Batman Week Concludes: The Dark Knight Returns

So the big day finally arrived! The biggest movie of the summer! In IMAX, no less. I had a group 20 people (organized by yours truly) there to watch the film and experience it with me (yes, Daisy, AH, and Scuba Steve were there and Eddie, in spirit if not in fact). The screening started with a brief teaser for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" in IMAX 3-D (yes-going to be there opening weekend...next...) and then the trailer for Zack Snyder's "Watchmen" film, based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. I will be writing a column on "Watchmen" (one of the best works of fiction ever written, by the way) in the future. And then...the main event....

The deep base from Zimmer and Newton Howard's soundtrack started, and the Warner Brothers and DC Comics emblems flashed on the screen and disappeared. From the distinctive opening notes of the soundtrack that announced this as a Batman film, the music shifted to the eerie strains of "Why So Serious", a track that reflected the tonal shift that this film would represent versus the previous film. We see a group of gangsters dressed in clown mask...and a solitary figure standing on the street corner, his scraggly green (GREEN!!!!) hair blowing gently in the wind, his back to us, holding, with his left hand by his side, a similar clown mask. The mayhem begins as the Joker is introduced to the audience, representative of all of the chaos that is sure to follow. This was no villainous R'as Al Ghul or Scarecrow-level of lower tier villain. The Joker represented chaos in all of its glory. Did I mention this sequence was shot completely in IMAX (taking up the vast expanse of the IMAX screen? WOW. We track Batman to a parking garage fighting off Russian mobsters, a gang of Batman-inspired vigilantes, and the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy reprising his role in a nice little cameo). The movie then begins in earnest, and we learn that new cops and a new DA have restored hope to Gotham, a hope that remains so long as Batman is serving as guardian over the city. In their efforts to halt organized crime in Gotham, they have driven the criminal underworld to the brink, and the Joker is there with an offer for them-an offer to kill Batman. While this is occurring, Gordon, DA Harvey Dent, and Batman are showing just how far they will take their "ends justify the means" approach to cleaning up Gotham by working covertly to kidnap a Chinese national (the mob banker of Gotham) and return him to Gotham. This is a little unsettling; gone is the clear cut line between what was right and what was wrong that seemed so apparent in the first film. How can there be a clear cut line when chaos is just around the corner? Even though Batman has the mantle of the bat to protect those that he loves, it is not enough to protect those who fearlessly are out in front without the benefit of such disguises. All of these parties pay dearly not only for their own moral transgressions but also for daring to hope in a city that could give birth to a creature such as the Joker.

It is extremely difficult to speak of different aspects of the film without going into specific plot points. I must warn that the following will be one of my patented "favorite moments from the film" bullet point list, and it WILL be full of spoilers, so read on at your own peril.








Still reading?






OK-here I go:

1) The establishing shot of Gotham through the lens of an IMAX camera was astonishing to behold. Everything was crystal clear, and the shot provided an amazing sense of perspective from the skies of the city.

2) The introduction of the Joker and the performance of the late Heath Ledger throughout the film. Wow. At times, I forgot that I was watching an actor. Ledger inhabited the role of the Joker to an amazing level. He created an unforgettable character and was faithful enough to the comics versions of the Joker to satisfy even the most die hard of Batman fans (such as myself). From his voice innotations to the way he wielded his daggers, the Joker was a living unpredictable force of mayhem in an arena (a comic book film) where such things should not exist. In point of fact, one could almost sense the palpable tension that gripped the movie audience whenever the Joker was on the screen, as no one could predict what he would do next. While I marveled at the performance, I am also saddened by the knowledge that we will never see this actor in another new film. This was a performance for the ages.

3) The action sequences over Hong Kong were amazing (also shot in IMAX). Batman's assault on the skyscraper and his amazing escape with his hostage were truly amazing to behold. If I have not mentioned this before, let me say that this film needs to be experienced in IMAX.

