Long before Christian Bale, long before Michael Keaton, but not before Adam West (Nope not that old) I was a Batman fan.  I suppose my first exposure to Bats was the old Superfriends cartoon of the 70's.  I have to say though in the cartoon he never really stuck out to me as much as characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, or even Aquaman.  Even as a kid I felt like his role was forced into the team, I didn't hate him, instead I wondered what the heck he was doing there. 

Fast forward a few years and to a comic about Batman being trapped in one of Harry Houdini's water tanks.  He was trapped there by a murderous magician.  The story was very basis: Batman was trapped, he flashes back to how he got there, he escapes and faces his opponent, then his opponent falls on a guillotine that accidentally falls on him.  Yeah Bats let him die, really though there was nothing Bats could have done, but that didn't mean he felt sorry for the guy either.  This was Batman to me from that point on. 

Several people have commented on Bats over the years, I could do so here but I really don't want to bore everyone.  This is about Bats and how he relates to 1:18th town.  His basic character is that of "The Dark Detective."  When there is a mystery Bats is the one everyone calls on.  Now when you think about it this isn't a character that translates well into a comedic situation.  In fact, I will go on record as saying I never intentionally give Batman a funny line (although some do come out eventually).  He is serious, deathly serious, sometimes playing the "Straight man" (as the old comedic term goes, which gets into dual meaning when I talk about Superman, which I won't right now). 

The other aspect of Batman's character comes from his JLA persona, the guy who just can't be beaten due to his intellect.  The long running joke has been that no one can beat Batman when he has had prep time (I think I once heard someone actually use God in that joke once).  So I decided to add it to the character.  It does open the door for some good laughs even though I tend to keep him serious. 

As for the figure, I use the Microman version released a few years ago from Takara, why you might ask.  I admit originally it had to do with articulation but even more so than that he just looks the part.  Every figure I have seen in 1:18th of Batman before and since seem to be pale compared to this one.  Simply put I like him the best of all the figures I have seen.