Speaking of (and shilling) the new website--which already has over 10,000 unique viewer hits in less than six months (thanks!)--I just thought I'd add my Intro from the new site onto here, especially since I know there are still a lot of readers that prefer (or are simply just used to) checking out the Real Batman Chronology Project on this blogspot. For those who haven't had the chance to view the Intro, here it is! Basically, this Intro explains in further detail why I felt this project was necessary, what it is all about, and why it fascinates me. It was also important for me to, in an almost disclaimer-ish way, defend myself--well, not quite defend (that's such a harsh word), but explain--that I really wanted this chronology to be non-opinionated and nonobjective as much as humanly possible. That is, I wanted this project to be scholarly and unbiased. And I hope that I've been able to achieve that goal. I've read various criticisms of my site on the web that claim that I've failed to live up to my expectations, but my hope is that the majority of my followers and readers think otherwise. Ultimately, if this project can turn into something more (i.e. an actual tangible published book or dissertation) it would mean a lot to me if it was devoid of as much fanboy-ism as possible--although, I'm a huge fanboy, so there is always going to be some sarcasm, snarkiness, impertinence, and hyperbole delicately sprinkled throughout the site.
Here is my spiel from the Intro to the new website:
"Why so many timelines, you ask? Well, to put it simply, Batman has a long and storied history that dates back to 1939. This rich history, aside from a few niche areas of the Internet, has not really been successfully evaluated and analyzed from a narratological perspective of serial-continuity. To answer the query about "why so many timelines" in a more scrutable and scholarly way, DC has a habit of rebooting its characters about every twenty-five years. For Batman, the titular character debuts in 1939 and gets rebooted roughly somewhere from 1960 to 1964--about twenty-five years later. The second version of Batman--the Silver Age Batman of Earth-One--lasts until 1985/1986. That's close to twenty-five years later. And guess what? Another twenty-five years have passed since 1986. You guessed correctly if you said DC has rebooted Batman again. 2011 brought about the third major reboot (don't call it a relaunch) in the history of the DC Universe. Pretty interesting stuff, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The complexity and narratological structuring and re-structuring involved with serial fiction has always fascinated me. Batman, in particular, has always been of particular interest in regard to this fascination. I hope you enjoy this project as much as I have enjoyed working on it. And I hope that you can learn something from it, not only about Batman, but about narrative continuity as told by multiple artists and authors in a variegated serial-fictional world."
"Oh, and one final note: This site is meant to be entirely non-opinionated and nonobjective, and not some random fanboy list of my own personal favorite Batman stories. I'll be the first to admit that I geek out a bit harder (and usually write a bit more positively) about my faves and likewise, write a bit more negatively about things I don't like as much. That being said, this does not mean that I'm trying to alienate any fans or tell any of my readers what's good and what's bad. I'll leave that to the reviewers and the critics. This website is not a comic book review or critique site. This website is home to an intensive scholarly research project, through-in and throughout. There are a ton of stories I've included on my timelines that I despise and many more that I absolutely adore, which are absent since they are non-canon. I can't stress this enough: The Real Batman Chronology Project is meant to be uninfluenced, unbiased, and most importantly, a scientific research-based endeavor that examines the continuity of Batman via a narratological reading based solely upon the facts (admittedly as I see them) in the comic books themselves."
Thanks all, and keep reading!
--CC
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