Post by Beth on Apr 6, 2013 11:59:14 GMT -5
I was reading Batman Unmasked coming home from a conference this week, and on p.241 Will talks about Adam West's home page, which "proclaim 'Welcome citizens'. Will quotes from the site:
But I misread that last sentence as secret weapon in the continuing fight to keep Gloria City safe. The similarities between what West (masking the assumption that it was West, of course) wrote and what Urby says on Twitter and his blog made me think about Urby in relation to West's Batman, and I wondered if anyone else would think the same.
I am now seeing more parallels between the two, though I don't know if I'd say Urby on Twitter is camp in the way that West's Batman was (yet). I'm talking only of the social media stuff here, but I think there are definitely homoerotic undertones in the way that Urby talks about Misper (and the way he talks to other men or male-identifed accounts on Twitter). I think in that way there are comparisons to be drawn between West's Batman and Robin. And actually, that could be considered camp in the sense of it being 'failed seriousness' as Urby is obviously serious about his crime fighting (though I know we don't know whether the person behind Urby is treating this seriously or being deliberately ambiguous).*
And that then raises the question of whether it was a conscious decision on the part of whoever's behind Urby to have him be read in an almost camp way, or whether I'm taking a reading from him that wasn't intended. I don't think we've seen enough of Urby in the comics to know how different his Twitter persona is, but I'd be interested in knowing why he's played that way and how that affects our readings of him.
*Urby being described as gay in last week's pages - whether Cat is right or not - might problematise this. I'm not sure yet though - these are my ramblings after all!
As you know, the Bat Cave is my Ultra-Modern crime control center. I have access to files on hundreds of known super criminals. Also, it is here that I develop the various crime control devices which have become my secret weapon in the continuing fight to keep Gotham City safe.
But I misread that last sentence as secret weapon in the continuing fight to keep Gloria City safe. The similarities between what West (masking the assumption that it was West, of course) wrote and what Urby says on Twitter and his blog made me think about Urby in relation to West's Batman, and I wondered if anyone else would think the same.
I am now seeing more parallels between the two, though I don't know if I'd say Urby on Twitter is camp in the way that West's Batman was (yet). I'm talking only of the social media stuff here, but I think there are definitely homoerotic undertones in the way that Urby talks about Misper (and the way he talks to other men or male-identifed accounts on Twitter). I think in that way there are comparisons to be drawn between West's Batman and Robin. And actually, that could be considered camp in the sense of it being 'failed seriousness' as Urby is obviously serious about his crime fighting (though I know we don't know whether the person behind Urby is treating this seriously or being deliberately ambiguous).*
And that then raises the question of whether it was a conscious decision on the part of whoever's behind Urby to have him be read in an almost camp way, or whether I'm taking a reading from him that wasn't intended. I don't think we've seen enough of Urby in the comics to know how different his Twitter persona is, but I'd be interested in knowing why he's played that way and how that affects our readings of him.
*Urby being described as gay in last week's pages - whether Cat is right or not - might problematise this. I'm not sure yet though - these are my ramblings after all!
