painful memory as he grew from a
defenseless child, to his evolution as an avenging angel of justice. In these twelve panels Batman’s six heroic
qualities were first introduced. Panels
1-5 reveal the beginnings of his angst as he watches his parents being
murdered. In panel 6 he pledges his oath
of vengeance as prays bedside and swears to the spirits of his parents that he
will stage a war on criminals. In this same panel he demonstrates his virtue
through the act prayer. Although this virtue is often overshadowed by his more
dominant desire for vengeance, it is played out often in later stories when he
is faced with the choice of either killing his enemies or simply apprehending
them.
In panels 7 and 8 his
resourcefulness is shown as he develops the skills needed to become a great
crime fighter. These panels reveal a character
that develops both physically and mentally.
In panel 9 Wayne verbally declares that although he is wealthy he needs
to hide his wealth in order to begin his war on crime. Finally, in panels 10-12
he decides that his disguise must strike fear in his enemies. This decision is evidence that Wayne intends
to impose his will on those who would normally strike fear in others, thus
proving that he is a man of strong will and convictions. In comparison to other artists and writers
who have taken over the Batman mantel, Kane and Finger’s version seems simplistic. But the qualities revealed in those twelve
panels laid a foundation that would be built upon by others who would follow.
Figure 4a.
Figure 4b.
Enter Frank Miller and the Dark Knight
Many would consider Frank
Miller a pioneer in the reinvention of the Batman mythos. Modern Batman stories
continue to portray him as driven by a desire for vengeance. Miller’s
reinvention of the hero in the late 1980’s depicts him as an individual whose
rage is not only directed at the person who killed his parents, but also at the
ineffective police force that failed to protect them. In Batman: Year One,
Miller sets scene in a dark alley outside the cinema where Thomas and Martha
Wayne, his parents are happily preoccupied with their 8 year old son’s
reenactment of a scene from his favorite movie “The Mark of Zorro”. The tender family moment ends abruptly when a
robber emerges from the shadows and kills both of his parents while he watches,
powerless to save them. Wayne’s
inability to save his parents becomes a running theme in the character’s adult life. As a masked vigilante, he seeks to eradicate
his feeling of guilt, along with Gotham’s criminal element and along the way
meets foes like the Joker and others who share similar pathologies but have
chosen to wreak havoc on society instead saving it[4].
One vital element of the
Batman story is the recurrent and pivotal moment of his parent’s death. Many writers both in the comics and on the
screen have revisited this moment with Wayne as he takes his yearly excursion
to Crime Alley, the place where his parents were killed, and lays down two
roses on that very spot. Since Frank
Miller, readers of the comic have consistently been made aware that to truly
understand Batman, they must constantly keep in mind this moment in his
mythology. It is here that Bruce Wayne first becomes
aware of Gotham the concrete-clad beast that he must conquer. But as Frank Miller
reveals in Batman: Year One conquering the beast cannot be accomplished
without becoming a part of it. In this story, a 25-year-old Bruce, the prodigal
son of Gotham, returns home after traveling the world in search of training for
his monumental task as the caped crusader.
But Frank Miller’s Bruce Wayne is still a novice to crime fighting. Although he possesses many fighting skills,
he is still naïve about the ways of Gotham. It is a city where most of the police force
and city officials are corrupt, and fighting crime is no easy task. He is not
yet aware of the interdependent relationship between him and the city. He sees only an enemy that he must conquer
with no real strategy to carry out the task.
Part of Miller’s narrative
skill in this tale is in taking the reader down Wayne’s dark journey to
knighthood with his inner monologue as the only lamplight. It begins
on a plane descending down on the city. Bruce Wayne gazes out of his window as
the captain announces the final descent.
