Why is Batman the only major hero whose mental health is questioned so much?

[bat39]

Something I've been thinking about lately, in the wake of all the discussion around Robert Pattison's new Batman and his questionable mental health.

In general, in and out of universe, the idea that Bruce Wayne/Batman suffers from mental health issues, and is a 'disturbed' individual in some way or form, has gained a fair bit of traction over the past decade or two. It starts at the superficial level of ''This guy dresses up like a bat to beat up criminals so he clearly has issues'' and then delves deeper (''He watched his parents murdered as a child, no wonder he's messed up'' or ''After all the sh#t he's been through as Batman he can't still be totally sane''').

Batman's mental health has been the subject of a lot of stories lately, including most recently Batman: The Imposter.

And all this is interesting of course, and a valid interpretation of the character - especially if you want to be 'realistic' about what the toll of being Batman would do to someone who already had a traumatic past.

But what I'm curious to know is, why is Batman the only superhero character whose mental health is questioned so much?

Surely, a lot of the arguments we make in favor of Batman being 'disturbed' could apply to other characters too?

Bruce Wayne dresses up like a bat to fight criminals. Barry Allen also puts on a suit to fight criminals. The only difference is their color scheme and the fact that Barry (and most of the people he fights) have superpowers. Is possessing superpowers supposed to be what distinguishes a ''100% sane and mentally healthy'' hero from a ''hero with poor mental health''? Let's not forget that in current continuity, Barry Allen too lost a parent at an early age (and lost the other parent to prison). So he's another orphan with a traumatic past...why is he a pillar of mental health compared to Bruce?

No one questions Superman's mental health. This is someone who lost his entire species (well, about 99% of it anyway), including his birth parents! He's spent most of his life hiding his powers from everyone around him and living a lie. He splits his time between being a human reporter (sometimes with a bumbling and cowardly persona totally at odds with who he really is) and an alien superhero with God-like powers. He can theoretically hear people in trouble all time everywhere, knowing that every second he isn't saving people, or even if he is busy saving someone, there are thousands of people who he isn't saving. On top of all this, in some versions, he loses his adoptive parents when he's barely out of his teens as well, so he's an orphan twice over! One can easily use any or all of these to argue that Superman's mental health might not be perfect either. But we usually don't.

If we stick to non-powered 'vigilantes' then consider Green Arrow. The least traumatic version of his origin story still has him spending months on a deserted island away from civilization, being forced to hunt to survive. According to Mike Grell, Oliver became the Green Arrow because he was bored with his life as a businessman and wanted to recapture the primal excitement and danger of his island days. That sounds like a mental health red flag to me! Oh, and he too has traditionally been an orphan (and in more recent versions where one of his parents is alive, that doesn't make his life easier either). CW's Arrow talked a lot about Oliver Queen's morality and whether or not he is just another killer...but not nearly as much about his mental health.

We don't even have to look a lot further than the Bat-family. Dick Grayson also watched his parents being murdered, and unlike Bruce Wayne, he became a vigilante as a child! I mean, he's virtually a child-soldier who spent his teenage years fighting the Mob and psychopathic killers. But because he wears a colorful costume and is 'nicer' than Bruce we give him a clean bill of mental health. Ironically, if Bruce is so disturbed, than wouldn't it follow that Dick, as his ward/foster 'son', didn't have the healthiest upbringing either and might have issues as well? But that seldom comes up.

Hell, what about Batgirl? Barbara Gordon led a nice, stable, upper middle-class life as the daughter of a police commissioner and then one day she decides to put on a costume and become a vigilante inspired by Batman. Is that normal?

Moving beyond DC, on the Marvel side, no one says Peter Parker is disturbed or not mentally healthy, even though he too is a costumed vigilante (who unlike Batman has been doing this since he was a teenager!), arguably suffers a guilt complex over the death of his Uncle Ben, and had to deal with the added burdens of earning a living from an early age and watching his personal and professional life suffer from being Spider-Man.

My point is this - why is Batman the only one singled out on this issue?

[exile001]

Batman is the most prevalent member of the Bat-Family and has been long associated with mental health issues in his mythos*. As the focus of his origin became more important, Burton's Batman movies portraying a broken and violent interpretation, BTAS actively pushed the idea that Batman's enemies were crazy, and comics as a medium keep evolving and maturing, its only natural that at some point the question will be asked "is Bruce crazy?"

Currently, it is one of Bruce's niches and one that I feel has helped his popularity while similar characters have fallen out of favour. Bruce has a massive (relatively) relatable flaw that helps contextualise him away from his rich adventurer roots and leaves him somewhat open to interpretation by the reader.

It's also a way to get around the inherent silliness of dressing like a giant bat.

