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| Batman: The Dark Knight of Gotham City |
STATS:
HERO NAME: Batman
REAL NAME: Bruce Wayne
TITLES: The Dark Knight, the Caped Crusader, the World's Greatest Detective, The Chosen one (by Ra's al Ghul and the League of Shadows), Batsy (by The Joker), and the Bat (my many people, from Civilian to criminal)
GENDER: Male
AGE: late 40s
TEAMS: The Justice League, the Batman Family, the Outsiders, the Team (Young Justice TV series) and
FAMILY: Thomas Wayne (Father (Deceased)), Martha Wayne (Mother (Deceased)), Richard 'Dick' Grayson (Adopted Son), Jason Todd (Adopted Son), Damien Wayne (Biological Son), Wonder Woman/Diana (Possible Lover), Catwoman/Selena Kyle (Lover), Talia al Ghul (Lover), Vickie Vale (Lover), Alfred Pennyworth (Family's Butler and father figure).
ABILITIES/POWERS: Master detective, master of multiple Hand-to-hand combat styles, Master Escape-artist, peak of physical perfection, high IQ, high knowledge of computers, weapons and other types of fighting.
FIRST APPEARANCE: Detective Comics Number 27
THE REVIEW:
BACKGROUND : Batman is one of the most famous vigilantes to ever live in the comic book universe. First created by Bob Kane in Detective Comics #27, he wasn't anything near the way he is now. Back then, he would use a gun and let criminals die painful deaths. But to fully understand him, we need to look into his back story on why he became the Dark Knight of Gotham City.
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| Death of Bruce's Parents |
He was born Bruce Wayne to Dr. Thomas and Martha Wayne. The two were well-known in Gotham as some of the nicest people in Gotham City. But one day, on their way from a play (or a Zorro Film, depending on the version of the back-story you've read), a man by the name of Joe Chill came and was about to mug the family. Thomas tried to defend his wife and son, but gets shot in the chest by the mugger. Martha went to her husband, and ended up shot as well. Before Joe could kill Bruce as well, he ran away. Bruce, seeing his parents dead before him, was shaken deeply by the death, but made a vow...that he would make all criminals pay. He left home for a bit, leaving his mansion for a few years to do the training needed to make him able to take on the criminals of Gotham City.
With the help of many types of skilled warriors, such as the boxing vigilante Wildcat and many martial artists, he came back to Gotham City to save it from crime. But he couldn't do it that well, and tried to find out how he could strike fear into criminal's hearts. Then inspiration struck...
A bat crashed into his mansion window, which gave him an idea. Knowing that most criminals are superstitious, he styled a costume based on a bat. And thanks to his vast wealth, he got a arsenal of weapons to take on many criminals. The most famous of his first encounters was the Red Hood, a unknown criminal who would later take the mantle of the Joker (More on him if I review him). As Batman grew into the warrior he has now, he has gained many allies. From Commisioner James Gordan, Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce's butler and most loyal friend, Dick Grayson, his first partner and adopted son, and Superman, the Man of Steel himself.
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| The Original Seven of the Justice League |
Later in his career as a crime fighter, he joined forces with Superman, Wonder Woman, the Green Lantern, the Flash and many other super heroes to form the Justice League of America, the world's best home against a global threat such as Darkseid, Starro and many other intergalactic enemies, along with the team ups of their normal enemies. Batman has quite once or twice to become parts of other teams, such as the Outsiders. But mostly works solo in his home of Gotham City, with normally Robin, Nightwing or Batgirl at his side.
ARSENAL: His Utility Belt is the best gadget that Batman has in his arsenal. Since it's his whole arsenal. In it's pouches hold all of his weapons that help him take on the criminals of Gotham City. He has his friend, Lucious Fox, make a lot of the gadgets nowadays to help him take on the ever-growing war on crime.
Batman's arsenal includes his mini-boomerangs dubbed 'The Batarangs', smoke bombs, a grappling hook called 'the Batclaw', a two-hook grappling hook, mini explosives, brass knuckles, and even Bat Shark Repellent (Don't ask, it's a LONG story). Basically his belt is full of so much stuff it's scary. He even has a tiny bit of kryptonite in case he has to take on Superman. So yeah, he has everything he needs to take on the Bad guys.
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| The Batmobile |
His main mode of transportation is his Batmobile, a supped-up car that has been through quite a few upgrades. The main weapons in it are rocket launchers, a small TV that he can watch news reports on, a radio that lets him hook up to the police station and even a personal First aid kit. Many people have ridden inside of the Batmobile, including his many partners and even Joker at some points. The other vehicles he uses are the Batwing, a powerful jet, and the Batcycle, a motor cycle that goes inside of the car, and the Batboat, a speedboat he uses to go out of the coast of Gotham.
