Bruce Wayne, propelled by his super-identity as Batman, is one of the most successful, well-loved heroes of all time. In Wayne’s fictional world all the citizens of Gotham depend on Batman to save them. Wayne himself is incredibly handsome, talented, wealthy, and strong. In the world we live in, people everywhere love Bruce Wayne. Artists have presented the tales of his heroism in nearly every medium. In the realm of popular culture, a character who started as a comic has become the star of several successful movies, a cartoon show, video games, and even fan-fiction sequels on the internet.
However, in Bucky Sinister’s gritty poem “The Other Universe of Bruce Wayne,” our beloved hero is shown in an entirely different form. “There’s an alternate universe in which Bruce Wayne is poor and I have my shit together,” hopes Sinister in the opening lines of his poem. Through his poem Sinister trades lives with Wayne, focusing on the hardships that Wayne faces as a normal man without all of his fictional grandeur. In this world, Sinister is the only friend of the lonely alcoholic Bruce Wayne. Sinister trades identities with the hero, making us realize either poignantly that without the hype, our superhero is as disappointing as we are; or, reassuringly, making us realize that in a different set of situations, we could be as great as the comic book hero the world loves. Through his use of an unconventional poetic structure and first person narrative, Sinister casts one of our favorite heroes in the light of a normal man, challenging our positive conceptions of Batman and simultaneously giving us chills and comfort in a darkly ironic way.
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