4) The capture of the Joker: round one. The chase sequences were breathtaking and the last minute rescue of the Dark Knight by an unforeseen participant was a joy to behold. The interrogation scene between Batman and the Joker was hard to watch. After all, Batman is one of the good guys. He was played by Adam West, for gosh sakes! Here, he mercilessly pummels the Joker while demanding information, and, even more disturbingly, the Joker lets him know that there is nothing Batman can do to him. He just does not care. The tragic sequence of events that unfolds soon after this...well, even though I could spoil it for you, there are some things that need to be experienced. The interrogation scene also held a special place for me because of its eerie resemblance to a similar scene at the beginning of Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's graphic novel "The Killing Joke." This was a great way to pay homage to this excellent story.



5) Speaking of "The Killing Joke", I also loved how the Joker HAD no origin. He just simply seemed to...just...be. I was taken with how the Nolans chose to purposefully keep the origin of the Joker a mystery, and the fact that the Joker used as his henchmen many of the escapees of Arkham from the first film made his anarchaic tendencies all that more chilling. There have been many Joker origin stories, but the Nolans' approach (there IS no origin) is, by far, the best of them all.

6) The Nolans seemed to borrow from a lot of Batman graphic novels. The look-alike Batman vigilante echoed the Mutant gang/Sons of Batman from Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns", and the tragic rise and fall of Harvey Dent owed a lot to Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's maxi-series "Batman: The Long Halloween". The slogan "I believe in Harvey Dent", the character of Maroni (portrayed by Eric Roberts),the decision of the mob to "go to the freaks" to deal with Batman, and even the scenes with Dent and Gordon all seemed to be lifted directly from "The Long Halloween". In the film, Dent's transformation to Two-Face was tragic and affecting, and the excellent CGI work that was used to give actor Aaron Eckhart the gruesome visage of Two-Face deserves special attention. Finally, the devil's choice that the Joker gave the citizens of Gotham at the climax of the film mirrored the Joker's feelings from "The Killing Joke"-namely, the feeling that everyone has the capability to feel (or not feel) as the Joker does and all it takes is something to push them over-was wonderfully realized as the expected response does not materialize at all. Confused? Trust me, see the film and it will all make sense.



7) The supporting cast. From Morgan Freeman's quiet humor in light situations and his gravity in serious situations to Michael Caine's similar approach, Lucius Fox and Alfred continued to be indispensable parts of Bruce Wayne's fight for Gotham. I particularly loved a scene between Alfred and Bruce that mirrored one from the first film. The scene in the first film was where Bruce, after the funeral, breaks down as he believes the death of his parents to be his fault. Something similar is at work here, and Alfred, as always, knows what to say.

8) The final face-off between the Joker and Batman, where the Joker intones how Batman will not kill him and how their fates will forever be intertwined. Now, because their fates have been intertwined for almost 70 years in the comics, this particular bit of dialogue rang true and also reflected a similar conversation between Batman and Joker in "The Killing Joke", but in that story, Batman was giving this same bit of reasoning to the Joker.



9) The ambiguous ending. Sure, most of the good guys were standing at the end, but at what cost? The city has been put through the ringer yet again, and every single person has lost something. The final voice over montage delivered by Gordon was eloquent. In the hands of an actor other than Gary Oldman, the monologue might have seemed cheesy. Here, it seemed sad, as Gordon informs his child of how Batman is to be hunted and to be viewed as an outlaw for the good of the city.


There is SO MUCH more that I could write about the film, and I will probably re-visit it when it comes out on home video. For now, all I can say is that Hollywood saved the best of the summer for last. Bravo!

Batman Week Part 3 of 4: "Batman Begins"

(We continue our discussion of Batman's film and TV history here. Yesterday, I left off with the anticipation and angst felt by fanboys everywhere over the direction that the Batman franchise would take in the post-Joel Schumacher era.)

