Unbreakable Bonds

My Christmas gift to myself last year was Batman #17, a 1943 comic. The cover shows Batman and Robin riding a bald eagle, urging the reader to keep it flying by buying war bonds and stamps.

As a Batman fan, I’ve always been drawn to the World War II war bond covers--I’m not totally sure why. They don’t feature the elements usually associated with the Dark Knight. There are no dark alleys, bizarre aliens or maniacal clowns. I guess they’re just a simple reminder of Batman’s national significance, only a few years after his creation.

It was already the crown jewel of my comics collection, but it will have a whole new dimension of meaning to me now, in the age of coronavirus. Some have objected to comparing the outbreak to World War II, but I don’t know how else to think about it. It’s the only other time in our cultural memory that the U.S. government has asked its citizens to make such extraordinary sacrifices to serve a common cause and defeat a global threat.

#TheDress and International Taxes

Yesterday was the five-year anniversary of #TheDress, one of the most fascinating and confounding Internet memes of the past decade. At the time, I saw a remarkable parallel to an international tax policy issue , and considered writing a blog post comparing the two. I wrote it out, but decided not to submit it to my editors—and I’ve regretted it ever since. Here it is, with minimal edits and an update at the end.

March 1, 2015

Unless you spent this weekend away from your computer, your TV, and your phone, you probably heard about “The Dress”—or as it became known on social media, #TheDress. The garment, pictured above, seemed ordinary enough, until people started to describe it. Some people said it was gold and white, others said it was black and blue, and neither group could figure out what in the world the other was talking about. Tens of millions of people on every continent spent Thursday night arguing about it, and it lasted throughout the weekend.

(I can’t see anything other than gold and white. Believe me, I tried.)

The answer, it turns out, wasn’t some social delusion, sorcery, or a mass outbreak of color-blindness. It didn’t even really have to do with eyesight or color. Experts suspect it is due to slight variations in neurology creating differences in how people interpreted the images, color, and light in the picture lead to very different conclusions about what was being depicted.

There’s a similar dynamic which sometimes occurs when governments look at complex corporate tax structures. Due to differences in laws and customs—often slight—tax authorities can come to quite different conclusions about what a structure is, and how it should be taxed. And while #TheDress just resulted in a few moments of amusing online diversion, when it comes to international taxation this phenomenon can cause a serious problem.

The Curious Case of Harley Quinn

To call Harley Quinn the most complex and interesting new DC Comics character of the past 40 years is to damn her with faint praise.

True, DC doesn’t make that many new characters who stick. But she’s making a run to be one of the all-time greats from Batman’s Rogue’s Gallery. Go to any comic-con and it’ll be dotted with tassels and colored pigtails, from her signature looks. If she’s not the most popular cosplay character, she’s in a statistical tie with the Caped Crusader himself—no small feat.

The white-faced, red-and-white checker-dressed jester—created 27 years ago as the Joker's henchwoman on "Batman: The Animated Series"—debuted her own new animated show on DC’s streaming service on Friday. In a few months, she’ll return to the silver screen in the gloriously titled “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn),” Margot Robbie’s second outing as the character and proof that Warner Brothers sees her as one of its most bankable characters.

It took her a long time and a lot of tears to work her way out of the Joker’s shadow. Along the way, she became something of a feminist icon—by never, ever trying to be.

Killing the Joke

The most controversial comic book of all time won't go away

The hit movie "Joker" depicts a man descending into homicidal rage after decades of isolation, abuse and humiliation.

That's the movie version. In the comics, it only takes a day.

One really, really, really bad day.

At least, that's the hypothesis the Joker tries to prove in "The Killing Joke," Alan Moore's slim opus on the Clown Prince of Crime and an obvious inspiration for Todd Phillip's surprising (and disturbing) blockbuster.

It's one of the most revered graphic novels in the Batman canon—if not all of comics—and it's considered to be the definitive Joker story. It's a hallmark of the superhero revolution of the 1980s, when comics grew up, got dark, and prepared to take the world by storm.

It's also, to many feminist critics, a not-too-distant relic from a time when female characters in comics existed only to be mutilated, abused and discarded as signposts in the journeys of male protagonists.

It's a book so divisive that even its creators have mixed, at best, feelings about it and many of its defenders seem ready to move on. Yet, it continues to have a staggering influence on the Batman franchise, inspiring several of its movies, including this most recent hit.

As I imagine Gothamites feel about Batman, nobody's quite sure how to feel about "The Killing Joke"—but it's clear it isn't going away anytime soon.

All-in For Alfred

The Fascinating History of Batman's Batman

After decades of loyal service, Alfred Pennyworth is finally getting some time in the spotlight.

“Pennyworth,” a spy TV show about the early years of Batman’s longtime butler, premiered on Epix this past Sunday.

For Batman fans, it’s a bit frustrating that DC Comics insists on making Caped Crusader shows without the Caped Crusader. But for Alfred fans, it’s a most satisfying moment--proof that steadfast service can finally pay off.

It took 76 years, but Alfred grew from a foppish comic relief background character to an emotional core of perhaps the world’s most famous superhero franchise.

How Alfred evolved from Bruce Wayne's foil to his conscience is a fascinating look into how pop culture mythology evolves, organically covering gaps and healing its missteps with characters that develop minds of their own. But that evolution doesn't happen in a vacuum--in the Darwinian, publish-or-die world of monthly comics production the changes that stick almost always reflect something about the cultural psyche. Alfred didn't just survive, he was chosen.

With characteristic British efficiency, Alfred cuts to the core themes that draw people to Batman--wealth, loss, and family.

The Condiment King: An Oral History

You think Batman's annoyed with the Condiment King? Try his writers.

Like a ketchup stain on your favorite pair of khakis, the Condiment King just won't go away.

Batman hates him for being a nincompoop who makes just enough trouble to distract from the true baddies. But DC writers hate him even more, for being a one-note bit that persists over the years, surviving deaths and reboots with a mind and agenda of his own.

Isn't this why we love the comics?

Hope in the Stars

How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love New Star Wars Films

If you traveled back in time to 2012, I bet a Hollywood producer would have found the notion of an unprofitable Han Solo movie harder to believe than the Donald Trump presidency.

Star Wars has been, if not a Trojan gift, perhaps the quintessential good problem--it's given Disney a great return on its investment but also quite a few headaches.