One of our twelve problems that superhero comics never address, it applies doubly to Bruce Wayne. So Batman's whole MO is based on the horrific psychological trauma he suffered as a result of seeing his parents murdered before his eyes by a petty criminal, right? And part of the reason he fights crime as a grown up is as a way of working through the inevitable issues he has because of that, yeah? Well then how come he never just...got a therapist? He's rich as balls, so he could certainly afford it. In fact he could probably get one of the best therapists around. Yet he chose to dress up as a rodent and punch poor people. Weird.
27. Rank Your Favourite Robins
Not that Bruce Wayne is the only maladjusted orphans to hang around in the Bat Cave. There's also the succession of Robins he's recruited over the years, from OG acrobat Dick Grayson to unloved street urchin Jason Todd to the five seconds Stephanie Brown broke new ground as the first female sidekick to the Dark Knight (before promptly being killed off). Which is your favourite? Is it new kid Damian, son of the Bat? Is it Tim Drake, now saddled with the awful title Red Robin and suitably terrible costume and place on the Teen Titans?
26. And Figure Out The Mystery Of Robin Rises
If you chose Damian, well, erm, sorry. Great though the character was - the bloodthirsty, arrogant son of Bruce Wayne providing a thoroughly different dynamic than Batman's had with any of his former sidekicks (especially considering for a while the role of Batman was played by Dick Grayson) - he sadly got killed off at the end of Grant Morrison's run. Clearly DC saw this as a waste, however, since they're teasing his return in the current Robin Rises crossover event. What the what? We don't know. The first part of the event, Robin Rises: Omega #1, just came out. Buy it and figure it out for yourself!
25. Visit The Elseworlds
Some of the best Batman stories, weirdly, aren't actually about Batman. Well, they are, just not the Batman you know and love. DC have been long time purveyors of alternate reality tales they call Elseworlds, which have given us everything from Bruce Wayne as lord of the vampire (Batman & Dracula: Red Rain), as a guy hunting Jack The Ripper in 1889 Gotham (Gotham By Gaslight), and PIRATE BATMAN (Leatherwing). They're a bunch of fun, and some include work by the industry's most exciting creators, including Hellboy's Mike Mignola and American Flagg's Howard Chaykin.
24. Get Hyped For Gotham
Back here on Earth Prime, we're busy getting pumped for the forthcoming Batman TV show, which isn't really a Batman TV show, or maybe it is actually a Batman TV show we can't decide. Whatever the case, everything we've seen about Fox's Gotham has been pretty exciting so far. A prequel series that starts on the day Bruce Wayne's parents are killed, it'll actually focus on the rise of a young James Gordon through the ranks of the city's police department, with early appearances by the likes of The Penguin and Poison Ivy pre-supervillainary. Which is a word. Rewatch all the trailers and read all the interviews and get pumped too!
23. Be Tentatively Excited For Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice
Meanwhile we're a little more cautiously optimistic about the Dark Knight's next proper appearance on the big screen. Responses to Zack Snyder's first Superman movie, Man Of Steel, were decidedly mixed, so we're approaching the follow up with more than a little trepidation. Still, the controversy over Ben Affleck's casting as Batman seemed to overlook the fact that he's a ruddy good actor in the right hands, and hints this film may lead into a Justice League movie are pretty cool. Why not get involved with the time honoured tradition of thinking way too much about and pre-emptively judging a film a good year before it comes out?
22. And Guess What'll Happen In It
If you want to be marginally more productive with your Batman V Superman talk - marginally, we said - then you could speculate wildly on what exactly is going to happen in the film. Exactly how much will it be inspired by Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns? Why are they fighting? How exactly do Cyborg, Wonder Woman and Aquaman get involved? Why did they opt to use "V.", mainly used in titling legal cases, rather than "versus" or "vs"? There's a lot to chew over here, friends.
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/