So now there was a completed script from David Goyer, and the fanboys were guardedly optimistic. The thing about Goyer's screenplay that was new and exciting was the reverence it displayed to the source material. There was no need to kowtow to the demands of the suits in command at WB; the story of Batman, properly told, had everything: murder, intrigue, action, romance, complexity, and, most important, fully developed characters. Goyer's script returned Batman to his role of a detective, fully trained in the deadly arts with a brain that matched his physique and bank accounts. This was the story of the genesis of Batman. It had never before been shown on screen, and in truth, had never before been so wonderfully realized even in comics form.

I had the opportunity to read Goyer's screenplay before Warners made their casting and crew announcements, and I remember the experience as being distinct from the feeling I had when I first read the 3rd draft of Sam Hamm's "Batman" script in mid 1989. Whereas Hamm's script could easily be identified as the perfect summer popcorn flick, Goyer's screenplay had nuances that were more akin to a crime drama than a superhero film. The action sequences that punctuated the story beats grew out of necessity rather than out of a baseless need for spectacle (more on this later). However, even as I was marveling at the job Goyer had done, I knew that there was a long way to go before this script would become reality. There would, no doubt, be a few more bumps in the road. My fears that Warners would drop the the ball, however, were soon assuaged with their announcement of their hiring of a director, Christopher Nolan. This was an inspired choice. Unlike Burton and Schumacher before him, Nolan was not known as a "visual" director but as an "actor's" director. Where Burton and Schumacher placed a much higher emphasis on visual splendor and effects, Nolan's works up to that point ("Memento" and "Insomnia") were quieter pieces that both focused in on the fragility of the human condition (witness Guy Pearce's character from "Memento" and Al Pacino's from "Insomnia".) With the hiring of Nolan, I started to become guardedly optimistic. After all, history has shown us that it is far easier for an actor's director to become a visual director than the other way around (see Bryan Singer's move from "The Usual Suspects" to the "X-Men" franchise and Jon Favreau moving from small films like "Swingers", "Made", and "Elf" to the home run that was "Iron Man."). Maybe actor's directors more easily accept the suggestions made to them as they pertain to visual cues on screen. I don't know. All I know is that Nolan would be responsible for not only saving the Batman franchise but also for raising it to heights never before seen for ANY superhero film.

I am sure that many of those at Warners were nervous about these developments. After all, "Spider-Man" had become one of the top grossing films of all time, and the story was a relatively happy one with bright colors and young adults. This was a film with a brooding main character in a corrupt city surrounded by homicidal criminals. How could they EVER put THAT on a lunch box? Thankfully, their fears did not derail the production. Nolan immersed himself in Batman lore and found his hook: the tortuous childhood of Bruce Wayne, his need (and ultimate failure to achieve) vengeance, and his dedication to his role as the savior of Gotham. Nolan was intimately involved in every detail of the production. For example, his meetings with composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard resulted in an AMAZING cinematic soundtrack that, though completely different from the efforts of Danny Elfman and Elliot Goldenthal, accurately reflected the theme of duality within the life and persona of Bruce Wayne. Nolan's casting decisions were spot on, with Morgan Freeman taking on the role of Lucius Fox, Michael Caine taking on the role of Alfred, and Gary Oldman in the role of the young Captain Gordon. Tom Wilkinson, Cillian Murphy and Liam Neeson rounded out what would be a stellar cast (the less said about Katie Holmes, the better). The actors themselves refused to approach their roles in a movie about a comic book hero with the same disdain that thespians such as Kevin Spacey and Uma Thurman (with Uma, I use the term "thespian" lightly) embraced similar roles (in "Superman Returns" and "Batman and Robin", respectively). Indeed, all of the actors did NOT overact and treated their roles as they would if the film were a Scorsese crime drama. The most inspired casting decision was that of Christian Bale in the title role. Bale was not a Hollywood superstar nor was he viewed as a vacuous pretty boy. He had honed his acting chops as a young man in Steven Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun" and had been a steady working actor ever since. Bale LOOKED the part of Bruce Wayne, and after his manic performance in "American Psycho", it was easy to see that he could pull off the duality of nature required for the role of Batman.

