“That's Not Funny”: Pages on How the Demon Clown of Gotham City

“That’s Not Funny”: Pages on How the Demon Clown of Gotham City Learned (Not) to Love and What That Has to Do with Anything, Like Maybe the American Zeitgeist Kyle A. Hammonds, University of North Texas “In hindsight, there were signs…” is the belong. I empathize with communication line that begin Scott Snyder’s (2013) scholar and Batman historian, Will Brooker Batman story, Death of the Family. Indeed, (2005), and his statement of disclosure at the there always seem to be little start of his book Batman Unmasked: foreshadowings regarding which life paths – Analyzing a Cultural Icon: “I feel the which stories – people will act out. The cultural experience which has woven me signs are always clearer in retrospect, but into Batman fandom is a benefit to my work, they are usually there – hiding in plain sight. offering me a subject to examine intimately; Humans refer to their past experiences in but this requires a degree of honesty and order to imagine viable options for future self-interrogation here and throughout.” (p. action. Acknowledging education from 5) experience is neither a new concept nor a Of course, I hope to use my subjectivity particularly difficult task (e.g., Dewey, and sense of belonging in Batman fandom to 1938). Learning to locate and attend to provide special insight in my following memory experience as a tool for imagining interpretation of Snyder and Capullo’s future action is the tricky part for academics Death of the Family, even though such and educators. interpretations may not represent an Signs, albeit not necessarily objective attempt to identify, categorize, or “predictors,” and symbols are the stuff that measure how diverse groups may respond excites communication studies scholars. (or be responding) to the subject matter. And, as a student of communication[s], my With such a new story as Death of the readings of certain fictional stories – Family, assessing the effects or categorizing interpretation of the signs and symbols in patterns of interpretations of the story may popular culture – have begun to feature prove difficult if not impossible anyway. searches for the meaning of narratives that The newness of Snyder’s work, relative to are proliferated among particular groups. other Batman stories, places readers in a Specifically, in recent times, my attention phase where the “cannon” meaning of the has turned to comic book fandom. text is still being negotiated, rather than Sometimes, as in this case, those groups are historically identified. This essay attempts to communities in which I also feel that I participate in such negotiation of meaning The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 385 and excavate possible pedagogical potentials interesting to me because it argued with of the text, especially as related to the what I believed were, to use Fisher’s (1978) subject of belonging. terms, “good reasons.” What follows in this The topic of belonging is incredibly essay will be a surfacing of possible significant to contemporary communication arguments to be drawn from Snyder and studies scholars – as will be further Cappullo’s (2013) Death of the Family, discussed later in this paper. “Belonging” is including a theoretical assessment of these associated with the topics of identity, arguments, primarily featuring Lee’s (1973) culture, and a veritable vichyssoise of love styles and Carrillo-Rowe’s (2005) subjects intimately related to these “differential belonging,” with a discussion communicative areas. The afore-mentioned of why Snyder’s story argues with what Batman piece, Death of the Family, stood constitute “good reasons” for me and maybe out to me as both a comic reader / fan and a for others as well. I will attempt to reach my communication studies student largely objectives by providing summary from because of Snyder and Capullo’s themes Death of the Family and commenting on related to belonging, even though they were story sections as I go along. not consciously clear to me upon my first Before delving more thoroughly into reading of the narrative. This project – the Death of the Family, though, it is pertinent essay you are now reading – was inspired by to give some context for the story. Professor my curiosity about why the Death of the of psychology and superherologist, Travis Family story caught my attention and Langley (2012), argued in his book Batman affected me in a way that felt so intimate. and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight A number of methods could be that, before investigating any Batman story, employed to understand this story and each it is important to ask “which Batman?” is method could lead one toward a different being addressed. For Langley and his [set of] end[s]. However, in satisfying my project, the core elements of Batman from curiosity, I have turned to Walter R. Fisher’s virtually the entire character cannon were (1985) assertion that “poetry is composed of useful. However, for