The other day someone told me that Batman was not a super hero based on the fact that he is only a man, no special powers, just a regular guy. At first I gave my response, a bit angrily I might add, and went on my way. Then I thought to myself, if this person feels this way then surely others do too. Now I wouldn’t be a good Batman fan if I didn’t squash this thought and spread the good word of the Bat. So here it is, my full thoughts on not just why Batman is a super hero but why he is quite possibly the best super hero ever.

Get ready for the long haul on this one folks.

The first assumption here is that to be a super hero you must have some sort of meta-human power. These include but are not limited to; flying, super-speed, super-strength, x-ray vision, power of will, invisibility, and for good measure leaping tall buildings. While these attributes can certainly make one a super hero, they do not define it. Instead it should be defined by the ability to fight crime and injustice on a large, or if you will, super scale. This already makes Batman a super hero by the mere fact he defends Gotham, not to mention the entire world, daily.

There are plenty of other super heroes who are merely mortal as well. Green Lantern’s powers do not come from within but are granted by a ring. Yes, he does amplify those powers with his will, but will alone does not constitute a power. Captain America is only a government guinea pig for a super soldier formula, which grants him his powers. These do not take away from the men or their “super hero-ness” it only means they are not Superman, but I don’t see people arguing if they are considered super heroes.

In fact by Batman being only a man makes him one of, if not the greatest of super heroes. He teaches us; boys, girls, young and old, to overcome the limitations we are taught to accept as mere mortals. He shows us we can do and be better. Granted he has the cash to put his fantasy to greater heights than we can achieve, but it does not stop us from dreaming.

Batman knows he is a human, therefore he understands weakness, pain, and suffering. This makes him a stronger and better hero than others. While Superman can feel pain, he does not know the true weakness of being human. There are only a few instances in comics where he looses his powers and becomes human. In those instances though when Superman regains his powers, he is a better man. He becomes a more powerful hero because he understood weakness, because he was mortal for an instance. Batman is in this state at all times, yet he continuously overcomes it and that is no small feat.

Bruce Wayne is not able to be Batman forever. Inevitably he will have to step down. Being human means you age at a steady pace and Bruce Wayne will grow old. Batman will not. Being Batman is more than being a man, it is being a legend. The cowl can be passed down and live forever, thus extending the legend. See in recent history with Bruce Wayne’s “death” and Dick Grayson taking over the mantle of The Bat (or see Batman Beyond where Bruce trains young Terry McGinnis to be Batman), the legend lives, and grows, with each new installment it grows stronger. Characters like Superman cannot pass on his ability, while he grows old at a slower pace eventually he will be gone, and gone forever.

Batman isn’t called the worlds greatest detective for nothing either. In fact he is so intelligent he has a plan to take down virtually any super villain as well as his fellow heroes should they turn. He has taken down Superman on multiple occasions. This is a testament to not only his skill and training, but his intelligence and will. See The Dark Knight Returns. Batman also has the greatest rogues gallery, and yes, you can be judged by your counterpart. From the insanity and instability of the Joker to the shadowy and illusive nature of Catwoman, Batman truly has faced it all. One of the reason’s Batman’s character has been around for 70+ years is because his foes are so unique and interesting. Nobody wants to read about a hero defeating boring characters.

In conclusion to this lengthy thought, Batman is 100% a super hero any way you slice it. While he doesn’t have meta human powers he does indeed have the ability to fight crime on a large scale. He teaches us to be better, to overcome the limitations we are taught to accept, and to be fearless. Batman is more than a man, more than a hero, he is a legend and it doesn’t get much better than that.

As many of you may have noticed, there have been some major shifts here at Substance TV. Hopefully you like them. One of the many new updates is that I am now involved in more than just Boomzies.

Now I figured I should probably properly introduce myself and how I got involved. I’ve known Brian for a few years now, we met while I was working at Gamestop and he was a regular customer. I knew him as “Conan O’Brien T-Shirt Guy!” for the first few months. Essentially he wore the shirt one time in the store, I commented on it and it stuck. Here we are a few years later…

He and I would meet up for lunch about once a week and bullshit on about video games, comics, really anything. We eventually came up with the concept for Boomzies, a new addition to Substance TV. The name of the show comes from some ridiculous statement I would make when either something cool just happened, or something went my way. Boomzies! It just worked for the show.

We created the idea, not necessarily to argue (which it has basically boiled down too, check it out, it is fun), but to provide some really fun and interesting content for viewers LIVE and be able to respond to them. So far so good. We are still working on some major improvements, so stay tuned, it only gets better!

You see though, Boomzies wasn’t enough. I really wanted to be involved in everything. Brian and I are both graphic designers in profession, so I proposed some new design ideas for the website and after some back and forth redesigns we are ready to start launching the new brand! I was really excited that he was allowing me to be involved to this extent. We have some great new ideas for the Substance TV brand, and all the subsequent “channels” beneath it.