For the most part, production of "Batman Begins" occurred under the radar. After all, the general public had moved on beyond "Batman." After the debacle that was "Batman and Robin", no one was particularly looking forward to another Batman film. Only the fanboys (myself included) held out any hope, but even our hopes were guarded. We had been let down by Hollywood to many times. In addition, this was to be the summer of "Revenge of the Sith", the last of the Star Wars prequels. Fox was releasing a "Fantastic Four" film that looked pretty darned good (at the time it did, but the less said about THAT flaming pile of crap the better). The new Harry Potter movie and the first Narnia film were to be released in the fall. There was also a movie that looked to be pretty darned funny; it was called "Wedding Crashers." Even Spielberg had something out that summer: his version of "War of the Worlds." With all of the attention being paid to these films, Nolan was able to toil in obscurity. The crew took over some London soundstages and set to work.

I distinctly remember seeing the first trailer for the film. At the beginning of the trailer, I had no idea it was a film about Batman. It was a scene between Liam Neeson's character Ducard and Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne fighting with swords on an ice lake in the mountains. Neeson is taunting Bruce, and with the strains of Zimmer and Newton Howard's track "Eptesicus" in the background, Ducard taunted Bruce "Your parents' death was not your fault." Bruce starts. Ducard continues: "It was your father's." Bruce, enraged, rushed Ducard who promptly taught him a lesson in the importance of controlling one's emotions when in combat. It was a powerful scene, and I was dumfounded. This was a studio film about Batman????? HOLY S--T!!!

Still, though, I was worried. Studios had a tendency to put their best stuff out in the trailers, and I was thinking that there was no way the entire film could fulfill the promise of that scene. Boy was I wrong. The weekend it was released, I went to an early morning show of the film. I enjoy morning shows, as they are usually less crowded with annoying personalities and I usually have no problems finding a seat that I like. As the lights went down, the deep, resonating purcussion of the score started playing over the speakers, the DC emblem and WB emblems came and went, and a flurry of bats flew across the screen. Barely visible within that flurry was the iconic emblem of the bat...and then we were off and running with a young Bruce and a young Rachel on the grounds of Wayne Manor. We see Bruce fall through the old rotted boards covering a dried out well and we see him fall. We also se his horror as his impact has disturbed the bats that nested in the cave adjacent to the well, and the bats swarm all around the Bruce. The action then takes us to Bruce Wayne in a Chinese prison, where he meets Ducard. Ducard has an offer for him, an offer to provide Bruce with the gifts he needs to combat evil. All along, we, the audience, are treated to glimpses of Bruce's childhood and the events that led Bruce to be incarcerated in China. What follows is my list of sequences that are immediately unforgettable.

1) The image of Thomas Wayne coming down via rope, reaching out to his son, and intoning "It's all right, Bruce, you are safe."

2) The death scene of the Waynes. It was wonderfully shot (pardon the pun) and realized from Frank Miller's graphic novel "Batman: Year One." I also thought Thomas's dying request of Bruce that he not "be afraid" was extremely touching. Nolan and Goyer successfully illustrated the reason why Bruce was SO devoted to his parents and their memory.





3) Young Bruce and Alfred after the funeral of the Waynes, where Bruce breaks down because he believes that he was the cause of his parents' death. Michael Caine did an AMAZING job in this scene as Alfred. I also enjoyed this as it was a continuing reminder of the relationship young Bruce had with his parents. Nolan and Goyer successfully humanized Bruce with scenes depicting loving family scenes with the Waynes, and it was these scenes that served to give the film its heart.

4) Alfred's admonishing of Bruce when Bruce intones that he would rather Wayne Manor were torn down. This scene was followed by Bruce reminiscing about he and his father and how his father allowed him to play with his stethoscope. I smiled when I saw this on screen, as my own father, a physician, did the same with me when I was a child.

5) Bruce throwing away the gun that he had intended to use to kill Joe Chill.

6) Bruce's rediscovery of the Batcave. The image of the bats swirling about his stationary figure in the space that was to become the Batcave is an indelible image. The music in this scene is AMAZING, and I loved how Nolan pulled the camera's back to give the audience a greater sense of perspective.

