Category Archives: POLITICS OF BATMAN COMICS

Anatomy of Shadow of the Bat #45

Posted on September 28, 2017 by I.M. Baytor

Last week I went on and on about the compelling and cathartic lack of subtlety in the Batman comics of Alan Grant, so I figured it would be fair to spotlight one of the few issues that fall outside that … Continue reading →

Posted in POLITICS OF BATMAN COMICS | Tagged Alan Grant, Brian Stelfreeze, Gerry Fernandez, Michal Dutkiewicz, Pamela Rambo, politics, western | Leave a comment

Scars of Vietnam in Gotham City

Posted on June 1, 2017 by I.M. Baytor

As an embodiment of changing fads and obsessions of US pop culture, Batman’s adventures could hardly stay immune to the social impact of the Vietnam War. And while the Caped Crusader’s TV incarnation could initially be seen advertising war bonds, … Continue reading →

Posted in POLITICS OF BATMAN COMICS | Tagged Alan Grant, Cold War, Dave Hornung, Dick Giordano, Elaine Lee, Frank Robbins, Gabriel Morrissette, Garth Ennis, Gotham City, Jim Aparo, Keith Giffen, Mike Friedrich, Mike Vosburg, Mike W. Barr, Neal Adams, Norm Breyfogle, politics, Robert Loren Fleming, Ron McCain, Vietnam | Leave a comment

Gotham City elections

Posted on December 12, 2016 by I.M. Baytor

For some reason, the electoral process has been on my mind. And so I turned, as I often do, to Batman comics in order to reassure myself that, as screwed up as politics appear to be at the moment in … Continue reading →

Posted in POLITICS OF BATMAN COMICS | Tagged Gotham City, politics | Leave a comment

Bruce Wayne’s political career

Posted on November 18, 2015 by I.M. Baytor

Despite spending much of his life terrorizing the criminal underworld or stuck in deathtraps while exchanging puns with a dude dressed as a question mark, Batman has found the time to take up a number of political jobs. With that … Continue reading →

Posted in POLITICS OF BATMAN COMICS | Tagged Batman's personality, Bob Haney, politics | Leave a comment

Adolf Hitler in Batman comics

Posted on October 6, 2015 by I.M. Baytor

Comics love (to hate) Adolf Hitler. It’s not just Superman and Captain America – pretty much all the main superheroes have come across the Führer in one way or another. Hell, you don’t even have to be in the top-tier… … Continue reading →

Posted in POLITICS OF BATMAN COMICS | Tagged Adolf Hitler, Alan Davis, Bob Haney, Bob Layton, Dick Dillin, Dick Giordano, Grant Morrison, Jim Aparo, Joe Staton, Len Wein, Mike W. Barr, Paul Levitz, politics, Roy Thomas, Steve Yeowell, World War II | Leave a comment

Batman’s damn guns

Posted on September 29, 2015 by I.M. Baytor

Batman #301 We can all agree that Batman is not exactly a pacifist. After all, the Dark Knight does beat up crooks on a nightly basis and he has been known to resort to torture. However, there is a line, … Continue reading →

Posted in POLITICS OF BATMAN COMICS | Tagged Batman: The Animated Series, Batman's personality, Bob Haney, David V. Reed, Frank Miller, guns, Jim Aparo, Jim Starlin, Mike W. Barr, politics | 1 Comment

Batman comics and World War II

Posted on June 29, 2015 by I.M. Baytor

Although nowadays movies set in World War II have become mostly synonymous with tearjerker melodramas or grim military epics, this wasn’t always the case. The gravitas of that conflict and the overwhelming consensus about who the heroes and villains … Continue reading →

Posted in POLITICS OF BATMAN COMICS | Tagged Archie Goodwin, Bill Finger, Bob Haney, Bob Kane, Dick Sprang, Don Cameron, espionage, Gary Gianni, George Roussos, Jack Burnley, Jack Kirby, Joe Greene, Neal Adams, politics, World War II | Leave a comment

Batman and fascism

Posted on January 20, 2015 by I.M. Baytor

Some people apply the label ‘fascist’ to a specific early 20th century ideology, and perhaps to some later derivative political projects. Others use the term more loosely, applying it to people who come across as authoritarian, unapologetically violent, and/or intolerant … Continue reading →

Posted in POLITICS OF BATMAN COMICS | Tagged Batman's personality, Bob Haney, Christopher Nolan, espionage, Frank Miller, Howard Chaykin, Jim Aparo, Paul Pope, politics, World War II | Leave a comment

Batman comics and the late Cold War – part 2

Posted on October 6, 2014 by I.M. Baytor

When people think of the end of the Cold War, they think of the fall of the Berlin Wall or of Boris Yeltsin standing on a tank in the Red Square. Me, I think of the Dark Knight fighting a … Continue reading →

Posted in POLITICS OF BATMAN COMICS | Tagged Cold War, Doug Moench, espionage, Jim Aparo, Jim Starlin, Marv Wolfman, Mike Mignola, Paul Gulacy, Paul Kupperberg, politics | Leave a comment

Batman comics and the late Cold War – part 1

Posted on October 2, 2014 by I.M. Baytor

1980s’ sci-fi thrillers gave us some of the bleakest visions of the future. They dealt with either impending conflict between the US and the USSR – Escape from New York, The Day After, Red Dawn – or its post-apocalyptic outcome … Continue reading →

Posted in POLITICS OF BATMAN COMICS | Tagged Cold War, espionage, Frank Miller, Mike W. Barr, politics | Leave a comment