With Dick, I feel it's largely shown that Bruce and Alfred healed him in a way that Bruce didn't have. Bruce fixated/obsessed over the deaths doing everything in service of them. When he finally becomes Batman in his mid-20's he is still processing the hurt rather than dealing with it. He's stuck in a loop. Dick had an immediate outlet (as Robin), people around to help him work through it and was just more open to healing (he's a very different person than Bruce).

For someone like Batgirl, it's believable that an impressionable young person would see this symbol and want to emulate it. Same with most of the kids surrounding Batman. In a comic book world it's not an illness but rather teenage rebellion and that desperate need to change the world and fight wrongs.

*Arkham Asylum was introduced as a genuine healing place before it bafflingly morphed into a medieval castle dungeon.

On Spidey, Peter has often skirted the edges of a breakdown ("I AM THE SPIDER!!!"), but that's not really how Pete has ever been characterised long term. It helps that his uncle's death was a catalyst rather than the one reason for his being Spider-man. Funny enough, like Bruce's parents, Uncle Ben's death has been made more and more prominent since the 90's. Peter also had friends and loved ones around him and can lean on them when needed.

Bruce put up a wall then disappeared for a decade+. He was alone, save for the teachers he sought out, just reliving the moment that drives him and festering his anger until he could unleash it.

For Superman, I think "Up In The Sky" does a great job explaining things. He's Superman. He doesn't break because Superman doesn't break. He is impossible yet he exists anyway. Superman is awesome.

That's not to say it hasn't been done, Exile (and the events leading up to it) is a great story about what happens when Superman hits his limit. He killed some alternate universe Kryptonian criminals and the guilt and shame eat away at him until he believes he becomes a danger to everything on Earth and exiles himself to outer space. Fun space adventures follow.

[The World]

Because cape comic writers have a child like at best understanding of mental illness, maybe they've skimmed a wikipedia article or two to look up some buzzwords but that's pretty much the outer most effort thats put into understanding the matters of mental illness that they lazily inject into the material they write. Bruce's "mental illness" is treated more like a vague superpower and window dressing to make him seem more tragic and sympathetic, that's pretty much it.

[bat39]

Batman is the most prevalent member of the Bat-Family and has been long associated with mental health issues in his mythos*. As the focus of his origin became more important, Burton's Batman movies portraying a broken and violent interpretation, BTAS actively pushed the idea that Batman's enemies were crazy, and comics as a medium keep evolving and maturing, its only natural that at some point the question will be asked "is Bruce crazy?"

Currently, it is one of Bruce's niches and one that I feel has helped his popularity while similar characters have fallen out of favour. Bruce has a massive (relatively) relatable flaw that helps contextualise him away from his rich adventurer roots and leaves him somewhat open to interpretation by the reader.

It's also a way to get around the inherent silliness of dressing like a giant bat.

With Dick, I feel it's largely shown that Bruce and Alfred healed him in a way that Bruce didn't have. Bruce fixated/obsessed over the deaths doing everything in service of them. When he finally becomes Batman in his mid-20's he is still processing the hurt rather than dealing with it. He's stuck in a loop. Dick had an immediate outlet (as Robin), people around to help him work through it and was just more open to healing (he's a very different person than Bruce).

For someone like Batgirl, it's believable that an impressionable young person would see this symbol and want to emulate it. Same with most of the kids surrounding Batman. In a comic book world it's not an illness but rather teenage rebellion and that desperate need to change the world and fight wrongs.

*Arkham Asylum was introduced as a genuine healing place before it bafflingly morphed into a medieval castle dungeon.

On Spidey, Peter has often skirted the edges of a breakdown ("I AM THE SPIDER!!!"), but that's not really how Pete has ever been characterised long term. It helps that his uncle's death was a catalyst rather than the one reason for his being Spider-man. Funny enough, like Bruce's parents, Uncle Ben's death has been made more and more prominent since the 90's. Peter also had friends and loved ones around him and can lean on them when needed.

Bruce put up a wall then disappeared for a decade+. He was alone, save for the teachers he sought out, just reliving the moment that drives him and festering his anger until he could unleash it.

For Superman, I think "Up In The Sky" does a great job explaining things. He's Superman. He doesn't break because Superman doesn't break. He is impossible yet he exists anyway. Superman is awesome.

That's not to say it hasn't been done, Exile (and the events leading up to it) is a great story about what happens when Superman hits his limit. He killed some alternate universe Kryptonian criminals and the guilt and shame eat away at him until he believes he becomes a danger to everything on Earth and exiles himself to outer space. Fun space adventures follow.

You make some interesting points - particularly the notion that mental health has long been part of the Batman mythos thanks to Arkham Asylum and so Batman's mental health too inevitably gets scrutinized.