7) Bruce and Alfred in preparation for Batman. I loved seeing how Bruce was making each of his "throwing bats" and his explanation to Alfred concerning the symbolism of the bat.

8) Batman's first battle. When the thug screams in fear "Where are you???" and Batman whispers "Here", that was the moment Bale became Batman for me.

9) Batman's call for "back-up" in Arkham Asylum, a scene lifted directly from Frank Miller's "Batman: Year One."

10) The flight of the batmobile and the cops communication therein. Once again, the music MADE this sequence.

11) The final fight sequence. Wow.

12) The coda to the film and the introduction of the Batsignal. Gordon's warning of escalation was perfect for it set the stage for the creation, over time, of what (hopefully) will become Batman's Rogues Gallery. With one final scene lifted from "Batman: Year One", Nolan left no doubt as to where he would go in the sequel:

Gordon: What about escalation

Batman: Escalation?

Gordon: We start carrying semi-automatics, they buy automatics. We start wearing Kevlar, they buy armor-piercing rounds.

Batman: And?

Gordon: And *you're* wearing a mask and jumping off rooftops. Now, take this guy: armed robbery, double homicide. Got a taste for theatrical, like you. Leaves a calling card.
[Gordon presents Batman with a clear plastic evidence bag containing what appears to be a single playing card; Batman turns it over to reveal a "Joker"]




Batman: I'll look into it.

Nolan had accomplished the impossible. He had successfully revived a dead franchise and made it relevant in the minds of movie goers everywhere. I remember walking out of the theater later that day, mesmerized by what I had watched. That next weekend, I told my brother about it, and he purchased IMAX tickets for the film. It was even better the second time around. My enthusiasm for the film has not diminished even after several screenings. It is simply that good.

When the film was released, it grossed just north of $50 million during its opening weekend. While that was respectable, it was no where near the blockbuster neighborhood of the opening weekend grosses of the "Spider-Man" films. And then a funny thing happened. Word of mouth started to spread, and "Batman Begins", against all odds, became one of the highest grossing films of the year. With a worldwide gross in excess of $377 million, a sequel was inevitable.

Now, after 3 years, it is upon us. Advance word on the film has been stellar, and "The Dark Knight", unlike its predecessor, has become THE event film of the summer. Will it live up to the hype? My expectations for it are pretty high. Check back here on Sunday evening to find out!

Batman Week Continues: the 90s until 2005..

There is simply too much to write in 3 posts; therefore, I have decided to extend Batman Week to 4 posts. Keep reading!!!

During the late 1990s, the “Batman” franchise was in dire straits. The comic book speculation market that had driven the popularity of comics to insane heights imploded, and comic shops across the country started to shutter their doors. The creativity of comics was also stifled, as publishers self-destructed in their neverending quest for huge EVENT stories that crossed over multiple titles and forced the comic buyer to purchase numerous issues just to follow the story. At the same time, the price of comic books started to skyrocket. When I first started collecting comics, the price was 65 cents. The introduction of the Prestige Format from DC comics (also known as “bookshelf format”) was a then-hefty $1.95. In fact, Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns” was the first limited series to be published in the Prestige Format.

Amid all of these problems in the comics, Batman was struggling as well. One of the major stories (occurring shortly after the infamous “Death of Superman” event) was the breaking of Batman at the hands of the villain Bane. This storyling, called “Knightfall”, resulted in Bruce Wayne giving up the mantle of the bat while taking some time to heal. He handed over the reigns of Batman to Jean-Paul Valley, a member of a sacred order of knights known for their harsh treatment of law breakers. The result of all of these storylines was that, in the comics, Bruce Wayne was not Batman for many long stretches of time. This signaled the loss of connection between the writers of the “Batman” books and their audience, a connection that would be tenuous until the arrival of Greg Rucka.

