Introducing Batman Month on The Dougystyle Club

Welcome to Batman Month here at the Dougystyle Club!

While music is my greatest passion and hobby in life, Batman is definitely my second greatest pop culture obsession. Ever since I can remember I was a fan of the character. When I was young I went as Robin for Halloween in an outfit that turned into my pajamas for years after that. My Aunt used to call me the boy wonder back then. I was born in 1986 so I was just at the right age for the Batman renaissance that occurred in the 90s in the wake of Tim Burton’s Batman, which had become one of the biggest blockbusters in Hollywood history. During the 90s Batman was everywhere and he a big part of my childhood as I saw all the live action films in theaters and I owned the films on VHS, which I watched over and over again. I also watched Batman: The Animated Series religiously every day after school at 4pm before I did my homework. I would wake up early on weekends for Saturday morning cartoons on Fox, which is where I also caught Batman: The Animated Series. I owned the VHS of Batman Mask of the Phantasm, which I watched all the time and I still think it is the single greatest Batman film ever made.

I also was huge into action figures growing up. I was the kid who had the most action figures in my neighborhood and I used to put them all in a big duffle bag and bring them over to my friend’s houses. I would dump all of them on the floor, we would take turns picking out our favorite figures to play with and then we would create stories and character arcs for these action figures that we would play/act out for hours on end and a lot of those figures were Batman and his villains. I also had the Batcave toy set, coloring books, comics based on the animated series, board games and more Batman related merchandise as a child.

As I grew up music took over as my greatest passion and I began to leave behind toys and childhood games, but Batman stuck with me even though the passion grew dimmer for a few years there. As I got older though I started appreciating the darkness and psychology of the character and I started to realize why I loved Batman’s rogues gallery of villains. Batman’s greatest villains are all psychologically damaged and are lashing out because of how they were mistreated or misunderstood by a culture that either abused them or ignored them. Many of Batman’s villains are very flamboyant in attire and attitude such as The Mad Hatter, The Riddler and especially The Joker. At the same time Batman has more femme fatal villains then any other superhero such as Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Talia Al Ghul and more, who I loved as a little kid. As a child I actually wanted to be The Joker, Catwoman or Poison Ivy more than Batman and Robin. As a child I found these villains to be very freeing in a sense and while I still didn’t understand sexuality quite yet, I knew I was different from all the other little boys and these flamboyant villains and femme fatals were an outlet for me at that time. I was very attracted to Batman’s rogues gallery and that attraction only grew as I got older and began to understand how my homosexuality was making me feel more like an outsider because I too was growing up in a culture that didn’t understand me.

Throughout the 00s I collected all the live action films, animated films and Batman: The Animated Series on DVD. After seeing The Dark Knight in theaters 4 times in the summer of 2008 I became a diehard Batman fan who now collected and read as many Batman comics as possible. My apartment is filled with bookcases and long boxes dedicated solely to Batman comics and graphic novels from 1939 to the present. On top of the comics I also own various t-shirts of Batman and his villains, books, kitchen magnets, framed photos & artwork hanging on the wall, socks, pajamas, throw blanket, bowls & spoons, coasters, a bumper sticker on my car, card games, dice games and so much more Batman themed paraphernalia.

I also put together a suit outfit for the Riddler that I would wear for Halloween, Batman movie premieres and even at work when we hosted a comic con and I was the official lobby greeter for the front desk during that event. At my wedding in 2014 my Mom surprised me by not only having the DJ play Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me by U2 off the Batman Forever soundtrack, but she also had everyone wearing Batman masks during it as well. To say I was surprised and delighted is an understatement. I pretty much ran onto the dance flooring screaming like a girl!

People who know me at this point know that music and Batman are pretty much my 2 biggest pop culture passions. If I wanted to, I could easily start a second blog dedicated to all things Batman, but then I’d probably have no free time anymore. So instead I’ve decided to talk about my Batman obsession on this blog through the lens of the music associated with the character and his supporting cast. The music of Batman has been extremely influential and important to me as both a Batman fan and a music fan. A lot of my favorite pop/rock songs and instrumental scores come from various Batman movies, cartoons and TV shows.

I am going to examine the music of Batman through 3 separate countdown posts. The first will be my top 20 pieces of music from the various film scores taken from the live action movies. The second post will be my top 20 pieces of music from the episode scores to Batman: The Animated Series, which were mostly conducted by the late great Shirley Walker. The final countdown will be my top 10 Pop/Rock songs from the live action films, many of which helped build the foundation of my taste as a music fan, especially for 90s Rock and Alternative.

So remember to tune in this month, same Bat Time same Dougystyle Channel, for Batman month here on the Dougystyle Club. In the meantime check out my Batman playlist which will give you a nice preview of the music I will covering this month.