Inside The World Of Batman: The Six Most Asked Questions

For more than 80 years, Batman has evolved and changed while remaining one of pop culture's most powerful forces.
Being a Batman fan necessitates a great deal of mental gymnastics. Many questions about the Caped Crusader have arisen when a character has been around for over 80 years and has been interpreted by hundreds of different writers and artists. Unfortunately, some of these questions are kept to themselves by Batman fans because there appears to be no clear answer.

After that, there are a slew of common "dumb" Batman questions with answers that even the most ardent fans don't know, won't know, or simply can't know. Here are a few of those results:

Where Is Gotham City, Actually?

We all know Gotham City is a work of fiction, but many people wonder where it would be located in the United States. Many casual DC movie, TV, and comic book fans regard Gotham as "New York City" and Metropolis as "New York City with even MORE gentrification," but that's a cop-out. Some fans consider Gotham to be Chicago because that is where the majority of the on-location scenes for Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, as well as several scenes for 2022's The Batman, were shot.

However, in 1978, the World's Greatest Super Heroes newspaper comic strip established that Gotham City is located in, of all places, New Jersey.
Remember how Metropolis and Gotham were right next to each other in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (yes, I used the title)? It may have felt strange, but they are technically separated by a bay between New Jersey and Delaware. Because DC Earth is slightly larger than ours, these two cities coexist with New York, Chicago, and other cities.

Remember why Gotham is always compared to New York if it is just a city in New Jersey? While it's no secret that the majority of Batman stories gave Gotham a New York feel, for the 1999 Batman story arc No Man's Land, Gotham was literally laid out like Manhattan Island

Does Batman Use Guns Or Kill?

When Batman first appeared in 1939, he wasn't afraid to confront gangsters. Batman's thief–er, "sole creator," claimed that his stories were inspired by popular pulp heroes like The Shadow and The Green Hornet at that time.This meant that Bats was no better than the criminals he was fighting.

Bats, like the aforementioned pulp heroes, were not afraid to use guns in a "fight crime with other crime fashion.

So, where did the modern Batman's "no killing" policy originate? That decision was made by two men. After receiving complaints from parents, comics editor Whitney Ellsworth instituted a "no guns" policy and later implemented an overall "no killing" policy for all superheroes.

The other guy was Fredric, and his book, Seduction of the Innocent, which criticized comic book violence and claimed that comics in general contributed to juvenile delinquency.

Official Batman #4 was the first time he said "no killing" to Robin, as he ordered the boy he was endangering to use the flat end of a blade during a sword fight against pirates.

From then on, the "no guns" and "no killing" rules were incorporated to varying degrees into most of the Batman mythos, depending on who was writing the stories, when they were written, and who the intended audience was. Killing and firearms are still taboo in most children's media, but there are several adults who grew up on those kid Batman stories who now write Batman Rules TM into their "for ages 16 and up" Caped Crusader comics to add more inner conflict.

Similarly, in shows like Batman Beyond, Bruce Wayne resigns as Batman for the simple act of holding a gun.
Some writers, on the other hand, who were writing for a larger, more mature audience, would fudge or disregard the no-kill rules. There are stories in which Batman kills through deception or a lack of restraint.Or with firearms, knives, and whatever else he can get his hands on.

Some writers, on the other hand, who were writing for a larger, more mature audience, would fudge or disregard the no-kill rules. There are stories in which Batman kills through deception or a lack of restraint.

Or with firearms, knives, and whatever else he can get his hands on. So, does Batman resort to violence or murder? "Occasionally" is the unequivocal answer.

Is Batman Allied With The Police?

As seen in reruns of the 1966 TV series, Batman and Robin are members of the Gotham City Police Department. If you started your journey with Batman: Year One, you'll notice that Batman is fighting both cops and criminals.

In accordance with the "no guns, no killing" rules, the CCA desired that Batman work alongside the Gotham City Police in comic book stories so that cops were not misconstrued as villains. They also wanted them to be portrayed as competent, incorruptible public servants who are above reproach because the system works, so pay your taxes like a good boy and don't cause any trouble, or we'll plant drugs on you because we need to fill an arrest quota.

But for every instance of Batman shaking hands with a cop, there is another of Batman yanking that cop's shoulder out of its socket. It all depends on whether the story's police force is on the side of the public or the corrupt powers that be. In a 2021 story, Future State: Dark Detective, Bruce Wayne fights the cops after they use drones and other technology to spy on Gotham citizens.

Having said that, the standard operating procedure is for Batman to collaborate with some of the police. Specifically, Commissioner Gordon and a few police allies believe the Gotham City Police is compromised by corruption, bureaucracy, ineptitude, a lack of resources, and so on. Well, Batman cannot officially join forces with the police because... laws and rights.

However, according to the Gotham press, the Bat-Signal is simply the police using the threat of Batman as a deterrent, rather than an actual call to Batman (even though it totally is). Essentially, Commissioner Gordon welcomes Batman's assistance, even if many of his subordinates protest and resent it, but leaves himself with plausible deniability so that the media cannot prove their collaboration outright. This is also to keep Gordon out of serious trouble if Batman turns out to be nothing more than a crazy man in a mask.

Why Does No One Suspect Bruce Wayne Is Batman?