So the comics world of Batman was in shambles. The motion picture world was not much better. As I mentioned yesterday, Joel Schumacher’s “Batman and Robin” signaled the death knell for the character in the movies for the rest of the 90s and the first half of the 00s. The one success story for the character was the Warner Brother’s animated series. “Batman: The Animated Series” was a revolutionary work from the minds of Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett. With a throwback look reminiscent of the classic Fleischer Superman cartoons of the 1940s, “B:TAS” captured the imagination of young and old alike. With its action and colorful array of villains, children of all ages were enthralled with the show. Adults in particular gravitated to the more mature themes and complex character storylines. For the first time, many of the villains in Batman’s rogue’s gallery were given the proper treatment. Richard Moll, more famously known as Bull Shannon from the 1980s situation comedy “Night Court” gave an amazingly nuanced performance as Harvey Dent, the DA who would become the villainous Two-Face. Mark Hamill returned the menace to the Joker’s reputation, and Michael Ansara portrayed the tragic character of Victor Fries with a heartrending honesty; the episode “Heart of Ice” remains my favorite among all of the episodes from the series. The gothic nourish look to the series was also a great success. To highlight the darkness of Gotham City, Timm decided to have all of the backgrounds painted onto black paper instead of white paper. The result was a truly unique look that served to highlight the shadowy world for Gotham City. “B:TAS” was such a success that Timm and Co. were tapped to created “Superman: TAS” and then “Batman Beyond.” Originally a show beyond the comics continuity of Batman, “Batman Beyond” was the story of Terry McGuinness, a young high schooler and street tough who becomes the mentee for an elderly, decrepit and bitter Bruce Wayne. The show was nothing short of amazing, and it remains a personal favorite of mine.

The success of the animated adventures of Batman did not go unnoticed at either DC Comics or by its parent company, Warner Communications (AOL Time Warner at the time). Rather than dismissing Batman out of hand, like so many critics had, as a character whose time had come and gone, the powers that be commissioned numerous scripts and invited numerous filmmakers to pitch their visions for Batman films. The WB brain trust realized that they needed to get back to basics, and the scripts that they commissioned reflected this fact. Frank Miller adapted his comic series “Batman: Year One,” with Darren Aronofsky attached to direct, but WB, rightfully, rejected the idea as being too dark for the movie going masses. Trust me, I have read the script. When you introduce Selina Kyle, the woman who would be Catwoman, as a madam and prostitute, you are getting into VERY dark territory. The second script commissioned by Warner Brothers was an adaptation of “Batman Beyond”, written by Paul Dini (one of the creators of the T show) to be directed by Boaz Yachin. Warners shelved the project, and while I personally was disappointed by that development, I felt heartened knowing that they were trying to find the right script. Warners had learned from their experience with “Batman Forever” and “Batman and Robin,” Warners was not going to proceed until they had the right script.

Enter David Goyer. Goyer had long toiled in obscurity in Hollywood, but his script for the film that would eventually become “Batman Begins” captivated the WB braintrust. Goyer went back to the basics of the origin, picking and choosing key elements from the varied sources and utilizing sequences from stories as diverse as Bob Kane’s original “Batman” origin story, Len Wein’s 1980s-era “The Untold Legend of Batman”, Denny O’Neill’s “The Man Who Falls” and, most importantly, Frank Miller’s “Batman: Year One”. After Goyer’s script started to make the rounds, comic fans maintained a tenuous state of excitement. After all, the script made use of 2 obscure villains from the Batman rogues gallery, Ra’s Al G’hul and Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow. Also included was the villainous Carmine Falcone from “Batman: Year One” and Joe Chill, the murderer of Dr. Thomas and Martha Wayne from Bob Kane’s original “Batman” origin story. Who would they get to direct it? Who would be Batman? Who would play the villains? Would Warner’s drop the ball again and get a director who had NO IDEA how to make a character-driven story of the tortured existence of a man haunted by an unimaginable childhood trauma? Would the director embrace the duality of Batman/Bruce Wayne by doing justice to the wonderful script or would he inject “songs by Prince”? Would they ask Val Kilmer or George Clooney back (OH NO! THE HORROR!!!). Comics fans everywhere waited on pins and needles. With the announcement that was to come (as well as the FILM that was to come), we were about to be rewarded for our perseverance.

