What the hell is up with the picture for #2? You know what, screw it I don't even want to know. Though I do love Batman's response to Robin, just shut up.

In re: #2 (and Uncle Soaky): Obviously Batman was an asshole to (Dick Grayson) Robin years before Frank Miller unleashed the Dick-hate.

I think Batman, Robin, Dr. House, and Wilson should have there own show and see just how pill-poppingly, side-kick-abusingly, emotional-turmoily it can get. :p

Well thought out list :o! Though the panel at #6 I find hilarious at cause of the oddly drawn out 'deeeeeeeeaaaaaad!' :p

I knew Batman was sick, but I didn't expect to find a categorized list. Kudos!

I guess they don't consider homosexuality a mental disorder, these days, but surely there is a something disfunctional about Bruce and Dick's relationship.

Yeah see, that's not true. The relationship between Batman and Robin is a surrogate father-son relationship, not homosexual in any way.

guess they don't consider homosexuality a mental disorder, these days, but surely there is a something disfunctional about Bruce and Dick's relationship.

Yeah see, that's not true. The relationship between Batman and Robin is a surrogate father-son relationship, not homosexual in any way.

So homosexuality is dysfunctional? Hmm. But yes, homophobic comments aside, I think there's more than enough evidence to prove that Bruce and Dick have a closer relationship than the films portray.

guess they don't consider homosexuality a mental disorder, these days, but surely there is a something dysfunctional about Bruce and Dick's relationship.

Yeah see, that's not true. The relationship between Batman and Robin is a surrogate father-son relationship, not homosexual in any way.

So homosexuality is dysfunctional? Hmm. But yes, homophobic comments aside, I think there's more than enough evidence to prove that Bruce and Dick have a closer relationship than the films portray.

Every time I scroll up to the picture for illness #6, I start laughing harder. At this point I've looked at it so many times I'm near tears.

I'd like to see it crossed over with Frank Miller Batman, too. "What, are you dense? Are you retarded or something? My goddamn parents are deeeaaaaaad!"

Homosexuality was actually labelled as a mental illness by psychologists mere decades ago. There's nothing homophobic about historic fact.

Also, the DKSA depicts the Batman/Robin relationship as a homosexual one.

From Arkham Asylum: ASHOSE (happened to have it next to me)

Joker (grabs Batman's ass): Loose up, tight ass!
Batman: Take your filthy hands off me!
Joker: What's the matter, have I touched a nerve? How is the Boy Wonder? Started shaving yet?
Batman: Filthy degenerate!
Joker: Flattery will get you nowhere.

Apparently the Joker thinks there's more to their relationship too ;)

Homosexuality was actually labelled as a mental illness by psychologists mere decades ago. There's nothing homophobic about historic fact.

Also, the DKSA depicts the Batman/Robin relationship as a homosexual one.

Umm no? i have here a textbook on abnormal psychology...it doesn't say anything about homosexuality as a disorder. The closest DSM-IV-TR disorder is gender identity disorder (AXIS 1 SEXUAL AND GENDER IDENTITY DISORDER). Simply put, it states that the person believes that he is a member of the opposite sex. by normal definition of homosexuality, it is attraction of the member of the same sex. homosexuality is not a mental disorder since it is not included in the DSM.

don't spread false knowledge please

Homosexuality was actually labelled as a mental illness by psychologists mere decades ago. There's nothing homophobic about historic fact.

Also, the DKSA depicts the Batman/Robin relationship as a homosexual one.

Umm no? i have here a textbook on abnormal psychology...it doesn't say anything about homosexuality as a disorder. The closest DSM-IV-TR disorder is gender identity disorder (AXIS 1 SEXUAL AND GENDER IDENTITY DISORDER). Simply put, it states that the person believes that he is a member of the opposite sex. by normal definition of homosexuality, it is attraction of the member of the same sex. homosexuality is not a mental disorder since it is not included in the DSM.

don't spread false knowledge please

Andrei- Homosexuality *was* listed as a mental illness in the DSM-III. It was removed in the DSM-IV when people realized that it wasn't mental illness.

Ask your abnormal psych prof. If he/she was practicing in the 1970s and 80s, he/she would be able to tell you about all the politicking that took place.

Homophobia is an irrational fear of queers. Making a statement about homosexuals being dysfunctional or mentally disturbed does not indicate an irrational fear of said "gays".

