Erina Liddle
Bio
Undergraduate college student in New York.
Stories (1/0)
The Strange and Grim World of Batman's Psyche
Before 1986, Batman has been portrayed as a happy-go-lucky crime fighting hero. However, after 1986, Batman was revamped. In the newer, re-constructed version of Batman, he is given a broader range of emotions and depth. This idea of a grimmer, darker Batman, rose after Neal Adams left DC comics, thus having Dennis O’Neil step in and change the concept of Batman as a whole. “There Is No Hope in Crime Alley,” from Detective Comics #457 (March 1976) is an example, for the story, illustrated by Dick Giordano, showed a side of Batman no one had really experienced. It showed that Batman has a lingering and haunting memory of the street where his parents were murdered, and showed Batman’s obsession and psychological trauma that stayed with him all these years. In fact, Robert “Bob” Kane, the creator of Batman, wanted to paint Batman as a psychologically disturbed hero, thus, creating an alter ego for Bruce Wayne known as Batman. By the day, he is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy playboy who is the CEO of a wealthy enterprise; and by the night he is the masked vigilante. As Batman continued to help Gotham City, the mid 1980’s was a primetime for writers like Frank Miller to show Batman’s “darker side.” O’Neil even once said, “Look at Dracula, squint a bit, and you see the Batman,” hinting that Batman’s gothic and darker style somehow resembled that of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
By Erina Liddle6 years ago in Geeks