The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture
By Glen Weldon
336 pages
At night when millionaire
playboy Bruce Wayne suits up to rid Gotham’s streets of crime the last thing on
his mind is his status as an icon for geek culture in the contemporary world.
For over 75 years the
Caped Crusader has been a fixture in American popular culture. In his new book, pop culturist Weldon
examines his various incarnations, from a noirish detective in the '50s to hokey Technicolor
‘60s cult phenomenon, Batman has always been there. However as his character
gave way to a grittier interpretation in the 1980s and a tortured vigilante in
the last decade, he has come to reflect the mood and attitudes of his times.
Besides serving as a
detailed cultural history, the book also points out how much a nerd he really
is. Possessing no special abilities other than his own intelligence and vast
fortune, Batman has done pretty well. He has a man cave,
drives a tripped out car, has a super computer and out MacGyver’s everyone in
coming up with cool gizmos to help him fight crime.
As noted repeatedly, throughout
the years every version of Batman has embraced the finer points of being an
anti-hero. Emerging from decades of darkness Batman’s attitude towards beating
the bad guys has changed with the times.
Another core theme of the
book is that despite all of the change and public perception, the one constant
found in every version of Batman is his unwavering adherence to a personal code
that serves as a framework for his character.
Whether you are a fan of the
film, the comics or both, The Caped
Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture is a fascinating character
study of an intriguing figure that continues to serves as an emblematic caricature
of the dark side of the American Dream.
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