Batman

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Batman
The Batman is the most pervasive comic book hero of the modern era. At any given time, he has 2 to 3 solo comics, and 2 to 3 more team comic feature him as part of a team. Add to that the fact that he gets a movie release every few years without fail, and he has had at least one tv series running in almost every year since the 1960s, and it quickly becomes evident that Batman is stalking the real people almost as much as the scum of Gotham City. Why is he so popular? How has he lasted so long without boring everyone? Batman is a mainstay because he is what we all want to be. The core of his character is focused on intense personal pain. Every person can sympathize with that. The thing that makes Batman a superhero and not just a guy is that he has taken his emotional pain and done everything in his power to fix it. When his parents were gunned down before him, he may have gone a little crazy like anyone else would, but he didn't curl up in a ball and quit like a normal person. He honed himself to peak mental and physical shape and became an avatar of justice (or revenge). In many ways, he gave up his humanity for an ideal, and while that is a thing that scares humanity, it is also an act of nobility that has held society awestruck for 70 years and counting.

Branding and Nostalgia
There is a somewhat less idealistic reason for Batman's longevity. Comic book characters are very much like any other name brand product. They develop a look and a story that is easily identifiable, and they work very hard to appear as the best product in their niche. The Batman is an original hero dating all the way back to 1939. He was one of the first products in his market. Batman comics have maintained a consistent quality along with an easily identifiable character. In addition to these basic tenants of good sales, his age is useful. Society loves nostalgia, and at least 3 generations of Americans know and love Batman. There aren't many topics that a grandson, a father, and a grandfather all enjoy and are all knowledgable about.

Literary Quality
Comic books are not often viewed as classic literature. Batman, especially in the context of his battles with The Joker, is an exception to this rule. Batman is defined purely by his past. The Joker is defined purely by his lack of history. They are exact opposites, but they are also a hair's breadth away from being exactly the same. All Batman has to do is kill the Joker to be exactly like The Joker. The only thing that makes The Joker a madman is Batman's presence. The two men are so closely tied together that they would fail as a stand-alone character without the occasional presence of the other. Batman and The Joker are arguably the two most perfect literary foils in the history of writing. Obviously no duo has such an honor won outright, but the fact that these two comic characters can even contend speaks volumes for the medium as a whole. thumb|px|right

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