Here is an example of a statement indicating homophobia:
"I can't go anywhere near those gay people I'm "afraid" they will rape me"

Now an example of a non fear induced statement:
"homosexuality is aberrant behavior, and should be banned in public places".

See the difference.

Oh... and, yes it is a mental illness.

Just because something is not currently recognized as a mental disorder does not mean that it isn't.

Andrew:
Also, the DKSA depicts the Batman/Robin relationship as a homosexual one.

Wait, what? I just re-read DKSA. I didn't get that. Granted Batman called Joker/Robin "pet" and so forth, but I got the impression that he was mocking him, not recalling fond memories of, well, happier sexi-time days.

Maybe I'm just dense, though, or too innocent.

Not the Joker: Who gives you the power to definitely say what is and isn't a mental illness? I'll trust the professionals on this one. Keep living your literal interpretation and reading of your bible.

But let's be honest. Isn't it all relative anyway? Normal is just the average of deviations, is it not? Normal doesn't exist.

Why does it always go back to who is a homo? When did we go from the Batty man to Sponge bob Happy pants

Um, what about chiroptophobia? His fear of bats is why he decided to be BATman in the first place! Other than that, the rest seem quite appropriate!

Selina Kyle is his daughter you morons.

Anonymous troll is obvious troll. Not the Joker is a better troll than you. Lurk moar.

Interesting article. Does that mean Batman could be the World's Greatest Doctor or an old, manipulative bastard with a cane who believes "every one lies" due to possible painkiller addiction?

Not The Joker should die in a car fire.

Take your hate-speech elsewhere, bigot.

How the FUCK?
Makes total sense to me but then again...if a bark is loud and dogs bark, then it must be true that dogs that bark are loud?
Fuck You!!!!

Entertaining article, like most of the site. But you know, for a couple of decades I've been sicker than shit of all the Frank-Miller-Alan-Moore-Tim-Burton "Batman is insane" bullcrap. Yeah, Batman is absolutely bugfuck---if, and only if, you judge the character by the standards of behavior in the real, non-comic book world.In the real world, of course, even a man scarred for life by tragedy as a child must have deep emotional issues if his response once reaching adulthood is to put on a costume and spend his time beating up criminals. But in a goddamn comic book universe, guys and gals decide to do this with significantly less motivation than Bruce Wayne!
Superman probably seems pretty well-adjusted to most people, but consider: his apparent selflessness can't be the product of a completely healthy psyche; in all likelihood, Superman would have to be suffering from the world's largest case of survivor guilt. He may not have watched it happen like young Bruce did, but Clark Kent lost more than his parents---he lost his entire goddamn planet! The place where you were born literally no longer exists---except as chunks of a radioactive mineral that WILL FUCKING KILL YOU. More than that, when Clark finally did learn the some of the specifics of his trip to Earth, that couldn't have felt too good: there was room in the rocket for his mother Lara, but rather than go to Earth to protect her infant son, she chose instead to remain on their dying planet with her husband. World class case of parental rejection, anyone?! No doubt, Superman's desire to protect everyone comes from a place as obsessive as Batman's war on crime, it just happens in the daylight.
Barry Allen, the Silver-Age Flash? Another nut, if you give it a moment's thought: A man has an accident that give him super-powers identical to those of his childhood comic-book idol. There are any number of ways that this might be turned into an opportunity to serve the public, if one is so inclined. But putting on a costume and rushing out to punch wrongdoers in the face seems at best silly and at worst a little schizo---unless you happen to live in a comic book universe.
Seriously, go back and look at most of comicdom's Men (and Women) in Tights and you'll see that their motivations for doing what they do seem at least a little psychologically suspect---but, again, only when compared with real-world behavior. In the world these people inhabit, the wind changing direction or finding a dime in the street is practically all the reason anybody needs to put on a costume and fight crime.
Is Batman insane? Possibly, but NO MORE SO THAN ANY OF THESE GUYS!!!!!

Christ!!!

Oh, and on the subject of Batman and Robin's homosexuality, either or both of them could be gayer than Christmas. Don't care. Doesn't matter. Under no circumstances would they be sleeping together because gay or straight, BATMAN WOULDN'T FUCK CHILDREN!!!

@jack daniels
Selina Kyle is his daughter you morons.

Uh, no. Selina Kyle is Catwoman.

It is quite simple really.

