Superhero Musings

So with the epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s the Dark Knight trilogy last summer coupled with the rebirth of Superman this summer in the origin story of Man of Steel, I have been thinking about superheroes a lot over the past few months. Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated by superheroes; maybe it appealed to my boyhood imagination or possibly it was the testosterone fuelled action sequences or even the innate sense of justice or morality we all have deep within our subconscious. Whatever triggered my love of superheroes and comic books they have remained a part of me ever since.

Now I am a huge DC fan, Marvel has its moments but I find DC characters far more compelling and the stories far more satisfying. I want to talk about two of my favourite all time superheroes: Batman and Superman, two characters that are the complete antithesis of one another but also epitomise what superheroes are.

Batman is my all-time favourite superhero. Batman, otherwise known as the Dark Knight is a complex individual but at one and the same time accessible and relatable. As a man with no superpowers he is the antithesis of Superman, whose very name suggests someone extraordinary and super-human. However, Batman’s strength lies exactly in his humanity. Batman is the archetypal human in many ways: intelligent, rational – yet with great emotional depth – a physical specimen of a man who is strong, athletic and agile, tenacious, successful and accomplished, stoical and yet practical; a natural born leader. But notwithstanding all of these amazing attributes he is also vulnerable, a man who has suffered pain and loss, an orphan whose eyes were opened to the harsh realities and evil within society from a very young age; his upbringing thus an oxymoron of privilege and loss. It is this juxtaposition, the son and heir of the Wayne billion dollar empire who despite inheriting such enormous wealth and status did so at the cost of losing his parents to a desperate gunman, having to come to terms with a life without the love and support of his family and effectively being adopted by the family Butler Alfred Pennyworth that makes Batman both someone to aspire to and someone to pity.

Batman is a character with tremendous emotional depth and an innate sense of and passion for justice. Batman is a character who can honestly and sincerely empathise with other victims of crime and the less fortunate and vulnerable in society. One of the most fascinating aspects of Bruce Wayne/Batman’s character is the irony that his alter-ego of Batman is a symbol of fear and justice born from Bruce Wayne’s very own phobia. As a child Bruce Wayne developed a paralysing phobia of bats. Bats haunted Bruce’s dreams as his parents’ murders were the subject of his nightmares. There was created a connection between his fear and his tragedy; a fear that would eventually evolve into his source of strength and become the inspiration for the very armour he would wear to protect both his body and his identity. Batman the hero is a symbol designed to strike fear into those who prey on the fearful. As such Batman is also a symbol of victory over one’s fear.

Another of Batman’s myriad qualities and virtues is his razor sharp intelligence. Batman is first and foremost a detective before he is a warrior. Many of Batman’s villains such as the Riddler, the Joker, the Court of Owls and Hush wage not just a physical war with the Dark Knight but a psychological one as well. Batman stories are replete with elements of detection, the science of deduction, the science of forensic examination and criminology thus making for intellectual as well as visceral gratification. Batman is an analyst, a detective and a strategist. His gadgets and technologies are always extensions of his penetrating intellect and mind and always serve him as tools in his investigation, unlike in James Bond where gadgetry takes on a more superficial role of gimmickry.

Batman’s intellectual prowess is matched superbly by his physical superiority. Batman endures much pain and suffering in his duels with evil and his physical conditioning is a vital part to his success. Batman is a master in the martial arts, athletic, tough and with great cardiovascular and isometric strength. Batman’s sagas are often violent and bloody and his body is literally scarred from his altercations and wars with evil.

Perhaps my favourite aspect of Batman is the fact that despite his superhero allies and friends such as Commissioner Gordon and Alfred, Batman is a lone wolf. Batman is fiercely independent and guards his relationships very carefully, keeping practically everyone at arm’s length. Batman isn’t afraid to dwell in the shadows and enter into the viper’s nest. Batman’s psychological resilience to insanity and his fierce sense of morality that protects him from the temptation of evil are the result of the personal responsibility he feels to pursue justice and fight crime. Batman doesn’t look to another to save the day; he doesn’t pass the buck or responsibility; he doesn’t make excuses or shrink back because there are other superheroes more supernatural than him. Batman shoulder’s the burden of justice on himself. He takes every act of injustice and crime in Gotham City as a personal assault on him, as it once was when his parents were murdered. Batman understands the qualities he has - some very unique to him - and therefore believes it is his duty to protect the vulnerable and the innocent. There is a profound truth to this – we should all take responsibility for our actions and do what is in our capability and capacity to in order to improve this world and care for our fellow human beings.

On to Superman, Superman is a very different character to Batman. Yet Superman also possesses the same juxtaposed qualities as Batman – extraordinary strength and weakness. Although an alien from the planet Krypton with super-human abilities; Superman is also an orphan who growing up did not know his real identity or heritage. Thus Superman has very real human qualities to him as well. He is an outsider, an intergalactic immigrant who must deal with and comes to term with rejection, hostility, paranoia and suspicion. Superman must also choose to do what is right in the face of xenophobic resistance and hatred towards him. Kal-El otherwise known as Clark Kent grew up in Smallville, a small town outside of the bustling city of Metropolis, one of the greatest cities in the DC America. As a teenager and student Clark Kent deliberately underachieved in order to mask his extraordinary abilities. He shunned the spotlight and shrunk back from popularity. But in his adult life Clark also had to learn what it means to be human – to love, to form friendships and professional relationships and to make a career for himself. Clark Kent has many of the same struggles as ordinary, everyday humans do. In this respect Superman is an utterly intriguing character; orphaned, estranged from his birth-right, outcast, conflicted, feared and hated, resented and envied. Superman becomes super in the very act of protecting and serving the very people that fear and hate him.

Superman’s extraordinary physical capabilities seem to defy the laws of physics and nature. His powers come from the yellow sun at the centre of our solar system. But though Superman’s powers have their limitations in relation to his exposure to the sun it is his powers – super-speed, super-strength, space flight, super-sonic flight, x-ray vision and laser sight that make him arguably the most messianic of all superheroes. Like Jesus, Superman has a godlike duality. On the one hand Clark Kent and even Kal-El are very human but Superman is almost divine. Like Jesus, Superman is a product of two worlds – Superman came from the stars as Jesus came from Heaven. Joseph was only Jesus’ step-father as Jonathan Kent, Clark’s. Superman’s personality is also much more similar to Jesus’ than Batman’s. Superman’s bright red and royal blue costume with the golden \S/ emblem speaks far more of light and goodness (on the surface) than the silhouette of Batman’s cape and cowl. Superman’s face is exposed not masked, symbolic that Superman is at one with himself and his duty as a man with superpowers to save the world from evil and destruction.  Superman embraces his superpowers as Jesus embraced his divine mission as the Son of God as saviour of humanity. Jesus and Superman transcend normalcy and ordinary humanity.

Superman is an extension of the human psyche that recognises the divine and humanity's inability to redeem itself. The world needs Superman, even when it doesn’t want to admit to it. Superman is the personification of moral goodness. Superman can do what humans cannot. But Superman is also accessible – he lives on earth, he can be contacted and spoken to. Superman is a manifestation of our need for a messiah. When earth is in jeopardy and danger, the world turns to Superman. It is an implicit confession and acknowledgement of our sinfulness and our powerlessness to earn our salvation.