Viewpoint- What do comics say about our society?

Batman finally kills the Joker in the future-set Dark Knight Returns (1986)

     The public’s appetite for action and violence grew at an immense rate in the 1980s and this was immediately reflected in the pages of Batman.  While action blockbusters like Rambo (1985) and The Terminator (1983) pummeled the competition at the box-office and video games rose to new levels of sophistication and gore, Batman forever changed in 1986 with the release of the aforementioned The Dark Knight Returns.  Set in the near future, The Dark Knight Returns featured a world on the brink of nuclear war, the murder of the Joker at the hands of Batman himself and a final showdown to the death between former friends Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent a.k.a. Superman.  These events fed the cravings of the waiting public as sales skyrocketed for publisher DC Comics. These visions of doom and destruction met the hopes of the 80s video-game enhanced audience who craved the violence and action.  Later in 1988, DC Comics released A Death in the Family. This storyline absolutely captured the will of the audience as DC left the fate of Robin up to the

Robin (Jason Todd) is murdered by the Joker

general public. DC posted 900 line phone numbers that allowed readers to vote whether of not Robin died within the pages of the story. The public gave a majority vote for Robin to die and that death came at the hands of an extremely violent Joker, beating the life out him with a bloody iron crowbar.  This marks the wish of the public to see the death of an iconic character. This interest the audience for a new experience like Robin’s death parallels the experience in video games of the era, always exploding with new imagery and sounds. This violence-filled, distrustful world of Batman endures to this day.

     On the big screen, Batman became a movie icon.  The public’s adoration for this character reflects easily in the hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue generated by the seven movies released since 1989.  The last movie, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, made over 100 billion dollars alone. As dvd sales of the movies continue to this day, the familiar image of the cape and cowl became immediately recognizable as Batman, the icon.

     The changing desires of the audience brought forth this evolved version of Batman and his violent ways. While not the will of all people, the violent display of the Aurora, Colorado theater shooting during the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises shows a testament to the times we live in.  This somewhat crossover of the violence of Batman into the real world shows that the will and madness exists but needs to stay within the pages of the comic books. Batman truly became a dark mirrored reflection of our society.