He ponders that from where he is sitting just above “its clean shafts of
concrete and snowy rooftops, which are the work of men who died generations ago
it looks like an achievement” (Miller, Batman: Year One 2). Here Miller’s
allusion to the crime ridden labyrinth that awaits our hero could serve both as
a wink to those in the know and a foreshadowing invitation to those who are new
to the Batman myth[5]. He gives an even better clue about this world
that awaits Wayne as he continues to ponder during his descent on to the city
and decides that he “should have taken the train, [he] should be closer…[he]
should see the enemy. (Miller, Batman: Year One 2)
His inner thoughts are
continued a few pages later as he walks through Gotham and refers to it as a “walk
to the enemy camp where along the way he is sized up like a piece of meat by
the leather boys in Robinson Park, waded through pleas and half-hearted threats
from junkies at the Finger Memorial and stepped across a field of human rubble
that lay sleeping in front of the overcrowded Sprang Mission” (Miller,
Batman: Year One 10). Although Miller’s opinions
of city dwellers are of course screaming from these pages,[6]
they do represent a fair view of a character that has experienced trauma at the
hands of one of its inhabitants. In this scene Wayne is portrayed as an
embittered spirit who has declared war on the city and vengeance for the
injustice it has dealt him.
Batman: Year One is a coming of age story
for the Dark Knight. Miller gives the
reader an immature version of Bruce Wayne just before he actually realizes that
the corruption that consumes Gotham is a vital part of his identity, an
identity that feeds on the night. So he
decides to embrace this part of Gotham that awakens at dusk and form a relationship
with it. His heroic deeds, however, are
not without their share of breaking and entries, assaults, and obstructions of
justice. All of the things that people
fear about Gotham, the night and the city must include The Batman. He cannot be a symbol of justice unless he
can strike fear in his enemies, a task which he chooses to do in darkness.
Frank
Miller’s update on the origin scene (Figures 5 and 6) carries with it a more
resonating mood of angst, and gloom as he offers readers one possible
back-story to precede the fateful night when he decided to make the bizarre
choice of becoming a bat. It comes after Wayne’s excursion into the Gotham’s
underbelly, a journey he takes without the cape and cowl. In a confrontation with a pimp who is abusing
one of his girls, he gets slashed across his face, and stabbed by the same girl
he was attempting to protect (Miller, Batman: Year One 12). As the scuffle begins to escalate the police
arrive and Wayne is arrested but escapes. The illustrations that follow are his car
banged up in his driveway with the door left open in panel 1. In panel 2 he
sits slumped over in a chair in his father’s study bleeding. The panels that
follow take the reader through his flashback of that fateful night…the movie
theater, the alley, the armed man approaching, and the fatal shots. As the scene progresses Bruce laments: “Father…I’m
afraid I may have to die to tonight.
I’ve tried to be patient. I’ve
tried to wait. But I have to know. How, father?
How do I do it? What do I
use? What do I use to make them afraid?” (Miller, Batman: Year One 13). The next set
of illustrations and text show Wayne’s decision to seek help from his trusted
butler Alfred just as the ominous bat flies through his window and he utters
the words “yes father I shall become a bat” (Miller, Batman: Year One 13).
Again, Wayne’s six qualities
are revealed in a way that portrays him not only heroic, but conflicted as
well. This is a marked contrast to the Kane and Finger version, which only
gives the reader a more one-dimensional view of the hero’s decision to become a
crime fighter. His angst is illustrated
as he pleads for a sign from his father.
He declares his wealth and resources as he decides whether to use his
butler Alfred, who is skilled in combat medicine, to save his life. This decision of course is dependent on his
will, which is galvanized by a desire for revenge. Finally in this scene he reveals that
although it is a virtue that can often be challenged, patience is what will
help him to persevere.
This
scene is interesting because it depicts a character who, on the brink of death
decides to instead defy it for reasons that serve not only his personal desires
for vengeance, but also the needs of the multitude that want to be safe. This decision marks the beginning of Batman’s
existence as a hero functioning in both darkness and light and of his battle to
maintain that balance. It is this inner
struggle that makes Batman so compelling.
Figure 5.
Figure 6.
