Re: Question or two about Batman
 

Batman Confidential is like Legends of the Dark Knight in that both series are set very early in Batman's career. It makes sense for most people to assume he is myth early on.

Also unlike Legends, I don't think most Confidential stories are considered canon.

Re: Question or two about Batman
 

Also, Batman Confidential #31 came out about a year and a half ago, so it doesn't really speak to whether DC was doing the "Batman is an urban legend" thing in the late 80s. ;)

Re: Question or two about Batman
 

None of the interactions you mention would necessarily debunk the "urban legend" myth. How many people have insisted they've seen Bigfoot only to be dismissed by everyone else? Additionally, just because Batman saved you doesn't mean that your reaction to him would be of instant acceptance. Likelier than not, it would be overwhelming--after all, the incident itself would be traumatic for people even without Batman's participation. We rarely follow up with Gothamites, so who's to say how these individuals processed their fleeting encounters with Batman?

Which reminds me, I think the key evidence I was trying to find to support the pre-"Zero Hour" claim lies in the mini-series, Batman: Gotham Nights (1992). I'm almost certain that somewhere, either within those four issues or in another Bat-issue discussing that mini-series, that it was made clear that the purpose of that mini-series was to show the disbelieving and suspicious nature of Gothamites regarding Batman. I no longer own those four issues, nor do I own any other Bat-issues published around that time (excepting some Legends of the Dark Knight that I've already checked, and Batman Adventures). The cover dates were March through June 1992 if anyone's inclined to go rummaging.

Re: Question or two about Batman
 

That's a good point. Having eye-witnesses doesn't keep something from being a legend. But there have been media reports on Batman. We've had bad guys study footage of Batman. There was even a pre-crisis issue of Batman where he gets the key to the city. The hospital staff at Arkham have walked beside him and spoken with him, the police have as well, the press covers him (not as a myth), thousands of witnesses here.

While one eye witness is basically useless... a consensus of witnesses hold much more weight. This is especially true when outside data exists like photographs, character references like Superman, left over weapons, ect...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5ju0fDMneX...gain+again.JPG

Re: Question or two about Batman
 

John Wayne isn't real?

If Batman were in his own little world, I could understand people not knowing whether he was real. But there are hundreds of guys with even more fantastic and outrageous powers out there that everyone knows about, not to mention dozens of costumed mass murderers in Gotham itself... do they just think the police are really, really competent?

I would buy the whole uncertainty of what he really is in the criminal community. There was an episode of Batman TAS (not in comic continuity, of course) where kids were telling stories of who they thought Batman was, and it included an homage to Miller's Dark Knight and Sprang's early Batman.

I do seem to remember Batman not wanting to be in the spotlight post Legends, when the JLI (then just the Justice League) was refounded...

Re: Question or two about Batman
 

Batman was seen to be a myth as late as 2004 in the War Games storyline, where people were incredulous that he first off actually existed, and secondly was out in broad daylight.

Re: Question or two about Batman
 

I don't know what Denny O'Neil was thinking when he started this urban legend business. If you reboot the character and his universe as this costumed vigilante taking out mobsters in a semi-real world, it's pretty cool.

But in the DCU, sharing a world with superheroes that can fly, and in the very same city, super powered villains are the norm, it makes absolutely no sense.

Re: Question or two about Batman
 

The urban legend stuff never made sense in a comic book universe where aliens regularly attack the entire Earth and everyone knows it. They did it solely to add a little mystique to a character that did not need it in Batman.

Comic book writers have never really explored this territory in the DC or Marvel universes, but the culture of Earth would be radically different if hundreds of superhumans showed up claiming to be Gods and aliens while regularly battling for no apparent reason. Almost every institution would be changed on levels unimaginable to us.

Re: Question or two about Batman
 

I thought it worked quite well in Legends of the Dark Knight, where the reader need not concern himself with any other characters or storylines. Essentially, Batman operated in a vacuum in that title.

It's rare, but it has happened. Look at Powers, for instance, or the way that both Moore and Miller included running commentary from the media, talking heads and regular people in Watchmen and Dark Knight. It would be interesting to see what daily life would be for, say, an insurance claims adjuster in Metropolis. Or a pawn shop owner in Gotham.

Re: Question or two about Batman
 

Astro City is great for this sort of thing.

Re: Question or two about Batman
 

I forgot how good Astro City was. Busiek managed to do a combination of nostalgia with a little bit of realism to good effect.