Call of the Masses
Still, why would a down and dreary character in such a hopeless war appeal to millions of people all around the world? Giordano states simply that Batman has "the best and most believable origin story created for a comic book hero" (p. 7). Gold agrees with this saying:
We knew�that if given the proper motivations, we could become The Batman. More importantly, we knew that if we had to endure those motivations, becoming The Batman probably was the proper thing to do. The Batman was the combination of two different beings locked up in our souls: the shining knight...and Mr. Hyde. (p. 13)
Like Gold mentioned, not only is it plausible for anyone to become Batman, but we understand that it is the right thing to do given his situation. Giordano explains this saying:
We all can understand Bruce's grief, we can all understand his frustration at having to watch helplessly as the lives of the most important people in his young life are taken uselessly, and we can all understand his need to do something to avenge the deaths of his parents. The origin of The Batman is grounded, therefore, in emotion. An emotion that is primal and timeless and dark. (p. 8)
When adding this emotion to Batman's 'mythos' and legend, Daniels says that "the character had become a seething nuclear stockpile of a society's dark dreams and desires" (p. 33). So, Batman's appeal is probably best summed up in this:
Batman can enter any world he wants, demonstrating Dennis O' Neil's dictum, "The idea of an essentially moral and compassionate hero is not an outmoded one." And yet, as O' Neil has often noted, there is certainly more to Batman that simple sweetness and light. There's a sinister side to the character, which appeals to every one who grew up, if not as brutally as Bruce Wayne did, to realize that the world can be a very dangerous place. For these millions, there's a certain satisfaction in imagining what it might be like to be Batman, to be alone in the dark and not be afraid, because everyone else out there in the dark is even more afraid of you. (Daniels, p. 201)