Frank Miller’s exploration
of Batman has resulted in a character whose insistence on playing by his own
rules makes him larger than life. In The
Dark Knight Returns, the series that preceded Year One, Batman’s
evolution as a character is revealed as he is depicted as a much older hero that
is still burdened by angst but has decided to cure society’s ills through more
conventional methods. Traditionally, The Batman character has had all of the
qualities of a man on the edge that inspires fear in his enemies without
willingly inflicting the ultimate sentence of death. His greatest fear was always that he would
fail to carry out his mission, which is to save others from the fate he
suffered. In essence, this character’s
life is one that is filled with fears and the choices that must be made in
spite of them.
In this graphic novel, Miller
shows a character that has lived through a lifetime of such choices and faced
the anguish that they have left behind.
They result in an older embittered individual who eventually has accepts
his role as an outlaw and makes no apologies for his decisions despite their
consequences. Miller’s decision to
depict Batman as an aging hero has a dual effect. The first is reminding the reader
of the character’s mortality. But
despite Batman ‘s physical characteristics, Miller takes care to also impress
upon the reader that this character is still far from ordinary. What separates him from others in his mythical
world is his continued insistence on doing what others can only dream of doing.
In a 1985 interview in The
Comics Journal, Miller explains this. He
contends that in order for the character [Batman] to work he has to be a force
that is beyond good and evil. It can’t
be judged by the terms we would use to describe something a man would do because we can’t think of him as a man” (Thompson 35). Miller is confirming what many have
come to understand about the Batman mythos.
He cannot be considered a man, but an ideal that must continue to be
updated and made relevant. This explains
why Bob Kane Scott Snyder and others have created continuity among all of the
characters in the Bat mythology such as Robin who later became Night Wing,
Batgirl and many others. The ideal that these writers have conveyed is that
there will always be a Batman for every generation to protect the weak. When oversimplifications of what is considered
right and wrong arise there should always be a balancing force that defies
mortality to meet it head on. This
character must find a way to continue all of his attributes long after he is
gone and solidify his presence among every generation that follows him. This is made evident in writer Grant
Morrison’s comic “Batman Incorporated” in which Batman takes his operation
global and recruits batmen around the globe to continue his legacy. In essence, Batman represents the desire of
all men who despite the inevitability of death desire to be remembered and to
matter.
Later in the interview, Miller further
clarifies his point with commentary on what he thought was then the current
state of society and comic book superheroes.
Batman in my series
[The Dark Knight Returns] does not apologize for or question what he does or
its effects. There’s a whole world out
there that can argue about that, and they do, constantly, throughout the
series. And the effects of what he does
are tremendous. He changes the quality
of life in Gotham City, the way everyone there thinks and lives. Now presenting
a vigilante as a powerful positive force is bound to draw some flak, but it's
the force I’m concerned with, more as a symbol of the reaction that I hope is
waiting in us, the will to overcome our moral impotence and fight, if only in
our own emotions, the deterioration of society.
Not just some guy who puts on a cape and fights crime. That’s a great
thing about superheroes, the substance of what makes them larger than life. Not
that they can fly or eat planets, but that they can, or should manifest the qualities
that make it possible for us to struggle through day-to-day life…if we can drop
our bad habits, our concessions to the 60’s generation along with the no-longer
appropriate view of the world, the view of the 30’s and 40’s that gave birth to
the superhero—If we can redefine the superhero and make him a response to the
insanity of our own times, we will have something to offer the world. (Thompson 35)
Miller’s statements clearly
show that his mission was to solidify Batman’s role as a figure that would
create catharsis among readers who were suffering or at least disturbed by society’s
ills. He and others created a hero whose
will was the foundation of his heroic identity.
Anyone who wakes up every morning should be able to relate to this
because we all in our own way face adversaries both physical and mental in our
everyday lives. Batman’s appeal as a
character is that he is mortal just like the rest of us but he represents the
best of all of us much like real life celebrities, athletes or leaders do. And when done well his stories inspire us to
continue to fight the good fight.
