Insi(de)ghts
Precisely because he has no super powers and precisely because he is human! In this short post, allow me to elaborate.
First, did you know that Batman was created in 1939 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger during the Golden Age of American comics? Me neither. In March 1939, he appeared in Detective Comics issue #27, a monthly American comic series focused on crime and mystery stories, featuring a short story titled The Case of the Chemical Syndicate.
The story tells of a wealthy industrialist, Lambert, who is found dead in his home. Commissioner Gordon investigates, suspecting murder. He receives help from the shadows by… Batman.
What is intriguing is that the birth of Batman has no origin story. He simply appears in issue #27—brutal and pragmatic, unlike Superman.
Open the parenthesis.
I draw a parallel between the birth of Batman and Carl Jung (1875–1961), the father of the concept of the Shadow. I wonder whether Batman is, consciously or not, related to Jung’s psychological theories and the evolution of depth psychology.
Close the parenthesis.
A year after issue #27, Batman gets a standalone comic series, which introduces the Joker and Catwoman. Robin is introduced later to attract a younger audience, and that is when Batman changes.
Isn’t it interesting how youth—and the responsibility that comes with it—suddenly turns Batman into a more ethical superhero? See, compelling huh?
But let’s go back to our main question.
While most superheroes possess unreal superpowers, Batman relies on technology to chase villains—and on the mind of Alfred, who is never treated as a servant but as a collaborator. Batman considers Alfred part of his family and shares both his successes and failures with him.
It is precisely Alfred who prevents Batman’s ego from growing so large that he forgets he is human—that he makes mistakes and that, no matter how much money Bruce Wayne has, he cannot do it alone.
Alfred is Batman’s moral anchor. Yet, in the entire history of Batman/Bruce Wayne, it is somewhat disappointing that he has apologized to Alfred only once. According to ChatGPT, this happens explicitly only in Batman (Vol. 2) #28 (2014). In later films, apologies exist, but they are never explicit.
Correct ChatGPT, if you can.