Batman and Robin #17: The PTSD Issue. Updated!

 

Issue number 17 of Batman and Robin, written by Peter J. Tomasi, gives us a unique insight into the psyche of the Caped Crusader his sidekick Robin and his trusty man servant Alfred.  The issue is entitled "Nightmare City" and it is not just a look at the immediate aftermath of a night's work for the dynamic duo but an examination of the trauma caused by that night's work and more importantly the toll taken by Batman's victory over the Joker from the "Death of the Family" series.

The events of this issue happen just before the events of Batman Incorporated #8 where the Damien Wayne Robin dies.  My look at the ramifications and import of this issue comes a little out of order with the death of Robin but this particular issue sheds significant light on the mindset of Batman and his team just before the entire Batman universe is turned upside down by Damien's death.

As I said before, Tomasi entitles this issue, "Nightmare City" he could really called it the "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" issue as that is what it specifically deals with.  This issue not only comes at time of deep turmoil within the Batman family but it holds up a mirror to our society in general as the men and women of our armed forces are returning home from war.

Here's how the U.S. National Library of Medicine defines PTSD, "PTSD is a potentially debilitating anxiety disorder triggered by exposure to a traumatic experience such as an interpersonal event like physical or sexual assault, exposure to disaster or accidents, combat or witnessing a traumatic event. There are three main clusters of symptoms: firstly, those related to re‐experiencing the event; secondly, those related to avoidance and arousal; and thirdly, the distress and impairment caused by the first two symptom clusters."

Tomasi and his artists, Gleason, Gray and Kalisz, give the Batman readership a valuable lesson in what our fighting men and women are coping with as they return home not to mention the thousand of ordinary citizens that are inflicted with this painful disorder.

Before I get into the real life issues that PTSD represent let's take a look at Tomasi's version as depicted in the of a Batman comic.

 

Batman and Robin return to the Batcave after a long night of patrol.  Their routine takes them through their normal "winding down" period where they are greeted by Alfred, fed and strip themselves of the crime fighting persona's in the form of their costumes.

 

 Our three principles head off to a night's sleep employing a simple strategy to calm the nerves of the day.  Batman by looking at a bedside picture to remind him of his life's motivation (no doubt a picture of his family), Alfred with a cup of tea and Damien some music as a boy of his age is want to do. 

Damien's dream state immediately takes him to place where he is seemingly safe aboard a submarine while the turmoil of the forbidding ocean roils just outside replete with images of those both loved and hated.  He meets with a mirror image of his self wherein he struggles to work out the duality of his life and it often threatens to tear him apart.

His subconscious reverie is rudely interrupted when the image of a drowning Alfred swirls before him.  Why Alfred and not his Father? Alfred represents a rock of stability to Damien.  Someone to come home to and provide him with the nurture and safety his young mind sorely needs.  To see this endangered beyond Robin's reach is the trauma his conscious mind can't hope to deal with.  His father on the other hand represents everything that is wrong with Damien's world as we'll see in the next panel.

Damien's mind releases him from the shock seeing Alfred in danger but sends him to the other pole of his broken psyche where his father's influence dwells.  Here Damien is faced with the brutal image of his father being fed off of the inspiration that had led him on the path of darkness and revenge.  A giant horrific bat embodies this trauma, the very thing that led Batman down the path of crime fighting also threatens to suck all that is good out of him and with him Damien also.  Again, another duality that threatens to divide Damien into pieces.

As for Alfred, his nightmare includes him looking from a helpless distance as the Joker destroys the family he has charged himself with protecting from their own worst fears as he provides them with a sounding board to release their inner demons, provide them with sustenance and balm the wounds both internal and external.  To be apart from this family is Alfred's worst fear.

Unlike Damien, Alfred's subconscious provides him with an outlet that resolves his internal conflict with the neat and tidy solution of blowing the Joker's head off.

Despite the obvious pain this act causes Alfred, enough to wake him up and reflect on his subconscious actions, this resolution actually calms Alfred's tattered psyche and he is at peace with his mind's solution as evidenced by the slight smile as he drifts off to a now peaceful sleep.

Batman's internal struggles takes him to familiar territory.  That of the loss of his parents as a young boy.  His dead parents still speak to him and his life is represented by the fragility of a paper boat.

It's not long before that fragility is tested and Batman finds the two things that tethered him to his innocent past are pulled away from him and he is helpless to see them disappear into his life's work personified by the Bat symbol.

The only thing that tethers Batman to his sanity is the thought of his son, his biological son, reaching out to him and tangibly representing the family that he now knows, loves and embraces.

