Is the Batman Responsible For the Crime He Fights?

In a civil society we would optimally want to have a penal code through which criminals are deterred, but hopefully also a system through which the criminal could be rehabilitated into a law abiding citizen. But in order for this take place, it is safe to assume that the cycle of violence has to be broken at some point.

If a criminal is simply punished, and then at some point reintegrated into society without any counseling, there is a very high likelihood of his finding himself back as a resident of the prison system. For instance, released convicts in California have a 60% chance of being convicted of another crime down the line.

Although prisoners can be subject to a highly violent environment in jail, that level of violence does not lead towards a change in lifestyle or life choices.

In other words, if Batman’s choice of methodology when encountering criminals is exclusively the application of violence, the real world results would not be any different than the statistics that law criminologists are all too familiar with.

What the Batman fails to take into account is that every person is responding to internal and external stimuli. A criminal is not innately a criminal, but an individual who believes his choices are limited based on what have been his or her personal and cultural experiences.

There is a significant differentiation between removing a dangerous individual from a communal setting, and turning a misguided person into a hardened perpetrator.

While there are a multitude of detailed approaches, all roads to ending a cycle based on desperation must pass under the umbrella of opportunity.

Batman Year One: The Corruption Of Batman

Batman Year One presents a Batman faced with a morbid reality where everyone has their price, and succumbing to temptation is the price of life. Presented in a Gotham highly reminiscent of the gritty streets of Manhattan back in the 70’s and 80’s, one doesn’t have to go far to imagine the opportunity for the corruption that the Batman could experience through the process of rationalization.

Would a Batman who in his early years could clearly be in over his head be tempted to form an alliance with a mobster in order to attack a greater perceived evil? And what if a minor criminal could offer inside information to the Batman, provided that he is allowed to commit minor crimes?

These scenarios deal with questions of moral calculations, but what about a corruption that could be created as a result of romantic interests between Bruce Wayne and the Catwoman, or as a result of a relationship with a woman who is clandestinely part of a criminal organization? If you think this is a farfetched possibility, just look at the political scandals that have involved everyone from prominent politicians such as President Bill Clinton to some of the Secret Service agents that were tasked with protecting President Obama.

What makes this comic book such an integral part of comic history, is that Frank Miller presents what could be seen as a documentary into an era that did take place, with realistic real life decisions, through the eyes of the infamous Dark Knight.

Batman: Year One The Art Work

Batman: Year One uses an adaptation of color artwork which resembles
the use of black and white film footage, which in turn gives the reader
the feeling of glimpsing into a dark and gritty world which could
be inhabited by a realistic Batman.

If you would like to see what Batman would look
like if he had in fact walked the street of New York City
at the worst of times, you should definitely take a look
at Batman: Year One

Batman: Year One

The mythology of the Batman character has reached epic proportions in today's cultural media.
It's far reaching appeal is based on the universal appeal of a comic book character whose qualities are
within practical reach to any comic book reader that would devote himself to becoming an expert in
the science of crime fighting.

While Batman has traditionally been a comic book superhero aimed at children, this starting changing during Neal Adam's more adult rendition of this legend. This change became even more profound during Frank Miller's interpretation of the origin and beginning of Batman's career as shown in Batman: Year One.

Frank Miller used Batman: Year One as a platform to showcase the story of a reality based Batman that took the streets of New York during an era reminiscent of New York's troubled era of the 70's and 80's.
Batman makes his first crime fighting attempt in an area that is hauntingly similar to the formerly notorious Times Square.

What makes Batman: Year One such a dramatic rendition of the Dark Knight is its what if appeal. The reader gets to see what a Batman in real life would have realistically experienced and felt while combating crime in a modern era.