I'm not so sure if Batman being mentally disturbed is a major contributor to his popularity though. Him being a tragic character gives him depth, his dark aesthetic is cool, and his willigness to use violence against villains might be seductive and cathartic, but I don't think him not being mentally healthy is particularly a plus-point. Honestly, this is my one concern about Reeves' upcoming film - I hope people don't take away the message that Batman being mentally disturbed is 'cool'!

As far as the ''inherent silliness of dressing up like a giant bat goes''...again, dressing up in a bright red suit with lightning motifs or flying around with a big red S on your chest are also pretty silly, but no claims that the Flash or Superman have issues!

I agree with your point about Dick being a different person from Bruce, and him getting an outlet to deal with his trauma that Bruce did not have. But that outlet was costumed vigilantism, the same thing Bruce is doing. If Bruce is mentally disturbed for dressing up like a bat and beating up criminals in his mid-20's, then why is Dick not considered mentally disturbed for dressing up in a circus outfit and beating up criminals when he's 12! If losing your parents to murder + the vigilante life = mentally disturbed individual, then that should apply to both Bruce and Dick, or to neither of them. Unless the idea is that if you become a vigilante as a kid, it's cool...

Superman's guilt over killing is more an exploration of his morality. It definitely affected his mental and emotional health, but somehow, it isn't really seen that way. It relates to the example I gave about Oliver Queen on Arrow - there's a lot of soul-searching about whether he's a killer or not and what leading a double-life is doing to him. But relatively little commentary about his mental health.

[skyvolt2000]

My point is this - why is Batman the only one singled out on this issue?

Because a combination of fans, writers, editors and store owners do not CARE about everyone else's mental issues for those books to have a legit shot of selling let along existing.

The mental states of say

Hal Jordan after he lost Coast City and went mad and killed other lanterns could get you a novel on metal issues with him alone.

John Stewart-blown up planet and dead wife..

Fatality see above

Wally West lets act like Heroes in Crisis never happened.

Steel-folks forget his family aside from Natasha is STILL in hiding over him revealing his ID and his weapons helped kill black kids in his neighborhood and he got a kid killed as well.


You could make a monthly book on the mental issues at DC.

[Alan2099]

I wouldn't say he's the only one. Hulk's mental health is questioned quite a bit.

[mathew101281]

Because he’s the only character that has mental illness overtly written into the text of his mythos. Questions about sanity and insanity( though usually poorly done) loom pretty large in the Gotham world. Most superheroes live in a world of brightly colored aliens and demigods. Batman lives in a world were regular humans rob banks and commit other crimes dressed as clowns or characters from children’s books. Most superheroes send their villains to prison or some strange sci-fi equivalent. Batman has a eerie gothic rundown asylum at the heart of his lore.

[charliehustle415]

Because he is supposed to be a normal human being.

No powers, just mental and physical training to peak human to fight the dregs of society in dark alleys.

This then begs the question what is the mental state of a person who would do this and why would they not simply enjoy their money, use said money to make their city better, and grieve in a healthier manner.

Just to add a little bit more, he also recruited other normal humans into his campaign, and again it begs the question what is the mental state of a man who recruits child soldiers into his war on crime.

[Anthony Shaw]

For me, the answer can be summed up in two words: Frank Miller.

Bronze age Bruce was pretty stable.

[marhawkman]

Because he’s the only character that has mental illness overtly written into the text of his mythos. Questions about sanity and insanity( though usually poorly done) loom pretty large in the Gotham world. Most superheroes live in a world of brightly colored aliens and demigods. Batman lives in a world were regular humans rob banks and commit other crimes dressed as clowns or characters from children’s books. Most superheroes send their villains to prison or some strange sci-fi equivalent. Batman has a eerie gothic rundown asylum at the heart of his lore.

Yeah, Batman is known for waxing philosophical on the constant temptation to murder people... like seriously....

[Vordan]

Because his writers and fans insisted he was “realistic”. Naturally this led people to wonder what a man who dresses up like a bat to fight crime would “realistically” be mentally.

[bat39]

Because he is supposed to be a normal human being.

No powers, just mental and physical training to peak human to fight the dregs of society in dark alleys.

This then begs the question what is the mental state of a person who would do this and why would they not simply enjoy their money, use said money to make their city better, and grieve in a healthier manner.

Just to add a little bit more, he also recruited other normal humans into his campaign, and again it begs the question what is the mental state of a man who recruits child soldiers into his war on crime.

All valid points.

But in that case, why is Green Arrow's mental health not questioned? He does pretty much the same thing as Batman, just with a different color scheme and choice of weapon. And he too had a ''child-soldier''.