Anyways, we will soon have bio pages up so look for that to find out more! Take care everyone.

- Landon

After some uncomfortable pains early this morning, my wife and I headed to the hospital to see if this kiddo was ready to pop out. Though it was contractions, there was no sign of delivery. No worries, the baby was doing great so we headed home and went back to sleep. So here I sit typing this up as we wait and see. We have a c-section scheduled for 5:00 A.M. Tuesday morning (who pick these times?!) if the baby doesn’t come before then. I’ll be away from the site and my computer in general for the rest of this week. I will be taping a few videos and doing some special stuff, but you’ll have to wait to see what that is until this weekend or later.

For those interested in what’s going on, I’ll be updating my Twitter feed throughout the entire process.

Substance TV’s Twitter (now The Baby Countdown!)

Thanks again to all the viewers and fans who’ve sent their kind thoughts and words. I’ll be posting an update video later this week covering what’s going on with Extra Joy and Volume 1 of Substance TV. The next time you see me, I’ll be a papa of two!

I’ve been a little hush hush about a big secret in my life, but now that my wife has gone public on Facebook, it’s time to spill the beans. My wife and I are going to have another baby! We’ve been a quiet on the subject for a few months now, but we thought it was time to start telling friends and family, and I consider all of you friends.

This is also a major reason why episode 11 has been delayed longer then I’d like. After we found out awhile back, I knew things were going to be a whirlwind, and indeed they were. I wanted to focus my entire attention on being not only a father to my son Avery, who is now almost 20 months, but the new baby to be. That means less time to work on the show, and more time devoted to family. Things are going very well, and from time to time I’m able to do some work on the show. Nevertheless, progress on episode 11 is coming along nicely.

Anyway, thanks for all the support from our fans and friends. We’re lucky to have folks like you around. I’ll keep you updated on all the pertinent baby information as it comes.

BTW: Tommorrow we will be announcing not only the release date of Substance TV episode 11, but I’ll tip my hand and let you know one of the three games we will be reviewing. Check back tomorrow to find out!

http://twitter.com/SubstanceTV

It was later found out that he died of a brain aneurysm. So although it was sudden, it wasn’t painful and it was quick. I found some small solace in that fact.

I know this is a site about video games, but it’s my only personal outlet to voice my opinions and thoughts for me and only me. I cover great games, so why not cover great people. I know that as I type this these are just simple words on a small website, but it’s the best I can do to honor this man. May you rest in peace Dale. You were a great man who I enjoyed hanging out with and will always remember playing bass as you laid down the beat. I’ll even remember watching you smoke each and every opponent in Super Punch Out.

See you on the other side buddy.

I was thinking about this yesterday. Here I am a father, and I’ve not really talked about it on the site. Yea I’ve got a few instances where I say I’m a dad, but nothing beyond that. So I aim to fix that oversight.

Yesterday was of course Father’s Day. It’s my second one, but it’s still just as good. We woke up late that morning and got ready for church. After service was over, our pastor said he had a gift for all the fathers. Now usually the gifts range from suck to pathetic. And hey, that’s alright, I’m not expecting anything spectacular because hey, it’s free. This year though, they gave us all a great gift. On the way out, each gather received a big ol’ one liter bottle of Dad’s root beer. Mmmmm buddy. If I can eat or drink it, it’s a good gift.

Afterwards we grab a bite to eat at Taco Bell. We were going to go to a sit down restaurant, but they were all crazy and the lil’ guy was getting tired and ready for a nap. Instead we went through the drive thru and zipped on home. Normally Taco Bell is pretty stingy on the sauce packets. See my wife likes mild sauce (pansy) and I loves me some fire sauce. This means when I ask for both, they just don’t give us both enough. Sure, if you totaled up both sauces, it may be enough, but not for each of us individually. This time around we got more sauce then we knew what to do with.

From there we chilled for a bit and then went out and about. We looked around at the local mall and a perennial favorite Target. Got ourselves a water filter. We always buy those one gallon jugs of water, and it’s a pain to buy them every trip. They’re heavy, cumbersome, and always run out when you really need a drink of aqua desperately.

It was about 6:30 when we got home. I thought I would take my shoes off and just relax on the bed for a quick little reprieve from the hectic day. Figure I might do some Father’s Day gaming later on in the evening. My wife lays next to me and we joke about how we’re just resting here but we’re not gonna go to sleep. 12 hours later at 6 A.M., I wake up. Looks like we were wrong. Funny thing is, both my wife and my son slept all that time too. We must have been burnt. But hey, it was a good rest and I felt like a million bucks this morning.

So to sum it up, sleeping in, beer, water filter, and a long sleep, not too bad of day if I do say so myself. I’m very glad to be a dad (that rhymed on accident). It’s something else, and as much time and energy as it takes up, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Happy (late) Father’s Day to all those gaming dads out there whole juggle gaming and parenthood.