ABSTRACT
Bruce Wayne wears the mask of plutocratic respectability that marks him out in one realm but renders him invisible in another. When Bruce Wayne dons the mask he becomes Batman but he also becomes Bruce Wayne when he removes that mask. The author's intention here is to examine how superheroes burst into his world, the mainstream. The author's own scant knowledge of superheroes relies on what has become 'mainstream'. That introduces us to the antics of Fathers for Justice (F4J). F4J's own literature and spectacles make much use of the imagery and discourse of superheroes. The author's first experience of Batman was at a friend's house who had many DC comics and also the Dandy and Beano. He remember more about the promise of plenty that the American advertising suggested, but it is Adam West's TV outings as the Caped Crusader that was his first real exposure to Batman as a cultural product.
