Same Bat-time, Same Bat-channel...

I've gone on something of a nerdgasm over at my LA Examiner site, in response to the impending death of Batman. 

So far, I've got the following: Batman: dead?; It's Nerd Wednesday; and The Top 5 Batman Stories.* And I'm working on The Top 5 Greatest Batman Villains and The Top 5 Lamest Batman Villains. Suggestions welcome.

What can I say? They asked for posts about "Batman RIP," and well, I just can't resist an invite like that.

*There are some fanboys out there who will dispute this list for the very fact that two of Batman's best-selling and most popular stories aren't on here. Namely, Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore's The Killing Joke. Two books that were credited with reviving the character by two of the biggest names in comics.

And I'd argue neither of them is really about Batman.

Oh, Miller's work is closer, sure. But in the end, his Batman is bitter, vicious and just plain mean. He's more like a bully than a hero, and Batman isn't supposed to stand up for the bullies. He's supposed to stand up for the scrawny wimps out there, the people too scared or weak to stand up for themselves. Miller's contempt for comics and their fans was just starting to leak through his work then; DKR isn't anywhere near the hateful self-parody his All-Star Batman would become. Its dialogue alone makes it a freaking great read. But it had the unfortunate side effect of inspiring other authors to turn Batman into Dirty Harry, or worse, Wolverine -- a  psychopath with a costume fetish. Miller's Gotham is gritty, dystopic, and at times, hilarious. His Dark Knight is the right anti-hero for it. But it's not Batman as he should be. Rather, it's Batman as what he's forced to become.

Moore's The Killing Joke is much further off the mark. Moore, for all his talent, proves that writers who really get Superman don't understand Batman, and vice-versa. Moore's Superman stories are some of the best about the character -- they emphasize how far from us the Man of Steel is -- and how he embodies the best qualities of humanity anyway.

But Moore's Batman is much closer to the parody of Batman that starred in his own TV show in the '60s. He's a cop with a cape, a helpful officer of the law who shows up at crime scenes and is welcomed as one of the guys, utility belt and all.

The Killing Joke is really about the Joker, and how he came to be. But the Joker works best as a force of nature -- unsympathetic, amoral, and vicious. He's a feeding frenzy on two legs. (Exactly as Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger showed him in The Dark Knight, which is why the character was so fascinating, and so unstoppable.) Moore tries to make the Joker sympathetic and human, which leaves a sour taste, since he also had the Joker cripple Barbara Gordon (Batgirl). And, like Miller, he inspired legions of grim-and-gritty imitators, making comics anything but fun for years.