The human population is divided between 2 sexes "male" and "female". The purpose of this is procreation and the passing on of ones "genes". The purpose of females is to attract men and to have babies. The purpose of males is to be attracted to females and to get them pregnant. Anything that deviates from this is NOT normal. Therefore the mindset of men is to be attracted to women and vice versa. So if man is not attracted to woman and woman is not attracted to man then said person is NOT normal and has a mental illness (don't like it? tough).

thejackyl

Now see who is using hate speech.

Not a single thing I said was motivated by hate, but by pure observation and experience.

I do not hate or fear queers.

You are the hateful one.

I constantly read/hear that "I" have to be open minded and "I" have to accept "whatever". But I have noticed that the people I am supposed to accept are the most closed minded people on the planet.

I do not accept.

I remember growing up in the 1970's and hearing people in school call each other fags, queers, and gay. Once I learned what these words meant I was shocked and could not believe that a man would have any kind of sexual attraction to another man (same with women).

Sorry, but you will never, ever convince me that queer is not a mental illness. Seriously who can look at a flaming queer and go "seems normal to me".

Just like the "race card", the "hate card" gets thrown out by people who know they have no argument.

There is no hate, bigotry, or homophobia in this post. I have never once suggest that horrible things should happen to gays, like thejackyl has said.

homosexuality is a regular occurrence in the natural world. seagulls, japanese macaques, and galahs all exhibit statistically significant homosexual behavior, and the bonobo, one of the human's closest relatives, is a fully bisexual species. social interaction is far more complex than mere procreation-based relationships.

Are you guys saying that gay is normal?
It was originally Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve!!
And are you comparing yourself to animals?
I felt there is some kind of message saying that we are no better than animals... YES WE ARE!! And we (humans, don't know about you) are NOT friggin' related in any way!! We were only created by the same creator.
Gay is not normal you are not even built to be so.
whether you choose to be different is up to you and "different" here is not in a good way. I totally agree with not the joker, we are not haters.. I am just one of normal people that really care about the normal course of nature.
besides, if you don't believe in anything in any religion!! So if you are atheist, why don't you go the whole ten yards and be gay while at it!

If an animal eats it's own young will you?

Dogs eat other animals feces will you?

Animals lick their own rear ends and genitals will you?

I have seen the video of the monkey drinking it's own pee, feel free to copy it.

Animals do a lot of abnormal and disgusting things.

anna... don't base your morals on what animals do, you only look the fool.

Thus endeth the lesson.

You know, it's tough to take anyone seriously who has as many problems with basic grammar as NottheJoker seems to. It's bad enough that the guy is off-topic (not to mention about 40 years behind the times in terms of how homosexuality is defined), but he's also ruining the discussion of a pretty damn funny piece.

NottheJoker, this isn't the forum for you to spotlight your ignorance, man. Take it elsewhere, please.

Not the Joker:
Not being normal is NOT the same as having a mental illness.
Different does not mean wrong.

Not Batman:
"So if you are atheist, why don't you go the whole ten yards and be gay while at it!"
WTF? Because you don't just DECIDE who you're going to be attracted to, that's why. The only thing being an athiest could do is make you feel more free to express desires you'd have anyway. It wouldn't magically make them appear.

More on topic, Batman and Robin's relationship isn't fucked up because it has homosexual overtones as much as because it has homosexual AND parental ones, at once. Having either one isn't a problem, it's when the two get mixed up that it's an issue

HOW ABOUT EVERYONE JUST CALM DOWN?!

CALM.....DOWN.....

HOW ABOUT EVERYONE JUST CALM DOWN?!

CALM.....DOWN.....

Wow. I just realized something. You people are fucking retarded.

Anna's not saying "humans are animals" you jackholes, she's saying that homosexuality occurs in nature, and thus is natural. Read a fucking book(the dictionary would be a good idea..look up "NATURAL")

Also, Batman/Robin being gay, I don't buy it. If anything their relationship was messed up due to the fact that Robin had a father figure who was obsessive compulsive, and insanely demanding (regarding training, preparation for threats) as well as has effectively a split personality.

The human population is divided between 2 sexes "male" and "female". The purpose of this is procreation and the passing on of ones "genes". The purpose of females is to attract men and to have babies. The purpose of males is to be attracted to females and to get them pregnant. Anything that deviates from this is NOT normal. Therefore the mindset of men is to be attracted to women and vice versa. So if man is not attracted to woman and woman is not attracted to man then said person is NOT normal and has a mental illness (don't like it? tough).

