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If possible, the comic stories of the last twenty-five years have created an even more severe Batman. Former Batman writer and editor Dennis O'Neil presents a disturbing picture of Bruce Wayne's alter ego. "The basic story is that [Batman] is an obsessed loner," O'Neil explained in an interview, "not crazy, not psychotic. There is a big difference between obsession and psychosis. Batman knows who he is and knows what drives him, and he chooses not to fight it. He permits his obsession to be the meaning of his life because he cannot think of anything better. He is also rife with natural gifts. He is possibly the only person in the world who could do what he is doing."

Obsession and talent combine in Batman to create a character who demands our admiration and respect. In a world of superpowered heroes and villains, Batman excels through steely determination and uncompromising commitment. He does not fly. His skin will not repel bullets. He cannot see through walls or overturn cars or hurl blasts of energy from his fingertips. He is purely and simply human in every way, yet he routinely topples foes mightier than himself. Armed with cunning and scientific wonders, Batman has even bested Superman on occasion.

The fully human Batman has made himself the best a man can be

Behind the cowl, Batman is only a man, but he has made himself the absolute best that a man can be. Driving himself to the limits of human accomplishment, Batman has achieved the apex of physical and mental prowess. No one could work harder. No one could become more. Batman is the pinnacle of human potential.

He is also a failure.

Despite all his valiant efforts, Batman cannot save the world from violence and death. For every innocent victim Batman rescues from the grimy streets of Gotham City, the vices of poverty, drugs, and crime will slay a dozen more. Batman repeatedly defeats the Penguin, the Riddler, the Scarecrow, and the Mad Hatter, knowing full well that after a brief stay at Arkham Asylum, these fiends will inevitably escape to wreak more mayhem.

Sadly, Batman cannot even protect the few intimate friends he has allowed to enter his private world. In a truly horrific story in the late 1980s, the almost infallible Batman follows a false trail and unknowingly leaves his sidekick Robin to face the Joker alone in a warehouse. The Joker and his henchmen savagely beat Robin, and the Joker himself delivers the final blows with a crowbar. After Robin is broken and unconscious, the Joker departs, blowing up the building as he leaves.

Batman arrives mere minutes too late to save Robin. As he sifts through the smoking wreckage, he ponders his relationship with his young sidekick. He wonders why he took on a partner in the first place.

"I guess the truth is that I was lonely," he admits to himself. "Didn't want to go it alone. So what do I do? I bring a young innocent into this mad game."

Batman's broodings end with the discovery of Robin's body. The hero's grief and guilt are palpable as he lifts the bloodied corpse in his arms. Appropriately, the storyline of Robin's murder was called "A Death in the Family."

We can forgive Batman for failing to protect every innocent and save every victim. He is, after all, only human. Unfortunately, Batman cannot forgive himself. His own heart tells him he should have tried harder. He should have done better. He should have been faster, stronger, smarter.

When Batman pursues the Joker after Robin's death, the villain's gunfire kills a luckless bystander.

"Another innocent sacrifice to the Joker's mania," Batman laments. "Another hapless victim to haunt my sleep."

In fact, the specter of guilt haunts Batman whether waking or sleeping. The true tragedy of the Dark Knight is not his failure to save the world but his inability to save himself. Behind the harsh mask of the ultimate crime fighter huddles a tearful little boy cradling the head of his dying mother. Batman passes through the world wrapped in mourning colors and guilt. His hard work and good deeds always fall short. He tries so fervently, but he never measures up in his own eyes. A lifetime of self-sacrifice and joyless virtue cannot atone for the guilt he carries. Even his muscled shoulders can scarcely bear that load.

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