In every super hero comic book or movie, there’s always a bleak moment when the hero loses their power. The arc reactor on Iron Man’s suit runs out of paladium or vibranium or magic, and he plummets to the earth. Which by all reasons should turn him into a Tony Stark flavored goo, because—physics.
For Superman it was simpler. Undefeatable, godlike powers unless shiny green rock nearby. Kryptonite— the inverse deus ex machina of all plot devices. The original WonderWoman, well—nigh invulnerable had a weakness for bondage. All you had to do was tie her wrists together. Okay, eww. I’m really hoping the movie steers clears of that.
Personally, I relate to Batman. Batman has no powers. All he has are his brains and a bunch of really stupid toys that shouldn’t work, and probably don’t. Again—physics. But he’s smart and when he’s focused, he’s really focused. Hyper-focused. It’s when he loses his focus that things fall apart. Batman’s arch-nemesis isn’t the Joker, it’s the Really Bad Mood. Batman versus the Cosmic Indifference. Batman versus Why Am I Doing This Again? Batman versus Trivia Night.
For a time, while I was working on my novel I retired to my Bat Cave with my blinking supercomputer and the damp mustiness of eternal night. Alfred would bring me all my meals on a silver tea tray covered with a white linen napkin. He would silently return hours later to remove my uneaten lunch, because I hadn’t looked up from my attempts to piece together a puzzle filled with false trails and extraneous details to form a coherent whole. It was glorious, and it was unsustainable.
As with all things, Hyper-focus ends. Now I’m back in Stately Wayne Manor making desultory searches through arcana, indulging a diffuse curiosity about local Art Moderne houses, one act playwriting competitions, alternative high schools. French dialects. Does this all add up to a novel? Maybe. I’ll never know unless I just keeping plodding along, writing a bit everyday, but its hard to maintain a straight line when my restless brain wants to roam in fifteen different directions.
I wonder if anyone ever told Batman to trust the process?