The Non-Fan's Perspective: BATMAN

May I present Entry Two of "The Non-Fan's Perspective." I've begun making use of Blogger's label system, so now we can click on the "non-fan's perspective" tag/label to access the previous entries.

Last entry was about Week 2: Superman. This one covers Week 3: Batman. I'll be doing the entries in chronological order, or at least I will until I start forgetting what order we read the assigned TPBs in.

The Batman trade the facilitators chose was YEAR ONE. I'd already read it a couple of years back, so I didn't bother re-reading for the course. From what I remember of it, it was quite good, with some impressive, impactful wording inside the narration boxes, but it also dragged somewhat towards the end. Maybe that had more to do with the mood I was in, though.

Anyway, opinions about the David Mazzucchelli artwork were very mixed among the class. Some thought it was terrific. That came as no surprise. Others absolutely hated it. That did come as a surprise. Yeah, I don't get it, either.

Paralleling the previous week, the class discussion wandered to whether Bruce Wayne or Batman is the real identity. I can't say it's a topic that holds much interest for me; it seems to be little more than an issue of semantics. Various students brought up the same few points that come up whenever this question hits Internet fandom.

One student, seemingly familiar with the Batman movies, asked whether it was the Joker or Ra's Al Ghul who was Batman's arch-nemesis. The facilitators responded that it really depends on who you ask, but I'm not sure I agree with that. Surely, it's the Joker?

Heh, if Ra's Al Ghul really was as prominent as the Joker, I'd probably be able to enjoy Batman stories a lot more. A centuries-old eco-terrorist who runs a group called the League of Assassins? That guy's just plain cool.

Another student asked the much more *interesting* question, "So I hear Batman knows how to use magic?" Still not sure what that was about.

Also discussed was whether or not Batman's a superhero. I have to say, this surprised me. I would have thought this was a question only fans would ever discuss, a topic restricted to people who can no longer see the forest for the trees. I mean... it's Batman. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, y'know? In my opinion a person claiming Batman's not a superhero is focused too much on the small details and not enough on the big picture, which is behavior in the domain of fans. I was really surprised that non-fans could see the cape, the skin-tight costume, the secret identity, the costume, the crimefighting, etc. without the word "superhero" immediately stamping itself into the brain.

That's that. The next TPB we read was GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD DAWN. And I'll be keeping to the intended roughly weekly schedule now.