#10- Batman and Philosophy- 1st installment

                               

         I’d like to continue where I left off in my midterm group report with superheroes specifically Batman and philosophy. I’m honestly just sticking with what I know, and what I know is comic books, but more specifically what I know is Batman. It seems pointless to try something else. While I did have my eye on doing something with X-men and philosophy I’d rather leave that to Charles Xavier and Magneto to debate in the comics, as everything about that and more has been said in their movies and their comics, but moving onto Batman( obviously the best hero). So How do I say more about Batman and philosophy than I said before? In my midterm group report which if you don’t remember you can read here, I mainly talked about what makes Batman a hero, he’s reasoning, his life, and what he does that make him the hero that he is. That was a big well the main part of the Michaud book that I was reading, arguing which one was the better hero Batman or Superman, trying to rationalize it with big words and definitions, that didn’t really hold up especially considering the nature of comic books. It is hard to write in a situation which a character has multiple writers and at any time your work can be taken as "not cannon” “having it “retconned”, or worse yet it taking place in an alternate universe that has no bearing on what happens in the real one. It is a sad but needed cycle within comic books, but that does point out some major flaws in the Michaud book. Instead of looking at an inconsistent character to dissect let’s instead choose a singular universe that is overseen by the same people and writers because in order, sadly the only universe like that is the original DC Animated Universe(DCAU) which started in 1992 with Batman the animated series. Here we can get a clear characterization of Bruce Wayne instead of the flip floppy one that comes from the constant switching of comic writers. So let's take a look at the Batman of the Animated series, Young and serious, Hard working and driven. you can see this through all of the DCAU. However, there are some major flaws within his character that need to be pointed out. He has an almost death wish making him prone to sacrifice himself should the time arise. He can seldom admit that he is wrong, and is paranoid all most to the point of needing psychiatric help. These are the things that also make him the lovable and relatable character that he is, but his most major flaw is his pride. He is proud of his dark secret empire that he built by himself. Unlike in his "real" life where his empire was handed to him from his father. he didn’t create Wayne enterprises, he did not nurture it to become the power that it is today, but Batman and all the things and people that come with it, The Justice League included that is all Batman’s and he knows it. It explains or theorizes why he has such a tie to the cape. It is the only thing that he has that he truly created. I’ve about hit my five hundred word mark so I’ll stop here. It’s a good introduction that I will continue with in the next installment.