If we consider the Batman mythos alone, it still doesn't answer my question of why Dick Grayson isn't considered to have mental health issues, especially if he's been raised by the ''mentally ill'' Bruce Wayne? He spent his adolescence fighting the ''dregs of society in dark alleys'', and then proceeded to continue his vigilantism into adulthood, even doing two stints as Batman. Or Barbara Gordon who, in the absence of any other overwhelming motivation (unlike Bruce or Dick) decides to dress up like the local vigilante and emulate him? In the real-world, that would almost certainly raise at least some mental health flags!

I know there's no concrete answer to this and it's purely a matter of perception. And that's what makes it so strange...why this perception exists around Batman and not other characters in comparable situations?

[charliehustle415]

All valid points.

But in that case, why is Green Arrow's mental health not questioned? He does pretty much the same thing as Batman, just with a different color scheme and choice of weapon. And he too had a ''child-soldier''.

If we consider the Batman mythos alone, it still doesn't answer my question of why Dick Grayson isn't considered to have mental health issues, especially if he's been raised by the ''mentally ill'' Bruce Wayne? He spent his adolescence fighting the ''dregs of society in dark alleys'', and then proceeded to continue his vigilantism into adulthood, even doing two stints as Batman. Or Barbara Gordon who, in the absence of any other overwhelming motivation (unlike Bruce or Dick) decides to dress up like the local vigilante and emulate him? In the real-world, that would almost certainly raise at least some mental health flags!

I know there's no concrete answer to this and it's purely a matter of perception. And that's what makes it so strange...why this perception exists around Batman and not other characters in comparable situations?

For Dick, one possible answer is that he does have trauma especially after seeing his parents die and it was exacerbated by Bruce recruiting him and it continued the cycle of violence and trauma.

Now for Green Arrow, you are 100% right it's not really talked about. In the comics Oliver is never put under the microscope. The only time I've seen his mental state questioned is in other media specifically Arrow, a lot of time was spent in season 2-3 (if I am remembering correctly) about his choice of killing and the guilt that he feels about it.

[marhawkman]

All valid points.

But in that case, why is Green Arrow's mental health not questioned? He does pretty much the same thing as Batman, just with a different color scheme and choice of weapon. And he too had a ''child-soldier''.

If we consider the Batman mythos alone, it still doesn't answer my question of why Dick Grayson isn't considered to have mental health issues, especially if he's been raised by the ''mentally ill'' Bruce Wayne? He spent his adolescence fighting the ''dregs of society in dark alleys'', and then proceeded to continue his vigilantism into adulthood, even doing two stints as Batman. Or Barbara Gordon who, in the absence of any other overwhelming motivation (unlike Bruce or Dick) decides to dress up like the local vigilante and emulate him? In the real-world, that would almost certainly raise at least some mental health flags!

I know there's no concrete answer to this and it's purely a matter of perception. And that's what makes it so strange...why this perception exists around Batman and not other characters in comparable situations?

As a man once said "With great power comes great responsibility"... It just makes sense for people with super powers to want to use those powers.

"In brightest day, in blackest night,
let those who worship evil's might,
beware my power Green lantern's Light!"

Even if it's not INNATE, it's still powers greater than any normal person will ever have. But people with NO powers? um... yeah.... not the same.

[bat39]

For Dick, one possible answer is that he does have trauma especially after seeing his parents die and it was exacerbated by Bruce recruiting him and it continued the cycle of violence and trauma.

Now for Green Arrow, you are 100% right it's not really talked about. In the comics Oliver is never put under the microscope. The only time I've seen his mental state questioned is in other media specifically Arrow, a lot of time was spent in season 2-3 (if I am remembering correctly) about his choice of killing and the guilt that he feels about it.

Arrow has probably come closer to examining Oliver Queen's mental health, but it's far from a significant focus. Ironically, the show is considered to be a very Batman-inspired take on GA (though I think that's an accusation that's way overstated!)

But on Arrow, it was more about the morality of Oliver's actions than about its toll on his mental health. Oliver initially adopted a no-killing rule to honor the memory of his best friend Tommy, who died thinking he was a murderer. Season 3 of that show really focuses on the toll that leading a double-life is taking on Oliver, but it's mostly the standard superhero trope of the protagonist feeling that his personal life is being damaged by being the hero. And the slow-burn flashback narrative shows us how Oliver gradually becomes the killing machine we first met in Season 1 - and at one point he outright calls himself a ''monster''. Yet no one accuses Oliver of being crazy in-universe because of his actions as the Green Arrow (whether he kills or not) and in the real-world, while there's a lot of discussion about Oliver's character development (or regression) and whether he should kill or not, no one talks about whether he's a disturbed individual who's ''as crazy as his villains'' the way it's popular to say so about Batman.

With comic-book versions of the Green Arrow, this issue doesn't come up at all!