Dark Night: A True Batman Story (aka Paul Dini's autobiography)

[The Laughing Fish]

I learned the other day that BTAS creator Paul Dini had written a comic book autobiography about his life two years ago, and I had to get my hands on it. It recounts where he found his passion for art, writing and fantasy, and coping with work and social life in the entertainment industry.

Growing up, Dini had difficulties with school bullying and often retreated to fantasy to escape the stress, and suffered from self-esteem issues as an adult. He often visited psychologists to deal with his emotional stress throughout his life. In 1993, when Dini was walking back home one late night after a disappointing date, his life had turned for the worse as he was nearly beaten to death by two scumbag muggers. The experience left him physically and emotionally wrecked, and understandably, lost the passion to write about Batman for quite a while.

In the comic, Dini had often daydreamed talking to Batman and the rogues gallery throughout his life to cope with his disappointment, but then the villains began to represent his demons and self-loathing. Of course, Batman would encourage him not to let the voices in his mind drown him in his depression, and start to find inspiration from other people to get back to work and move on from this ordeal.

As far as real life goes, this is the saddest, yet bravest, comic I've ever read in my entire life. I never knew much about Paul Dini's personal history, but never imagined it could have been so turbulent. He doesn't hold back from his problems, loneliness and the trauma left behind from such an assault, and you have to commend him to share his story of how he suffered and eventually recovered to continue doing what he loves.

One of the things I loved in his book is his first introduction to Batman when he was a child; reading a comic book left behind in the barber shop he used to go for a haircut, and getting excited for the Adam West TV show a year later. I did get a thrill where he remembers the time going into a theatre screening of the Fleischer Superman cartoon, and was inspired by the idea of a noir-style Batman cartoon, and the time he was wowed by watching Burton's first Batman film, and he credited it for reinventing the character as the dark brooding hero the general public could take seriously again; paving the way for BTAS to be developed.

But perhaps my favourite moment is where he imagined if Batman had existed in real life and rescued him from his attackers, and apprehended them as they cowardly try to escape. Sadly, we live in the real world where such justice, more often than not, fails.

Massive respect for Paul Dini to share his story about his path towards recovery. Without his contribution to Batman in the last twenty five years, it would've been a tremendous loss to the world.

Recommended.