Frank Miller was intent on
making sure the character could not only continue to inspire readers but also
relate to modern times so that “[he] didn’t have to continuously screw with
reality and bend it around [just] to keep him in character. One thing that had to be done right away was
that his [Batman’s] methods had to become a lot harsher and he had to become a
lot smarter…so the “Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot” line had to go
out the window” (Thompson 36). In other
words, outdated lines like Kane’s would have been counter productive to The
Dark Knight’s potency and relevance as a hero.
Again, Miller revisited the
origin scene to do this. However, in
this version it is presented as a series of flashbacks that haunt the aging
hero, who has been retired for ten years. These haunting images become stronger after he
discovers that his old nemesis Harvey Dent aka Two-Face has just been released
after seven years from the mental institution known as Arkham Asylum. Wayne
takes a special interest in this case because he and Dent were close friends
before the unfortunate events that turned him to a life of crime. Wayne decided to finance Dent’s
rehabilitation while he was in custody. This
decision will prove later to have a direct effect on Wayne’s inner struggles
with his retirement, which are manifested in his dreams and in flashbacks.
In the first flashback, Wayne remembers his
first encounter with the cave and the ominous bat after he trips and falls down
a hole while chasing a rabbit on a family picnic. While he lies helpless as a six-year-old at the
bottom of the cave, (Figure 7) Wayne remembers as:
“…Something shuffles
out of sight…something sucks the stale air and hisses. Gliding with ancient grace…unwilling to
retreat as his brothers did…eyes gleaming untouched by love or joy or
sorrow…breath hot with the taste of fallen foes…the stench of dead things,
damned things…surely the fiercest survivor, the purest warrior…glaring,
hating…claiming me as his own…Dreaming… I was only six years old when that
happened. When I first saw the cave…Huge, empty, silent as a church, waiting,
as the bat was waiting. And now the
cobwebs grow and the dust thickens in here as it does in me. And he laughs at me, curses me. Calls me a fool. He fills my sleep. He tricks me. Brings me here when the night is long and my
will is weak. He struggles relentlessly
hatefully, to be free. I will not let
him. I gave my word…for Jason. Never.
Never again” (Miller, Absolute Dark Knight 10).
Figure 7
In this two-page passage Miller
clearly shows an evolution in comic book story telling and demonstrates why he
is considered a game changer among comic book circles. The stream of consciousness style shown in
this passage reveals a side of Batman that was not seen prior to 1986 when it
was created. Here the reader gets a closer
look at Bruce Wayne as a mortal man whose gifts as a superhero are connected to
a disturbing pre-origin before his parents’ untimely deaths. Here Wayne’s inner struggles take on a life
of their own as a result of the ambitious dialog created by Miller. For example, his repeating of the words
“Never Again” shows a fear that directly contrasts the common hegemonic
approach to superheroes taken in previous years. We are exposed to an apprehension to the
responsibility bestowed upon this heroic figure as fears from his past haunt
him and push him to answer the call.
There is also a dimension added to the Batman mythos that predates the
fateful day of his parent’s death. The
reader gets the sense that the bat was an inescapable part of his destiny, which
is revealed through literary devices such as flashbacks and foreshadowing. The
use of these devices increased the story’s overall complexity, which is in
stark contrast to early comics, which seemed to have had no need for such
devices. But Frank Miller recognized that they were just as vital to comics as
any other stories.
