Batman

This time it's Batman in Calcutta. Calcutta Confusion heartily thanks Eamon Lahiri for our second guest post.
The author is currently in his third year of pursuing a bachelor's degree in English at Jadavpur University. When he’s not watching sport, Eamon digs up cartoons, music, and random sights and sounds from his past to get nostalgic about. He claims to do precious little else.

I recently rewatched the Batman: The Animated Series episode titled 'The Demon's Quest', where Batman and Ra'as al Ghul make a very brief, and quite pointless stop at Calcutta on their way to rescue Robin and Talia al Ghul, who had supposedly been kidnapped.

Screen-grab from the Tv series

This two-part episode was based almost entirely on the Batman comics issue #232 published in 1970. Titled “Daughter of the Demon”, this was incidentally the issue that first introduced Ra’as al Ghul as a character.

While I quite enjoyed the story in itself, I found the portrayal of the city (in the comic as well as the television series) rather unsatisfactory. Everything from the art, to the colour schemes made it resemble a slightly toned down version of something out of an Arabian Nights tale.
Disgruntled with an inaccurate and hollow representation of my city, which I felt stemmed from misplaced notions that stereotype the vastly varied regions and cultures of the Eastern world, I set out in search for something more relatable. Thankfully, I didn’t have to look too far beyond Batman.

In 1996, DC published Batman #534, written by Doug Moench, who was on his second run under the Batman title, and was already known for contributing to the Knightfall arc in the 80’s.
This particular issue was a part of Legacy, a crossover story-arc that spread over issues from the Catwoman, Robin, and Detective Comics series’, apart from Batman. The overarching storyline concerns the return of the lethal virus that wreaked havoc in Gotham in the Contagion arc (to which this is a sequel), and Batman and his allies’ attempts to find its origins, and a possible cure, in the Middle East.

Unlike #232, #534 is set almost entirely in Calcutta, that too during the time of the year when the city is at its best: Durga Pujo.

But more importantly, unlike #232, #534 presents a much more realistic picture of the city.
For one, it moves beyond the ‘land of magic and snake-charmers’ stereotype and presents a view of the city from two distinct levels through the eyes of the caped crusader. At ground level, images of beggars lining the dingy lanes, urchins and street-dogs engrossed in play go a long way in juxtaposing the pomp of the festivities with the abject, perilous conditions in which the lower strata of society eke out a survival. Higher up, the unrealistic domes and minarets of #232 make way to tiled roofs and old Bengali bungalows that make for a much more familiar skyline.

Complete with Jim Aparo’s illustrations and Moench’s lines, nearly every panel strikes a poignant note with any reader who happens to be a resident of the city. A touching dialogue between Batman and a street-boy (who plays a crucial part in the story) hits too close to home for comfort when the latter is asked to go home when he encounters Batman late at night, to which he replies that the streets are his home. Anyone who has had a minimum amount of exposure to any part of the Batman franchise will be aware of Batman’s/Bruce Wayne’s deep concern and empathy for Gotham’s delinquent children, and as a true mark of a great work of fiction, the reader is able to get inside the head of a fictional character and almost sense the moment when he possibly realizes that the city he finds himself in, and the city he calls home are more similar than he’d like them to be.
Some of the lines, such as the ones in the panels below, are pertinent even today from a real-world perspective.

But where I feel this story scores a lot of brownie points, not just over #232 but in the broader context of Batman stories set overseas, is with the character of the aforementioned homeless child. While most of the stories in the arc are set in Africa and Asia, this is the only one that includes a local character who doesn’t just make up the numbers as a passive onlooker, but plays a major role in the plot.

Even though we never know his name, the boy turns out to be much more than a tertiary character. In fact, he is arguably the main supporting character despite Lady Shiva’s presence in the story. The writers ensure that his role is not restricted to being an object of sympathy and helplessness. His conversations with Batman evoke a sense of endearment towards him as well as humour (in contrast to the grim backdrop) as he continues flooding him with questions on his costume and whether he’s English or American, despite the Dark Knight’s best attempts to persuade him to stay away. Even after being shooed away, he continues to follow the duo from the shadows. Soon after, Batman does something quite out of character when he takes a ring off the finger of a hired assassin. As it turns out, he uses the ring to buy some food for the boy, a favour he later returns with interest when he (brace yourselves) comes out of the shadows and risks his own life to save Batman’s. This, I feel, epitomized the whole “Anybody could be Batman” motif that has gained so much of popularity after The Dark Knight Rises rocked the box-office in 2012, sixteen years before the release of Nolan’s film.

On a broader scale, the issue is also hugely successful in its streamlining of an out-of-the-box setting into the general mood and atmosphere of the DC animated universe within which Batman operates. Set as it is during a festive occasion, the squalor and decadence of the city is on full show. The stern reminder that evil isn’t far away even in the rare moments of joy is a staple of Batman stories set in Gotham, and the manner in which the same idea is evoked in a different setting is extremely refreshing.

Far from merely making up the background scenery, the city itself is portrayed as a multi-faceted character that actively engages with the plot and the other characters. We find the best example of this during the climax, which revolves around the immersion of the idols on Bijoya Doshomi,.
Batman discovers that the virus he has been seeking is hidden inside one of the immersed idols, put there with the aim to effect a contagion by contaminating the city's water supply.
With a great deal of help from his young friend, Batman manages to dive into the Hooghly amongst the idols, recover the virus, and save the day. Like all good Batman stories, a ray of light always breaks through at the end.
What I find particularly impressive is that despite the portrayal of the city being in line with the basic tropes of the fictional DCAU, one does not for one moment get the sense that it is forced. Through subtle hints, it encourages one to draw parallels between Calcutta and Gotham, while still enabling Calcutta to hold its own unique identity which is largely congruent with reality.

In an exchange with Lady Shiva, Batman articulates the enduring message that pervades throughout the story. It is the people of the city who make it what it is, and decide what it shall stand for. In spite of the chaos and corruption Calcutta (much like Gotham) finds itself surrounded in, the individual stories of the people who live in it are nothing short of inspirational. Their laughter, their spirit, and their very desire to survive despite the odds they face, nothing short of heroic.