 

While Batman has set his life work on avenging the loss of his parents and dedicating his future to the salvation of others, his true salvation comes in the form of Damien.   Now Batman takes the role of parent helping him heal the psychological trauma of losing his own parents and being there for Damien.  Bruce can come to terms with his internal struggle by balancing his work with that of fatherhood.  While this doesn't exactly solve Damiens problems, it does help Bruce by giving him someone to share his problems with and while Batman/Bruce is aware he's putting Damien in harms way it is better than going it alone and falling into the abyss that is comfortless isolation.

Our story ends in a dream.  Bruce and Damien, Batman and Robin, sit atop their Gothic mansion together in their shared state of anxiety.  Even though it isn't real this subconscious realm provides safe harbor for father and son because is something that they pursue together in the real world.  Despite the obvious dangers of their vocation they are not alone as long as they have each other to lean on.  This doesn't solve their inner turmoil but at least it keeps them going to face the dawn of another day.

This is made all the more distressing by the events of Batman Incorporated 8 and the loss of Damien.

To turn the page from fiction to reality we get the stark reality of Chris Kyle and his shocking death.  Kyle, the so called, "Devil of Ramadi" was a veteran of the Iraq war and dedicated his life to helping those that returned from armed conflict.  Sadly and ironically he died at the hands of a fellow veteran he had sought to help through what the thought was the healing force of handling a gun and the power of wielding one peacefully.  Unfortunately, this didn't extend to his last subject as his weapon was turned against Kyle ending his life.  Please read this excellent story by Time magazine into this tragic tale.

We can all help our brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers as they return from war such as giving to efforts as PTSD Survivors of America and Pets for Vets. 

*Update*
Here are two more charitable groups that deserve our support the first of which is Team Rubicon that does so much to rebuild area hit so hard by natural disasters.  The second is Team Red, White and Blue where group therapy provides the boost our returning veterans need.

As fans of Batman we owe a debt of gratitude to DC Comics and the creative team of Peter Tomasi and company for exposing the dangers of PTSD.  If you know of someone that needs help reach out to them immediately and start them on the road to recovery.

Be a real life hero.  It's what Batman would do.

The Death of Robin

As many of you Bat fans know there was a seismic event in the pages of the Batman comics this past week.  That event was the death of the Damien Wayne Robin.  I had planned to write a few blog posts before this but with the reverberations of this tumultuous event still being felt everywhere across the Dark Knight universe so I thought I must comment on this event right away.

Many of the readers of Batman comics are also aware of the resolution of the "Death of the Family" story arc.  Perhaps "resolution" isn't the right word as The Joker remains at large and although Batman defeated the nefarious plans of the Joker the wounds suffered by the Batman family still are very raw and remain unreconciled.  These events stand far more important now.

The character of Damien Wayne had many detractors.  Some just couldn't bear to watch his puerile behavior and others thought him a drag on the main character of Batman.  After a fashion it became a sport to moan and groan about Damien and laugh off his contributions to the Batman universe.

I'd like to think that Damien revealed a different side to the Batman character.  Batman is infamous for relying on no one but him self.  Batman has a very dark side that is integral to his make up and how he is portrayed as a character.  Adding a real life biological son instead of a ward or partner, such as the Dick Grayson Robin, plumbed the depths of Batman's lone wolf psyche.

That psyche,already damaged from the death of Batman's parents, will be torn further asunder now that Damien has passed.

So let's take a closer look at the final moments of Damien's life.  If we take a look at the panel above taken from Batman Incorporated #8 we see Damien being run through with a sword by his "brother" The Heretic.  You'll note there was no detail given to Damien's face as he drew his final breath.  I'm not sure if the artist responsible for this panel was Chris Burnham or Jason Masters although I believe it was Masters.  But I think the lack of detail was to spare the readers the anguish of seeing a ten year old murdered.  Damien was many things, many them difficult, but he was still just a boy and seeing one die is never an easy thing.

Maybe Masters wanted to present a "masque of death" to us to accentuate the finality of this barbaric act.  Two eyes as golden embers before the light was extinguished from them.  The black visage as something cold and distant without the personality you either loved or hated.  I know as a reader I found Damien's final moments very difficult to bear witness to.

If the final moment of Damiens life was difficult enough to watch, the single page collection of panels that preceded it was even more painful.  Here we find Damien as everything we knew about him.  His feisty combativeness.  His arrogance and his stubborn courage and, yes, his tender age as he pleaded with his mother for all of this to end.

