When they're not trying to untangle what goes on in his loins, self-appointed cultural analysts are attempting to figure out what makes Bruce Wayne tick. What's going on in that messed up head of his? His parents got murdered when he was very young, and he actually bore witness to their killing - that's ripe for everything from Freudian to Jungian psychobabble to be applied to. Then you take into account his later developments, choosing to spend his time with either children or his butler - who raised him since he was orphaned - whilst dressed in a big rubber suit that resembles a flying rodent? Man, this guy must be really crazy! This particular, unfortunate line of thinking was brought back up when Christian Bale was cast in the Batman role for the most recent film incarnation, with smart arses thinking they were really clever by drawing parallels between assumed nutball billionaire Bruce Wayne and Patrick Bateman, the avowed American Psycho whose wealth and social standing were a "mask" he wore so that he could get by in everyday life, without anybody realising that he was actually a sadistic serial killer with a thing for Huey Lewis And The News. We're going to stop you right there: Batman is not insane. He is insanely driven, that's true, but wouldn't you want to give yourself a purpose, to find something positive out of something totally horrific like, er, your mum and dad getting shot whilst you watched? Of course you would. That's healthy, if anything. As for all the accusations of loony behaviour pertaining to him putting on a funky costume to fight crime, we point you to literally every single other superhero in existence, then shrug and say "it's comic books." Don't read too much into it, guys.
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/