Since Not the Joker has made clear that nothing will change his teeny little mind, I will ignore him and simply note for the record that this is a common misunderstanding of the nature of natural selection. There are are countless species in which the majority of individuals do not reproduce (wolves, ants, etc.) but rather serve a function in the survival of the species. Don't take my word for it. Here's Olivia Judson, acclaimed evolutionary biologist, writing in the New York Times just a few days ago:

[E]volutionary success can now be measured in terms of the number of genes an individual contributes to the next generation. Anyone who dies without reproducing does not directly contribute any. But because individuals have some genes in common with their family members, they can make an indirect genetic contribution if they help their relations to reproduce instead of reproducing themselves. Such “kin selection” is thought to have contributed to the evolution of the social insects — especially, ants, bees, wasps and termites — where only a few individuals reproduce and everyone else looks after the offspring.

Mindless homophobes aside, I'm still really curious to know where the images for #2 and #6 come from.

Not the Joker,

You said that homosexuality was unnatural. Anna made the observation that homosexuality occurs in nature and is therefore natural. Thus your response that we should not base our morals upon animal behavior does not follow at all. We are talking about what is natural, not what is moral.
You claim homosexuality is a mental illness because it is "abnormal" behavior. The burden of proof rests upon you then, and I must say, it is a large burden. Not only has homosexuality been observed in nature in countless animal species, but the behavior has been recreated in the laboratory by manipulating the density of rat populations.
We need to know what normal is before we can know what abnormal is.

"homosexuality is aberrant behavior, and should be banned in public places".

Actually that would be considered homophobia because you have to ask WHY should it be banned? There are a lot of things that deviate from nature yet are not banned. The common fear is that if you say homosexuality is "okay" then more people will "become" gay. Which, of course, is ridiculous.

Besides the whole, "I guess Homosexuality isn't considered a mental disorder" thing was clearly a joke. The intention was to call Batman and Robin gay, not to point out Homosexuality was a mental disorder.

To the best of my knowledge there's no such thing as multiple personality disorder where there are only two personalities, so I have to challenge that one.

C'mon, Teague! Tell us where you got the images for Nos. 2 and 6. I'm sure they'll be less funny in context than they are out of context, but still.

I seriously can't belive that a humorous article on Batman turned into a flame war over homosexuality. I plead the fifth on this one. Geez.

"I seriously can't belive that a humorous article on Batman turned into a flame war over homosexuality. I plead the fifth on this one. Geez."

Haha, I was just about to say something along those lines!

Love #6's picture!

Matt Thorn:
Not to spoil anyone's fun and/or rants about gays, but I don't think #6 is real. (though #2 definitely is)

#1: The quality and consistency of the font/text would suggest it was typed, not manually written. Look at the shape of the O's and A's.

#3: The way batman is drawn (especially around the ears) is strange. However, the quality of the image, the roughness of the paper, and the shades of coloring would suggest late 60's/early 70's, when Neil Adams and Jim Aparo were slowly redifining Batman's appearance.

#1:The existence of such a random and violent panel is improbable in any context. (though I have seen stranger comic panels)

I'll never understand why people have the urge to get into these big, long debates about things that don't apply to them whatsoever.

Don't like homosexuality? Good. Don't be gay.

SOLVED!

FRIGINATOR-

#1 Might be from one of the collateral works commissioned to anime studios upon Dark Knight's release. (Take this with a grain of salt, as I've not seen the collateral work and I've heard of it through a friend who reviewed it on an Italian website.Still, it looks very anime-like to me.)

Friginator, you have indeed spoiled my fun. I can't tell you how sad I am to learn that #6 is not real. I truly wanted it to be real. But now that you mention it, the color of the speech balloons is too uniform to be a scan. I'm guessing the image is real (maybe from some episode in which Robin had been hypnotized and Batman is trying to "wake him up"?), but the dialogue, sadly, is invented by some insensitive Photoshopper who just wanted to break our hearts.

MY FAITH IS DEEAAAAAAD!!!

Nice post. At some point I'm going to have to go through this will a bit more of a tooth-comb and try to produce some backing references from some Psych books.

