OF BATMAN AND HIS ENEMIES ...

Batman the caped crusader

Of Batman and his enemies ….


The American comic heroes may personify national spirit



Several generations of Western children and young people, especially in the USA, have grown up influenced by comic books. It is almost unheard of for a European child or adolescent to live in Western Europe or in the States or Canada without coming across the multitude of comic book heroes and villains.

I remember that in my boarding school there was a semi-tradition in which leavers would sell their school worldly possessions in the Houses at the ends of their last terms and visitors to their studies were encouraged to stay and linger by being offered all sorts of reading material not usually around at other times. Apart from Playboy magazine, the selections of comics were frequently impressive.

Those were the late sixties and early seventies when the “alternative society” was still around, but by no means dominant.

Naturally, Superman and Batman and an assorted array of other heroes were seen battling an equally amazing series of villains all with a distinctly North American slant.

I am coming to what I consider to be the psychological implications of the comic books a bit later but will focus first on Batman and his helpers and his enemies.

In my understanding, Batman (originally referred to as The Bat-Man and still referred to at times as “The Batman”) is a fictional comic book superhero co-created by artist Bob Kane and the writer Bill Finger (although only Mr Kane receives official credit) and published by DC Comics.

The character made his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 of May 1939. Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy industrialist, playboy, andphilanthrpist.

Witnessing the murder of his parents as a child leads him to train himself to physical and intellectual perfection and don a bat-themed costume in order to fight crime. Batman operates in Gotham City, assisted by various supporting characters including his assistant Robin and his butler Alfred, and fights an assortment of villains influenced by the characters' roots in film and pulp magazines.

Unlike most superheroes (such as Superman), he does not possess superhuman powers or abilities; he makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess, and intimidation in his war on crime.

Batman became a popular comic book character soon after his first appearance and eventually gained his own title: Batman.

As the decades rolled on, differing takes on the character emerged. The popular late 1960s Batman television series, a “camp” presentation associated with the character for years after the show, ended.

The 1986 Frank Miller mini-series Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and the success of the 1989 Tim Burton motion picture Batman helped return the character to his dark roots.

Thus, over the years, Batman has become one of the world's most recognized superheroes. A cultural icon, Batman has been licensed and adapted into a variety of media, from radio to television and film, and appears on a variety of merchandise sold all over the world.

What of Batman’s opponents? Over the years he has accumulated quite a long list of them and they are indeed fascinating.

I remember watching a Batman film years ago featuring his battle with one of his archenemies: The Joker. This character has a permanent smile on his face owning to a surgical accident and is (highly) amusing. Naturally, Batman destroys him and in the event he plummets ignominiously down to Earth from a helicopter in a cliffhanger sort of finale.

Here is a small selection:

The Joker is a homicidal maniac with a clown-like appearance who takes comedic delight in violent crime and challenging Batman. He is generally acknowledged to be Batman's arch-nemesis/enemy. The relationship between the two is comedy and tragedy, two sides of the same coin. He was responsible for the crippling of Barbara Gordon, the brutal murder of the second Robin (Jason Todd), and the murder of Sarah Essen-Gordon (James Gordon's second wife). His alter ego is unknown (although referred to in the 1989 Batman as Jack Napier). He often goes by the alias "Joe Kerr", an obvious play on his moniker.

Catwoman is Selina Kyle, starting as a criminal who wore a cat-themed costume and often operated as a burglar; she has a love/hate relationship with Batman. For years, she skirted on the edge between villain and anti-heroine. However, she has largely reformed in recent years, adopting the role of the guardian of Gotham's (Batman’s home town) crime-infested East End, though she still comes into conflict with Batman on occasion. She has also been known to take revenge upon those who do crimes against animals, especially large cats. Currently, she is gradually taking up the role of Catwoman again after recuperating from the birth of her daughter Helena.

The Penguin is Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, a short round man with a long pointed nose who fancies himself a gentleman of crime. He usually wears a tuxedo, top hat, and monocle, and carries any variety of umbrellas that have various hidden functions such as vehicles or weapons. Currently he has become the kingpin of Gotham City, running his shady operations behind the facade of his nightclub, the Iceberg Lounge.

Two-Face is former District Attorney Harvey Dent (a friend of Bruce Wayne's). Dent's latent multiple-personality disorder fully took hold when half his face was horrifically scarred by "Boss" Maroni. He became obsessed with committing crimes themed around duality and opposites. He makes major decisions by flipping a two-headed coin on which one of the faces is scarred. Over the years, he has reformed at various times, his face being surgically repaired. However, he falls back into the Two-Face persona, most recently in “Face the Face.”

The Riddler is Edward Nygma (formerly Eddie Nashton), a criminal mastermind who has a strange compulsion to challenge Batman by leaving clues to his crimes in the form of riddles and puzzles. Nygma was in league with Hush and figured out Batman's double identity. However a recent accident caused the Riddler major blood loss as well as some brain damage, apparently causing the Riddler to forget the Batman's true identity. Recently, he has seemingly abandoned his criminal lifestyle and has opted to utilize his skills to turn a profit as a freelance investigator.

The Mad Hatter is Jervis Tetch, formerly a research scientist; he is completely smitten with the works of Lewis Carroll. He is an insane neuroscientist and developed hardware that can control the brain and induce hypnotic states, and often uses hats or other headgear for mind control. (There was also, briefly, a second Mad Hatter who liked to commit crimes with hat-related themes, but he has not been seen in two decades, having only one appearance after nearly being killed by the original.) Currently, he has been betrayed by the Secret Six.

Dan Seitler who is the paperback manager at The Mysterious Bookshop in New York says: “I used to read Batman comics as a kid and I used to watch the television show as a child. I am somewhat disturbed by American obsessions with all of this – especially adults.”

Another person in the same state who requests anonymity said: “I think in general parents need to be aware of what their children are reading and writing and whether it is appropriate for their child. I do not approve of violent material for children.

“I think comics and superheroes encourage children to use their imagination. In the 1950s there was a television show about all this. Batman was seen as a crusader and good for the community.
“It depends how it is presented. I is how it is portrayed.”

Bearing in mind that most American adults (excluding the most elderly) have had their formative years influenced by these comic book heroes it may be worth wondering if there might be a nexus between American attitudes to international “wrong-doing” and the comics.

It is arguably significant that most of the comic book heroes distinguish themselves by championing “right” against “wrong” and almost the whole pack of them: Superman, Batman, The Amazing Hulk, Captain America etc are noteworthy patriots.

The enemies are mostly entertaining villains who deserve to lose and do lose, for that is the set fate of villains.

My suspicion is that somehow, at the unconscious level, the heroes are personifications of American idealism (especially of the patriotic and nationalistic kind) and the enemies are mostly anti-social and/or anti-American types for whom no sympathy is approved.

For this reason, I get the impression that the USA’s many opponents whether Saddam Hussein, Iran or the anti-Zionist movements are perceived below the level of consciousness as latter day personifications of the heroes’ enemies such The Joker.

On our side we do the same thing. The enemies of the Prophet (pbuh) are individuals of no merit whatsoever who deserve to lose, for example.

Perhaps to change America one may have to change the upbringing of American youngsters first.

This article was published in the 8th August 2007 issue of the Bangla Mirror newspaper, read all over the world - from the Arctic Circle to the sub-Antarctic.