Batman Week is HERE!!! Part 1 of 4

Hello faithful readers. Welcome to my 3 part Batman special. This week, in honor of the release of “The Dark Knight” my blog entries will be about all things Batman. Now, there is WAY too much Batman history for me to fit everything within these humble entries. I will try to do it justice from my own perspective, however. Part One consists of general background and jumbled thoughts from my head concerning my fanboy like of Batman. Part Two will be my official review of “Batman Begins” (I started this blog after that film came out, but I recently revisited it on Blu-ray disc). Part 3 will be available Sunday evening, following a screening of the new film, “The Dark Knight.” Check back often, as these entries will not be static. Ready? Let us begin…

There is a certain hierarchy regarding my list of favorite superheroes. As those in the comics world might tell you, there are 3 distinct classes of comics fans. There are “DC” fans, “Marvel” fans, and “Independent” fans. Based purely on sales, most comics fans apparently fall within one of the first 2 categories. I have always considered myself a DC fan, and I think that this has something to do with the influence that a certain DC character had on me from a very young age.

As a youngster, I was a fan of Batman comics. As I read the comics, I realized that the world of Batman was not all fun and games as it was on the campy 1960s TV show. I remember reading and re-reading the few issues of Batman comics my parents purchased for me. These issues sustained me for 8 years, for when I turned 13, the comics bug bit me hard. It was a great time to be a comics fan. Much of the detritus of the 1970s era DC comics was starting to fall away, and in 1985, the DC universe changed forever with the introduction of the miniseries “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, a series that “ret-conned” much of DC’s comics history up to that point. During the next few years, DC started cleaning up the origin stories of many of their heroes, starting with Superman in the miniseries “the Man of Steel.” Among all of the ret-conning, however, the powers-at-be refrained from resorting to wholesale changes to the origin of their then-second (now first) most popular character, Batman. There was simple reason for this: the origin worked. There was little about the origin of Batman that did not continue to resonate 50 years after the creation of the character. Young Bruce Wayne watched his parents’ murder at the hands of a nameless, faceless thief. He dedicated his life to his parents’ memory, forsaking a normal life out of a desire for vengeance. This was not the typical “happy” origin of a comic book hero (Oooh! Some chemicals spilled on me and I am fast! I am the Flash!). When one compares the duality of Bruce and Batman to that of Clark Kent and Superman, the symbolism of “light and dark” becomes even more apparent. With regard to Superman, he is really Clark Kent. Superman is the alter ego through which he does so much good and is the mask he wears, but his true persona is that of a Kansas farmboy who had all of the benefits of a happy childhood. With regard to Batman, on the other hand, Bruce Wayne is a mask worn by Batman to hide HIS true alter ego, an avenging and driven force against evil. It is the Wayne mask that Batman chooses to treat so contemptuously, and in his heart of hearts, Bruce always asks himself whether his parents would approve.

But I digress. Although the origin story of Batman is well known, it has seldom been depicted in cartoons and motion pictures. The reasons for this are pretty obvious. I mean, Batman is considered a super hero, but his parents were murdered at gunpoint. What cartoon or movie aimed at children would allow such a traumatic and disturbing act to be shown on screen? Comics remained the only medium through which the story of the origin could be given the proper treatment. No where was this more apparent than upon the publication of the 4 issue “Batman: Year One”, a harsh and unyielding look at the birth of the Batman written by Frank Miller. Miller updated the origin and brought his trademark grittiness to the story. The story recounts the first year of Bruce Wayne’s crusade on crime and his battles against the corrupt Gotham police force. We learn of Bruce’s early failures as a street vigilante, for what hardened criminal would be frightened of a dude dressed in a black sweatshirt? The symbolism of the bat was rampant throughout the graphic novel, and the story marked a return to the gritty realism and noir-ish storytelling that had been a hallmark of the earliest Batman stories. Miller’s story, coming so soon on the heels of his visionary run on Marvel’s Daredevil comic with his story “Born Again” as well as Miller’s OTHER seminal Batman work, “The Dark Knight Returns,” secured Miller a place in the pantheon of great comic writers.