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| The Batsuit (From the Nolan films) |
The Batsuit is the main costume that Batman wears in crime fighting. It's padded to keep him protected from bullets, knives and many other forms of physical damage that can be done to him in battle. His cape isn't just a fashion statement either. Even though Edna Mode said that the cape is a dangerous thing, Batman uses it for many purposes. He uses it to glide long distances and to stun his opponents. His cowl, the headpiece that makes him look a giant bat in the darkness, has a lot of uses like the utility belt, but the uses are to keep his face hidden from sight thanks to the lead encasing keeping his identity safe from X-rays and the like. The biggest thing about is that no one can remove it that easily, as he keeps it from being removed.
ENEMIES: Over the Years, Batman has taken on different villains, from the man-eating Killer Croc, to the cold-blooded Mr. Freeze, to the crazed nature lover Poison Ivy to even the tactical and all-mighty Bane. His most dangerous enemies are the Clown Prince of crime, the Joker, the leader of the League of Shadows, Ra's al Ghul, and a villain of his own IQ level, Hugo Strange.
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| Arkham Asylum: The Prison of Batman's Rogue Gallery |
All of these villains make up the batman's rogues, and many of them may be mentioned in future reviews on this blog. So I'll get to full details when I get there. But I can say this about them; they all deserve to be in Gotham's mental asylum/Prison, Arkham Asylum. That's where all the Batman enemies go and try to be rehibilitated. But they ALWAYS get out. (seriously, you'd think the Security would be better by now). While that's mostly where the crazier villains go, others have been to a local prison known as Blackgate. That's where Batman's less troubled enemies go to be taken in.
BEST AND WORSE OF BATMAN'S CAREER
The Dark Knight has been through quite a lot in his adventures as a crime fighter in Gotham City. While he has done a lot of good, he's also done some bad. A lot of people say that Batman may be the cause of all of his enemies going insane in the first place. Some even say that Batman is a menace (Wonder why that sounds familiar...), but no one can complain that Batman is only doing what he does best; saving the day.
His best moments are of hwen he actually wants to help his enemies. He feels bad for some of them, such as Two-Face and Mr. Freeze. Heck, he feels bad for a lot of people that the Batman's enemies have effected. The only person he shows no sympathy for his the Joker, but that's mostly because of what he does.
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| One of the moments of kindness to Batman (right before going after Two-Face) |
But one has to be careful of his mentality. It's been proven that Batman isn't exactly the most sane hero, as he could snap at any moment. Here's a example from a more recent comic.
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| He seems to be very sane, don't you think? |
Wacky thought, huh? Batman, the Dark Knight himself, would go crazy. Apparently he goes completely nutty when you say the phrase 'Zur-En-Arrh', which is basically a messed-up version of his father's saying 'The sad thing is that they'd throw someone like Zorro in Arkham' before dying, which was created by some doctor when he was very young. Yeah, I know it sounds like a retcon. It's because it is. Guess it's the sillies thing to come out of batman...besides the Adam West show, but still.
And another bad thing about Batman is what Frank Miller has done. Yes, I've seen Linkara's reviews of the Frank miller Batman comics, but that doesn't make him any less right. Miller has done some bad things wtih Batman, making him from this calm, mostly stoic detective to some nutjob. Need I remind you of...THIS.
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| Yeah, because Batman would TOTALLY say that |
All in all, Bats has been through good times and bad, but he's always been able to come up on top.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Batman is a great hero and is best known by his morals, his intellect and his dark past. Most people try to make him to brooding, but why haven't they tried to incorporate some kindness into the guy. Sure some people do, but most try to make him 'angsty and brooding'. But why does he always have to be sad? Why can't Batman have some form of happiness?
That's something I would like to know, since I like seeing Batman not be totally miserable. Seriously, he lost his parents, his second partner, Jason Todd, got murdered by the Joker (more on Jason later on), and he's been through a lot throughout his career as a hero.
But the best thing about Batman is that he doesn't need super powers. In a world where aliens, powerful sorcerers and all-mighty gods, all Batman needs is a belt full of gadgets and his quick wit.
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| See? |
So there's Batman in a nutshell. Hope you enjoyed the Review and make sure to keep up with this blog to get reviews of other heroes or villains of the multiverse of comics.
