I don't think that's an accurate description of Batman at all. I think it's much more what you say above. I especially like this paragraph:
The origin story being this: you've got the wealthy prince who lives in the protected world. Then one night he leaves the mansion and walks in the dangerous corner of the city with his parents. There he sees this thing we'll call crime, injustice (chaos, death). That’s the beginning of his enlightenment. He commits himself to this new way of study, eventually becoming the Batman. He dedicates his entire life to fighting that crime/injustice he saw. Everything about his life is subsumed to his mission. The mission not being just some practical idea of reducing crime by X percent, but almost a spiritual idea.
Honestly, the reason I've always figured so many people like Batman is because it's a fantastic origin story and because it's a regular man, not a super-powered individual, who takes it upon himself to work as hard as he possibly can to make himself the best he can be for a very certain role and to improve the lives of other people.
The oddest part of the argument to me was the thing about how the lesser characters, say, somebody Batman rescued, didn't get more focus, or their own story, but were only part of Batman's story. The comic is called Batman for a reason, and it's not like I think there are people clamoring for more stories like that. He sells the stories. He's the one the people interested in the comic want to read about.
no subject
The origin story being this: you've got the wealthy prince who lives in the protected world. Then one night he leaves the mansion and walks in the dangerous corner of the city with his parents. There he sees this thing we'll call crime, injustice (chaos, death). That’s the beginning of his enlightenment. He commits himself to this new way of study, eventually becoming the Batman. He dedicates his entire life to fighting that crime/injustice he saw. Everything about his life is subsumed to his mission. The mission not being just some practical idea of reducing crime by X percent, but almost a spiritual idea.
Honestly, the reason I've always figured so many people like Batman is because it's a fantastic origin story and because it's a regular man, not a super-powered individual, who takes it upon himself to work as hard as he possibly can to make himself the best he can be for a very certain role and to improve the lives of other people.
The oddest part of the argument to me was the thing about how the lesser characters, say, somebody Batman rescued, didn't get more focus, or their own story, but were only part of Batman's story. The comic is called Batman for a reason, and it's not like I think there are people clamoring for more stories like that. He sells the stories. He's the one the people interested in the comic want to read about.