2013-02-17
Explanation
This single-panel comic shows a group of people confronting someone (seen from behind) about his vigilante activities. A woman says: "You spent BILLIONS just to dress like an idiot and stop some muggers and gangsters? You'''re going to die some day and we'''ll all be worse off for the arms race you started with criminals! Do you have any idea how much crime could'''ve been stopped by spending a billion dollars on after school programs?" The caption below reads: "Batman should never have revealed his secret identity."
The joke applies real-world logic to the Batman mythos. In the comics, Bruce Wayne is a billionaire who spends his fortune on gadgets, vehicles, and a secret lair to fight street crime as Batman. This comic imagines what would happen if ordinary people learned his identity and could critique his strategy. The woman'''s argument is economically and sociologically sound: spending billions on social programs like after-school activities would likely prevent far more crime than one man in a costume punching criminals. She also raises the valid point that Batman'''s escalation creates an arms race with increasingly dangerous villains -- a theme actually explored in Christopher Nolan'''s "The Dark Knight."
The votey panel shows Batman'''s response: he shouts "Smoke bomb!" while dropping a smoke bomb to escape the uncomfortable conversation. This is a perfect character beat -- rather than engaging with the legitimate criticism, Batman uses his gadgets to literally flee from a social situation he can'''t punch his way out of.