comic book psychology

«Batman. His deductive talents seem highly overrated. It doesn't take
great intellect to tackle street crime. Luck and timing are the
operative skills. No, what interests me . . . is the fact that he
functions as a lightning rod for a certain breed of psychotic.
[pictures of the Joker, the Riddler, and Two-Face are shown
successively] They specialize in absurdly grandiose schemes, and
whatever the ostensible rationale -- greed, revenge, the seizure of
power . . . their true agenda is always the same: to cast Batman in
the role of nemesis. Hence the puns, the riddles, the flagrant clues
in their collective wake -- daring their foe to penetrate the obvious.
He always triumphs. If he failed, they'd be bereft. The pas de deux
would have no point. Like naughty children, who tempt the wrath of a
stern, demanding father . . . They seek only to shock him by the
enormity of their transgressions. It's the moment of acknowledgement
they crave. Thus "good" conquers "evil." True evil seldom announces
itself so loudly. The dangerous ones set their subversive goals, and
achieve them, bit by bit . . . invisibly, inevitably. They have no
taste for theater. While Batman busies himself with petty thieves and
gaudy madmen, an abyss of rot yawns ever wider at his feet. He's a
band-aid on a cancer patient. I am of course no moralist, but this
Batman, I think, has a very poor understanding of the world.» --
http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/Batman.html