Seeing Damien throw a kick and yell, "Ha!" was of typical of him.   Spitting in the face of certain defeat was also commonplace.  Watching him yell, "Ow" as he was pierced by arrows was challenging to say the least and when he yelped, "NNAOW!" as bullets rained down upon him it was sobering and shocking.

Still, Damien called out his foes as "cowards" with his last gasp, staying true to the warrior we knew him as.  Hearing him command his mother in a whisper for the assault to stop was barely manageable by this reader.  It was sad and poignant.  For all the problems Damien had with his father, he eventually grew closer to him rather than his mother and the League of Assassins that were his forebears.

So what does this mean for Batman?

As the lifeless body of Damien Wayne lays cradled in his father's arms (see the illustration at the top) just below that heartbreaking tableau are a series of boxes that depict the anguished face of Batman as they descend into darkness from right to left.  I don't think this "descent" is just a clever device.  Not only does it represent the last thing Damien sees, it is revelatory of things to come.  Can Batman get any darker?  Will rage force Batman to cross that thin line of morality he set up for him self after his parents died?  Or will Batman fall to a place we haven't seen before and be consumed by the despondency of losing his own child.  Is Batman's spirit strong enough to overcome this tragedy?  If he retreats into sorrow will the already damaged members of his family from the "Death of a Family" storyline be able to tow the line or will they be consumed as well?

 

 Many readers of the Batman comics may be happy to see Damien go.  That is, if he is truly dead, in the comics anything is possible.  But I will mourn his passing as a character.  He certainly knew how to stir up trouble with his fellow and former Robins, constantly testing their patience and skills.  He also tested Batman and added a facet to his personality we don't often get to see.  I'll let the last page of panels taken from Batman #17 speak for themselves.

 My next blog post may seem a little out of order considering the events of Batman Inc. #8 but I believe the events that took place in Batman #17 are nearly as important and perhaps more so.  So, next up, Batman and post traumatic stress disorder.  See you then.

New Bat Art GIF Style!

I often try to give a plug to aspiring Bat artists out there and here is one that is worthy your attention.  There is a tumblr page called Made By AVBH which you can check out by using the link.  The above GIF is from the cover of Batman #17 which wraps up the "Death of the Family" saga featuring the return of the Joker.

It's a great piece of art by Greg Capullo, the original artist, and it is given startling life by AVBH. The issue itself is a bit of a disappointment as was the entire series.  It was certainly no match for the "Court of the Owls" series than ran previous to it.  If you want to read a great Batman comic please see "Batman and Robin #17" as that issues deals with the perils and tragedy of PTSD and I will be definitely blogging on that book.

I'm going to also blog on the "Face of the Joker" given by the various artists connected with the Death of the Family series.  I thought it interesting the different takes that each of the contributing artists gave to the Joker and how they used their art to reveal the madness that is the Joker.  Look forward to that series soon.

Below are a couple more of "AVBH's" creations and they are some of my favorites.  Don't forget to check out the tumblr page!

Who Is The Earth 2 Batman?

DC comics recently announced that the Earth 2 annual will hit the stands on May 29th.  The biggest reveal about ts announcement is that a new Batman will enter that universe!  Anyone that has been reading the "Earth 2" comic knows that Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman of that world, died when the saved that planet from destruction  The issue will be written James Robinson and the art will be provided by Yildiray Cinar, Cafu and Julius Gopez. (Earth 2 is an alternate universe or reality concept that DC publishes to bring fresh perspective to their heroes.)

So who will Robinson choose to follow in the footsteps of that world's original Batman?  Even money is on Dick Grayson but the above illustration is decidedly dark in tone.  So does that mean that world also had a Damien that we didn't know about?

My money would be on the Jason Todd of that planet.  Why?  Well, *spoiler alert* thanks to the recent solicit for "Red Hood and the Outlaws" due February 20th, if one Jason Todd dies in this universe then wouldn't it be fitting to resurrect that character in the Earth 2 universe? 

Below is the cover to "Red Hood and the Outlaws #17.

DC loves the concept of Jason Todd and they may be more in love with the idea of killing him off which has been done several times.  Hopefully if the Earth 2 version turns out to be Jason Todd he'll get a little longer shelf life to further explore his character.  He is usually characterized as harder edged with a propensity for breaking the rules.  Maybe the Earth 2 version will be a nice guy.  But I doubt it and I doubt he will be allowed live past a whole year.

Goodbye in advance Earth 2 Jason Todd, we hardly knew ye.

