The Problem with Batman (or Batmen, for that matter)

Now a couple days ago, I was working and went outside for a smoke break. As I was leaving, I made a shitty joke which went something as follows, "If you need me, feel free to use the bat signal." Yeah. Not very funny. But for the entire five minutes in the car, I sat and thought about the Bat-Signal and other Bat-ideas. I reached the conclusion that the Bat-Signal itself was flawed.

My Reasoning:
1. The Signal is your standard Spotlight, as illustrated by the multitude of shots in the movies as well as in the comic book. About 10 feet in diameter, really bright. But remember that Gotham city is approximately the size of Chicago (and in Batman Begins, it looks more like new york as far as its dimensions go). Batman/Bruce Wayne lives outside of Gotham in a giant mansion. What are the odds that he'll see the signal from that far away? What if it's a really clear night?

2. Now ignore fact #1. Just pretend he's got some flunky in town telling him about the signal, and he gets a call to go to Gotham or something. Despite the fact that he has a crazy car, he still has to drive all the way from his mansion in the country to the middle of downtown ASAP. I'd guess the trip would take ~20-30 mins at the very least. What are the odds that the criminals, whoever they are, are gonna be sticking around for a full half hour? an even better question, if Batman can see the Bat-Signal from outside the city, how come the criminals don't demand that the police not use the signal? It's gonna be pretty tough to sneak a giant bright symbol in the sky until Batman comes. In fact, are the Gotham City cops so inept that they can't think of anything to do that could help resolve the problem in 20-30 minutes? And if so, does Batman get any false alarms? Crank Calls even?


So because of this, one COULD argue that the most realistic Batman to date was Adam West's, who had a red phone instead of a bat-signal.

Don't even get me started on my "Who's cooler, Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker" argument.

That's all for today.