The Caped Crusader doesn't half have to contend with a lot of flack. If we were him, we would have long given up trying to protect the ungrateful sods of Gotham City, since even after seventy five years of diligent service as a vigilante crime fighter he's treated with distrust or even outright fear by the lion's share of his city, and the majority of the police force in particular. Hasn't he done enough to prove that he's okay by now? Even on the international or cosmic scale, he gets shunted aside in favour of his squeaky clean Justice League team mate Superman. What did he ever do to deserve this? Well, there's all those accusations of sexual impropriety that have been hounding for years. And they're not totally made of whole cloth, as those scores of suspect (and usually out-of-context) panels from early Batman comics where he and underage ward Robin share a bed, compare thongs and discuss strenuous physical activity suggest more than a little about the Dynamic Duo's extracurricular activities. This was even the subject of a whole book, Fredric Wertham's Seduction Of The Innocent, which suggested the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson was brainwashing the nation's youth. Obviously, that's a load of baloney, even if it does still get trotted out by pseudo-intellectuals who think they've made a radical discovery that will blow your tiny bourgeoisie mind. Batman is not a pervert. We're not protesting too much by writing a whole page about it either; think about it logically. Why, in the thirties especially, would a major publisher put out a comic about a pederast and his victim? Why would he become the biggest superhero in the world? Eh? Cos he's not a pervert. He doesn't even wear his pants over his trousers any more. So stop it.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