Soviet Style Robins? The Iconic Batman Art of the New 52 #9

In this entry of the Iconic Batman we'll examine an image taken from Batman and Robin #12.  It depicts the various Robins as they stand in awe of the heroic actions of their mentor, Batman.  The Caped Crusader has just rocketed off to intercept a missle launched by the evil doer, Terminus.

What I find fascinating is the posture held by all the Robins.  They are all in profile as they gaze off into the sky.  (In the foreground is the current Robin, Damien Wayne; followed by the Tim Drake "Red Robin"; Jason Todd as "Red Hood" and finally by Dick Grayson, the original Robin, as "Nightwing".)  Their profiles betray the inspiration they are getting from Batman's heroic act and they are joined as one as former and current students of the maestro. 

So, how do they all fit in as "Soviet style"?

The use of the profile is a long held device of the Communist propaganda machines.  The subjects eyes aren't fixed on the viewer but off into the unseen distance as if they are looking far into the future of brighter and better world.  The subjects are always standing together because they are of single purpose and share a common belief.

The profile posture is also used to convey inclusiveness.  In the above North Vietnamese wartime poster a smiling "Uncle Ho" looks beneficently down his female charges.  All are equal in the war effort and all have a role to play for the greater good of the party and society.  In the "Robin" panel above all are equal in the eyes of Batman as they share a common bond to defeat evil.  The "Robins" aren't always on the same page and often there are jealousies involved.  But not when they are bonded by a single cause as inspired by Batman.

 

There is often a certain dynamic of motion displayed in these propaganda posters.  In the above World War 2 Soviet era poster the soldiers in the foreground move to the front with grim yet determined purpose.  Their weapons are at the ready as the tanks spew fire.  Hovering above them are the ghosts of their forebears, generations of which march alongside them  The message here is that the Soviet soldier of the day fights for the cause just as their ancestors did.

While there is practically no motion in the Robin panel, aside from the urgency of the fist wrapped in the cape of Damien Wayne in the foreground, we still get a sense of generations fighting for the same cause.  Dick Grayson as Nightwing stands tallest amongst the Robins and they follow in size and experience in descending order before him.

Batman is an inspirational figure and the Robins stand at rapt attention.  I would find it hard to believe that Batman or his alter ego, Bruce Wayne, would embrace any aspect of the Communist ideal or the Soviet system.  But he knows heroism when he sees it and it is reflected in the eyes of the young men he often leads into battle.  As for Dick, Jason, Tim and Damien they not only gaze upon the man that is their inspiration but the father figure that has lifted them up to behold a brighter future.

The Return of "Robin"

Remember all the buzz after "The Dark Knight Rises" when Batman "retires" and bequeaths the mantle of the Bat to the character of John Blake and we all wondered aloud, "Is Joseph Gordon Levitt going to be the next Batman?"

OK, it wasn't just "wonder" it was a frenzy of speculation as Bat fans in general were starved for more now that their beloved franchise had come to an end.  In the movie we learn that Blake's real name is Robin and if you follow the comics, we all know that the Dick Grayson Robin takes on the role of the Batman as Bruce Wayne is indisposed for various reasons and for more than once.

It seems only fitting that a Robin should take over for Batman in the movie franchise world and the movie was fairly explicit towards this conclusion at it's end.  Levitt was besieged with media inquires as to this possibility which he deftly deflected with good humor but little information.

Now we have this stunning announcement via Hitfix.com that Gordon-Levitt not only will appear in the Justice League movie as Batman but quite possibly in a cameo in next summer's Superman movie!  (Read more of that announcement here.)    There has been no formal announcement but the tea leave read very well.

The "announcement" when on to say that one of Gordon-Levitt's co-stars from "TDKR" might join him for the JL movie.  This piqued my interest and my mind began to race as to who this might be.

One obvious contender would be Michael Caine as Alfred.  Caine could reprise his role as the "semi-retired" man servant who feels he needs to shepherd the neophyte super hero in his new role of Gotham's protector.  There's nothing like an ill considered leap from building to building resulting in a nasty face plant for Alfred to take pity on the new Caped Crusader.

However, my money is on Juno Temple.  She played "Jen" in "TDKR" and she could easily slide into the same role in any Batman related flick.  Jen was the sidekick to Selina Kyle and as Selina was never identified as Catwoman, Jen was never called, "Catgirl" but, again, if you follow the comics, Catgirl is the companion to Catwoman and it seemed pretty obvious the same role was reprised in "The Dark Knight Rises". 

Catgirl could be a constant thorn in any future Batman movies or she could be an ally much as Selina was to Batman.  Or, she could be both.  Juno is a woman in much demand.  Check out her IMDB page to see how crazy busy she is. 

