It began as a project in high school; we were supposed to pick a hero, real or imaginary, and write up a little history on them, make some posters, use glitter and hot glue and, you know, whatever. You know how kids like being creative. I chose the Batman, and from the way my teacher acted, it was like I had picked Hitler or something.
He wasn't "appropriate". Which, I guess I sort of understand now. I mean, back then, he was just like, this mysterious menace to society who occasionally stopped a few robbers and like, the Joker if he managed to escape again. This was way before he ever got the massive cult status he does now. I mean, before I did research, I thought he was an actual BATman, like the rumors of alligators in the sewers. People claim to have seen him like they claim to have seen flying saucers.
So I researched. I went online, I stole newspapers from garbage cans, I had my little sister draw her interpretation of him, and compared that to newspaper clippings that sorta had him on film…you know, blurry, vague shapes. You get a head, some ears, and, naturally, the long flowing cape. Did you know it's weighted down at the hem, so he could use that as a weapon too? Like throwing a big black net over someone's head, and you know, its usually night time, so now they have this giant man in a suit kicking their asses AND they can't even see anything. Double whammy.
Anyway, I got so into it that even after I had gotten my A+ on the project, I continued to follow the news on him. Every time another villain was cut down by this guy, they'd have him on the front page of every paper, with some threatening caption. DERANGED BAT MAN STALKS CITY CRIMINALS and all that stuff. This was even before they put the two words together…he was the bat man, but not THE BATMAN that he is today.
When I began college, I started another project. Having followed him for about a year and a half, I started a website devoted to his identity. It's gone now, but it was a massive forum with members all over the city speculating on his identity. They had so many theories…he was an alien sent to protect the city, he was a mutant crime fighter (like the Ninja Turtles…but they're another story altogether), and my all-time favorite, he was a vampire who happened to fight crime to repent for past sins.
Whatever he was, he was absolutely DIESEL and I couldn't get enough. He began to appear as a real person after a while, and the pictures became more common, people saw him on a daily, or nightly, basis. More criminals appeared too. Not just Joker, but people like the Penguin, or Catwoman. Minor criminals stopped making so much trouble. The jail was filled every night.
I started the Support the Bat campaign later that year. I made necklaces, simple hemp deals with a clay bead in the middle, his sigil. I made t-shirts that I ordered offline by the dozens. I made flyers. I gained interested people. People sent me pictures they had taken, real ones, not just black and white newspaper clippings. For the first time, I saw what he might REALLY be…I carried a camera around with me all the time. I donated the money I made to police charities since I had no way of presenting them to Batman himself. I wanted our police force to be better, so maybe, Batman didn't have to work so hard, doing their jobs. I was known.
Life changed once his legend was secured. Joker's signature weapon, that gas, was sold in small pill form to take like a drug to teenagers in clubs. Really, it was a small, green pill with a stripe of purple that was the actual drug, while the rest was a filler because a little goes a long way. Your body can't handle too much…but a small dose like that forces you to be happy for a few hours. Or, you know, something, I never took one willingly anyway. I was supporting Batman, not his deranged nemesis.
Everyone knew me eventually. I was loud, I had websites, I had t-shirts and buttons and necklaces, flyers, I even signed a few autograph books. People sent me letters asking for requests for jewelry mostly. They wanted a specific necklace with the Batman sigil on it, I made it, charged them for materials (or, nothing if they send me real good information), and used what money I didn't donate for more supplies.
Then one night, I got a letter with no return address, signed by "Mr. J", asking for a Joker necklace. I politely wrote back that I wasn't going to use his image in my campaign. Come to find out, it wasn't just the good citizens of Gotham that knew me. I had attracted some bad characters.