HOUDINI & BATMAN

Heroes of myth and legend, both have become immortal.

Crusaders, fighters, acrobats, high-fliers -- both use secret identities. Masters of disguise, escape and sleight-of-hand -- both are movie stars. Both served as government agents. Both are wealthy, allowing each to deploy his own undercover detective force worldwide.  

Harry Houdini’s accomplishments were, and are, so supernormal that it’s challenging to know he was real flesh-and-blood. Harry was so much “the real Batman” that they appear as equals in the 1993 issue depicted above. In that story, Harry has the edge in lockpicking, Batman’s a bit better at martial art. Both know how to cloud men’s minds. Both have conquered fear.

ESPN

Wikipedia

“Houdini is the most remarkable man I ever examined,” declared a doctor in Boston, who had also examined Sandow, the strongest man in the world, and other physical wonders. "Houdini is in a class by himself." In the course of his strenuous life, Harry broke 32 bones -- the same number, curiously, as Batman.

Bruce Wayne's scars (via comicartfans.com)

Quoting Nietzsche, the European press as early as 1902 hailed Houdini as a “Superman.”  In a very short time his name passed into the German language.  

Houdini wins trial before German Supreme Court (via iluxurystyle.com)

Through his fearless exploits, Harry became more famous than the German Emperor.  The Kaiser has fallen into the deep well of history, but Houdini’s legend lives on.

Houdini is news that stays news. He dominates the front pages nearly his entire life, and beyond. They came to see him die.

Video link here

Batman’s ”origin” stories reveal that he, like Harry, spent a big part of his youth training assiduously. In both cases it stemmed from tragedies that befell their parents.

Bruce Wayne went into training after his parents were brutally murdered. He rose above fear, and above mere revenge, and took a blood oath to rid the world of all criminals.  


"He devoted his life to training body and mind to the peak, so he could campaign for what's right," says Howard Latting, himself a sixth-degree black belt who is an avid contributor and podcaster on Batman websites. "He is making the hero's journey, an archetypal journey.  That he survives in our minds, over generations, proves the power of myth."

Houdini’s "origin story" is of mythic proportions as well. Taken from real life, it has remarkable echoes of Batman's. According to Harry’s mother, his father escaped with the family after he killed a prince in Budapest. Harry went into serious training in order to protect his family. We'll tell that whole story in a future post.

NEXT WEEK:  HOUDINI & BATMAN, CONTINUED