If you really want to go a little crazy with this speculation, you could have Temple take on the role of Catgirl from Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" stories and she could even play the Carrie Kelly Robin.  Of course this would mean the return of Christian Bale as Batman ala The Dark Knight Returns.  Bale would return as the aged Batman Juno Temple would be his Robin.

Be still my Bat-cave heart, wouldn't that be amazing.

Of course, it didn't take long for representatives of the movie franchises and presumably Gordon Levitt to deny all these announcements and speculation.  As Germain Lussier of SlashFilm noted, they always say that.  In fact they were denying speculation as to Gordon Levitt's role in "The Dark Knight Rises" right up until the end.

*Update*

I should note the Angie Han of Slashfilm has also done an excellent job of following this story.  Follow the link to check out her work.

We'll see what the future holds, but as of now the rumor mill is in high gear!

Art of the New 52: The Iconic Batman #8

In this ongoing series I've attempted to look at the story behind the pictures.  Not just the narrative itself but the symbolism behind the imagery.  What does the art suggest?  Is it metaphorical or analogous to something? How does it make, we, the readers, feel?

For this particular post I'll be looking at the artwork of David Finch from the book, "Batman- The Dark Knight #12."   The story of this issue was written by Greg Hurwitz with colors provided by Sonia Oback.

The first panel I would like to discuss is one where Batman is being held captive by the Scarecrow.  As always, the Scarecrow seeks not to physically harm Batman but to mentally torture him instead.  In the scene above, the Scarecrow has already sprayed Batman with one of his hallucinogenic toxins.  For some context I can tell you this particular story exposes not only the guilt of Batman's past over the loss of his parents but sheds light on the childhood of the Scarecrow aka, Dr. Jonathan Crane.

What's fascinating about the above image is, now that Batman is under the thrall of the toxin he can see the shadows of his deceased parents cast by the Scarecrow.  This is a very clever device by Finch.  Batman's psyche goes immediately to the death of his parents and the person who induced this memory casts the forlorn shadows just prior to their murder.  Note the residue of the toxin that hit the floor now doubles as the blood they spilled and it chillingly outlines their fallen forms.  One could also say this bears a resemblance to a crime scene outline.

Sadder still the shadows hold each other hand in hand just like they did the night the young Bruce Wayne last saw them alive.  No doubt it was the last happy memory of the both of them and his mother still wears the pearls she did that evening in this ghostly silhouette.

The loss of Batman's parents is one memory that will haunt him forever.  It also serves as the basis of his crime fighting career.  Dr. Crane seeks to use this terrible memory against Batman and as the form that casts the shadows he becomes the embodiment of that crime as if he owns the crime and can use this power to crush the Batman.

In our next image we see a reflection of a different sort.  Instead of a shadow casting a pall over the psyche of Batman, we see an actual mirror into the mind of the young Bruce Wayne.  Here, Bruce is humbled in his sadness and is brought to his knees by the pain of it all.  He looks quite alone and fragile and even though as he looks into the over sized mirror he sees not his true reflection but that of the horrid night his parents left him utterly alone.  The glass doesn't lie.  Young Bruce sees who he really is and it is the anguished orphan that will forever define him.

Finch sets this scene in a corner also.  It suggests there is no escape from this memory.  As I said, the mirror is over-sized as if everything that defines Bruce is larger than he is and the fact that it sits on the floor and not on the wall suggests a certain chaos has enveloped his home.  Loving parents would naturally put everything in it's place.

In our last frame we see the boy Bruce Wayne attending his parents funeral mass.  What's impressive about this tableau is the scale it provides.  We don't often get to see Batman's childhood memories and certainly not the ones of the immediate aftermath of his parents death.  I think what Finch is trying to tell us here is that Bruce is so small compared to the enormity of his loss.  The walls of the cathedral tower over him and the mourners that populate the pews are set apart and distant from young Bruce.  Even the coffins that are set before him are on a higher plane and separate from him. In this frame Bruce has been rendered diminutive, inadequate and inconsequential.

It's a heavy burden to lose one's parents.  The images afforded us here by David Finch shows how paltry we can become when faced by the grand scale of loss.  Not only for the next day but for all the days to come.  As readers of Batman I think we all know how the story turns out.  Batman will survive this loss and instead of turning inward he strikes outward to avenge his parents and in turn brings justice to all.  A bitter lesson to be sure but, as our hero, his strength and courage gives us the conviction and determination to go on.



Next up, Soviet style Robins?