This similar media ambiguity is one of the reasons why the general public does not associate Bruce Wayne with Batman. Bruce Wayne's public persona is that of a playboy who flirts with philanthropy as well as the ladies, despite the fact that he prefers to spend his nights collecting the tracheas of every criminal he sees.
Also, if you have a lot of money, you can pay off reporters to either ignore the situation or hire a rival publication to write a different story. Bruce Wayne even owned Metropolis' Daily News at one point.

Bruce Wayne doesn't have to be concerned about anyone linking him to Batman. The general public is either grateful for Batman's protection or grateful to Bruce Wayne's company for providing charitable funding, jobs, and other benefits to Gotham residents. Or they're simply too preoccupied with their own lives to care, just as most of you are too preoccupied to care one way or the other about Elon Musk.

The cops see Batman as either a guy who makes their jobs easier or a guy who will break their arms, so they don't bother him. In most stories, Commissioner Gordon appears to know who Batman is but does everything he can to deny it so he won't be held accountable.

But what about the bad guys? While some people are too stupid to see the Bruce Wayne/Batman connection, Ra's Al Ghul, Professor Hugo Strange, Bane, Amanda Waller, Death stroke, and a slew of other characters do. The majority of them, however, do not bother Bruce Wayne. Why? for two reasons.

For starters, many of them, such as the Joker, don't care who is behind the mask, even if it is Bruce Wayne. They understand that the only person they truly care about is Batman, and he will always be Batman.
Essentially, if Bruce Wayne's identity is revealed to everyone, then knowing his identity is no longer unique. Given the egos in Batman's rogues gallery, they'd want to keep that information to themselves in order to gain an advantage over him.

So, the question isn't "Why Doesn't Anyone Suspect Bruce Wayne Is Batman?" However, Does It Matter If No One Knew Bruce Wayne Was Batman? "



So Who Actually Is The Joker?

The Joker was an old-school wise guy crook named Jack Napier who fell into a vat of chemicals to transform into the Clown Prince of Crime in Batman (1989), Batman: The Animated Series, and some comic book stories like Batman: White Knight. However, many people believe that this is not the correct answer.

The true identity of the Joker is never revealed in "The Dark Knight." In reality, his face is nothing more than makeup. Furthermore, whatever little information we have about him in the film changes, whether it's his father causing the scars on his mouth or his irrational attempt to cheer up his wife. In that film, he is portrayed as a force of chaos rather than as a person.

Basically, The Joker's identity has never been completely established in the comics. In his main comic book origin, The Joker is introduced as a different criminal, The Red Hood (who is actually a helmeted character, but moving on). But Batman thwarted him, and he fell into a vat of chemicals. Unlike in Batman's first appearance, the vat of chemicals did not kill the criminal who fell into it, but instead discolored and disfigured him. As a result, the Joker was born.

However, because no one knew who the Red Hood was, some felt The Joker's origin story required its own origin story. While there are other versions of this first origin story, some of which claim that the Joker was a lab worker who adopted the Red Hood persona to gain power. 

Others claimed he was a gangster who was always the Red Hood, and so on. The most popular Joker origin appears to be Alan Moore and Brian Bol land's Batman: The Killing Joke.

Readers are treated to flashbacks of what could be The Joker's past in The Killing Joke. After all, even in this story, the Joker admits that he would prefer to have a "multiple choice" origin. In this version, the Joker was an engineer who quit his job to pursue a career as a stand-up comedian. However, with his comedy career on hold, his wife becoming pregnant, and podcasting not existing until 2004, he needed to find a way to make money.

He agreed to assist two robbers in breaking into the chemical factory where he worked so they could rob the nearby playing card company. As we all know, playing card companies are awash in cash. The robbers outfitted the engineer in a Red Hood outfit, which was an open-source identity that any criminal could use.

However, the would-be-Joker attempts to back out of the scheme after learning that his wife and unborn child died in a baby bottle heater accident.

Despite the fact that they no longer have a reason to commit the robbery, the two crooks force the engineer to commit to the plan. The rest of the story unfolds to the original Joker origin, with the Red Hood falling into chemicals and so on.

Then there's the story of Batman: Three Jokers. Remember how Batman went from killing to not killing, as well as other tonal shifts throughout his published life? The same goes for the Joker.

The Joker was a ruthless and cold killer in his early stories, oddly serious despite his jester appearance. After the Comics Code Authority took over, the Joker became less of a criminal and more of a jolly prankster, as seen in the 1966 television show. When the CCA backed down, he morphed into a psychopathic killer who laughed. The Three Jokers story revealed that throughout Batman's history, there have been three different people with three different personalities who have used the Joker persona.

The final explanation is that the "real" Joker was a modern-day giggling lunatic murderer who created the other two Jokers as clones created in chemical baths and fed memories to cause confusion.At the end of the story, however, Bruce Wayne reveals to Alfred that he already knew The Joker's true name and identity. In fact, he found out about it a week after they first met.

In a nutshell, Joker's wife and unborn child did not die in a house accident, but instead secretly fled from him, implying that Joker was an abusive partner before he was juggled.

It doesn't really matter what name The Joker used to go by before he got a clown-soaking chemical bath (as The Joker confirmed in The Three Jokers), and it doesn't really matter what name The Joker used to go by before he got a clown-soaking chemical bath.

Wait, Didn't Batman Die?

Every single time.