Each week, one of us will recount the first time we remember seeing Batman. Batman has been a juggernaut of a character and has almost always been in the limelight.; he’s arguably DC’s most well known superhero. Whether it was through animated media or comic books, we all have a slightly different story of our first Batman memory. Alas, here is how I was first introduced to the caped crusader.
I was probably seven or eight years old when I was first introduced to the Batman universe. I know for a fact that I probably played a game before then as my grandfather was always getting the newest games. But, the first time I remember, it was sitting in the couch in my Oma’s (Grandma’s) House. Staring at a small 14 inch tv with wacky color and, obviously, in standard definition; I was mesmerized. I distinctly remember hearing a cacophony of crazy sounds with a spiral of color swirling across the screen; “Ka-Pow,†it read. A hokie looking character with a purplish-blue outfit and mask ran on-screen, finger pointed in the air, “To the batmobile!†The show was equal parts fun and strange. It wasn’t until a few years later did I watch the absolutely stacked (casting wise) movie, Batman Forever. This is the film that got me searching out for the VHS tapes of the previous films and lead me completely down the hole to the Batcave.
With the release of the Arkham games and the Nolan films, I further developed my love for the realm and lore. But, it wasn’t until this year that I read my first Batman-centric comic, and it happened to be The Killing Joke. The hype that was placed upon it was nigh impossible to overcome, but Arkham Asylum easily took the mantle as my favorite comic. There’s just something about the dire situation in which batman is placed, and we got to learn a great deal of how Arkham came to be. The Joker’s last few lines of dialogue really hit it home for me. In essence, he says that when Batman is tired of being trapped in his Asylum (Gotham), he can come back home. That is, back to Arkham.
My memories of Batman take various different forms and each iteration being drastically different from the last. I feel that’s really what has drawn me to the character over the years. Although he almost always ends up on top, there is that humanistic side to him that shows through. That side that maybe he is just as crazy as those he pursues. That it’s just a thin line that divides the insane and normal folk, of which Batman tip toes around.