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Soul of the Dark Knight: Batman as Mythic Figure
in Comics and Film
Alex M. Wainer
McFarland & Company, 2014
In Soul o f the Dark Knight, Alex Wainer provides an in-depth
study of the mythic essence of the world’s most famous cowled crusader,
Batman. Celebrating his 75th anniversary this year, the Dark Knight has
been represented in a myriad of different mediums and undergone
numerous transformations during his ageless battle against the forces of
evil in Gotham City. Now, with the critical and commercial success of
the Christopher Nolan-directed trilogy, a plethora of critical works have
popped up on the bookshelves, all exploring Batman’s essential
attraction on the masses.
Taking a humanist approach. Soul o f the Dark Knight argues that
the fascination Batman holds is not only based on his “flamboyant
costume and his thrilling adventures and hairbreadth eseapes,” but also
on the appeal of the mythopoeic (18). While calling Batman a mythic
figure, Wainer notes that he is not saying that the “Batman figure is a
myth, but like Greek myths, has qualities that are like them” (10).
According to Wainer, Batman most closely resembles a Homerie hero,
an incarnation of an “avenging spirit of justiee,” a figure who takes on
the aspects of darkness and is able to use the darkness to defeat criminals
(9).
This study focuses on Batman's mythic qualities; however,
Wainer takes some time to build up to the payoff. While the reader is
given a taste of Batman in the introduction. Chapter 1 reads more like a
primer on myth than a study of the Dark Knight, as Weiner fills this
chapter with discussions of several competing views of myth, such as the
scientific/sociological, the literary/classical, and the philosophical. With
this background in place. Chapter 2 gives a short history of the Batman
from Bob Kane’s creation of “the Bat-Man,” up to the present era. While
this chapter will interest readers new to the Batman universe, veteran
fans will find little new material.
For readers interested in the distinct enduring qualities of the
Dark Knight’s mystique. Chapters 3 and 4 discuss his unique mythical
aspects examining how this essence is uniquely expressed in the comic’s
medium which is “his duality and his symbolic appeal as a hero figure”
(55). According to Wainer, the success of Batman’s character and long
term survival is due to the principles and techniques that govern his main
medium, sequential art. Going into great detail, he argues that Batman’s