It's kind of hard to have a Thor's Day Heroes roster without this icon. Batman was a superhero, sure, but he was more than that...by being less. Written from the ground up to be everything Superman was not, Batman was human, had only his wits and gadgets, and was flawed. Sounds pretty modern, but we're almost on the 75th anniversary of the Dark Knight.
In hindsight, the first Tim Burton movie is the only one worth watching. The Nolan movies are absolutely amazing, and the old Adam West television show, well, it's certainly interesting. What I think of Batman the most isn't in his solo comics or movies, however, but as part of the Justice League, especially the reboot written by Grant Morrison back in 1997. This got Batman back to what I liked best about him, sure he knew how to fight but his biggest weapon was his smarts, and many a Superman-crippling alien invasion was brought low by the one guy on the team without any powers at all.
I haven't read the Morrison stuff but have heard many times it's great. Reading the Dark Knight returns by Frank Miller in the 80's blew my mind and from my teenage perspective was the exact moment comics changed. "No Joker, you're playing the wrong game, the old game." (insert bat-shuriken in eye)
ReplyDeleteMorrison had a great handle on the Batman and made him one of my favorite characters in doing so. As for Frank Miller, yeah that was a real comic book turning point in my life as well!
DeleteI grow up with a rerun of the Adam West television show during the eighties. With only two ground-distributed television channels (both government-owned) available here in Sweden back at that time, the range of available shows was pretty scarce! But since I was just a young kid and had not seen that much else, I loved it! That would be my first and strongest memories of Batman! =)
ReplyDeleteHeh, great memories, Adam West really made his mark on the franchise with that one, quite underrated actually. I got to meet West a few years back at a con, but I refused to pay $25 for an autographed photo! I also met Burt Ward *years* ago as a tyke, and I did get his autograph.
Deletelove this illustration at the top- GREATNESS! Haven't read the Morrison books yet- was away from comics a long time and have meant to, but ended up reading several dozen trade paperbacks and hundreds of comics first for whatever reason. But some day... SOME day...! Frank Miller changed my life as a teenager... oh where have those days gone? Read way more comics now, ironically :D
ReplyDeleteTrade paperbacks and even digital format collections are the only way I get around to reading comics these days. Check out the late 90's Justice League, the first twenty issues or so are pretty impressive, especially from a Batman perspective.
Deletethanks for the tip- i may have been looking at some of those in the dollar bins the other day- ended up grabbing a couple used Kyle Rayner Green Lantern TPBs at 1/2 price. i've read so many TPBs in the last 18 months- you be, like, "Whoa!" :D
ReplyDelete