In the scene that follows
Bruce Wayne is shown standing naked at the entrance of the cave staring down at
the lonely lit silhouette of the uniform that belonged to his fallen partner,
the second Robin, Jason Todd[7]. Miller depicts Bruce Wayne as retired hero
who now uses the characteristics that once aided him on the field of battle to
fight his demons. Losing Todd is his greatest loss to date, adding yet again to
his angst. But in this case angst has an opposite effect. In this sequence Miller begins to expose a
major flaw in Batman. He reveals that
without the fearsome qualities of the bat there is only angst and Bruce Wayne’s
mortality. Although Wayne himself
possesses a will strong enough to fend off the bat for a decade, the part of
him that bolsters all of his heroic qualities and makes him larger than life belong
to the bat, which has now ironically made him inert instead of motivating him
to act. Miller also reveals the toll
this fight has taken on Wayne with his dependence on alcohol. Wayne’s bat conscience again exposes this as he
sits in his study alone with the television as his only companion. While changing channels he accidently happens
upon “The Mark of Zorro”. Again, Wayne’s inner struggle is revealed as he sits
paralyzed with a drink in one hand and the remote in the other debating and lamenting,
“I should have checked the listings. I
should turn it off right this second…just a movie that’s all it is…no harm in
watching a movie…you loved it so much…you jumped and danced like a fool…you
remember. You remember that night” (Miller, Absolute Dark Knight 13). The scenes then follow the recurring images
of that night as he loses his parents again.
In a panic Wayne then changes the channel and with an added twist the
flash back continues with a news story in the background reporting the latest
crime of a murderous group that call themselves the mutant gang.
Here, the Batman origin is
yet again reborn. Wayne’s inner dialogue
reveals this as he knocks over his father’s statue, where the bat first landed
forty years prior and his conscience tells him:
“The Time has come. You know it
in your soul. For I am your soul…you
cannot escape me…you cannot stop me with wine or vows or the weight of age…you
try to drown me out but your voice is weak” (Miller, Absolute Dark Knight 15) (Sarafino). In the
panels that follow the ominous bat takes its familiar path and crashes through
the window in his study. (See figure 8)
Figure 8
In this sequence Miller
presents Batman’s six qualities as a vital part of his mythos. He displays these qualities as vital
components that connect Batman and his alter ego and reveals how destructive
they can be if Bruce Wayne tries to keep them concealed. This broke new ground
in the development of the Batman story because it actually confirmed a
psychosis in the character that in previous versions was only speculated or
implied. Without the bat, Bruce Wayne
the humanitarian must emerge. But his
psychological dependence on the bat will not allow this. The result is a
drinking problem that he uses to dull the inner voices that have always driven
him to be Batman. But as the scene
reveals, drinking is no match for his drive to fight crime.
Philanthropy is also
insufficient in comparison to his previous life of vigilantism. He of course discovers this when his attempt
to help Harvey Dent aka Two-Face eventually fails. It is this knowledge that reawakens
the bat. This dark side of Wayne laughs
at all of the feeble attempts he has made to do good without donning the
cape. He scoffs at his vow of “never
again” a failed attempt at virtue, which will is always dominated by an
overwhelming desire to take matters in his own hands. He knows that his resourcefulness and wealth
are being wasted on drinking and reckless behavior, causing a self-destructive
pattern that has resulted in a slow revenge upon him by his own hand. In essence, he has become the enemy that he
fought so hard to conquer as a crime fighter.
Therefore Frank Miller’s revisiting of the origin scene represents the
bat as a savior that crashes through his window just in a nick of time.
The Dark Knight Begins Again: Batman’s Heroic Traits Revisited in the works
of Scott Snyder.
Earlier this year, DC comics
re-launched 52 of its most popular titles. The purpose of this re-launch dubbed
“The New 52” was to give new readers a fresh perspective on the characters
without the added pressure of playing catch-up.
Another added advantage was giving new writers an opportunity to
contribute to and update the continuum of stories that have been around since
the 1930’s. One writer who has emerged
out of this new crop is Scott Snyder.
Currently, Snyder has continued the legacy left by Kane, O’Neil and
Miller and continues to carry on Batman’s shadowy tradition as a complex
hero. In a recent interview Snyder talks
about what he thinks makes Batman the hero that he is.
One of the things that make him
[Batman] an enduring icon is that sense of darkness. He’s a guy that has all
these resources; he’s one of the only superheroes that all he has is money...Bruce
can really just set up a bunch of anti-crime programs around Gotham and
probably do a lot of good, but instead he goes out there and punishes his body
and punishes himself over and over and over again. There is something both
incredibly noble and heroic about that, and also something self-destructive and
pathological about that.
