Regular readers will know that I'm a fan of superheroes . . . and Batman is my favorite. It's high time he get his own page here. This collects everything I've posted on Batman- from movies to television to graphic novels to reflections.
As a boy, Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered in front of him, rocking his world and leading him to a lifelong pursuit of justice. Inheriting the family fortune, Bruce trained for years in various fields before donning the cape and cowl to become Batman. He lives with the faithful family butler, Alfred, in his mansion overlooking Gotham City. He has fought many villains over the years, leading to an impressive rogue's gallery led by his nemesis, the Joker.
Live-Action Movies
In the Eighties and Nineties, Batman enjoyed initial success in theaters with two gritty releases before nosediving when the series took a campy turn with Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. The "Dark Knight" is at his best, it seems, when he lives up to that moniker.
DC rebooted the franchise with 2005's Batman Begins, kicking off the 'Christopher Nolan trilogy.' These three films rank among my all-time favorites (in any genre).
The Dark Knight Rises (and my initial thoughts before seeing the film)
An indepent tale, 2019's Joker is chilling.
Another reboot incorporated other DC heroes into the 'Snyderverse,' so named for director Zack Snyder and his vision. Here, Ben Affleck starred as the Caped Crusader in his older years.
Batman vs. Superman (and the Ultimate Edition)
The most recent reboot, starring Robert Pattinson, is solid:
Animated Television & Movies
Batman: The Animated Series remains a classic and one of my favorites. There have been a ton of others, both animated and live action. The focus here is animated, and note that many of these are adaptations of graphic novels.
Graphic Novels
Batman comics started in . . . 1934, per Google. I've read a fair share of graphic novels (each of which collect several related issues of comics). Here's my list:
The Dark Knight Rises (a novel adaptation of the film)
Elseworlds tales take Batman and other familiar characters and put them in different historical periods- 1920's Prohibition America, 1880's London when Jack the Ripper was active, etc.
Games
Batman features more in video games than tabletop; still, there are some good offerings here.
Vs. System TCG (featuring Marvel & DC heroes)
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