Finally, 'The Dark Knight' premiers and the long wait for Robin is over

Robin's (girlfriend) first word was Batman. It's ironic mine was Sears, since I'm probably one of the worst when it comes to consumerism. As a kid, I loved getting some quarters from my parents and grandparents to slide in the slots of the arcade game stop at a local mall. Can you picture Dick Cheney's grandkid asking him for a quarter one day when outside an arcade venue? "No," he'll huff and puff with that breathy inflection of his. "You'll have to pull up your boot straps and earn it yourself."

As a kid, I didn't read comics. My favorite cartoon was Transformers. The recent film adaptation to the cartoon was great. I loved "Soundwave" for that beebopping music that blared on his stereo speakers. Honestly, I was agnostic to Batman when first meeting Robin a little over seven years ago.

Along with everyone else, I embraced all the hype surrounding Tim Burton's 1989 version of it. I still remember my middle school friends from North Carolina (lived there for two-and-a-half years) and eagerly standing at the front of the line waiting for a ticket. When looking behind me, the line literally stretched farther than I could see. We sat in the front row, acted like typical, rambunctious adolescents throwing a popcorn kernel or two at each other, and marveled at how much we enjoyed the film. The rest of this series; don't waste your time. George Clooney was interveiwed one time and when asked what makes him cry, he said watching Batman and Robin (when he starred as Batman).

Before meeting Robin, she rescued an Australian Sheppard-Border Collie mix (we can guess one of the two), Jack from a rural town about 45 minutes from where we live. She named him after Jack Nicholson for his portrayal of The Joker from that '89 film. Jack displays absolutely none of the characteristics of the wiley Joker character. He's extremely loving, passive, and demonstrates all the human characteristics of a peace activist, gay pride parading Liberal. When I visit Robin, he immediately wags his tail and nudges his 44 pound frame on my legs. Robin says, "Jesus. He'd have sex with you if he could."

Then, Bruce the Callous Conservative Cat came along. The night before moving to a town for my second journalist stint, Robin stopped at a gas station near her home. She heard a faint whimpering that sounded like it was coming from a cat. As she approached, she saw him between some shrubs. He wasn't skiddish and didn't run away. He let her pet him. Torn at the moment, she left and visited me to bid farewell before my move. After the visit, she couldn't stand having him left out there where he was subjected to any crazy nut or a vehicle hitting him. She used a large, cardboard box and placed him inside. He's stayed with us ever since. I think he was trying to tell me something about my "Funny Farm" experience in this town I worked in when running out the door one night just before leaving.

Bruce doesn't demonstrate all the characteristics of Bruce Wayne but has a similar background. He had to fend for himself at a young age, should be wary of others, considering his condition was so frail when Robin got him, and has the similar markings as the Batman costume. Since he was in the wild for God know how long, he still kills many insects. No concept of death though. After Bruce has punctured a vital organ with his claws, he still paws at it. He also enjoys taking a few swipes at Jack (claws aren't out, don't worry) and Jack just has a comical facial grimace and walks away. Every now and then, he'll run down Bruce and tackle him to the ground. That's when Bruce runs away. They're characters.

Enough rambling. Batman Begins completely surprised me. I thought it was going to be just another crappy adaptation to a comic book. That wasn't the case. Coming off a great performance in American Psycho as a cerebral, sociopathic businessman surrounded by egotistical, material-obsessed colleagues, and The Machinist, another cerebral portrayal of a down-and-out anorexic who hasn't eaten or slept in a year and experiences hallucinations, Christian Bale delivered another great performance with an all-star cast (gained 150 pounds in four months before he began filming for Batman Begins). All the Batman fans say this version, directed by Chris Nolan, fell much more in line with Bob Kane's comics. It was the best (X-Men comes close) comic adaptation I've seen thus far. Robin already could recite every line from the '89 version and this one was no exception.

Robin started screaming the first time she was Batman Begins when Lt. Gordon held up a Joker card. This is her favorite character and adamantly said another film is coming with The Joker in it. After it was announced, oh, I don't know, two years ago, she has constantly talked about the film (production, brilliant marketing, etc.). Then, the tragic news came of Heath Ledger's death.

Last week, I bought her an autographed picture of The Joker with Batman in the background. It's autographed by Ledger who by just about every notable critic, is receiving very high praise and Oscar buzz for his performance. I'm happy for Robin that her movie premiers tomorrow and anticipate going with her to see it a few times. I know how big of a role this comic series has played in her life.