What we’re trying to do is to explore both sides of
that. We really want it to be something where he is the greatest superhero in
the world, in my opinion. But at the same time he’s someone whose obsessive
nature and commitment to being Batman, at the expense of everything else, is also
vulnerability (Sarafino).
In addition to his reference
to Batman’s resources, Snyder’s mention of the noble, self-destructive and
pathological elements in the Batman character allude to the key characteristics
that both Miller and Kane have incorporated in their stories. These
characteristics are of course also present in Snyder’s updated version. In his celebrated series entitled “The Court
of Owls”, Snyder revisits the origin scene.
Like his predecessors Snyder presents a version of Bruce Wayne that is
deeply affected by the events of his past.
But like Kane and Miller, he also tailors this scene to fit his own
unique storyline. In this particular
story, Batman faces a threat that predates his family’s history in Gotham. This
secret society, dubbed The Court of Owls, is exposed as being responsible for
the deaths of many prominent citizens of Gotham via a group of master assassins
known as The Talon. Bruce Wayne discovers that this group has also murdered his
great grandfather and possibly his parents.
Snyder’s telling of this tale depicts Batman as a cynic who dismisses
the tale of the Owls as just another children’s story until he discovers that
they do indeed exist and like the predator’s they emulate, invade and take
shelter in the homes of the victims they hunt. When Batman discovers that they
have been living in Wayne buildings all over Gotham, the war begins and he
spends much of the remainder of the story narrowly escaping death. And despite
all of his skills as a fighter he discovers that defeating them is an almost
impossible task. In issue seven of this
volume Snyder exhibits his narrative skill and again showcases Batman’s six
heroic qualities.
In the first two panels,
Snyder and artist Greg Capullo recreate a Bruce Wayne’s pivotal moment in his
father’s study as a dark flashback and a dream as Batman fights for his life
after a near fatal battle with The Talon. Three panels are superimposed on one
full-page scene where Bruce Wayne’s encounter with the ominous bat is
revisited. In this scene Capullo
provides the reader with a gruesome close up of the creature (panel 1) and a disheveled
Wayne as he utters his momentous decision to become a symbol of fear while staring
in the eyes of the bat, as it is perched on the head of a statue of his
deceased father. These images are accompanied by Batman’s inner thoughts via
Snyder. He says:
“Some ancients
believed that the moment of death brought with it visions…Not just visions of
one’s past, or of things known to the dying…but visions of one’s self as one
truly existed in life…they believed, the ancients that these final visions
often went beyond what was known to the dying man in life…that they constituted
secret truths about his life revealed… some truths were comforting…some were
heart-shattering. Either way, these
visions were meant to offer a sense of closure so that he may leave the world
in peace, knowing all there was to know about himself…a vision of himself as he
truly was, reflected in the burning eyes of his god” (Snyder, The
Talons Strike 3).
Here we get to see another
leap in the evolution of the Batman character.
Many readers of the comic take for granted that Batman was intended to
be a character that in addition to his athletic gifts is also endowed with a
superior intellect. In the Kane version,
the brief comic strip that chronicles his origin depicts a man who is skilled
in the physical sciences. Snyder’s
strong narrative adds another dimension as Wayne ponders his death, taking the
reader into the realm of metaphysical speculation while alluding to the
anthropomorphic connection between his chosen persona, the bat and his nemesis
the owl. With this pondering we again
see a Batman who is far advanced from older versions that were influenced by
Zorro, mechanical and courageous to a fault in every situation. Instead we see a character that is vulnerable
enough to consider his mortality in battle, yet willful enough seek survival in
spite of it.
Capullo’s accompanying
images include his own unique version of the bat’s journey after he leaves the
broken window of the Wayne estate (see figure 9). In its journey an owl overtakes and rips it
apart with its talons and finishes it off in a nearby tree. A close up of the owl’s eyes in the next
panel shows that while it enjoys its prey it is staring in the direction of
Wayne’s window symbolizing the real threat that the assassins present to Bruce
Wayne. The obvious suspense created by
these three pages offers newcomers to the Batman mythos a different perspective
on his qualities as a hero.