Yes, for a while, it seemed as if Batman was undergoing a renaissance. There was talk of a feature film, something that Warner Brothers had been trying to get off the ground for 8 years. Script after script was rejected until Sam Hamm, a young writer and a graduate of the University of Virginia, produced a screenplay that satisfied the powers-that-be at Warner Brothers. With Tim Burton tapped to direct and the late Anton Furst signed on as production designer (and, along with Bob Ringwood, costume designer), the film was destined to have a unique look. If one were to flash back to 1988, there was a dearth of superhero product in the multimedia marketplace. The only place to go for a superhero story was your local comic store. There were no cartoons (save for old reruns of “Superfriends” or “Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends”). There was no market for superhero films. CGI technology was in its infancy. The movie going marketplace was looking for something new, a franchise that would be a summer event film. Enter Tim Burton’s “Batman.”

Now, when “Batman” was released in the theaters, I had just graduated high school. I had a summer job managing a comics store 2 days a week and working in a clothing store 3 days a week. It was probably the best summer of my life. “Batman” was HUGE and a big movie in a summer full of big movies. Its opening weekend gross surpassed anything else up until that time. There was so much to see that summer. “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, “Parenthood”, “License to Kill”, “Lethal Weapon 2”, “Batman”…the hits just kept on coming. Batman, however, was the king that summer. I think that I saw it something like 10 times in the theater. I could not get enough. There was Danny Elfman’s music, Ringwood’s costume design that made skinny Michael Keaton look as if he had muscles, Anton Furst’s visionary image of Gotham. I loved it. I thought: “Superhero movies can’t get any better…” Now, recently, I had the opportunity to revisit the original “Batman.”

Umm…yikes. Where do I begin? Jack Nicholson’s performance, which was hailed as “visionary” at the time, now looks like the template for all of the overacting villains to follow. The “timeless” feel of the film called attention to itself as the schizophrenic sense of style was constantly shifting between the 1940s and the 1980s. Keaton was WAY OFF as Bruce Wayne. Music by Prince? Really? Prince? There was so much not to like about this film, and it was only going to get worse. “Batman Returns” started the death knell (except for the single bright spot of Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman), and Joel Schumacher and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (he of "Hancock" fame) killed the franchise with “Batman Forever” and “Batman and Robin”. Nipples on the batsuits? Really? Wow.

Out of all of the problems (and there were many) that were typified by these earlier films, none was more glaring to me than the issue of the origin of the Dark Knight. In Tim Burton’s “Batman,” a young Jack Napier, the man who would be the Joker, is seen as the murderer of Batman’s parents. Why? This was completely unnecessary and made for one of the more confusing parts of the film (“I made you, you made me first”). Huh? I always thought that one of the most resonant aspects of the origin was the fact that the Waynes were killed by a faceless “everyman” killer. It was not some sort of crazed weirdo; a thug with a gun killed the Waynes. The wholesale change to the origin of “Batman” was really jarring to me, a real fan. The other thing that the first film failed to do was offer any sort of origin for Batman. He just . . . was. There was no hint of motivation other than a pretty good scene (taken straight from the comics) of Bruce’s yearly visit to Crime Alley to visit the place where it all began. Other than that and the brief flash of Napier killing the Waynes, however, nothing was explained about the origins of Batman.

There was one sole bright spot in all of this. Warner Brothers Animation commissioned the creation of the visionary “Batman: the Animated Series”, a very mature and faithful adaptation of the Batman mythos. Other than that, however, at the time I feared that Batman would forever be remembered for Batnipples and Arnold Schwarzenegger intoning “Eye will kill you, BAHT-MUN!” *shudder*. Thankfully, however, I was wrong. Who knows? Without the debacle that was “Batman and Robin”, we might never have had the ultimate superhero masterpiece of “Batman Begins.” But that is a story for tomorrow, I think…