Book Review: Becoming Batman

Salaama Layukum Folks!

I have finally finished my first E-book on my Kindle.  My first Kindle broke on the way to Afghanistan and I had to wait for another one to be sent at no cost, unless you count time, to me so that I could continue reading.  Plus since I spend the majority of my work day reading, I spent some nights watching movies on my computer.  Excuses aside....I am done with Becoming Batman.  In case you are wondering, I am not out at night in spandex fighting crime on the FOB.  That was the title of the book my E. Paul Zehr.  He explored the feasibility of a human being actually transforming into the Dark Knight.  Being that I am a super nerd (not geek, there is a difference) I was fascinated by the subject.  Paul is a well versed martial artist and a doctor in exercise sports science.  He explored concepts such as biological disposition, dietary, psychology, senescence, and training time line in his book.  He took a scientific approach and used an imaginary character know as Bob Wayne as Bruce Wayne's (Batman) twin for the control is to assessing if an average Joe (or JoJo) like you or me could become the caped crusader.  (I will run out of alternate names for Bats soon :P) Back on subject.  Paul explore various factors that and goals that one must achieve to become that terror that flaps in the night (wait that's Darkwing Duck) and provides scientific data to prove his hypothesis.  In my opinion he was too scientific in his approach.  Not for me (because I majored in Biology) but for the average person.  At times I had to dig deep in to my memory to be able to understand some of the biological theories that Paul noted had to be met for a person to become the masked manhunter.  I did like the fact that he had studied various forms of martial arts (like yours truly) and assessed ninjitsu to be the style that Batman would choose.  I also enjoyed a plethora (heh heh plethora of pinatas) references to actual Batman  comics, movies, and commentaries by writers to historically link Batman to certain assessments.  In the end he assessed that it was possible for a person to become Batman.  However, to stay Batman, and he means at the peak of his career represented in the majority of his comics (shout out to The Dark Knight Returns) would not be feasible.  Thus Batman could only be Batman could only be Batman could only be Batman (just checking if you were actually reading) for roughly 10 years.  He compared that to boxers and other athletes who are at their physical peak while performing that play sports that are comparative to the amount of beating that Batman would sustain while keeping the streets of Gotham safe.  This was a fun read and I recommend it to anyone who thinks that they want to fight crime and likes a realistic approach to the world of comics.  Next book The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

Stay Frosty, (whoops still in caps...I mean italics)

JoJo