Figure 9
The reader is made aware of
Batman’s mortality and prompted to question how he will face this great
challenge. It also presents a character
that seems to finally accept his limitations while in his dream state that
foreshadows his seemingly imminent death.
This sequence is abruptly concluded with the words “come back” in the
background. And an unknown character
brings him back to life on the next page with a set of jumper cables used as a
defibrillator. This sudden reconnection
with consciousness suggests that even in the acknowledgement of death, his
heroic qualities that are intrinsically a part of him leave him no choice but
to defy it.
In issue 8, Batman remains
in a state of peril as he continues to fight off The Talon assassins who have
now invaded his home. It is not until issue
9 that his redeeming qualities reappear. And his indomitable will once again
enables him to rise to the challenge.
The scene begins with a battle continued from the previous issue where
Batman emerges from one of his chambers in an armored bat suit, which gives him
a temporary advantage over his enemies. During
this battle he reflects on the actions of his ancestors who founded Wayne
Manor:
The first members of
my family to live in the manor were Solomon and Joshua Wayne, brothers. They bought the house in 1855. But they
didn’t move in until two years later.
The reason was bats…a massive infestation of bats in the cave system
beneath the land. They brought in a
chiroptologist from Gotham University, and according to him, to get rid of the
bats they’d have to introduce a predator into the cave. So the Wayne brothers did. They carted in all sorts of birds, from
Peregrine Falcons to kestrels, and unleashed them in different sections of the
cave. The most effective killers of
bats, though, were the tiger owls. My
ancestors let owls loose in the cave and within a year all the bats were gone (Snyder, Night of the Owls 1).
Here Snyder unveils a layer from the
mysterious legacy of the Batman and the Wayne Family. In the issues that precede this brief history
we also get to see one of Wayne’s ancestors driven insane as the mysterious owl
figures chase him through the streets of old Gotham City. Snyder’s skill at providing a history to the
character adds a dimension that was not introduced by Kane or Miller. This is an added layer that is taken for
granted in other forms of literature and is necessary to keep the mythology
alive.
In the story Batman
discovers as the battle progresses that his armored assault is only temporary
because the owls possess regenerative powers that allow them to recover quickly
from his attack. They eventually start overwhelming
him. But as he lies on his back vital
signs weakening he has another flashback about his two his ancestor’s trouble
with owls and how the problem was solved.
He reflects:
My ancestors…they
used owls to kill the bats…owls everywhere.
But I forgot…the thing I forgot is as soon as the owls left… the bats
came back. Yes…I remember now. The bats had simply hidden deeper in the
caves. In the darkest parts, the parts
the owls couldn't tolerate. And when the
bats came back…it was with a vengeance (Snyder, Night of the Owls 11).
In the pages that follow Batman looks on vindictively as
a swarm of bats emerges from a deep cavern in the cave and overwhelms his would
be assassins just long enough for his butler Alfred to lower the temperature in
the cave to below freezing, a method that proves to be effective in neutralizing
his enemies’ regenerative powers.
Like
his forerunners, Snyder once again presents sheer will as a vital element of
the Batman mythos by using the owl, a natural enemy and predator as the focus
of his vengeance. Snyder has recreated a
character that not only spits in the face of the natural order of things by
declaring war on the secret society that predates his family’s long history in
Gotham City, but also scoffs at their sense of entitlement in the process. There have been many stories in which Batman
has faced organized attacks against him. He has faced many who have matched his
intellect and perseverance. Snyder represents the current creed of writers who
have elected to create stories where the character must question whether he has
what it takes to survive and answer it emphatically. Snyder’s use of flashbacks
during Batman’s battle scenes send the message the only Batman will persevere
is if he goes to the darkest places in himself where even the fiercest of predators
like the owl cannot go. It is in those
places where he finds the will that bolsters all of the other qualities he
needs to fight his ongoing war on crime with a vengeance.
