Review: Batman: Ego

Batman: Ego by Darwyn Cooke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You know, I love Batman. But even the most hardcore fans really find it vexing how the Joker & Batman go about this game of cat & mouse, with the death toll ever rising. And they wonder, 'Why doesn't Bats just end the clown? One death, in face of the countless casualties.



Some writers try to come up with contrived reasons other than the 'We can't kill off one of our most popular Villains'. But others, take that as a challenge, and chose to delve into the deep, dark, and ultimately f**ked up the psyche of Batman; yes Batman, because there is no Bruce Wayne.

It tells the tale of a man whose dark impulses could rival that of even the mad clown, and combined with his indomitable will, genius and skills could turn him into a menace that can give Gods & Demons pause. But then we see this man, restraining those impulses, tempering them, and using them to help people, rather than pursue a journey of vengeance and self-gratification.

He chose to take the road less traveled, the more difficult path over fire and brimstone, where even his most arduous supporters would criticize his inadequacies. But that is the path he chose to walk, to keep his inner darkness in check, and to be in control. Which just adds yet another feather, as to why Batman is such an engaging character study.

Review:

As a story, Batman: Ego is nothing spectacular. It’s sort of a ‘day in the life of’ narrative, much reminiscent of that one episode from Bruce Timm’s Brilliant Batman: The Animated Series. . In fact, the story flows much the same, like the episode ‘I am the Night’.

After years of fighting the maniacal homicidal deranged super villains of Gotham, particularly the Joker, Batman is at his wits end. Even an indomitable will such as that of the Caped Crusader is still human and has his limits.

Seeing his presence in Gotham, making no change in the life of the people, he has a crisis of confidence. Worse, the latest antics of the Joker show that his presence is causing more harm than good, as the clown prince of crime had made it his life’s mission to color the town red, just to try and break the bat.



One a Christmas night, when one of Joker’s would be victims, rather than risk falling to the clown’s deranged games, decides to take the easy way out. He kills his family and blows his brains out in front of Batman, that was his breaking point.



Wounded, tired, and mentally broken, the Batman retreats to the Batcave, his sanctum sanctorum, while seriously contemplating whether he should hang up the cowl for good.

Only, that is a decision which he alone is not allowed to make. That part of the Batman, the darkness which had taken root the night the Bruce had lost his parents, resurfaces. This version of his psyche, his Ego in the Freudian sense, manifests. And like a more terrifying version of the Ghosts of Christmas, demands him to uphold the covenant he had made with it, with himself, to dedicate his life for the pursuit of justice.



This version of him, one which the Batman had harnessed to fuel his incredible drive for crime fighting, and yet was one which he had subdued, tempered, and compromised with. For this darkness was one which constantly nagged him with the demand that so many fanboys have in real life. ‘Just kill the f**king joker and end all the suffering that he wrought’. Just him, and no one else. Do the world a favor, and bend your morals just a little.



It seems so easy, so alluring. The simple and quite easy task would allow Batman to get rid of the chief source of his problems, as well as make Gotham as a whole sigh in relief. But what does it mean for The Batman?

His unwillingness to take a life, while it may seem like weakness to his enemies, and even to his allies, is an imposition that he has placed on himself. In a weird way, it’s reminiscent of how Kurapika from Hunter x Hunter places a restriction on his life; in exchange he gets a great power boost, when facing, and only when facing the members of the infamous Phantom Troupe.

The restriction that Batman has placed on himself, not willing to take a life, through action or inaction, makes his job that much more difficult. In a contrarian way, this also means that it makes it easier. To function effectively within the restrictions placed on himself, Bruce Wayne has to always be prepared, mentally, physically, strategically. He must be extremely versatile, skilled and adaptable to handle dangerous situations. In a way it keeps him on his toes, always driving him to better himself. It’s literally ‘Get Good, or Die’



That is not even mentioning the moral imperative. The world sees Batman in a complex light. Some see him as a guardian, some as a deranged maniacal madman out to get his kicks from violence. Some see his pursuits as noble, others as a power fantasy to satiate the darker impulses in him.



He is all of that. At this point, it’s almost a cliche that Bruce Wayne became Batman due to the trauma of losing his parents to crime. He fights so as to make sure no one goes through what he does. But also, this is the same young boy in the alley, left with the corpses of his parents, who was scared. Scared for his life, scared of the future, and scared of the dark.

Being Batman allows that young part of Bruce’s mind to take back some of the agency he lost that night.

Also, also, no one much brings this up, but there is a great darkness brewing inside this man’s psyche. Which, if allowed to go untethered, can unleash onto the world an entity which can cause death and destruction on an unimaginable scale. Just consider how much of a menace Batman would be, if he was batting for the other team?

And no, I’m not talking about that hack story Nemesisby Mark Miller, with the whole Batman, but if he was an a**hole tagline. That’s just pretentious and in bad taste. Think more along the likes of Lex Luthor meets Owlman from Earth-2; or Ozymandius from The Watchmen.

Rather, by sticking to his rules, Batman has avoided an extremely slippery slope of not being the guy on the other side. As much as you might hate and criticize him for being ‘too soft on crime’, and even after half the time you’d be justifiable in that sentiment, you don’t want the alternative.

A murder junkie wearing a ridiculous costume, going around leaving bodies in his wake. At least in the present, even the most ardent critics of Batman, can be comforted in the knowledge that, despite how far he goes, you can absolutely trust in him to not break that final barrier.

That which separates him from the monsters that roam the streets of Gotham. Batman is someone who has stared into the abyss that Nietszche so feared, he has stared into it, and NOT turned into the monsters that he has been battling day and night. He is a watchman that doesn’t need watching, he is the check and balance for his own person.

He is the one constant, a symbol of hope and perseverance for the everyday people of Gotham, even when the act placed a titanic burden on him Psyche. And that just makes him that much more intriguing of a character to explore.




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