What makes the book really shine, aside from its great content, is the way that content is presented. I think it also appeals to me because the lighthearted but scholarly nature of the book grants a sort of legitimacy to comic books, a legitimacy which is not widely shared by certain others. Reading books like this combines my love for scholarly subjects with my love for comic books and superheroes, blending them all into a smoothie of coolness.

Reading about how the birth order theory might explain the varying temperaments of the Robins, or why exactly Gotham City is filled with all these weird costumed criminals is absolutely fascinating to me. And golly, for a huge geek like me, it is a boatload of fun. In this case, Batman and Psychology studies the psyche of a 75 year old comic book character. There's the Wiley's Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series which produced, among many others, Batman and Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the Soul, along with James Daily and Ryan Davidson's The Law of Superheroes. Therefore, it seems only natural that this would be a terrific book.īatman and Psychology belongs to that class of books which examine subjects that were never designed to be studied particularly in-depth. It helps that the author is a psychology professor and a huge Batman fan. With a forward by Michael Uslan, the executive producer of most of the Batman films, and an introduction by acclaimed Bat-editor Denny O'Neil, this book has a lot of big names associated with it. It examines not only the primary comic version of Batman, but also the versions presented the various films and television shows. It touches on both the above issue and many more, such has the Robins, Batman's father figures, the villains, the various lovely ladies in Batman's life, and what exactly makes Batman tick. How about 'Elizabeth Arkham Memorial Psychiatric Hospital'?īatman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight by Travis Langley is a book on various issues relating to psychology in the world of Batman. As a side note, 'asylum' is a highly dated and outmoded term which should be replaced by something else. He therefore belongs in Blackgate Penitentiary, not Arkham Aslylum. The Joker may be psychopathic, in that he has no empathy for his fellow human beings, but he is not psychotic, in that he can indeed comprehend the criminality of his actions. Batman's rogues gallery, while the best in comics, is almost entirely composed of people who are routinely labeled as 'insane.' The problem here is that 'insane' is a legal term, not a medical one.

As someone with a vested interest in the plight of the mentally ill, I am routinely disgusted with the portrayal of supposedly 'insane' persons in various media, most notably the Batman comics.

Batman and Psychology by Travis Langley