Batman Day 2016: Me, Myself and Batman

by Ross Collie
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It’s the 17th of September, meaning Batman Day 2016 has landed. It’s a day where fans of all ages from all over the world get together to celebrate another exciting year of the Caped Crusader. Here in Dublin, Ireland, local comic shop Big Bang Comics had fantastic sales and even had the All-Star Batman artist Declan Shalvey in to do a signing of his work and to chat with fans.

I wanted to write a short piece on what Batman means to me and give a little insight into how my love of Batman essentially led me to writing here for DC Comics News. Obviously, the world of Batman is so expansive that it would be impossible to include every Batman work and portrayal that’s relevant to me, so I’ve done my best to include as much as I can.

Ross Collie I was born in November of 1998, meaning I had missed out on first showings the 1992 Batman: The Animated Series. However, my Father was and indeed still is an avid Batman collector and enthusiast. As a result, I grew up on a steady diet of the reruns of Bruce Timm and Paul Dini’s legendary show. I was completely immersed in the world of Gotham when I watched the cartoons, I could re-watch episodes countless times without getting bored. I’d imagine that my young exposure to Batman: The Animated Series is the reason why it remains my favourite Batman portrayal to date.

My Father collected Batman merchandise all his life. Glass cases full of statues and memorabilia meant I was surrounded by Bruce Wayne and his rogues 24/7. When the recession hit Ireland, We sold off a lot of the artwork and statues we had accumulated to put some money together. Batman got us out of some very sticky situations this way. Now I have a part time job, and I’ve spent the past few years buying pieces to fill in the gaps, so to speak.

Kotobukiya Arkham City BatmanAs a kid, I used to love opening up collectible figures that my Dad had been trying to keep in their packaging. Playing with my army of Batman toys was one of my favourite pastimes, next to going to comic book stores with my Dad to see what Batman products had been released.

The Batman Arkham Games were groundbreaking for me as they far trumped the PS2’S Batman: Vengeance game I had when I was much younger, however Vengeance was brilliant for its time.

Kelley Jones Black and WhiteComic books have always been my go-to source for Batman tales. I pride myself on the sheer amount of them I’ve read over the years. However, no artist’s work quite captivates me like Kelley Jones’ gothic and eerie take on Batman. His work is incredibly unique and breaks away from the statue quo of Batman character designs. I followed the New 52‘s Batman title and loved Capello’s artwork and felt it was perfectly complimentary to Snyder’s writing. However, I find myself drifting back to some of the classics such as the Knightfall saga.

I’m omitting movies and so many mediums Batman has appeared in for the sheer reason that I could talk all day on them, but in short, the world of Batman is continually expanding and each year I’m finding something new to entertain me. There’s something for everybody where Batman is concerned, and I wish you all the very best on Batman Day 2016!

What led you to love Batman? Let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!

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