BATDAD: YEAR ZERO part I

As I take this journey to follow in the footsteps  of my favorite hero, I need an origin story. 

I feel like my childhood was very similar to others my age. We watched lots of TV(and MTV). We witnessed a huge push in technological advances. We had money (middle class) then we didn't. We rode our bikes around the neighborhood going in and out of friends' houses without scheduled play dates.

Of course I had seen the Donner Superman movies. I enjoyed them as much as the next kid. Super Heroes are and were always a good time for me. Christopher Reeve made me proud to be an American, despite his Kryptonian origins.There were other movies that had made me feel patriotic as well though. Superman to me was always someone to look up to even if he was an unattainable alien fantasy.

Batman had been a joke show from the 60's on Nick at Nite with Adam West and Burt Ward. It was dated to me. I still watched every episode I could, cause....super heroes. I loved the colorful villains. Even in a comedic, over-the-top setting, those villains somehow made sense and drew me in. There was something there that I couldn't quite put my finger on. But, in 1989 something special  happened. Tim Burton breathed new life into what would turn out to be my favorite Hero of all.

I had been a Tim Burton  fan for years without even knowing it. One of my early favorite movies was Fox and the Hound, which he animated on. Then the black  Cauldron and Tron, both animation credits of his. Then he directed Pee Wee's Big Adventure. I must have watched that movie at least a hundred times. Then Tim Burton directed Beetlejuice. Same reaction only with a slight crush on Winona Ryder this time. Don't even get me started on the amazing soundtrack and score from both of those films (Thank you Danny Elfman!). This guy had me hooked before I was even 10 years old. I could write an  entire post on him. (keep an eye out for it). Now he managed to make(break?) my childhood with this realistic, dark, gritty version of Batman with a truly psychotic vision of the Joker played by Jack Nicholson. That was my REAL introduction to the Dark Knight.

I had Batman trading cards. I drew Joker and Batman over and over. I bought random Batman comics and tried to piece together the story of Bruce Wayne and found out some guy named Azrael was Batman now and Superman had died.Craziness! Oh and don't forget The Snickers commercial. Batman was the coolest thing I had ever seen.

Batman was a human. I was, and still am human.Batman was intelligent and reclusive. Check.Batman had fun toys and cool vehicles. I had slightly less fun toys and an awesome bike that had a stick gear shifter(Thanks Mom and Dad!). I was nine years old and I wanted to be Batman. Anyone else who has been nine years old can also tell you I was invincible. This was a great time to be a Batman fan or a kid in general maybe. That is only the beginning of Batman's impact in my life.

In Part II I will review my teenage years and how I got through them.