In
the span of seventy-one years the caped crusader has evolved into a symbol of
perseverance and strength. The six characteristics
that have been such a vital part of the character remain relevant because they
in many ways mirror the human condition. For example, the last decade has shown
us that qualities such as virtue and resourcefulness are necessary in the wake
of the angst experienced from both the 911 attacks and our current economic
crisis. And while we continue to experience these trials of the human soul we
must rely on the kind of wealth that is found through the power of will to help
us persevere. As long as human beings experience challenges such as these,
there will always be a need to create heroes like Batman.
Works Cited
Uricchio, Roberta E. Pearson and William. The Many
Lives of the Batman. Ed. Robert E. Pearson and William
Uricchio. New York: Routledge, 1991.
Finger, Bill. The
Batman Chronicles Volume One. Ed. Dale Crain. Vol. I. New York: DC Comics,
2005.
Kane, Bob. Batman
& Me. Ed. Catherine Yronwode. 1st Edition . Forestville: Eclipse
Books, 1989.
Miller, Frank. Absolute
Dark Knight. New York: DC Comics, 2006.
—. Batman: Year One.
New York: DC Comics, 2005.
Sarafino, Jason. Complex
Pop Culture. 12 September 2011. .
Snyder, Scott.
"Attack On Wayne Manor." Batman June 2012.
—. "Night of the
Owls." Batman July 2012.
—. "The Talons
Strike." Batman May 2012.
Smith, Kevin. Batman:
The Widening Gyre. New York: DC Comics, 2010.
—. Batman:
Cacophony. New York: DC Comics, 2009.
Reynolds, Richard. Super
Heroes: A Modern Mythology. London: University Press of Mississipi, 1992.
Thompson, Kim. Frank
Miller The Interviews: 1981-2003. Ed. Milo George. 1st Edition. Vol. II.
Seattle: Gary Groth and Kim Thompson, 2003.
[1] The Golden Age of comics
was from 1938 to 1949.
[2] Although Bob Kane the
artist is primarily credited with BM’s creation, Bill Finger wrote the first
stories. Finger, is credited with the
writing of the origin story where Bruce Wayne decides to become a bat. Because of his role in the creation of BM,
Kane is the only artist that will be
mentioned in detail concerning the Batman mythos. Although other artist may be mentioned to
point out their contributions to BM’s dark appeal, my primary focus will be on
writers of the comic.
[3] This issue first appeared
in Spring of 1940 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane.
[4] There are various proposed
origins of the Joker, and each conveys a different perspective on the
character’s motives. For the sake of
continuity I will refer to Alan Moore’s version, taken from the story “The
Killing Joke”. In this story he is
depicted as a former engineer who quits his job to become a comedian. After he fails at this endeavor he becomes
desperate to feed his pregnant wife and decides to help a group of gangsters
rob a business next door to his former job at a chemical plant. During the
planning of this robbery he finds out that his wife and child to be are killed,
but he is forced by the gangsters to continue with the job. Batman foils their
plan and in an attempt to escape he falls in to vat, which bleaches his skin,
turns his hair green and his lips ruby red. After this the man known as the
Joker emerges.
[5] Batman’s stories have
taken many forms over the years. Many of
the villains he has faced are considered insane geniuses that often attack with
the aim of mental trauma as well as physical. The Joker is a perfect example. Year One could be considered a flashback to a
time when Wayne was completely unaware of the world he was about to embark
upon.
[6] Later in his career Miller
was berated by many of his fans for his extreme and allegedly racist views
especially about the Middle East. He has
also made many inflammatory statements about the OWS protestors. Many of these statements can be found on
Miller’s blog.
[7] Jason Todd appeared in the
1980’s as the second Robin after conflicts between the original Robin Dick
Grayson resulted in his departure. In a
story entitled “Death in the Family” the Joker adding to Batman’s increasing
burden of guilt killed Todd.