The one thing that saddens me about an otherwise sensible post is that someone thought that it was a good idea drag this all down with the boring tripe about Homosexuals being against their morrals/beleifs/whatever. The thing that confuses me, is from their post, it implies that they are religious (because if your an atheist, you might as well go the whole hog and be gay). I really wish they would read the bit that says "Love Everyone", which happens to include those of Alternative lifestyles.

Back to Batman... There's an interesting story based in Arkhum Asylum that explores who is more mad, Batman, or the Joker. The difference, which is very, very slim, comes down to the fact of "functional" and "socially acceptable". Batman wins by being more "Socially Acceptable" and "functional" than the Joker, but on most other accounts is more "mad" than him.

Interesting, Don't you think?

Black Xanthus

He's EMO!!

He's EMO!!

He's EMO!!

He's EMO!!

Ugh.. On behalf of /intelligent/ religious people everywhere, I would just like to apologize for these bigoted idiots who can't even string their own argument together, let alone answer someone else's. Hopefully that's the last you'll see of them.

Ciao.

"I'll never understand why people have the urge to get into these big, long debates about things that don't apply to them whatsoever."

That's probably because it does apply to them in some context. Often, what people most hate about other people is what they see in themselves.

"I'll never understand why people have the urge to get into these big, long debates about things that don't apply to them whatsoever."

Because it is important to defend the integrity of society. If we let people spout and believe ridiculous claims like these statements are different

"I can't go anywhere near those gay people I'm "afraid" they will rape me"

"homosexuality is aberrant behaviour, and should be banned in public places".

then we might as well go back to being afraid that thhe sun wont rise in the morning. Imagine if someone changed them slightly;

"I can't go anywhere near those Black people I'm "afraid" they will rape me"

"being African american is a terrible curse, and they should be banned in public places".

um yeah... something like that.

Can we please stop talking about Homosexuality? Can we go a few post without picking at scabs? Cooler Heads have tried to get this thread back on track, but everyone has to bring it back up gain, or add their two cents. Just please leave it alone!

batman is american but nolan changed it into british

@ Andrew: Also, the DKSA depicts the Batman/Robin relationship as a homosexual one.

The Duke Korean Students Association?

those who said batman is gay clearly has MENTAL PROBLEMS!!!

I don't know if anyone brought this to light (OK, I admit I didn't read all of the responses)... but would I be close to say that Batman is battling "himself" when fighting all his nemisis'. Seems to me they all demonstrate at least one or more of the problems he has... or vice versa.

you forgot something

he is cleary a well defined megalomaniac, he does what he wants when he wants. much like any super villain, he stands cleary in the face of the police and does their job better than them, he obviously does not adhere to the rules and laws of normal society and imagines himself a hero for doing so, even though he clearly denies the rights of the accused.
which kinda borders on sociopath

all vigilantes are megalomaniacs, what gives him the right to strike out? that is what the police are for. he should really be bruce wayne, he is so blind to it it could almost be schizophrenia, advanced delusional schizophrenia, he feels like he must protect everyone, and just cant stop living this insane double life, but because of the depression he hides it and with the obvious rage from his anger problems

and what about the manic depressive behavior, during the day he is all smiles and handshakes and then at night he acts out violently,

maybe there are a few mood stabilizers in that handful of pills he pops daily

robin is probably on MDMA all the time,
thus the rave gang fight in gotham in Batman Forever

he was going to pick up some beans in the batmobile

but robin is another story all together

The very last panel makes me laugh for some reason, as does the 'My parents are deeaaaaaaad!' *slap* picture, not surprisingly. Great list.

And yes, I too see the homoerotic subtext between Robin and Batman.

That aside, I thought that at one point Batman also tried LSD? Can't recall where from, though.

Okay, I've been staring at the anger management issues picture for several minutes now; where on earth is it from?

We love you, Batman, but you really seem to need therapy. :c

lol u ppl have to much time on your hands but still great list

I highly doubt D.A.K will check this page again, but just in case, I am 98% positive the picture for anger management is from the Gotham Knight DVD.

this is hilarious XD not quite spot on, but great nonetheless.

ps. i think batman&robin's quasi-homo-incestuous-dysfunctional relationship is HOT.

That is pretty interesting, I've never really thought about the fact that this man has to be on a plethora of anti-depressants pain killers and what not... Normally I wonder what he must eat, I mean how many calories he needs to take in to keep up this lifestyle and a body that is under so much pressure must cause enormous strain on his psyche. Something to think about.