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Friday, January 23, 2009

Books / Film Comics Semantics

Posted by on Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 2:27 PM

Re: the comic-book panel in this post: "I'M THE GODDAMN BATMAN"? Really? The Batman? Nothing has ever sounded weirder or more wrong.

 

Comments (24) RSS

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1
She-geek you ain't. The Batman it is.
Posted by Milhouse on January 23, 2009 at 2:31 PM
2
But "I'm Goddamn Batman" sounds even weirder. You need the the.
Posted by akbar fazil on January 23, 2009 at 2:34 PM
3
Many comics fans adhere to the strange belief that, if you add the "the," it makes him sound scarier.
Posted by Superfrankenstein on January 23, 2009 at 2:34 PM
4
It makes more sense if you don't think of "Batman" as a name, but instead think of it as "the bat man" (the man who looks like a bat).
Posted by Julie in Eugene (formerly in Chicago) on January 23, 2009 at 2:37 PM
5
See Detective Comics from May of 1939
Posted by The Batman on January 23, 2009 at 2:39 PM
6
Julie moved to Eugene! Now that's news.
Posted by Joh on January 23, 2009 at 2:40 PM
7
It only sounds wrong because you have no business commenting on comics. {/geekrage}
Posted by dwight moody on January 23, 2009 at 2:43 PM
8
@5 for the ultra scary grey tight win!
Posted by Will in Seattle on January 23, 2009 at 2:49 PM
9
Forgive me, dear geeks, but in the movies and on TV, isn't it just Batman, no article?
Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on January 23, 2009 at 2:58 PM
10
The campy TV show absolutely does not count in Batman canon. I'm just sayin'.
Posted by Mary Traverse on January 23, 2009 at 3:00 PM
11
have you not heard heath ledger say a million bazillion times "kill the batman" in award show clips? i'm no geek, but there it is.
Posted by spoiler alert on January 23, 2009 at 3:01 PM
12
@9: The most recent animated series was specifically titled "The Batman" as a throwback. Don't let Michael Keaton sway you.
Posted by Sam M. on January 23, 2009 at 3:02 PM
13
Forgive me, dear geeks, but in the movies and on TV, isn't it just Batman, no article?

Can you re-read your question and spot what is wrong there?

In the comics, it's usually just "Batman," but not always, and not originally.
Posted by kitschnsync on January 23, 2009 at 3:03 PM
14
@7 Your "geekrage" (a slightly indignant comment on a blog) made me laugh. Fear the geekrage, Bethany! :>

And @6, yes, I moved! I would not recommend driving all your possessions and your dog cross country in January, but, you know, other than that, happy to be on the West Coast...
Posted by Julie in Eugene (formerly in Chicago) on January 23, 2009 at 3:07 PM
15
In the most recent Batman movie with Heath Leger, both "the Batman" and "Batman" are used. I believe this is the case in most canonical Batman media, actually. It's sort of like how you might say "President Obama" (no article) but "the President" (article)--one is a title or name, one is a designation of role or office. Both "the Batman" and "Batman" are well attested in canon.

Love,
Your Dear Geek
Posted by Simac on January 23, 2009 at 3:11 PM
16
The animated series tended to keep more toward "Batman," except Commissioner Gordon, who has always tended more toward "The Batman." I always used to think it sounded weird, too, but I've gotten used to it.
Posted by Ben on January 23, 2009 at 3:17 PM
17
@9 No, both the use and elision of the definite article are correct and widespread. Think of it this way: he started out as the Batman. That's really the original. But if you're frightened, you'll shorten your speech generally and just refer to him as "Batman," generally before he beats you down. Similarly, if you're in the Justice League, and you see Batman every fucking day, and unlike Superman and Wonder Woman, you don't know his secret identity, saying, "Hello, the Batman," sounds fucking stupid, so since you got nothing else to call him, you refer to him as Batman.

Meanwhile, if you've got a bit of time, perhaps you're bound in an absurdly slow death trap with only Bruce Wayne skulking around to save you, you might say to your captors, "Don't count the Batman out," or might later say, "We were saved by the Batman."

See also: Batman analogue, the Midnighter.

And despite the compulsion that drove me to write all this, I still get laid regularly.
Posted by Gitai on January 23, 2009 at 3:17 PM
18
What, are you dense? Are you retarded or something? Who the hell do you think I am?
...
I'm the goddamn Batman.

Samuel L. Jackson is THE BATMAN?
Posted by opticsdoug on January 23, 2009 at 3:26 PM
19
I still think Lucy reciting those lines to Charlie Brown is about twenty times funnier than it has any right to be.
Posted by brent on January 23, 2009 at 4:00 PM
20
@17, to be a stickler for detail, originally it was "the bat man." With a space, and in lower-case letters. Everything else came along later.
Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty on January 23, 2009 at 4:09 PM
21
Bethany Jean, this is one of the funniest things to stick around as a running joke on the internet in forever. Don't question what you don't understand.
Posted by EmilyP on January 23, 2009 at 4:40 PM
22
It shows that Frank Miller's a hack.
Posted by Greg on January 23, 2009 at 4:44 PM
23
@20 I tip my hat to you for one upping me on pedantry. It's generally difficult to do.
Posted by Gitai on January 23, 2009 at 5:06 PM
24
Definitely THE Batman. *hides batsignal tattoo*
Posted by Kat on January 23, 2009 at 11:12 PM

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