ABSTRACT
The present paper tries to analyse the way queer is represented in the comics of Batman (1960-2020). It aims to chart the queering of the silence, i.e., the representations of gay identities in the texts. The research in its core analyses the relationship between words and pictures vis-a-vis the hierarchy between the genders. The paper seeks to understand the historical origin of superhero masculinity with the help of consumed images of Batman in comics and then investigates as to how these images challenge the conventional norms of society, especially in the paradigm of homosexuality. I will try to analyse Batman as a gay character in relation to the characters of Joker and Robin. In The Secret life of Heroes (2013— series still running), Gregoire Guillemin talks about the subversive norms and orders of societal constructions. Andy Medhurst in the essay, “Batman, Deviance and Camp” (1991) talked about how Batman is interesting to queer audiences because he was one of the first fictional characters to be attacked on the grounds of his presumed homosexuality. I will also analyse how flexibility appears in queering comics, i.e., how comics defy categorisation of binaries, and this flexibility parallels the undetermined status of queer. I will exercise a close reading of the primary texts to find out both the explicit and implicit representations of queer. These readings will be coupled with close references to the theories of gender studies of Judith Butler and Hillary Chute.