the purposes of this ‘pseudo-statements’ whose function it is to essay, there is a particular Batman being give order to attitudes and experience” (p. considered – the Scott Snyder-written 81). Argument is embedded in the selection version from DC’s “New 52.” Though and arrangement of what is told in a given Batman has been around since the late 30s narrative. That is to say, in using logos – in (Finger, 1939 / 2014; Brooker, 2005, p. 34), story-telling – there is no clear separation stories about the Dark Knight have been between discursive forms: poetry/myth, revamped and rebooted on a number of rhetoric, and technical/philosophical occasions. The most recent reboot was the discourse are all present in stories. Fisher result of DC Comics’ decision in 2011 to argued that “human communication in all of cancel all of its existing titles in favor of its forms is imbued with mythos” (87). releasing 52 new titles, all of which were Therefore, the story I read must have beeen released simultaneously and featured The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 386 previously popular characters (Hyde, 2011). The “New 52” contained several titles that “… part of the character’s cultural included the Batman character (all taking resonance must be attributed to the place within the same fictional universe), fact that the societal concerns or audience meanings which the but only one book was simply titled Batman Batman has carried are not merely and served to follow the through-line of the absorbed by the yielding, malleable character’s adventures. Batman (2011 – figure of a man in a bat-mask, but 2016) is written by Scott Snyder, who has fitted within a quite rigid and created the version of the character being consistent template which specifies written about this essay. Noting the recent not just the character’s appearance occurrence of the reboot is significant but his location, associates, motivation and attributes.” (p. 39) because awareness of this character’s newness 1) clarifies that this Batman is not When assessing new Batman stories, necessarily related to other iterations of the then, it is significant to remember that “the character that may come to mind or familiar myth [of Batman] lies not in the details of histories and 2) recognizes the possibilities continuity debated by fans, but in the for the character and his fictional universe to narrative which has entered popular be re-constructed in various ways that may consciousness” (Brooker, 2005, p. 40). My reflect new cultural values and interests. The interest in the Death of the Family narrative entirety of the present narrative analysis will is then less about the changes that have refer to stories presented in the recently come about for Batman stories – although a rebooted “New 52” and not to other few of these that seem culturally important iterations of Batman stories unless will be noted along the way – than about specifically otherwise noted. how the myth and icon[s] of Batman are being used to present new plots to readers: Signs and Omens: Horror Aesthetics in plots which may have pedagogical value and Gotham City meaning beyond the confines of the comic book[s]. The ethics of any pedagogy should The protagonist of Death of the Family be of concern and interest to those is Bruce Wayne / Batman – a vengeful participating in it; however, though much vigilante who, inspired by witnessing the could be said about the ethics of the various senseless murder of his parents, combats iterations of Batman, such an examination evil in Gotham City. Basic elements of be left for other scholars (e.g., White & Arp, “who” the Batman is in this iteration, as 2008; Johnson, 2014) because the line of with every iteration, remain the same as inquiry would be outside the scope of this those of the Batman we met in 1939. Even essay. Specific areas of ethical concern though “New 52” stories might not always related to the particular narrative under fit well with older Batman narratives, some consideration will be noted in the analysis familiarity is yet important. Brooker (2005) when specially applicable. argued, The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 387 The narrative of Death of the Family is bright” (Snyder, 2014) Batman stories introduced in a peculiar way, as Batman is sometimes employed by Snyder (and other not physically present (drawn into the authors) is deformed by images of evil panels) at the beginning of the story even clowns, zombies, and other potentially though he does provide the verbal narration frightening images. Snyder uses Death of that commences the plot. The opening lines the Family to literally play with Batman’s unfold thusly: “In hindsight, there were genre and aesthetic, making the narrative signs… omens of the terrible things to itself a sort of grotesque, monstrous parody come.” Images of Gotham City drenched by (dare I say “joke”?) of earlier Batman water and illuminated by lightning stories.

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